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OtherSide Apparelʼs RISE RISE TO TO FAME FAME
Departments
Artist Spotlight: Pearl Photography
Top 10: Best EDM shows of 2012
32
Best in the Game: RVCA
34 Current Faves: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
10
36
Features
Denver Street Art
Infected Mushroom
49 OtherSide Apparel’s Rise to Fame
42
52
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Artist Spotlight: Pearl Photography
Dillon Pinnacles Southwestern Colorado
As I stare into the abstract images created by Emily Pearl Sellers, a sense of surrealism overtakes me. It’s as if I am no longer sitting here in her back yard and have been transported to a place where objects that are in our everyday lives take on new, unqualifiable meanings of their own. What I see as a standard forest of pine trees, she sees as an opportunity to create textures which can make us feel as if gravity is nonexistent for the moment. From jagged rocks to rolling ocean waves, all the environments Emily encounters throughout her travels get captured in such a way that begs us to ask the question, How is this possible? When Emily was a little girl, she
go to high school. “Making that
tures the whole time. She credits
moved with her family from the
adjustment back into the Ameri-
much of her undying sense of won-
states to the island of Sumbawa,
can lifestyle was one of the hardest
der, and primal need to explore new
Indonesia. She spent a good chunk
things I’ve had to do” she says.
places and capture their beauty, to
of her childhood there, attending
Since then, Emily has had oppor-
this life of traveling with her fam-
an international school and becom-
tunities to explore several more
ily. “The day I stop traveling is the
ing accustomed to a third world
countries including New Zealand,
day I die inside” she states with a
way of life. At age 13, She moved
Australia, Guatemala, Honduras,
look in her eye that tells me her
back to the states, to Colorado, to
Thailand and Japan, Taking pic-
adventures are far from over.
Street Culture Magazine | Departments | 12
May, 3013 | 13
I find beauty in everything around me. While
without light hitting it beautifully. I feel that I
I’m living in a city, it’s fun for me to capture
can capture the life that an architect intended
my environment and the way light fills it. To
for when light illuminates the structure; so, I
me, a building can’t be photographed well
strive to find that light and play with it!
Perth City Skyline Perth, Australia
My fascination with flowers really comes from many
We are all unique flowers in the garden we call Earth. No
things. They’re uplifting, romantic, genuine, and free.
two of us are the same, we all have a place here, a daisy
I can’t ever see myself not taking the opportunity to
is just as beautiful as a sunflower. Self love is an aspect
photograph a beautiful flower. If you think of a rose
in life that I’m really working on and I can turn to a little
from the time it is a tiny bud, as it opens to a full flower,
flower as they open themselves up completely, no fear of
till the last petal falls, it is always gorgeous, always
judgement, no fear of the world around them. I strive to
perfect, always changing; and so it is with us, humans.
be a flower, open to the world.
Open
I have so much gratitude for nature. It reminds me to appreciate all that I have, as nature’s creatures weather the storms and embrace everything that comes. I love the sweet scents, the cleansing air, the colors, and textures. I am inspired, mesmerized by nature.
Christmas Morning
I really relate to this quote: “I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.� -John Burroughs
Instinctive Connection
My latest series, Bohemian dreams was the most fun project I’ve done. I loved every minute of working on it. This series was definitely a transformation for me. I really opened my heart up and let my creativity run wild. It’s filled with life, soul, heart, and curiosity. I loved infusing my inspiration from Mother Earth, nature, color and light, making the connection evident but abstract. Each character is included specifically to represent a different feeling of Mother Earth and our raw connection. All being female, I really wanted to empower the Feminine, the Mother, the Woman.
During each photoshoot, we spent a day, or a few,
from our time together, as well as the fact that I
going on some adventures, finding the perfect
really got to know them, on a different level. We
locations, and exploring my concept. I feel as
connected through an idea that really came from
though each person involved learned something
my heart and there’s not much better than that.
wherever your
adventures take you...
choose ELECTRIC
Top 10:
Best EDM Shows of 2012
Well before the rise of electronic dance music in the mainstream, Colorado has always been a strong hold for EDM. This past year we saw more acts than ever come through town, including a record number of which that performed at Red Rocks. We were on hand for most of them, and below we’ve compiled a list of the ten best EDM shows of the year.
10
Gramatik @ The Filmore
Gramatik has come a long way since we covered his initial Colorado shows. Since signing on with Pretty Lights Music, the glitch-hop/ jazz producer has blown up all over the world. In November, he debuted a new light show for his tour, and the electricity was flowing from the Tesla-like coils directly into the crowd. With Talib Kweli on the bill to boot, this show was a no-brainer to include here.
9
Deep Medi Musik @ City Hall
To celebrate the success of bringing dubstep to Colorado ears for past five years, Sub.mission brought out the big guns with Deep Medi Musik acts like Truth, Mala, Silkie and Quest and Commodo setting things off at City Hall. This special night displayed some of the best dubstep in the world, and served as a fitting celebration of Sub.mission.
Street Culture Magazine | Departments | 30
8
GRiZ @ Altitude Music Festival @ CU Boulder
GRiZ’s performance at this University of Colorado Program Council show firmly established the notion that the young saxophonist/producer would surely find success in the local scene and even more in the national limelight. Since this show, GRiZ has toured the country as direct support for acts such as Big Gigantic and Gramatik, and even headlined his own shows. However, on CU’s campus on this night last spring, it was GRiZ that stole the show from Gramatik, Zion I, MSTRKRFT and Robotic Pirate Monkey.
7
Porter Robinson @ the Ogden Theatre
With his stock rising rapidly, Porter Robinson, who’s not even old enough to buy a beer yet, absolutely threw down at the Ogden, displaying some fine mixing skills and admirable prowess in Ableton, making it abundantly clear why his tracks have been garnering so many spins internationally.
6
Skrillex @ Red Rocks
After topping this same list last year, Skrillex returned with a show that wowed at every level and pulled out all the stops with fireworks, a spaceship DJ booth, confetti and plenty of pyrotechnics. Still among the best of the best, Skrillex and his camp clearly know what it takes to put on a great show.
5
Netsky @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Netsky (aka Boris Daenen) is a drum and bass master that’s found international recognition thanks to his involvement with legendary label Hospital Records. He’s played stages at some of the biggest festivals in the world. At Cervantes’, he showed us why his music works so well with the dubstep crowds and why drum and bass is not going to anywhere anytime soon.
4
Nero @ the Ogden Theatre
If it wasn’t for acts like Nero, a lot of other artists wouldn’t have amazing tracks to remix. At the Ogden Theatre for this sold-out show, the act was joined by star vocalist Alana Watson, who performs on many of its most popular tracks. The stage setup was intense -- a large booth made of speakers and televisions backed by strobes and moving cans -- but it was the live vocals mixed with the spot-on production of Nero that really stood out.
3
Paper Diamond @ the Ogden Theatre
Paper Diamond mastermind Alex Botwin, co-owner of Elm & Oak, created an entirely new stage show to go along with his constantly evolving style of dance music. With Paper Diamond, Botwin’s obsession with music has led to even stronger obsession with production, and here absolutely blew everybody away with new music and a tastefully orchestrated light show.
2
Excision @ the Ogden Theatre
Excision offered up the loudest bass-barrage we’ve endured to date. Banging 100,000 watts of sound, Excision’s show was filled with everything you could want from this type of show, from heavy bass anthems and massive drops to a kick ass light show and a highly impressive undercard.
1
Rowdytown @ Red Rocks Amphitheater with Big Gigantic
With the first ever grand-scale visual mapping on both the flanking rocks of the venue, Big Gigantic’s Rowdytown show, featuring Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Dillon Francis, GRiZ and Raw Russ, easily earns top honors. Performing a healthy dose of new tracks and old hits, the Boulder-based electronic duo more than delivered on its debut headlining show at Red Rocks.
May, 3013 | 31
Best in the Game: RVCA is the brainchild of company Founder and President, PM Tenore. Transcending the boundaries of traditional action sports apparel, RVCA is a design-driven lifestyle brand free from
RVCA The Balance of Opposites
passing trends. Appearing as a natural on the shelves of boutiques as on those of a local skate shop, RVCA is brought together by a group of likeminded individuals from various subcultures, a collaboration of sorts, a lifestyle within itself. market views art and fashion as represented through the balance of opposites and how they coexist: water, oil; air, land; destruction, industrialization; art, science; foreign, domestic; order, chaos; past, present. For RVCA, it is about today, tomorrow and life as the big picture. It is about inspiring our generation, providing something of substance and culture and above all doing it with integrity and as a united family, a close-knit community.
PM Tenore’s intention from the very beginning has been to create a platform for RVCA, which combines art, music, fashion and a modern lifestyle in an original way. At the forefront of this vision has been RVCA’s Artist Network Program (ANP)-a venture established to showcase the talents of accomplished as well as unknown artists who inspire our generation and push the boundaries of creative excellence. Established to promote the genuine integrity of RVCA’s subcultures while simultaneously giving back to the community, RVCA in essence is redefining the way the Street Culture Magazine | Departments | 32
May, 3013 | 33
Current Faves: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis As a lyricist, Macklemore presents himself as a flawed individual, a scarred artist who has seen the other side and has come back to inspire his fans and listeners with not only cautionary tales but also confessions of his own missteps. In a time when most of his contemMacklemore & Ryan Lewis’s popu-
like “Wings,” an ode to the sneaker-
larity doesn’t entirely make sense.
head and the unrelenting consumerist
Not only are they two white guys
culture that engulfs him; “Otherside,”
from Seattle making hip-hop, they’re
a Red Hot Chili Peppers-sampling
two white guys from Seattle making
rap ballad detailing a hard-fought
hip-hop unlike any other.
return to sobriety; and most recently,
As musicians who blend pop-anthem production
with
mindful
lyrical
content, the duo stand between two distinct worlds. One is a land of boasts, women, and riches, expertly detailed by new pop legends like Drake and Rick Ross; and the other is a grittier world, marked by an uprising internet-based mainstream where hardcore young rappers like Chief Keef shoot homemade videos about gang violence, and blow up with such white-hot speed that major labels and journalists alike can’t keep up. Despite being the odd ones out, Macklemore and Lewis have made a case for their recent success with a string of honest, challenging songs Street Culture Magazine | Departments | 34
“Same Love,” a soft and beautiful statement on sexuality, homophobia, and gay rights.
poraries aren’t saying much of anything, he’s saying a lot. A day before the release of The Heist, Macklemore’s debut LP with producer Ryan Lewis, we spoke with him about his faith, gay marriage, and rapping for 10,000 hours. Interviewer: Dan Buyanovsky Macklemore
People call you a conscious rapper,
I definitely use “smiling while
Cultural Center in the Central
and
conscious,
rapping” as a tool in the booth. I
District of Seattle was our plat-
socially aware hip-hop music, but
want to have fun while recording. At
form to read our writing. It really
you’re never pandering or heavy-
times it can get tedious and stressful
gave me a chance to develop as
handed. How do you think you’ve
when it’s not sounding the way you
a performer. Reading a piece of
been able to pull that off?
heard it in your head, but you’ve
poetry with no beat in front of 20
got to remember to just smile and
people is way more challenging
appreciate the fact that you’re even
than rocking for 10,000 people.
you
do
make
I put myself in the place of the listener when editing my writing. The last thing that I want to do is be preached at and told who to be
in the booth and there are people who want to hear your art.
I listened to your first project—Open Your Eyes [2000]—and it sounds
or what to think when listening to
You also seem to have roots in
like a completely different artist.
an artist. However, I do want to be
spoken word, just by the way you
You can recognize your voice, but
inspired. There’s a fine line. I also
deliver and accent certain words.
your flow, beats and content are
have a producer that is critical as shit, and picks apart everything I write. That definitely helps.
I grew up in the spoken-word community. The Saul Williams “Slam” days. Before everybody had
nothing like your recent work. 12 years later, how do you look back on that version of yourself?
On some of your songs, you sound
a home studio, or before we could
Damn! I never wanted that to make
like you’re smiling while rapping,
get booked for shows, open mics
its way to the Internet! It was only
especially on “The Town”—where
were the only way to be heard by
a matter of time. I actually haven’t
you’re reliving all of these fond home-
other people. There was barely a
heard it in years. I was a kid in high
town memories. Is that something
hip-hop scene in Seattle, so the
school that loved music. Those
you’re aware of while recording?
basement of Langston Hughes
were very important, formative
There was no choice but to go all-in. years in shaping who I am as a
his ear and his eye. His creative
person and an artist. A lot of mush-
aesthetic. I wouldn’t be in this posi-
room trips around that time. I was
tion if it wasn’t for him. I spend
just trying to figure out who I was,
more time with Ryan than anyone
and that search is documented
else in my life. We’re a team, and
on that album. Pretty much the
I’m extremely blessed because of it.
same thing I’m doing now, just a different phase. What does Ryan Lewis mean to Macklemore?
Would there still be a Macklemore if not for Ryan Lewis?
called “Jimmy Iovine”—an angry track all about the pitfalls of the major record label deal. Why call him out specifically? He’s the most visible major label president in the game. I’ve actually never even met him—it’s a fictional story, based on the experiences Ryan and I have had the last couple of years being courted by these
Of course. Who knows what that
labels. Nothing against your boy
would look like, though. I’m glad
Jimmy. I’m sure he’s a good dude.
Ryan is one of my best friends
it worked out as a team. It’s just
in this world. He’s my producer.
way more fun making art, growing,
He’s my business partner. And
grinding for a fan base, and trav-
he’s probably one of my toughest
eling the world with a friend. Ryan
critics, which is an imperative trait
doesn’t make beats, he makes
of a teammate. I trust Ryan. I trust
records. I needed that in a producer.
Street Culture Magazine | Departments | 36
There’s a song on your album
Do you think you’ve rapped for more than 10,000 hours? Man, I’m up there. If you combine that with writing, I’ve gotta be close.
was about 15, 16, when I was first
Does talking about sobriety keep
introduced to Psilocybin [mush-
you accountable? If you didn’t
rooms]. That really opened me
talk about it so much, would it be
up to thinking about the universe
easier to relapse?
in a different way, and coming to significant realizations about my connection to something greater than me.
That was definitely a decision I had to make when coming out of rehab. Do I tell people about this? Do I
Tell me about what you were going
hide it? For me, being transparent
through
Unplanned
about every aspect of my life is
Mixtape [2009]. Where was your
what makes my music relatable
mind? Had you given up?
and how I’m able to be an indi-
before
The
I was close to giving up. I was broke, unemployed, freshly out of rehab,
vidual amongst the mass amounts of other artists. I had no choice.
and living in my parents’ basement.
I know that in some rehab programs,
It was a “If this doesn’t work, I
they try to get you to rid yourself of
gotta get a real job” time in my life.
your old negative influences and to
I’d always thought that if I could
start over. Did your sponsor ever
get sober and stay sober, I would
try to get you to consider giving up
be able to have a career making
hip-hop as an art and lifestyle?
music. My drug and alcohol addiction was the one thing holding me back. I had finally gotten the tools to stay sober, and it was just a There’s a good amount of callbacks
I feel a sense of accountability.
matter of writing the songs. There
No. In fact, my drug counselor in treatment let me on the internet during lunch so I could keep up with my career. He really understood that this is who I was. It makes up
to the church and spirituality in
was no choice but to go all-in.
your songs—what’s your relation-
It would’ve been pretty easy for
of rehab, I went on tour a week later
you to lose control if you were this
and stayed sober.
ship with God like? Were you always a religious person? My relationship with God is as strong
big a few years ago. Are you glad you reached this level of success at
the core of who I am. When I got out
Do you still go to NA meetings?
this point in your life, when you’re
I go to AA meetings. I’ve still never
connecting with God. Today, I woke
past the bad decisions and excess?
been to an NA meeting. I need to
up, said some prayers, meditated,
I wouldn’t have been able to handle
as the time and energy I put into
and jumped on Twitter. I’m all over the place. I find that when I put my spiritual life first, the rest of my life is easy. When I put my career first, that’s when I have problems. At this current moment in time, I’ve been feeling pretty good. I’ve never been a religious person. I’ve been a spiritual person since I
try it.
it. No question. With the minimal
“Same Love” has been getting a
local success I experienced in 2006
lot of attention recently—did you
after The Language of my World,
choose to release it now because
I was off and running, completely
of how fragile a time it is for gay
fucked. Women, drugs, and ego.
rights, with the election coming
I now know that none of those
up? This could be a very different
things fulfill me in the end. If it’d
America in a few months.
happened overnight, I’d probably be dead. I came very close as it was.
I wrote the song in April. Shortly after Obama came out in support May, 3013 | 37
of gay marriage. Then Frank Ocean
never voted. If the song can get
that privilege. However, songs
came out. It seemed like time was
people out to the polls to pass same-
about race and privilege are very
of the essence. It was never about
sex marriage in Washington, that is a
difficult to A) write and B) dissect
being the first rapper to publicly
very beautiful and exciting thing.
as a listener. They’re heavy. That
support the issue, but at the same time you don’t want the song’s power to become diluted because all of the sudden it’s a bandwagon issue. I knew I wanted to write the song since 2011, I just couldn’t figure out the perspective. The fact that there is an election coming up in Washington is huge. I know that a large portion of my fan base is 18-25, many of whom have
There’s a line on “A Wake”— ”White guilt and white privilege at the same time”—that really struck me as a sad, self-aware realization. What does that line mean to you? It’s realizing that as a white male
line is acknowledging the guilt that I have for not bringing those issues to the surface, and the privilege that keeps me comfortable, whether I acknowledge it or not. Are you happy?
in America, I have privilege. As a
Yes. I work for it. It’s about being
white male who happens to be an
grateful. I’m working harder than I
artist with a fan base, I have a plat-
ever have, but this is what I’ve always
form to spread awareness about
wanted. I’m about to go on a two-
This is Just the Beginning - EP
DJ IC Streets has been holding down the EDM scene in Denver, CO since 2012. Pre-order his new EP, This is Just the Beginning, from iTunes and Amazon today. Set to be released June 2013.
soundcloud.com/djicstreets
Denver Street Art
All across the city of Denver, in nooks and corners most people will never see, lies an entire culture. A culture where imagination and self expression reach Extreme heights, covering sides of buildings and turning alleyways into living pieces of art. This of course is the underground world of graffiti. Eye and Eye Photography has set out to capture these masterpieces and bring them to the forefront of the art world, giving people the chance to see an all-new side of the city they thought they knew so well. Here is a showcase, through Eye and Eye’s lens, of this discrete, hidden culture.
Street Culture Magazine | Features | 40
May, 3013 | 41
Street Culture Magazine | Features | 44
May, 3013 | 45
The Unveiling
Infected Mushroom
in many ways, pushes the concert-going experience to intensely sensory levels and that has been a seven-plus-month challenge of coordinating each element of a multi-layered show--a show that does indeed start with those big, and purposefully fragmented, balls. “From the beginning of the process, the guys told me they wanted to be inside of spheres, so I knew we were going to be projection mapping,” says Shaw, production designer of Vita Motus. “But the challenge Hollywood’s historic venue the Avalon hosted the band
was how to make it 3-dimensional so that
Infected Mushroom’s first unveiling of its new stage pro-
you could tell we were projecting off the object--a sphere
duction--a trippy tour de force of audio and visual that
without any ridges or angles lies pretty flat.”
incorporates the latest in 3-D mapping technology.
So Shaw took to deconstructing the sphere into puzzle-
When Vello Virkhaus of L.A.-based visual arts studio V
like pieces, building 3-D replicas with CAD software.
Squared Labs signed on to create a show for the psyche-
Once the designs were finalized and sent to Virkhaus to
delic trance duo Infected Mushroom, the concept of 3-D
start mapping the accompanying media, the physical
mapping a visual journey onto two giant spheres in which
elements came together as the steel framed pods span-
the band was expected to play naturally elicited light-
ning about 13 feet in diameter and made out of relatively
hearted, ribald banter. “We joked and said, ‘Yeah, we’re
lightweight composite materials for easy touring capabili-
gonna make you two big balls!” recalls Virkhaus, CEO and
ties. And as far as the structural components present in
director at V Squared Labs, which has created live music
Infected Mushroom’s show, two big broken balls is all one
experiences with artists from Coldplay to Amon Tobin.
can, and should, expect.
“But now it’s like, fuck! This show is far more complicated than our original meeting.”
“The concept usually with something like this is that you make a sculpture that’s a blank canvas and that can
In conjunction with the release of its eighth full-length
constantly be changed and turned into anything that
album Army of Mushrooms, Infected Mushroom (Amit
you want it to be,” says Shaw. “So sometimes a little bit
“Duvdev” Duvdevani and Erez Eisen) unveiled a new
less is more.”
live show May 12 in L.A. The band enlisted Virkhaus and his team, as well as Heather Shaw of design studio Vita Motus, to construct a new stage production that,
If the “less” are the pods, then the “more” is most certainly the 3-D and lighting effects from Virkhaus and his crew.
May, 3013 | 47
vidual section for each calibration and slightly rotate and shift them around the central axis of the sculpture,” says Virkhaus.Challenges in animation and mapping aside, what Virkhaus believes to be the true crown jewel of the show is working in a synchronized light show--a feat which may sound typical for a concert, but is noteworthy in the effort to balance out an experience that’s dominated with distinct and discrete visuals. “To put lighting in our system and bring that to life was something we didn’t have any comparison to--I’ve only done lighting at one other event in Dubai and it was nothing like what we’ve done now,” he says. “It was really an experimental push, Dreaming up what will be the show’s 90-minute abstract odyssey of sight and sound began with creative powwows to pull together a cohesive, if not psychedelic, show. To capture the essence of style befitting an Infected Mushroom concert experience, Virkhaus created “mood boards” consisting of hundreds of images varying in content, color, and texture that could possibly be integrated in the show. “I was looking all over the Internet at biology websites, Wikipedia, chicken larva, The Matrix, underwater photography, surgery on tumors, all kinds of weird stuff,” says Virkhaus. Though the samples pulled may seem like an amalgam of disparate oddities, Virkhaus assures the final product is a lucid narrative from start to finish. Without revealing too much of what the show has in store, the following keywords should provide a rough sketch of what those aforementioned mood boards congealed into: birth, death, space, aliens, sea snake monsters, mushroom forests, and planetary civil war. “It’s
an
interesting
progression,”
Virkhaus notes. “The CG animation for this was brutal because we did more than 60 minutes at 2K resolution.” Mapping their collaborative vision had the inherent challenge of working with spherical objects, but even the solution to fragment the pods wasn’t necessarily a cureall. “Because the pieces are attached with a Velcro of sorts, they’re in a slightly different place every time, so we actually have to go to each indiStreet Culture Magazine | Features | 48
but one that I’m so happy with the depth of the effect that we achieved.”Virkhaus and Shaw are no strangers to high-profile projects--constructing stages for American Idol among other notable credentials--but both agree that working on Infected Mushroom’s stage production was a unique endeavor that easily provides a glimpse into the future of how far a concert’s limitations can and will be pushed.“We love making these show experiences, and I think we’re just going further and further into the most immersive presentations possible using all the mediums available,” says Virkhaus. “Every time we do one of these productions we’re learning and developing new software and new techniques along the way to keep advancing what we’re doing--continuing with the experimental is the only thing that makes it exciting for me.”
OtherSide Apparel’s Rise to Fame Sometimes in our minds we travel to places which cannot be explained; sometimes our adventures take us around the globe to distant lands; sometimes situations are tossed at us by uncontrollable forces causing us to react in new ways, face new experiences, and gain new memories. Sometimes Life takes us to the OtherSide. OtherSide Apparel is a lifestyle and clothing company inspired by these very aspects, adventure, travel, imagination, and experiencing all that you can each day, and each moment.
Street Culture Magazine | Features | 50
The creative minds behind OtherSide Apparel are Wheeler Juell and Emily Sellers. Wheeler is the graphics man of the company. He studied graphic design at the Art Institute of Colorado where he decided to pursue his goal of creating his own clothing company. “My passion lies in creating wearable art, that’s all there is to it. I could have gone a hundred different ways after graduating, but I knew to really be happy and fulfilled as a person, I had to be creating dope t-shirts and clothing for like-minded people to wear and form bonds with.” Wheeler has always had a fascination with companies doing similar things as OtherSide Apparel, though it wasn’t until his senior year of high school when he decided that this was the life he wanted to pursue. “Growing up I had great respect and
admiration for companies like Element, Volcom, Burton, etc. I always wore their clothes and tried to stay up-to-date on their most recent releases. When the end of high school rolled around, I didn’t have a solid idea of what I was going to go to school for, or do with my future. I just knew some traditional shit like accounting or becoming a lawyer was not for me. My mind-set is opposite of people like that. I’m part of the generation of kids choosing love over a desk. Then, a sign came and I realized my true calling: to grow the next big clothing company. That second I started sketching and coming up with all sorts of ideas, bought Adobe CS5 and started learning the tools of the trade, and a few short months later found myself at the Art Institute pursuing my passion.”
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Emily started going to the Art Institute at the same time as Wheeler. Her major was photography, but she saw things differently than her fellow students. “In a way, the Art Institute really helped me find a direction to take with my photography. The school is very well rounded and ends up teaching you many different styles of photography, but I could say that about 85% of the students who graduate end up doing the same stuff; product, commercial, consumer portraiture, and weddings. I really want nothing to do with that. I admire those who do that work, but I have a different respect for that art that has led me to experiment a lot more and lean towards fine art.” These two slowly began realizing that the collaboration and combination of their styles could lead to some truly amazing things. “I do know that it’s very difficult to make a name for yourself in the fine art industry, so I figured that with the right person, Wheeler Juell, I can be making the art I want to be making. I’ve always been a sucker for clothes and through OtherSide I am driven to inspire, give others a different perspective, and connect with people like us.” During their last year at the Art Institute, Emily and Wheeler began seriously building the idea of OtherSide Apparel, creating several t-shirt designs together, and putting together a business plan. “When we were first starting up, we focused solely on local business, getting our product to around 10 Denver based clothing stores. We did this for the first few years and then began
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ened and say, what if these people are right? What if we fail? We just kept TYR Morgan Page that positive “were going make this Joker FluxtoPavillion Wolfgang GartnerDownlink Xilent work” attitude and put our whole heart Sweedish House MafiaSkrillex andBingo soul into the company. There is no PLayers Dillon Francis doubt in my mind that this, along with Dada LifeFlinch Panytraid our The next-level graphics andJoman superior Jansten Prototypes Jakwob The M Machine Afrojak quality, and the life we stand for, is Dirtyphonics Camo & Krooked why we succeeded.”
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expanding, shipping shirts all over the country and selling from several online retailers. And, well, the rest is history. A lot of people doubted us along our journey, telling us how hard it is to start a clothing company and how slim our chances of succeeding were. But our dreams were, and still are, made of gold and we never let those thoughts get to us. Sure there were trials and tribulations, but not once in our career did we get disheart-
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