So, shop Lets tackle the name situation. (A few months ago these fellas were known as Starfucker) I was on your blog reading the suggestions that fans sent you and my favourites were Rad Stewert and Wasabi Lube…
J: Oh, salve I don’t like that one at all!
That was my favourite!
J: You can have it! I dunno if you play but whoever suggested that would be stoked to know that there was a band called it I’m sure.
Pyramiddd was the one to go with?
R: Not necessarily, page I fucking hate it.
J: Not really, I kinda hate Pyramiddd too.
I got that vibe when I read that blog, there seemed to be a little tension surrounding the issue…
J: The thing that sucked was that we had to pick it so quick. We rushed into it, We were releasing our 7” here and everyone was like “What the fuck is your name, you need to pick a name so we can release this” So we were like – I guess this is it.
R: That was the one that we agreed on more than any other name, out them all.
J: Master Control was close and Trust Fund was close. They were the two runners up.
R: We had some other ones we picked. But, We picked ones and we liked it for a day and the next day we hated it. But there’s no such thing as a good band name. Like Radiohead sucks. That’s a stupid band name.
There is another band called Starfucker, Can they have it, are they worthy?
J: Yeah they can have it, It’s a stupid fucking name!
R: Starfucker is a bad name too.
J: It was a joke! We didn’t think we would be touring the US let alone coming to Europe and Japan if we had any kinda foresight we would have picked a better name a long time ago. Its like getting married, a joke that goes too far… Never again!
Another thing I saw on your Myspace was the Las Vegas episodes…
J: That was funny, That dude talking bout the cist! I dunno how he saw it, I like bent over to pick up a key and he was like “Aahh cist there”
R: Its not even that big!
Are you guys filming what your doing over here?
J: Yeah we have, We have mainly been filming in the car because that is all we do. It takes hours to get everywhere, but its pretty, the architecture is pretty. Have we filmed anything interesting?
R: I filmed the red light district. That was difficult, your not meant to.
J: He got flipped off.
The Internet told me about the Target commercial, One of your tracks feature on it?
J: Unfortunately, that’s the way it is now- that licensing your songs to commercials is a way to make money. Which is better way of making money than parking cars for me.
Yeah, but its does get a lot of people to hear your music that wouldn’t necessarily hear it…
R: Yeah, I didn’t know that people did this but people will actually find the songs used in commercials and find out who the band is. I didn’t know that was a thing because I don’t have a TV. Target has great music on their commercials.. plus Target has great things at great prices! Make sure you go to target! Today!
“Medicine” is your first release over here, Is this a good representation of what is to come with the album, or is it not that far on?
J: It’s not that far on but it seems mostly a little darker than stuff we have so far. The new idea is a 30 minute dance block-all the same tempo and songs that fade into each other. Maybe it will b like that. I dunno about “Medicine”, We didn’t really pick that. Other people were like “This will be a good song” So we were like, “Alright, do what you want.”.
R: Really every song is a single on the album!
Sorry for the “Smash Hits” stylee question, But what is your medicine for winter?
R: Most the things that make me feel good, make me feel bad later
J: I have been really homesick on this tour. I just started dating someone I really like so we are gonna take a trip to LA I’m excited about that. I’ll be all warm all my friends will be cold in Portland. I have been eating lots of good food like cantrell mushrooms chopped up with pasta.
R: That’s another great thing bout Portland, You can get so many great vegetables. That’s my winter medicine- I like cooking and baking pies.
J: He is an amazing cook!
R: I like to save my vegetable ends, put them in a big plastic bag in your freezer then boil it and it makes good vegetable broth. Keep all your ends and boil for a few hours = Perfect, amazing vegetable broth.
J: I want ask you how to make granola-he makes really good granola. He is like Mom, he would make us sandwiches when we started on tour.
R: I don’t do it anymore now, I get tired. I’m too busy now. I have a kid. If I make granola while my kid is with me the kid will end up in the granola.
The first thing I thought when I heard “Medicine” was that you guys played a lot of video games in the 90s?
J: Yeah, That’s really true! 007 was my favourite video game from the 90s on N64. Playing 007, listening to The Fugees album on repeat for hours on end.
R: I was a Nintendo system kid. I never moved beyond that. I played the Sega Genesis once, but that’s it.
J: Genesis was good.
I wasn’t a Sega fan, Nintendo all the way..
Both: Yeah
J: But I think Sega had, Mortal Combat, that was rad.
R: Yeah totally, Sega had Road Rash and Sonic the Hedgehog.
J: Sonic was rad too.
It’s such a colourful song but the video is black and white, any reason behind this?
J: I think it was easier for Andrew to make-he’s our friend, he is learning the programmes.
R: I think its fitting, I think the video is still very colourful, l like the dancing in black and white, it can bring out the movement. Whether or not that was intentional or not, I think It works really well.
I kind of came to my own conclusion that you were really into what Beyoncé does right now?
R: Her video was after ours!
J: That “Single Ladies” video was amazing though!
With the black and white thing and also all the moves being busted out all over the place I assumed she was one of you creative influences?
R: I like her for sure, I have total respect for her she’s queen diva. Neal Medlyn, a comedian/performance artist came to Portland and did “The Beyoncé Experience” and wore a wig and had gay dancers with him and that was one of my favourite shows ever. Yeah, so that was inspiring!
What’s your signature dance move, I know you defiantly got one Ryan from that at the end of the set? (He owned the floor)
J: I don’t go out, I don’t dance. Only on tour.
R: I love when he does though, its awesome!
J: It’s horrible!
R: I don’t dance like on stage when I got out, I tone it down, I cant go out on a dancefloor like BLUGHG, Some things are strictly for performance but for the most part when im around other people I don’t go too crazy I respect peoples space.
J: What that called, grinding though, that’s always nice. That’s how you get laid thts how it happens. You like it? Love it!
R: Yeah, it doesn’t matter you just find someone you like!
J: That’s how it happens!
R: It’s very primal.
What live acts do you aspire to be as good as?
J: Of Montreal are amazing live! We played with them at Monolith festival, Colorado. They really put a lot of effort into putting on a live show. There is a lot of thought- interesting clothes, people coming out doing crazy shit.
R- I don’t even like Of Montreal that much, but live is amazing for sure. There aren’t that many live shows, I don’t really know, There just aren’t many good live bands…Broadcast they don’t do much, but they have a certain energy while they are playing that draws you in.
J: Deerhunter’s great live, they are one of my favourites.
What should people be prepared for when they see you live?
R: I like it when people don’t know what to expect, when people don’t know who we are. When there’s some mystery about it. I like going to something and not knowing anything about it and then when its really good, it being awesome like makes me feel like I have a secret now.
J: Sometimes you can see Keil’s junk when he is playing drums, like a lot because he wears dresses. Be prepared.
I thought they were nice boys.
If you think they are nice boys,
Follow them on twitter
Add them on myspace
AND BUY THEIR TUNE HERE
Written by Rebecca Milne on Tuesday December 8th, 2009 6:48 pm
Everything we do at Amelia’s Magazine is a collaborative and creative endeavor, order and this extends to the upcoming book launch of Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration (released this week) and the subsequent exhibition of 10 of the books illustrators. Seeing that the book takes pride in championing fresh new talent in the world of illustration, try it makes sense that we would want Tuesdays book launch at Concrete Hermit in East London to reflect this. Letting our illustrators run riot, adiposity Concrete Hermit has turned its gallery space, and their walls over to them to bring their illustrations of renewable technologies from the Anthology to life. The results can be seen from Tuesday, 8th December onwards, and the exhibition will run until January 1st 2010.
Our dedicated illustrators pitched up this Sunday to lend their unique talents to this project. Given that the gallery space is pretty compact, and that at any given time there were roughly ten illustrators, as well as Amelia’s staff on hand to document the day and decorate the outside window, the atmosphere was relaxed, friendly and supportive – even if space was definitely at a premium! I was especially pleased to see some of the illustrators that I had been given the opportunity to interview for the Anthology, such as Jess Wilson, Craig Yamey and Chris Cox. While David Bowie played on the radio, coffee was consumed and cookies and cheese bagels were munched for much needed sustenance. I watched as white walls were transformed into bright and colourful ecological utopias, adorned with mythical creatures, talking whales and flying kites. Interesting and unexpected collaborations unfolded between many of the illustrators who were meeting each other for the first time; for example, when Chris Cox, Barbara Ana Gomez and Jess Wilson realised that their illustrations about renewable technologies all featured bodies of water such as lakes and the sea, they decided to share a large wall space, and while the illustrations are kept separate, they also seamlessly blend in with one another, each one complimenting the other. On another wall space, Karolin Schnoor (who was illustrating underwater technologies) and Andrew Merritt (whose work featured above water tech) shared the top and bottom half of the wall to weave their respective illustrations together.
Illustrating a wall space on a tight time span is a very different process to how the illustrators are used to working; while Jess revealed that the process was ”less stressful than I thought it was going to be”, others were conscious of the fact that they only had one take. Despite this, all were incredibly proud of their work for the Anthology and were delighted to be able to showcase their work at the gallery. By 5pm, there was the slightly worrying fact that due to unforeseen circumstances, part of one of the main walls still stood glaringly untouched. Undeterred, Craig, Barbara Ana and Amelia stepped in to collaborate on what was quickly termed the ‘mad panic corner’. Despite the time constraints, everyone was in good spirits, and I look forward to see how the mad panic corner has taken shape!
If you are London based, please come along to the launch, which starts at 6.30 and runs until 9.30pm. Once here, you can pick up a copy of the book which will be signed by Amelia. There will also be carbon neutral beer provided by Adnams and Macs Gold Malt Lager by Madison on hand. If you can’t make it on Tuesday evening, you have a few more weeks to see the work of our super talented illustrators adorn the walls of Concrete Hermit. We are expecting it to get very busy on Tuesday night, so please turn up early!
Everything we do at Amelia’s Magazine is a collaborative and creative endeavor, rx and this extends to the upcoming book launch of Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration (released this week) and the subsequent exhibition of 10 of the books illustrators. Seeing that the book takes pride in championing fresh new talent in the world of illustration, it makes sense that we would want Tuesdays book launch at Concrete Hermit in East London to reflect this. Letting our illustrators run riot, Concrete Hermit has turned its gallery space, and their walls over to them to bring their illustrations of renewable technologies from the Anthology to life. The results can be seen from Tuesday, 8th December onwards, and the exhibition will run until January 1st 2010.
Our dedicated illustrators pitched up this Sunday to lend their unique talents to this project. Given that the gallery space is pretty compact, and that at any given time there were roughly ten illustrators, as well as Amelia’s staff on hand to document the day and decorate the outside window, the atmosphere was relaxed, friendly and supportive – even if space was definitely at a premium! I was especially pleased to see some of the illustrators that I had been given the opportunity to interview for the Anthology, such as Jess Wilson, Craig Yamey and Chris Cox. While David Bowie played on the radio, coffee was consumed and cookies and cheese bagels were munched for much needed sustenance. I watched as white walls were transformed into bright and colourful ecological utopias, adorned with mythical creatures, talking whales and flying kites. Interesting and unexpected collaborations unfolded between many of the illustrators who were meeting each other for the first time; for example, when Chris Cox, Barbara Ana Gomez and Jess Wilson realised that their illustrations about renewable technologies all featured bodies of water such as lakes and the sea, they decided to share a large wall space, and while the illustrations are kept separate, they also seamlessly blend in with one another, each one complimenting the other. On another wall space, Karolin Schnoor (who was illustrating underwater technologies) and Andrew Merritt (whose work featured above water tech) shared the top and bottom half of the wall to weave their respective illustrations together.
Illustrating a wall space on a tight time span is a very different process to how the illustrators are used to working; while Jess revealed that the process was ”less stressful than I thought it was going to be”, others were conscious of the fact that they only had one take. Despite this, all were incredibly proud of their work for the Anthology and were delighted to be able to showcase their work at the gallery. By 5pm, there was the slightly worrying fact that due to unforeseen circumstances, part of one of the main walls still stood glaringly untouched. Undeterred, Craig, Barbara Ana and Amelia stepped in to collaborate on what was quickly termed the ‘mad panic corner’. Despite the time constraints, everyone was in good spirits, and I look forward to see how the mad panic corner has taken shape!
If you are London based, please come along to the launch, which starts at 6.30 and runs until 9.30pm. Once here, you can pick up a copy of the book which will be signed by Amelia. There will also be carbon neutral beer provided by Adnams and Macs Gold Malt Lager by Madison on hand. If you can’t make it on Tuesday evening, you have a few more weeks to see the work of our super talented illustrators adorn the walls of Concrete Hermit. We are expecting it to get very busy on Tuesday night, so please turn up early!
All imagery courtesy of Hetty Rose.
Upcycling, side effects the practice of reusing old clothing in new designs, is having something of a vogue moment. Amelia’s Magazine have frequently featured work by designers who recycle vintage pieces, including MIA and Clements Ribeiro. Next to step up to the mark is foot wear designer Hetty Rose.
Hetty’s shoes are made from recycling old Kimono fabrics. The shoes are all unique and made to fit, providing a truly individual shopping experience. Within an industry saturated with boring ballet flats and static stiletto heels, Hetty Rose shoes offer something different. Now in her third Kimono inspired collection, there’s plenty to choose from to (literally) stand out from the crowd.
The use of Kimono fabrics draws attention to the historical story behind the shoes, something which often appeals to vintage shoppers. These fabrics were once worn by Japanese Geishas in a world that has slowly disappeared post World War II (Think: Memoirs of a Geisha for inspiration). The hidden story of these fabrics makes these shoes even more desirable in my eyes. Who wouldn’t want to walk a mile in the shoes (almost literally) of historical women miles and years apart from us?
What’s also great about the collection is that it’s simple. These aren’t off-the-wall, barely wearable designs. Instead they are shoes your mother might even pick out. Flats feature vibrant, colourful prints but in classic, comfortable shapes. Strappy t-bars come in beautiful fabrics, and round-toed platform heels look positively walkable. Very much Eastern in influence, these pieces aren’t something you would find easily on the high street. With their unique patterns combined with simple designs, these shoes wouldn’t fit in with the hordes of uncomfortable, uninspiring bad boys out there at the moment.
The most attractive quality of the shoes lies in the tailoring service. Each pair of shoes is made specifically to fit your feet perfectly à la Cinderella’s glass slipper. The shopper chooses the shoe, selects the fabric, measures her own feet and waits for her perfect pair to materialise in Hetty’s workshop. And hey-presto, shoe magic is done!
So who is Hetty Rose? Well, unsurprisingly, Hetty is a recent graduate of the London College of Fashion in Footwear Design and Development. She set up her own business in 2007 and has been stocked across the country (and abroad) ever since. Find her at Cerise Boutique, Che Camille Boutique, Last Boutique and The Natural Store in the UK or online at her website.
Upcycling, cialis 40mg the practice of reusing old clothing in new designs, is having something of a vogue moment. Amelia’s Magazine have frequently featured work by designers who recycle vintage pieces, including MIA and Clements Ribeiro. Next to step up to the mark is foot wear designer Hetty Rose.
Hetty’s shoes are made from recycling old Kimono fabrics. The shoes are all unique and made to fit, providing a truly individual shopping experience. Within an industry saturated with boring ballet flats and static stiletto heels, Hetty Rose shoes offer something different. Now in her third Kimono inspired collection, there’s plenty to choose from to (literally) stand out from the crowd.
The use of Kimono fabrics draws attention to the historical story behind the shoes, something which often appeals to vintage shoppers. These fabrics were once worn by Japanese Geishas in a world that has slowly disappeared post World War II (Think: Memoirs of a Geisha for inspiration). The hidden story of these fabrics makes these shoes even more desirable in my eyes. Who wouldn’t want to walk a mile in the shoes (almost literally) of historical women miles and years apart from us?
What’s also great about the collection is that it’s simple. These aren’t off-the-wall, barely wearable designs. Instead they are shoes your mother might even pick out. Flats feature vibrant, colourful prints but in classic, comfortable shapes. Strappy t-bars come in beautiful fabrics, and round-toed platform heels look positively walkable. Very much Eastern in influence, these pieces aren’t something you would find easily on the high street. With their unique patterns combined with simple designs, these shoes wouldn’t fit in with the hordes of uncomfortable, uninspiring bad boys out there at the moment.
The most attractive quality of the shoes lies in the tailoring service. Each pair of shoes is made specifically to fit your feet perfectly à la Cinderella’s glass slipper. The shopper chooses the shoe, selects the fabric, measures her own feet and waits for her perfect pair to materialise in Hetty’s workshop. And hey-presto, shoe magic is done!
So who is Hetty Rose? Well, unsurprisingly, Hetty is a recent graduate of the London College of Fashion in Footwear Design and Development. She set up her own business in 2007 and has been stocked across the country (and abroad) ever since. Find her at Cerise Boutique, Che Camille Boutique, Last Boutique and The Natural Store in the UK or online at her website.
I’m not going to lie, more about When I saw the image above of Pyramiddd I was a little scared about meeting them. They looked like Trouble. Kinda like something from Nickelodeon that had grown up and learnt swear words.
Recently, pilule they were over on a mini European tour, sickness one of these dates was a support slot for The Filthy Dukes at Dingwalls in Camden. For their performance Ryan seemed to be going for a 80s aerobic instructor vibe whilst the rest of the boys sported some blooomin’ beautiful dresses. After watching their vavavibrant show in which Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” got the Pyramidd treatment, I met Josh and Ryan for a chinwag. I wasn’t so scared after Josh told me he liked my dress.
J: We should trade dresses; I like your dress better.
I like your dress, I was thinking, you all have perfect arms for dresses. Like how arms should look in dresses.
R: Like girly arms?
No, Like how arms should look.
J: I have been working out a lot, like everyday. I’ll do 200 push-ups every morning.
R: He will be in the van doing push ups. And then pull ups too. And then bench-press Shawn. He will move up to me pretty soon.
You guys like to keep fit then?
J: We speed walk sometimes, have you ever seen it? It looks really weird but it feels good. It’s like some sort of gay dance.
R: They have to keep both feet on the ground.
J: Ryan has really good form now. It’s really fast; you have to use your hips a lot.
(Ryan at this point shows how it is done. Josh wasn’t lying, He does have good form.)
Its like a fast gay guy walk. Where would you do that?
J: Wherever. We like Basketball, but we can’t bring it with us. No one plays here! Soccer sucks so much. It’s like the most boring sport ever.
R: Plus you get to see a lot more when you speed walk
And you only have to think about your feet, No hand eye co-ordination to think about.
J: Yeah, You don’t need a ball.
R: And actually, flat shoes are the best for speed walking, they form with you feet. You want your feet to be able to move and bend. These are my speed walking shoes. They look cool because they are purple on the bottom
J: And Ryan jump ropes a lot too.
Like for boxing, do you box?
R: I box a little recreationally, mostly just to stay in shape.
J: And because the drives are so fucking long, being in the van for like 8 or 10 hours and we drive ourselves, getting out doing jump rope, its just good to move
R: Even if we are at a gas/petrol station we can get out and just do jump rope. It feels good. It kinda messes with your shins after a while. They will get sore.
Yeah, don’t do it on hard surfaces.
J: Yeah, and you have to stretch a lot.
So, is this your first time in Europe?
Both: As a band, yeah.
You have done London, Paris and Amsterdam, that all for now?
J: Yeah, that’s it, it’s a really short tour, Most dates are in London, 4 shows in London.
That’s a lot!
J: Yeah its a lot…one of them didn’t count though, so…
Why not? Was it shit?
J: Yeah, that’s it exactly … I’d rather not talk about it. We will just let that go!
R: I’m sure even Pearl Jam plays bad shows.
Ok then, how have you found the reception in Europe compared to the US?
J: Its different. Well, we’re brand new here so people don’t know us, but I feel like it has been pretty good. Starting with Amsterdam until now all of our shows have been good!
R: I feel like it’s comparable to our first US tour. Our first us shows people didn’t really know who we were so people just watching checking us out, but then our second time in the US people knew who we were, so they were having more fun and dancing. Here its our first time people are checking us out, they don’t know who we are, but they are still really receptive.
You have plans to come back?
J: Yeah we are talking about Glastonbury. We are going to focus on recording for the next few months and try and build on our new name.
You like the UK so far? Done all the stuff your meant to do, like fish and chips?
J: Yeah but I’m never gonna do that again, that was so gross! I fucking hate British food, everything is just fried or made of potato, like chips. It’s fucking disgusting. I just want a salad! Maybe it’s just where we have been because we don’t really know where to find good food. But I had horrible fish and chips, it made me sick.
It is probably on a par with American food, American foods not that nice.
J: That’s not true, American food is a mixture of all different cuisines. Portland has the best Thai food, I have had better Thai food in Portland than Thailand. The greens are fresher, Portland is right in an area where you can get fresh vegetables easy.
R: Yeah there’s a lot of local farms everywhere, its near the coast too. The cities all have pretty good food. Maybe in the mid west smaller places you get stuff closer to English food, like really bad food, no offence! No, I’m sure there’s really good food here, You have to seek it out and pay more for it.
J: Yeah, Indian food.
You miss Portland since you have been away?
J: I do. I miss the food. The food is better than any other city that I have ever been to. It’s cheaper and it’s a higher quality.
Its quite a small city too isn’t it?
J: 200,000. no 2 million.
R: Met area 2 million, actual city 500,000.
I read today that Portland holds the Worlds Oldest Teenage Drag Queen Pageant, I’m guessing this is why you all have cross dressing tendencies?
J: I didn’t even know about that! I just grew up around it. My Mom was a fag hag. One of her best friends is a Liza Minnelli impersonator at a club and I would go see it. They used to have underage nights that I’d go to with my Mom.
I’m guessing you were going for the Oliva Newton John look tonight, Ryan? You didn’t go the whole way but you had this awesome top, which I want by the way…
R: Josh found that in Reno!
J: That looks really good on you! It’s like Grandmas gambling jacket.
R: It’s amazing, when you see something on someone that looks really bad and cheesy if you put it on someone young it can look really good.
How much you pay for it?
J: A few dollars.
R: Reno has amazing thrift stores! They are all broke so they move into small trailers and give away all their clothes.
You are still based in Portland?
R: They kicked us out of Portland, we changed our name to get back in. Nah, we are still in Portland.
That’s where you record and live, that’s your base?
J: For sure. I hope so forever, I can’t see myself living anywhere else apart from maybe Japan.
You not going to go to LA OR NYC?
J: We talked about moving to LA, just for the weather, but I hate it so much, the culture is so horrible it would just be too much. It’s expensive to live there too. Ryan used to live there.
R: I did used to live there.
J: *Insert A-List Celebz Name* tried to sleep with him! He worked at a studio and you drove her home right? And she invited you in and showed you her bedroom. Before she was married, when he was like 14.
R: I was 20!
J: But you looked 14 when you were 20?
R: That’s true I looked young when I was 20.
J: Girls love young guys, do you like young guys?! Like really young guys?
(At this point, Lloyd from the X-factor comes into my head. I then before I know it find myself giving a slight nod…is this wrong?!)
J: A lot of my girl friends do like really young guys, they like the sensitive feminine thing, like they don’t know what they are doing yet.
How long have you guys been as this foursome?
J: Valentines Day, so less than a year.
You feel set, ready to take on the world?
J: Yeah, we feel confident!
R: Yeah, we are always going to be making adjustments and improvements to everything. Especially as we play more and more we will learn what we need to do to be better, but as far as the members go yeah.
You all seem to have a million interments each, this must be quite hard to juggle?
J: It fucking sucks to load and unload our equipment. Every time we carry our equipment I’m just like, “Why don’t we get rid of some of this shit?! We don’t need all this shit!”. We used to have more, we used to have 2 whole drum kits. It was crazy, its still crazy!
R: We were thinking about getting a pair of decks and start mixing the songs together and just dance all we need then is dresses. It will be like Girl Talk.
J: Yeah, You seen Girl Talk?
No.
R: Laptop. Band. Mashed up. Great.
I’ll google him.
(I did. It’s not the magazine I got when I was 10 that had ponies or puppies on the cover. I believe he is a man and he is responsible for this.)
(I bloody love it)
Keeeeep an eye ooot for episode two when Josh and Ryan talk more about food, video games and Beyonce.
Written by Rebecca Milne on Tuesday December 8th, 2009 1:22 pm
You have made numerous paintings, have interests crossed over from painting into sculpture?
I feel happier thinking in three dimensions and I have always felt more successful in making objects but I highly appreciate painting and drawing. It’s a very different way of thinking. I’ve done a fair amount of life drawing and painting; which I think has helped me to appreciate form.
I strongly believe in drawing, if not as a final out come, then as a practice to learn to see. I think as a sculptor it is important to learn to look at things and see how they work formally in order for you to understand them. I always think I can see things better after I draw from life because it forces me to look and not just glance. The art school in Athens I went to for a year before my degree in London provided amazing classical training. I definitely think it gave me a different perspective.
I am a bit shy to make paintings now because I feel like I expose too much of myself, but with sculptures I rely on the materials and the mass of the objects to defend themselves.
How do your sculptures develop through the design process?
For myself the making process is a vital part of how I develop an idea. I make a lot, a lot of which, doesn’t always work but I find the action useful. I try not to think of anything as a definitive piece, the process is important.
My work is frequently based around materials. By using impoverished materials I devalue the monumentalism classical sculpture holds. Making ‘Pythia’ was an incredibly labour intensive process. I relate the carving of the polystyrene armature and the precise measuring and cutting of each individual tile to the carving of ancient marbles. It was industrial and ordered. I made the sculptures imagining I was making an architectural fitting, similar to what classical sculptures were in their day. I also spent time in the British Museum taking photographs and working on these as drawings and sketches.
Do you start with an idea or a medium or are both equally important in your work. If this is a bit vague, I mean does the medium start the idea or does the idea influence the medium used?
I think the two go together, although I pay more attention to materials than I realize. I thought up ‘Sunset Island’ whilst in LA, I wanted to represent the crummy, grimy glamour of Hollywood with the cocktail sticks and the industrial fiberglass sphere. Materials make me think of ideas, my degree show work on temporal exoticism and classical Hellenistic sculpture developed from working with tiles, trawling the isles of hardware stores, and finding cheap marble effect ceramic tiles. This cheap marble effect alludes to the wealth represented by classical marbles.
Do you prefer to work entirely on your own as you are creating a sculpture?
I need to think and write by myself, but its really boring working alone. Now I’ve finished college, my studio is really small, crammed and damp. I miss being able to find someone to get a coffee with, when I want a break.
Sculpture is a social process, I didn’t really paint at college because of the open studios and I need to be alone to paint, its much more personal. Sculpture, however, requires banter. Conversely I pretty much had to make my degree show piece, ‘Pythia’ entirely on my own. The tile cutter makes such an awful noise I was as good as exiled out the studios at college.
Who or what are your artistic inspirations
My biggest inspiration was going to Los Angeles last year when I interned as a studio assistant for Mindy Shapero. College was OK but working for Mindy made me really hungry to make and to be an artist. There was so much energy and exuberance in the approach to life. I realized that I could do it if I wanted it badly enough.
I met amazing artists out there, like Thomas Houseago. He was so inspirational and had so much energy.
I can’t help being inspired by greats such as Picasso and Brancusi. Recently I have been reading about Rodin’s love for Greek sculpture as it conveyed the ‘ravages of the time’ in its ‘fragmentary aspect’. Rodin was a pioneer of the existential being conveyed through representation of human form, which he showed through his tactile figures.
My interest in classical Hellenistic sculpture lies in the history attached to it, ‘the ravages of time’, and the wars fought around it. Also the way sculptors repeatedly revert back to it as true sculpture.
I love museums, especially the old musty sort. They contain an exoticism: a longing for a bygone age. I am interested in fragmentary discovery and understanding history, therefore museums are exciting transient spaces full of mystery and discovery.
Do the paper drawings feed the physical process of making a sculpture?
The drawings are really beautiful. I started making them as plans for sculptures to understand the anatomy and form of classical sculptures. Really, they are just spruced up working plans, but I think that’s what’s attractive about them. I tried making sculptures directly from them but it was a complete failure so in a sense they are failures at working drawings. Again they were important for my process, especially as I was making work about existing work, it was important for me to understand existing sculptures.
I tried to convey the museum feel in them. Displaying the images like old school posters or crumbling educational departments in museums. As museums attempt to explain history, the classical sculptures I was looking at. They are objects, which represent an exotic bygone age, but essentially are just glorified rocks
What’s next for Zoe Paul?
I’m excited to have been selected for ‘Future Map 09’, a selection of a handful of graduating students from across the University of the Arts London, of both graduates and post graduates.
In terms of work I’m excited to continue my idea of temporal exoticism and the allure objects hold. I’ve been reading an amazing book about a shipwreck containing sculptures on their way to Rome during the Roman occupation of Greece around 70BC, discovered off a Greek island in 1900. The book delivers amazing descriptions of the sculptures being gnarled and eaten by the sea. I like the idea of these vast powerful sculptures rotting at the bottom with such history attached to them.
I would like to make more tactile works that show my process. I love the way Rebecca Warren’s figures do that.
Debut album “Sea Sew” came out this summer from Miss Hannigan and she is now touring to support this. The Mercury Prize nominated album includes singles “Lille” and “I Don’t Know”. She continues the tour in Manchester and Birmingham before a string of Irish dates leading up to Christmas.
Previously known as something that isn’t suitable for publishing at this time of day, these punk/rock/pop/disco kids tick all the boxes. They are touring in the UK for the first time to support debut single “Medicine” which is out November 30th. As well as appearing at the Flowerpot tonight they will also play ICA with those Filthy Dukes on the 25th and Notting Hill Arts Club on the 26th of November.
This Portland based posse come to London to treat us with their mellow indie folk tracks that feature on the beautiful album, “Hold Your Ghost”. These guys who have been compared to Neutral Milk Hotel and Beirut are tonight performing with Laura Gibson.
Fancy some Friday night stimulation? The Silver Odyssey experience covers all bases with Sounds, Sights, Smells, Touch, and Tastes to please. The techno teatime sounds come courtesy of Radio Slave and The Time and Space Machine. The secret location shall be revealed 2 days before the event.
Listing films such as “The Never Ending Story” as one of his influences, Cinnamon Chasers says . “I try to create music that gives me the vibe those classic films gave me as a kid”. Do you need another reason to go and experience this?
Electro act Cinnamon Chasers shall perform along side Master&Servant and Glover.
Learning to play the Violin by ear from the age of two Sophie Solomon combines this with her vocal skills and merges a melody of styles into her music. The album “Poison Sweet Madeira” is her most recent offering.
Written by Rebecca Milne on Monday November 23rd, 2009 3:45 pm
When bands start out bursting with energy and ideals and the prospect of tours and radio play seem remote, the bass player’s girlfriend might be heard to mumble, “What the heck, why don’t you call yourselves Starfucker?”
A good idea at the time when it didn’t really seem to matter, but career-forging reality appears to have kicked in for multi-instrumentalist Josh Hodges and his bandmates.
After consulting fans they’ve announced they are now to be known by the more polite and search engine-friendly name Pyramiddd.
Watching MGMT and Passion Pit whiz by in a blur of retro-future synthpop into the chart sunset – even missing out on a tour with the latter supposedly due to the sweary name – it seems Pyramiddd/Starfucker have thought, “Hang on, We fancy a bit of that”, or however they talk in Oregon.
Valiant attempts in interviews to fend off accusations of careerism haven’t been convincing, but who can blame them for wanting a piece of the action? Or wanting to discuss their band name with their Gran?
In a more candid moment they say they’d “Rather be like eating dinner and paying rent than being cool, You know”. Which is fair enough.
Medicine is catchy electropop, polished and radio-friendly. Not as effortlessly cool as previous single Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second (though that doesn’t sound quite so cool soundtracking a cloying American TV ad) they seem to have pulled the less-Hot-Chip-more-Cut-Copy lever, which is a shame.
With their sights seemingly set on cracking into the mainstream and freely admitting they’re making “simple pop stuff”, there’s a bit more sheen this time round, the expensive-sounding end result not unlike a poppier MGMT without Dave Fridmann at the controls.
Opening lyrics like “never remember your birthday, or anything you like” are not going to knock Dylan off his perch, but as my old music teacher used to say, nobody listens to the lyrics if you wear a nice hat.
This particular Medicine might not make you walk naked around the streets grabbing strangers by the lapels shouting “GET INTO PYRAMIDDD IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!” into peoples’ faces, but it’s a decent slice of pop Now. And I’ll bet they’re better live, when sheen usually drips off with the sweat.
If you like your rock’n’roll dark and dangerous then steer clear, but if you think what the world needs is a hybrid of Hot Chip, Cut Copy and MGMT then you’ll love it.
Last word to my flatmate – when I passed her the cans for an opinion, she listened for a bit and said, “I like your headphones.
