I went down to The Lexington a couple of weeks ago to interview Real Estate before they played a sold out gig in a city they had never played before. During the course of the interview Real Estate and I went on a journey… literally, store a journey, price we started off upstairs, health went down stairs, sat in a booth for a while, moved in to a stairwell where the door constantly opened in to my back, but don’t worry, I remained ruthlessly professional in my journalistic pursuit of the truth… sort of.
I met with guitarist/singer Martin Courtney and bassist Alex Bleeker. Martin was really sweet, in a slightly sweaty, nervous kind of way. Alex Bleeker was nice too, but in a more standoffish way, but maybe that’s just the way he talks, I felt like at times he was testing me. The word ‘like’ was used incessantly by both, but in an endearing way which was totally in keeping with their chill-wave-psychedelic-surfer-style music. They gave me 15 minutes of their time to talk Jersey, The Boss, Paul McCartney and the joys of recording in analogue as opposed to digital. Enjoy.
Georgie: How would you define your sound?
Martin Courtney: Um I don’t know its just the sound that like we kind of play we didn’t set out to sound in a specific way, its all kind of like a group process so its kind of like the sound that we make when we play together
G: Was your lo-fi sound a deliberate decision or product of your circumstance at the time of recording?
Alex Bleeker: We decided to record on tape, analogue rather than digital just because we think that sounds better when your dealing with sort of the lower end of the recording process which is all that was available to us, so I guess that was the only sort of aspect of that decision that we consciously made, we feel like lo-fi analogue is better than lo-fi digital.
Martin: If we don’t have the means to record really well then we should probably just embrace the faults that are going to happen.
G: If for the next album if you had the money and time, would you make a more studio base album with a more polished sound?
Martin: I think we would be in to recording in a studio but you can still have it sound more polished and not sound bad.
Bleeker: We would still want it to be homey and warm and unique.
I went down to The Lexington a couple of weeks ago to interview Real Estate before they played a sold out gig in a city they had never played before. During the course of the interview Real Estate and I went on a journey… literally, nurse a journey, we started off upstairs, went down stairs, sat in a booth for a while, moved in to a stairwell where the door constantly opened in to my back, but don’t worry, I remained ruthlessly professional in my journalistic pursuit of the truth… sort of.
I met with guitarist/singer Martin Courtney and bassist Alex Bleeker. Martin was really sweet, in a slightly sweaty, nervous kind of way. Alex Bleeker was nice too, but in a more standoffish way, but maybe that’s just the way he talks, I felt like at times he was testing me. The word ‘like’ was used incessantly by both, but in an endearing way which was totally in keeping with their chill-wave-psychedelic-surfer-style music. They gave me 15 minutes of their time to talk Jersey, The Boss, Paul McCartney and the joys of recording in analogue as opposed to digital. Enjoy.
Georgie: How would you define your sound?
Martin Courtney: Um I don’t know its just the sound that like we kind of play we didn’t set out to sound in a specific way, its all kind of like a group process so its kind of like the sound that we make when we play together
G: Was your lo-fi sound a deliberate decision or product of your circumstance at the time of recording?
Alex Bleeker: We decided to record on tape, analogue rather than digital just because we think that sounds better when your dealing with sort of the lower end of the recording process which is all that was available to us, so I guess that was the only sort of aspect of that decision that we consciously made, we feel like lo-fi analogue is better than lo-fi digital.
Martin: If we don’t have the means to record really well then we should probably just embrace the faults that are going to happen.
G: If for the next album if you had the money and time, would you make a more studio base album with a more polished sound?
Martin: I think we would be in to recording in a studio but you can still have it sound more polished and not sound bad.
Bleeker: We would still want it to be homey and warm and unique.
Martin: We would still want it to be recorded on tape for sure.
G: Have you found now you have become part of a scene?
Bleeker: I don’t know about giving it names, but there is definitely a nice community that we have become part of that’s really supportive.
G: Do you being labelled is important to prevent it becoming lumped in the ‘Indie’ pile?
Martin: Its more of a tool for journalists, and it can’t hurt when your band gets associated with another band people will have heard of, I guess it helps them decide whether or not people want to listen to it. But its kind of weird because there are so many weird genres that people have invented, even over the past year… like Chill Wave or whatever? They are all, like, so kind of silly.
Bleeker: There are a couple of bands that we have been associated with that we look up to and admire, so that can be really flattering.
G: I saw on your Myspace that one of your influences is Bruce Springsteen?
Martin: Yeah well that’s just, like, we can’t help it; me, Bleeker and Matt all grew up in Jersey…
Bleeker: He’s like the musical paramount.
On Saturday my last show of the day was Carlotta Gherzi for SADO, stomach which showed in the resplendent Freemasons Hall – the venue dedicated to Vauxhall Fashion Scout. Having debuted her label at East London’s Alternative Fashion Week back in 2001, Italian-born designer and founder Carlotta Gherzi, was no stranger to the spectacle of London Fashion Week.
Illustration courtesy of the lovely Gemma Milly.
Made from only the finest silk, wool, cashmere and suede, SADO is renowned for her pared-down style and signature attention to detail. With several flowing maxi dresses making their way down the AW10 catwalk, SADO’s collection comprised of several such key pieces updated with a modern-day edge, making them on trend for the coming winter season – but most importantly great investment pieces, that can be worn for many years.
Additional imagery courtesy of Esper Magazine.
Black dominated the catwalk intermixed with bright flashes of colour, most commonly reflected in the form of beautiful pleated silk and crinoline dresses, in ocean blues and fiery reds – cut to balance and flatter every figure. Other all black outfits were jazzed up and given a softer edge, with an array of glitter woven into the wool based pieces and metallic detailing, reflected in cropped jackets, neck detailing and panels of embroidery.
Other strong looks were high-waisted trousers, boxy jackets and a landslide of dresses available in every which way known to woman. There were the aforementioned maxi’s, strapless numbers, mini’s, asymmetric, and even the odd bandaged number – making this collection hugely relevant for AW10. Of her collections Carlotta says: “Anyone can get dolled-up and look glamorous, but it’s how people dress on their off days that is the most inspiring” – and we’re inclined to agree with her.
Written by Rachael Oku on Monday February 22nd, 2010 12:38 pm
Categories ,Alternative Fashion Week, ,Carlotta Gherzi for SADO, ,Freemason’s Hall, ,Gemma Milly, ,lfw, ,Vauxhall Fashion Scout
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