Graphic designer Emil Kozak posing for the Braun Cruzer campaign

“I guess what really hooked me on skateboarding was the creativity,” he says from Barcelona, where he moved to from his native Denmark for, as he puts it, his ‘love of skateboard (and his girlfriend).” After an initial phase of lots of “staring at the ceiling because of the language barrier”, Emil managed to set up a design practice in the city that focuses on art direction, graphic design, illustration and communication for well-known, influential culture and fashion imprints such as Eastpak, Burton or Nike. ‘Danish design made in Barcelona’ became his tag line. Think Northern pragmatism with Southern warmth.

Today, Emil’s inspiration net is cast slightly wider, with everything from mother nature and photography to surfing and pop culture giving him enough material for reflection and creation. And, with a visual style that tilts towards the playful and good-humoured, it is no wonder he has taken his art to, well, the canvas.

Read our Q&A with the man-of-the-moment below.

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Graphic designer by day, artist at night.

How did you get into art?

It has been a slow process of realizing that my main voice is visual in some sense.

How would you describe your art to someone who hadn’t seen it before?

Naive, bold, positive and simple. I love simplicity. I like to speak as clear and precise about a certain theme… I feel simplicity does that.

What was the reason for your breakthrough? Luck? Talent? Stamina?

I mix of the above. I also think I have been fortunate to have long periods of uninterrupted reflection, which might get some balls rolling. Especially when I moved to Spain from my native Denmark. I often found myself in situations of staring at the ceiling because of the language barrier. Now I speak Spanish fluently, though.

Why did you start working with skateboards instead of canvases?

I started when I began skateboarding, itʼs quite common that skateboarders customize the board and griptape etc. I think skateboarding is a very creative game. Itʼs about making something out of nothing. A skateboarder sees a playground when other people see an empty parking lot. It is like this imaginary world that you can go to when the other one sucks.

How long have you been skateboarding?

I got a skateboard when I was around seven years old (a little orange plastic board) that I used to play with in my grandparentsʼ living room. Throughout my early teenage years I got obsessed with skateboarding and I spent a lot of years studying magazines, movies and skating the streets of my city. But what really hooked me on skateboarding was the creativity: ripping with style, the colors, the music and the visual marks blew my mind. From there on it kinda influenced every part of my life and way of thinking.

Why do you live in Barcelona? Tell us about your studio and the art and board scene there.

I am from a small island in the south of Denmark. From a city called Maribo. I moved to Spain a bit more than five years ago. My girlfriend is from Valencia and we wanted to live together in a place that was kind of “in between” our two backgrounds. We also decided on Barcelona for practical reasons… The airport, its central location and the fact that we had a lot of friends already living in Barcelona. On top of that, the art scene etc. is pretty exciting here… lots of stuff going on! Good graffiti and great places to hang out with a skateboard. With my studio I focus on art direction, brand/identity development, graphic design, illustration and communication for a wide range of clients. The studio was established in 2003 and has been working with the most well-known and influential brands in arts and culture, fashion and entertainment. Usually clients contact me because they are looking for something visually strong, with a contemporary twist – Danish design made in Barcelona!

Perfect start to your day? Perfect end to your day?

Surfing at sunrise, and having a beer at sunset…

How long does it usually take you to work on a piece of art?

A lifetime plus one to 30 hours…approximately.

Whatʼs your favorite subject to paint?

Anything that somehow relates to western culture and the human condition.

What do you think makes a painting an artwork?

It all comes down to context. In this day and age anything can be considered art….it just depends on the context.

Whatʼs your favorite piece of work so far?

The Kindergarten Legends. They are ideas from when I was in kindergarten myself. I remember that we used to tell stories about other kids who had apple trees growing in their tummies, because they had swallowed the seeds from an apple. We actually believed it – I love the surreal imagination that kids have!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Skateboards, Alicia, the city, the nature, sentences out of context, logos, typography, my brother, ping pong, surfing, guitars, handwriting, photography, books, paint, doodles, animals, children, pop culture and pretty much everything in between!

What people and artists do you admire?

Iʼm fascinated by creative people who have had a life-long creative career. People like Milton Glaser, Man Ray, David Lynch, Herb Lubalin and many many more…

Name the last three things you bought?

The book ‘Niagara’ by Alec Soth, an Olympus point-and-shoot camera from the 80s for only three Euros and a flashlight.

What do you do in your free time?

I spend time with friends and family. I also enjoy surfing, books and lazy days at the beach.

What are you most proud of?

Working on my own, and being in control of my own path.

What projects do you have coming up?

Iʼm in the midst of creating a surf brand. It explores the phenomenon of localism, but from a different angle. Instead of the surfers being the ‘locals’, the point is Mother Nature being the rightful owner of a given area. Sharks, water, whales etc. Humans are NOT the center of the universe. It is called ‘Locals Only’. I recently also did a collaboration with Braun cruZer for one of their product lines. At first it might seem an unusual thing for me to team up with the guys from Braun but actually it was a cool combo. After all, just like my work theirs also revolves around style. And besides Iʼm into beards myself and like to express my personality with the way I look.

So imagine our delight when we heard about 120-year-old shoemaker J.M. Weston inviting preppy-hipster label Kitsune to update, reinterpret and revisit some of its classics. Not only did it, in our mind, make complete artistic and commercial sense, the two brands are known for their attention to detail and their high standards in terms of design and craftsmanship.  What more could you want, really? We caught up with J.M Weston’s artistic director Michel Perry and Kitsune co-founder Masaya Kuroki a couple of days ago to talk authenticity, nostalgia and Kitsune interns…

J.M. Weston's Michel Perry and Maison Kitsune Masaya Kuroki

Photography Joke De Wilde

The Word: There is an enormous amount of collaborations, exclusive collections and what not in the fashion industry. Where does one start when working on collaboration?

Michel Perry: it is first and foremost about sincerity and transparency. The fact of collaborating, of doing co-branding is, in itself, nothing new.  But what is new is to find people who correspond entirely to the evolution that we wish to give to the brand, and who benefit just as much as we do in the collaboration. There needs to be a true exchange. And that’s my role as creative director, to put into place these principles that work. And I think we’re quite satisfied here…Things didn’t happen overnight, as we had already met a year ago, and I found Masaya to have sensibilities towards the brand that were right. Then, Masaya called back, several times..

Masaya Kuroki: I really insisted…SMS, email, telephone, love letters…

MP: So we gave it a thought, wondering what we could do with Masaya. We liked what he did, we just needed to find the twist. So we thought about the invitation, as I thought it was a nice way of opening the brand up to other things, whilst still respecting its soul.

It's all in the detail

The Word: When you say ‘opening up the brand to other things’ you mean opening it up to Kitsune’s client base?

MP: Yes, exactly. I had arrived at Weston in 2000, and had brought along a much younger clientele to the brand, with a more urban style. But I wanted to go beyond that, and touch a clientele that didn’t yet have the ‘Weston reflex’, a clientele for who Weston was a brand steeped in history, one they considered ‘classic’, but definitely not ‘fashion’. Few clients knew how to use and wear Weston as a contemporary brand, and pair it with their more modern-day style. Working with Kitsune also has a certain cachet, and acts as a validation of a certain style and quality. It confirms that Weston is well-and-truly ‘fashion’. It also greatly adds value to Kitsune’s brand, as the association with such a historial brand as J.M. Weston definitely helps. Interests and benefits are therefore shared. The association just works.

The Word: Practically, where does one begin?  Do you spend six months in J.M. Weston’s archives?

MP: Not really no. I think our intuition helps, as well as our cultures. That and also the fact that we knew each other. It’s a rather transparent process, very logical. Masaya did go to the archives in Limoges, to see the company’s history and past and meet the craftsmen. He discovered the company’s link to sports (golf and horse riding), which informed his creations with a vision of today. The mix happened very quickly. Masaya has his universe (preppy, East Coast Americana, new Bourgeois) and we had ours. They just both met. Once Masaya had enough inspiration and visual references to begin, he drew up the collection, then we met again and went back to Limoges to work with the craftsmen in the workshop. Nothing really was new in terms of the materials used. It is more the way in which they were used and combined that differed. The shapes already existed back in 1950s, which explains the deep authenticity of the collection. That was very important to me. And, commercially, this opens up Weston to a whole new clientele.

Masaya Kuroki: its true that the idea from the beginning wasn’t to create something new. We wanted to share something that was important to us, an interpretation, an update. There was a new kind of dress code I wanted to integrate to the brand, a new way of wearing Weston. There was a ‘made in France’ label that was very important to me, and that I wanted to exploit it. It is very rare nowadays. There also was the timeless element of Weston which appealed to me: these are shoes that last a lifetime. To give you an example, we have an intern at Kitsune offices at the moment, and he was wearing a pair of Westons. I asked him about them, saying I found it a little odd for his age, and he said there were his grandfathers.

Boots, 660 euros

The Word: Where does this Americana influence come from? The collection clearly seems to be shaped by the United States of the Kennedy era…

MP: That’s Masaya’s influences…

MK: I grew up in Paris, but was very much influenced by East Coast music from the 60s to the 80s. Music is extremely important to transport me back to a period. It is nostalgic, but brought back to today.

MP: Music is indeed a very important factor. When I arrived at Weston back in 2000, I analysed its code and, rather naturally, took it towards an English Dandy kind of style. My musical tastes clearly being New Wave, I naturally took my creations in that way.

Derby shoe (595 euros)

The Word: If the collection were a film, which one would it be?

MK: There’s a Great Gatsby element to the collection.

MP: Arianne, with Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper.

The Word: And if it were an album or an artist?

MP: Marianne Faithfull, with her rebellious, iconic and classic essence.

MK: A lot a band could represent the collection. It’s difficult to give just one artist. Bizarrely, I could see Two Door Cinema Club wearing the collection. The music fits perfectly with the collection: its melodious, casual and pop. I could see Sam wearing the white pair, Alex wearing the moccasins and Gab wearing the boots. Their album’s called Grand Tourismo, so it works.

The Word: We have a habit of asking rapid-fire questions to help readers get a sense of your inner world. Which website can’t you live without?

MK: The New York Times’ website. I only read their headlines though.

MP: Me too actually. I don’t watch TV. I also visit French websites, such as Le Figaro.

The Word: Creatives often resort to magazines for nurturing their creativity and inspiration. Which magazines do you read?

MK: Monocle and Gentlewoman. Fashion titles but with a certain sense of conservatism.

MP: I don’t buy any magazines, but do pick them up here and there. My inspiration’s really been built up over the years. I stock images continuously. It’s an every day job. I write everything down in notebooks. My wife’s really the one who subscribes to magazines.

The Word: do you listen to the radio in the studio? Which ones do you listen to?

MK: I actually have a huge respect for Belgian radios. I remember when Phoenix’s debut album came out, Belgian radios were the first to play it, even though French radios were still sleeping on it.

The Word: That’s odd, given that a large proportion of Belgians listen to French radio, and Radio Nova more specifically.

MK: That’s funny…then again, you do have the best DJs in the world…Two Many DJs. The Dewaele brothers have always been amazing.

The Word: People tend to watch less movies, and more TV series. Which ones do you watch?

MK: It’s the new DVD generation. Madmen is an obvious one.

The Word: It’s a very J.M Weston TV series actually…

MK: Definitely…

MP: It’s true that we aren’t very far off from the series’ entire style and aesthetic.

MK: I actually did a collection that was called Madmen, Kitsune’s AW2010. I even found a model that had the Draper look.

J.M. Weston’s East Hampton collection, seen by Kitsune

Available from J.M. Weston Brussels

Avenue Louise 52 Louizalaan

1050 Brussels

Photography Joke De Wilde

“A lot of my transitions flow and connect fluidly like I am telling a story,” says Ronnie Abaldonado, one of the judges to this year’s Braun Battle of the Year breakdancing contest. A Filipino living in Las Vegas, Ronnie (28) has secured some of the most respected break titles around (winner of the 2007 Red Bull BC One, first place at Las vegas’ prom Am, first place at Cannes’ Break The Floor), a feat he attributes to sheer hard work, commitment and determination. “Stuff like this doesn’t just happen to you. It’s hard work. I train at least two hours a day, five days a week.’ says the straight-talking breaker, conscious of his influence on emerging dancing talent and his responsibility to tell it how it is. Having gotten serious about breaking at age 10 (he lived in Guam at the time), he first started emulating moves picked up on MTV”s music videos and imitating his older brother Rodolfo. At the time, his ultimate goal in life was to be as good as him. He quickly overtook his brother’s stage prowess, and went on to achieve much more than mere family supremacy. Becoming one of the States’ highest ranking b-boys, his style quickly became synonymous with an intricate attention to detail, sharp execution and a heavy dose of realism. His many variations of freezes, his intricate footwork as well as his power moves are now the stuff of legend, with Ronnie’s name firmly engraved in every self-respecting hip hop fan’s mind. His success has even led to an appearance in b-boy documentary Turn It Loose, endorsements by leading advertisers (Braun) and, today, every kid from Sao Paolo to Seoul name-dropping Ronnie in the same way b-boys from the 1990s’ heydays name-dropped Crazy Legs. Call him a no-nonsense breaker. A ‘blood, sweat and tears’ type dancer who means serious business. And it shows.

Watch a break sequence Ronnie filmed for Braun

Watch a behind-the-scenes video of Ronnie shooting the Braun Body CruZer campaign

This post is the first in a series of sponsored profiles on up-and-coming ‘movers & shakers’.

Photography Sébastien Bonin

Photography Sébastien Bonin

Photography Sébastien Bonin

Photographer Sébastien Bonin

Photographer’s assistant Ludovic Hanton

Fashion Simon-Pierre Toussaint

Retouching Jonathan Steelandt

Hair and make-up Sigrid Volders for Chanel and Bumble & Bumble

Model Helen Feskens @ Dominique Models

With extra special thanks to Julien Hassid (director), Jochem Thyssen (distributor/actor), Yassin Serghini (photography/camera).

Photography, fashion & art direction KKGB

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/14235264[/vimeo]

The Warriors

Left to right, top to bottom: Byram Model’s Own — Jérémie wears Tank top “Le Fabuleux Marcel de Bruxelles”, Sheep skin vest Costumart, Jeans and boots Model’s Own — Selwyn wears Jeans Diesel, Zipped boots Sacha — Raphael wears Jeans Denham from RSRV — Ezekiel wears Jeans Diesel, Lace up boots Boss Orange — Enzo wears Jeans Denham from RSRV, Tee shirt and Trainers Model’s Own — Idrissa wears Jeans Closed, Lace up boots Sacha — Jurgen wears Jeans Diesel, Chains Model’s Own, Boots Sacha, Leather vests and batons Costumart

The Lizzies

Marjolijn wears Vest Mais il est où le soleil?, Dress Patrizia Pepe, Belt (worn as a necklace) Ikks, Necklace Nico Taeymans, Clutch and cuff Delvaux, Bracelet and necklace (worn as a bracelet) & ring Swarovski, Booties Robert Clergerie — Sandrine wears Sweater dress Natascha Stolle from Hunting & Collecting, Belt Model’s Own, Feather headband Costumart, Necklace Marion Vidal, Bracelet & ring Thomas Sabo, Necklace (worn as a bracelet)& Bracelet Longchamp, Clutch Model’s Own, Boots Rog Willer — Sabrina wears Dress h&m, Necklace Marion Vidal, Belt Patrizia Pepe, Feather headband Costumart, Ring Melody Eshani @ Kakkoiiiro, Bag Gucci − Khloe wears Tee shirt h&m, Leggings Filles à Papa, Necklace and bracelet Marion Vidal, Shoes Model’s Own − Louise wears Tank Ikks, Leggings and clutch Filles à Papa, Necklace Marion Vidal, Wedges Robert Clergerie − Julie wears Cardigan Hoss, Top Jean-Paul Knott, Leggings Patrizia Pepe, Feather bracelets Mais il est où le soleil?, Clutch Model’s Own, Shoes Robert Clergerie.

The Fixies

Leon wears Cardigan Tommy Hilfiger, Shirt Essentiel Homme, Shorts épisode, Hat Costumart, Trainers JoJo’s —Xavier wears Vest éric Bompard, Tee shirt Vandenvos, Shorts épisode, Socks and shoes Model’s Own —Yoann wears Shirt Tommy Hilfiger, Trousers Lacoste, Trainers Model’s Own —Romain wears Cardigan Lacoste, Trousers Céline Collard, Shirt and shoes Model’s Own —Hannibal wears Cardigan “Le Fabuleux Marcel de Bruxelles”, Shirt Tommy Hilfiger, Trousers Hugo by Hugo Boss, Cape Model’s Own, Trainers JoJo’s.

The Hockey Jocks

Pedro wears Jacket Onitsuka Tiger, Tee shirt Superdry, Jeans Levi’s, Trainers Nike —Nicolas wears Jacket Levi’s, Cardigan Boss Green, Jeans h&m, Tee shirt and Sneakers Onitsuka Tiger— Joe wears Jacket l.o.g.g., Polo Onitsuka Tiger, Shorts Model’s Own, Trainers Converse —Karim wears Jacket épisode, Tee shirt Nike, Jeans Filippa K, Trainers Nike —Rokko wears Jacket Nike, Hoodie Superdry, Tee shirt Nike, Trousers Bellerose, Sneakers Diesel.

The Circus

Hyun wears Blazer Costumart, Tee shirt Filippa K, Trousers Essentiel Woman, Necklace Uto Pia, Brooch “La mouche à deux culs” from Lez-arts-cachés, Trainers Perso —Ilyas wears Woman blazer and Tee shirt h&m, Trousers épisode, Necklace Uto Pia, Shoes Sacha —Jean-Baptiste wears Jacket Closed, Woman’s top h&m, Pants épisode, Necklace Uto Pia, Brooch “La mouche à deux culs”, Bracelet Model’s Own, Stick Costumart, Shoes h&m − Deborah wears Lamé vest Costumart, Trousers épisode, Necklace Uto Pia, Shirt Model’s Own, Socks Rue Blanche, Boots Sacha —Yves wears Vest Diesel, Tee shirt Filles à Papa, Trousers Rue Blanche, Necklace Uto Pia, Shoes Model’s Own —Minh wears Perfecto Agnès b. Femme, Tank top “Le Fabuleux Marcel de Bruxelles”, Trousers épisode, Necklace Uto Pia, Suspenders Costumart, Trainers Fago.

And here are the picture you weren’t supposed to see…

KKGB is

Photographer Gabriele Trapani
Photographer’s assistant Basile Cuvelier
Art director Nam Simonis
Fashion Amarande Angely, Brunel Mintona
Hair & make up Orla McKeating & Miaou and Eileen Caytan@cestchic.be with Redken
Video Federico Zanghì
Editing Matthieu Becker
Casting & Executive Production Soumaya DanceMachine

Thanks to

Tamarind Foods, La Fabrique 22A, Belinda Cordier from C’est Chic, Fred@CutMe, Nico & Yoann from Reservoir Shop, Marie-Pierre Duquenois, Cristina Damman & Costumart

And all the gangs

The Warriors: Jurgen, Idrissa, Ezekiel, Selwyn, Enzo, Jeremie, Byriam, Raphael
The Lizzies: Sabrina, Marjolijn, Julie, Sandrine, Louise, Khloe
The Fixies: Xavier, Romain, Leon, Hannibal, Yoann
The Hockey Jocks: Joe, Karim, Rokko, Nicolas, Pedro
The Circus: Jean-Baptiste, Hyun, Minh, Ilyas, Deborah, Yves

What does it take these days to hype yourself through to breakthrough point? We ask four industry insiders to give us the skinny on making it in music, politics, art and the tabloid press.

Writer Hettie Judah + Anonymous, photography and video KKGB

Behind most hot new stars there’s a breakthrough story – a discovery myth packed with coincidence, lucky breaks and raw talent. The juicy waitress, whose polyester-clad charms catch the eye of a Hollywood producer as she passes cherry pie across the counter. The uncompromising band that storm into the office of the label head with their demo tapes and get signed on the spot for sheer audacity. The publicity-shy artist, discovered near starvation in his garret, who has his entire portfolio snapped up by a major collector. The fearless politician prepared to risk his party career for a cause he truly believes in.

There are few things that keep the celebrity-loving public dreaming more effectively than the notion that you can miraculously become famous and successful without needing to do anything so undignified as try. In part, it’s because we all get to share in the myth – every waitress can dream of being spotted, every pub band hold onto the belief that one day, they too will be rewarded for staying true to their roots. The breakthrough myth allows us to ignore the machinery that keeps us so well fed with next big things and makes sure that we’re always ready for more. Magazines from Grazia to Time depend on a steady stream of new stories – be that the latest young designer, an artfully concocted piece of celebrity gossip or a political scoop – to fill their pages every week. Journalists, scouts and talent hunters are on a constant heat-seeking mission, ears cocked for a tell-tale buzz that will lead them to the next breakthrough.

Catch them when they’re tired, cynical, and fatigued insiders from every industry will disclose the well-trodden path that will carry someone from struggling obscurity to next-big-thingitude. The common line is that no-one knows anything – whether in the art world or the music industry, it seems that an astonishing number of the supposed front-line taste makers are guided by herd instinct rather than taste or intelligence. One music industry correspondent scathingly described the entire A&R world as a flock of sheep, incapable of independent opinions and always ready to stampede towards whatever new act the herd had managed to hype up within its ranks.

Looking and acting the part is the first step to breakthrough, whether that means airing your stroppy good looks in the right Berlin bars to send shivers round the art world, or rolling up your shirt sleeves and growing your hair long enough to be anointed a crusading political maverick. The perfect embodiment of style over substance is the now familiar breed of indeterminate female celebrities that keep the popular press so well supplied with fleshy front-page snaps. Qualifications for this kind of breakthrough include the ability to get photographed falling out of doll-sized clothes, the willingness to undergo major surgery in order to stay on the front pages, and a ruthlessness about your personal life that can translate the most intimate encounters into headline news.

Celebrity is infectious, and grows exponentially with every connection – whether you’re a young designer of questionable talent who becomes best friends forever with the top model of the moment, an aspiring TV presenter who buys herself credibility and column inches dating the singer of an indie band, or an ageing pin-up who boosts her recording career by marrying a high profile politician. Hanging out with famous people is one of the easiest ways to generate buzz for your breakthrough. Being admitted into the circle of fame acts as an endorsement: if the famous people think that you’re good enough to be famous, well, who are the rest of us to argue? For all our desire for discovery myths, part of us knows that we’re being sold to, and our enthusiasm for novelty can quickly become tainted by suspicion. We purify ourselves through our tendency to yank new stars off their pedestals as fast as we put them up there. Breakthrough may be easy, but to stay hot you need people to like you – the ruthless aggression, arrogant posturing and flexible morals that propelled you to fame are not necessarily well suited to maintaining your position in the public affection.

The alternatives are to genuinely become that thing that you’re pretending to be – a talented artist, a real actress, a musician who can write – or to have such control over the relevant sectors of the press that you can effectively manufacture and maintain an entirely fictional public persona. For a musician, model or artist it helps to start dating the editor of a magazine, in politics you can control the flow of information to selected journalists (unless you’re in Italian politics, in which case you can buy the newspaper and threaten any journalist who steps out of line with actual bodily harm.) For an illustration of how fragile fame is after a successful breakthrough, try leafing through a few out-of-date magazines and see how many names stay the course. It makes you think, really, whether it might not be more noble to dream of being a flash in the pan or a one-hit wonder than to put all the tiresome effort into actually making it for real. Better a speedy breakthrough and even speedier retreat, perhaps, than hanging around to remind everyone that you’re yesterday’s news.

The hot new band

Samuel: All clothes Model's own. Nathalie: T-Shirt Petit Bateau, jewellery Véritas. Vincent: blazer Brunel Mintona. Timothy: All clothes Model's own.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/12833235[/vimeo]

Timothy: All clothes Model's own. Samuel: All clothes Model's own. Vincent: blazer Brunel Mintona. Nathalie: T-Shirt Petit Bateau, jewellery Véritas.

Samuel: All clothes Model's own. Timothy: All clothes Model's own. Nathalie: T-Shirt Petit Bateau, jewellery Véritas. Vincent: blazer Brunel Mintona.

To make a buzz band you need to look the part: emaciated to the point of collapse in jeans as skinny as drinking straws, your hair weighs more than your head and is so directional in cut that you must become accustomed to viewing the world through one eye. On the feet – Converse or beaten up brogues. Over the t-shirt – a leather jacket held together by ambition alone. One member must be of semi-aristocratic heritage with a monthly allowance to fund your start up (and pay for your drugs). You’ll also need a manager (to pay for your drugs when the monthly allowance dries up), and a handful of hazy long-haired Bambi-limbed girls to follow you everywhere, have sex with occasionally (and pay for your drugs). Lurk around Shoreditch on a daily and nightly basis creating a ‘scene’. (‘Scenes’ are what A&R men care about. None of them would know a half decent band if it stood up in their pint). Creating a scene couldn’t be easier. Affiliate yourself with another band: perhaps you could share a drummer or a bass player: as long as there is a skein of a recognisable sonic hook to your output then voila, you have your scene. Next, make a record on an obscure label and coerce the next Gavin Turk or Jake Chapman to make a video that will cost twice as much as was budgeted for, take light years to edit, you will hate and no one will ever see. And now we come to our nirvana – the launch party. Cultivate some contacts in the world of fashion. The Holy Grail in this world is Alexa Chung. Get someone who knows someone who is a friend of her make-up artists to invite her to your launch party. If she, oh hallelujah, actually turns up, manoeuvre her near the sound system and get her to press a button and then you can say that Alexa Chung DJ’d at your launch party and honey, you have arrived. (“Lady Parker”)

The celebrity politician

Suit, tie and shirt Café Costume

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/12832821[/vimeo]

Suit, tie and shirt Café Costume

Suit, tie and shirt Café Costume, shoes and briefcase Weston

“If you are not on television or radio” the head of a big research group said to me the other day, “you are dead.” Nowhere is this stomach-churning bullshit more true than in the political world. At party conferences old school friends have begged me to put them on the television, offering to say or do pretty much anything so they can to get 15 seconds of face time on the magic lantern. The media you need to deal with are of course changing fast; the two biggest recent hits from the Palace of Nonentities – the European Parliament – were YouTube sensations; both of them Europhobes. Dan Hannan and Nigel Farage delivered speeches and soundbites perfectly suited to a three minute attention span. Being media savvy and media friendly is however a necessary but not sufficient condition for political success. It really does help if you are clever. Not too clever. Too smart and you quickly receive the kiss-of-death label ‘wonkish’ or ‘nerdy’ (see: British Foreign Secretary David Milliband, oh-so-yesterday’s man). But to get to the top you need to know the basics of contemporary history, politics and economics. Nobody else does, but some smart-alec journalist will catch you out pretty fast if you don’t (see: Sarah Palin). Finally, to make it – and here we are talking about the big time, not about time-serving in the Assemblee Nationale or getting a peachy number in the Food Standards Agency – you need to be mad. Not so much that people are concerned for their safety when you are around, but mad so that you are ready to sacrifice everything, everything – your family, your health, every last scrap of dignity – in pursuit of high office. In 1993 Nicolas Sarkozy, then mayor of a prosperous suburb of Paris, walked into a school where an explosives laden lunatic had taken a bunch of children hostage and negotiated the releases of the boys and girls. That’s the kind of madness you should aspire to. So, ask yourself, as you step up to the base of the greasy pole, do you feel lucky, punk? (“Deep Vote”)

The Artist

All clothes Model's own

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/12832458[/vimeo]

All clothes Model's own

All clothes Model's own

There’s a scene in Basquiat (1996), Julian Schnabel’s brilliantly cornball biopic, where the doomed artist asks his slacker pal how long it takes to get famous. “Four years,” is the reply. Nowadays, particularly if you want the short, meteoric career, you can do it in two. First, get noticed: be tall, good-looking (artworld people are, on average, 68 percent prettier than anywhere outside of fashion, not that all of them are outside of fashion), and have a weird, striking name (hello, Tris Vonna-Michell) and exotically mixed heritage. If possible, be an ex-model (Matthew Barney, Rosson Crow). Make your art comfortingly retro, yet complicatedly so, e.g. paintings that recall Paris in 1919 crossed with New York in 1958, or films that look like ‘60s documentaries but don’t make any sense. If you haven’t been tapped by a hot, youth-obsessed gallery like New York’s Team or London’s Herald Street at your MA degree show (oops!), forget sending jpegs and begging letters. Instead, move to Berlin – it’s losing its edge, but you’ll probably discover which low-rent enclave artists are decamping to next – and hug the bar in Keyser Soze until loudmouth bragging about your radically dematerialised aesthetic strategy and/or willingness to stand drinks for anyone who resembles a curator (thick square glasses or, if you’re curatorial kingpin Hans Ulrich Obrist, Mekon forehead) puts you in a biennale and gets you written about in frieze or Kaleidoscope. Then, keep making the same artwork over and over. Be the fill-in-the-blank guy/girl; defend your corner. Hire young, hungry assistants, who’ll not only make your work but have the ideas too. (You’ll have stolen your first, fame-creating idea from someone smarter but uglier.) Finally, when you feel your moment fading, announce you’re making a feature film with your new pals James Franco and Courtney Love. Two years? At most. (“Gaston de Latour”)

KKGB is

Video Federico Zanghì
Editing Matthieu Becker
Photographer Gabriele Trapani
Art direction Nam Simonis
Stylists Amarande Angely /Brunel Mintona
Hair & make up Orla McKeating at C’est Chic

To put it in the words of the game’s creator: “…The game is to be played as often as you can, in order to be prepared for any kind of disaster. The game is to be played with anything you can lay your hands on as a pawn. You just have to feel that this button or sipping top or whatever you use has the potential to represent you and save the earth. Best played with two or three survivors. You’re free to decide what to do with them when you reach the centre square and win the game.”

Monopoly it ain’t. Then again they say love is the new green…

Illustrations Félicie Haymoz, photography Aggloweb

A pawn of choice

The domino was covered in shiny tacky stickers. When it fell on the "I love you" sticker, she had to kiss all of us. Love conquers all... yet she sort of lost the game.

That's my blue bird of paradise car! I came second, thanks to its powerfull non-toxic engine.

The five of us were full of Christmas cake and eager to win the race...

The winner of the game, the Red Horse gave a vigorous speech about how wooden toys would overcome and save the earth.

This is a good demonstration of how to hide under the table when you cross the TWISTER path on number 36. Also, you'll need a huge stack of chocolates to eat when arriving in the Swiss Shelter.

First off, the shots we ran with in our Morning After edition…

Day one...

Day 3...

Day 12...

Day 20...

Then two behind-the-scenes ones:

What Sarah – who shot the series – had to say: “Excited Mimi followed me every morning when I climbed into the attic to photograph the rotting breakfast. After I took the last picture, someone was only too happy to gobble up the decayed food.”

1. LOCAL RUDE BOYS NEEDED – Our March edition’s Fashion Special will capture the flamboyant and fickle world of rudeboy fashion. Sheep-skinned leather coats, Adidas tracksuit bottoms, white sox, Sebago’s and Louis Vuitton slinger-bags. Not to poke fun at, but rather, to immortalise. Know a bad boy with a blingy sense of (street) fashion? Have a penchant for mixing sportswear with luxury brands (think Scappa and D&G)? Want to give your neighbourhood thug some love? Email n.lewis@thewordmagazine.be with some pictures. Budgets are inexistent, but we have a load of perfumes (Giorgio Armani, Kenzo and Burberry) to giveaway to those of you who can help. The shoot takes place this Thursday morning, in Brussels.

2. SOMEONE WITH A CAR – The latest issue still needs to make it over to Leuven. Approximately 25 points need to be served, which should take you a maximum of 4 hours (it’s a small town, and they’re mostly in the center). The job pays 60 euros. Interested? Email n.lewis@thewordmagazine.be now. The Leuven round needs to be done this week.

3. CALL TO ALL DJs – Some of you might have heard that we’re organising a photography exhibition in April (more info soon to follow), during artbrussels. As such, we’ll also be throwing a party on 24th April 2010, which is the closing weekend of artbrussels. Thus, our call to all DJs to send us examples of their tastes in the shape of a 1/2 hour mix. Those DJs we fall for will be invited to play our party. Mixes should be sent to n.lewis@thewordmagazine.be before Sunday 14th February 2010.

4. INTERN NEEDED – As part of the photography exhibition we’re organising in April, we’re looking for an art history/curating/events student to intern with us on a full-time basis from 15th February to 30th April. Your responsibilities will vary: everything from liasing with our many sponsors to driving the communications push and assisting the curator in implementing her artistic direction. Applications (CV + covering letter) should be sent to h.judah@thewordmagazine.be before Friday 12th February 2010.

5. SOME MORE MORNING AFTER POSTS – We still owe you at least three posts following January’s Morning After Issue: a round-up of some of our favourite Sunday morning tracks, a test (together with Alex from on-point) of some legal drug that’s been worrying members of parliament from Berlin to Barcelona and back, and an illustrated game (and visually-enacted rule book) created by Felicie. They’re there, ready to be published, we just need to bring a couple of finishing touches to them (been a while since we last skinned up) and then we’re a go. Look out for them this week and during the course of next week.

6. CONCERT TICKETS TO WIN -  We still have a pair of tickets to the Menahan Street Band playing Het Depot on 13th February 2010. First reader to email wewrite@thewordmagazine.be with Menahan Street Band specified in the title box will be on the concert’s guest list.

7. TWITTER FOLLOWING – We know Belgium’s been slow on the Twitter uptake, so we wanted to do our part. As well as ourselves (@NicholasTheWord), here are a couple of local cats worth following: @karenVG83 (for fashion and geekiness), @on_point (for culture, music and video), @plmd (mainly for graphic design and some laughter), @Kunstart (for local culture updates), @Knotoryus (for music and culture) and @LaidBackRadio (also for music and culture as well as the best online radio online). For the novices out there, trend a topic by adding a hashtag (#) in front of it. Ours, for example, is #thewordmagazine (add it in all tweets concerning the magazine). @on-point’s hashtag of choice is #imjustsaying (one we plan on pushing too). We’re just saying (Belgian) people, get with it and follow.

And that’s our Monday morning bit of news. A lovely week to all of you…

Photography Yassin Serghini, Art direction Melisande McBurnie, Defacto model Lalita Davis

The shot we ran with

For Amazon links:

Design Revolution (Thames & Hudson), Remake it Home (Thames & Hudson), Birth of the Cool (Prestel Publishing), Like Lipstick Traces (Dokument Press), Men in the Cities (Schirmer/Mosel), 60 Innovators Shaping our Creative Future (Thames & Hudson), Tatoo Book (Maurizio Carraini)

Tryouts

And more tryouts

Musical creativity and drug addiction are dark but inevitable bedfellows, but the skewed stimulation of getting fucked-up long-term tends to end in either death or dry out. So what happens to twisted talents when they try to go straight?

Writer Randa Wazen, Illustrations Bruce Tsai, Video research Maren Spriewald

Intoxication; my inspiration

Alongside love and death, drugs have inspired some of modern music’s greatest moments. The Velvet Underground’s I’m Waiting for my Man depicts a situation anyone who’s ever dealt with a punctuality challenged dealer is well familiar with, and the subject of Heroin speaks for itself. Lou Reed, who penned both tracks, is now clean and writes albums about morality whilst former bandmate John Cale admits that cocaine and alcohol disrupted his work and he lost his sense of humour. Nowadays, the sixty-seven year old has kicked drugs and booze completely and works out in the gym. Some of the 1960s most iconic anthems pay tribute to psychedelic substances, from Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit, through the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to Jimmy’ Hendrix’s timeless guitar classic Purple Haze. Syd Barrett paid tribute to Albert Hofmann, who was the first to synthesize LSD in Pink Floyd’s Bike – a reference to the chemist’s ride back home after having ingested the substance for the first time as he was tripping without knowing it. Spiritualized’s frontman Jason Pierce never made his drug habit a secret; a disc by his former band Spacemen 3 was titled Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To, and a special edition of Spiritualized’s 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space was packaged to resemble a prescription pills box, complete with dosage indications.

The Velvet Underground’s I’m Waiting for my Man:

The Velvet Underground’s Heroin:

[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x544r5_the-velvet-underground-heroin_music[/dailymotion]

Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EntBFYOPIcE&feature=related

The Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds:

Jimmy’ Hendrix’s Purple Haze:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIvs4j4IniA&feature=related

Pink Floyd’s Bike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN-j9H0nIDs

Get clean, get rich

Sobering up has helped some bands make the leap from cult cool to stadium rock star status. Indie darlings Kings of Leon had been around for a decade before finding a massive mainstream following a few years ago. The Followill tribe, composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared and cousin Matthew, confessed to a heavy cocaine addiction – to the point where some of them wore lipstick in an attempt to cover it up. They kicked their habit, then recorded their third album Because of the Times with a new polished sound that had mass appeal. The following record Only by the Night was a worldwide hit (their tunes were on such heavy rotation last year that if we hear Sex on Fire one more time, our heads might explode).

Under The Bridge, The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most famous single, was an account of Anthony Kiedis’ drug days that started when he was barely 12. Kiedis cleaned up just in time for the album Californication, which also saw the return of John Frusciante – finally free from a lengthy heroin addiction that had him inches away from his deathbed. The album marked a clear shift in the band’s musical style and was their most commercially successful to date. Courtney Love’s tabloid fame almost eclipsed the three critically acclaimed albums she released with her band Hole. Her first solo album came out while she was still undergoing rehab and was a major flop. Back in 2005, during 3 months in a lock down rehabilitation clinic, she wrote 8 songs later christened ‘The Rehab Tapes’. Re-recorded with various celebrity friends the album, now titled Nobody’s Daughter, has been mooted for release since 2007 but due to various technical problems looks likely only to appear this year. Several autobiographical tracks like How Dirty Girls Get Clean and The Depths of My Despair were leaked to considerable enthusiasm, and it still looks like this could be Love’s best shot at reclaiming her reputation.

Kings of Leon’s Sex on Fire:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFwKpqXnLcI&feature=related

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Under The Bridge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG2DGDndKmg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQJSJe48Hs&feature=related

Macrobiotic shhhhhtimulation

Eighties synthpop duo Soft Cell came back in 2002 after an 18-year hiatus with the album Cruelty without Beauty. Marc Almond and David Ball’s earlier albums seemed directly influenced by the drugs they were taking at the time. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret was their MDMA album, The Art of Falling Apart was drenched in an acid vibe and This Last Night in Sodom can qualify as their amphetamine masterpiece. When asked what his drug of choice for the fourth opus was, Almond simply replied “Evian water and macrobiotic food”. Initially terrified of losing his creativity without being under the influence, the singer considers his sober years to be the most fruitful period of his life. After a lifetime spent exploring the limits of his own sanity (including phases of such darkness that he burnt down his own recoding studio) the godfather of dub, Lee “Scratch” Perry, recently quit weed at the age of 70. He explained in an interview that he wanted to find out if “it was the smoke making the music or Lee Perry making the music. I found out it was me and that I don’t need to smoke.”

Trent Reznor suffered from serious writer’s block while battling a drug and alcohol addiction following his second album, ominously titled The Downward Spiral. Trent went to rehab, felt super, and shared it with the whole world on With Teeth. Mind altering substances were always a major no-no for Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye. He famously sang “I’ve got better things to do than sit around and fuck my head, hang out with the living dead” in Minor Threat’s 1981 song Straight Edge. The song spawned the movement of the same name whose enthusiasts believe in a life of abstinence and sobriety.

Minor Threat’s Straight Edge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEdykxTPmaw

Minor Threat’s Ian MacKaye on documentary American Hardcore:

All creativity aside, drugs can seriously mess up another key factor: technique. Slash of Guns n Roses confessed that he’s one hell of a better guitar player since he’s been sober. Some assets on the other hand can never be retrieved. Take Whitney Houston, whose addiction to cocaine and marijuana saw her fade away from the spotlight and caused irreversible damage to her vocal cords. Houston’s long awaited comeback album I Look to You just didn’t have that old Whitney sound.

Clean and a little too serene

While certain accounts of drug days and rehab can be very deep and moving, others just fall into cliché, such as ex-Suede frontman Brett Anderson’s eponymous post-rehab solo album. Iggy Pop, once famous for his onstage antics and lyrics about beating his brain with liquor and drugs, has now become a health freak, doing tai chi every morning and releasing soft-spoken jazz records. Mick Jagger, who gave up drinking, drugs and partying in the early 00’s, released his fourth solo effort Goddess in the Doorway in 2001. Despite critical praise, the audience did not seem too receptive; neither was fellow Rolling Stone Keith Richards, who dubbed it “Dogshit in the Doorway”.

Much has changed in the studio environment too. While some epic recording sessions in the sixties turned into drug and alcohol fuelled fests of chaos, these days they’re more likely to be dealt with in a fast, sterile, and business-like fashion. If the new modus operandi hasn’t affected the actual quality of the music, it sure has killed most of the juicy stories and legendary myths surrounding it. The rehab tendency has also affected the romanticized image of the tormented artist. For where there is addiction, there usually is pain and suffering – which when creatively expressed, has been the source for much art – something the audiences feed off voraciously. As Jagger wisely put it, “who wants to listen to a load of songs about `I’m rich and happy’”? But then again, who wants to see their idols die choking on their own vomit?

First off, the six photographs we ran with in The Morning After Issue. Then, the unprintable ones…

And now for those you weren’t supposed to see….

With a piece on how going cold turkey affects talent (put together by Randa), a photography feature on taking the first metro of the morning (as captured by Ulrike), a look into some of the most outrageous apocalyptic claims ever made (written by Nick Amies), a guide to preparing for a binge (developed by a Coast), a sit-down with Lacoste artistic director Christophe Lemaire (who talked to Hettie), a day-to-day documenting of the rotting effects time going past has on your morning fry-up (painstakingly photographed by Sarah) as well as a realisation that the dealers have indeed outsmarted the boys in blue (made by Alex), The Morning After Issue most definitely lives up to its name.

Add to it our Car Special – with illustrated car tests by Pierre-Philippe and a visit to Imperia - and let’s just say we’re chuffed with our first 100 pages of content for this new decade.

This first edition of 2010 also comes with some changes on the design side: a slightly wider grid to allow for more content on each page, the introduction of tags (yes yes, like those you see on blogs) and other print-online crossovers (most of the magazine’s content will now be brought to life on the blog so stay tuned) as well as an even bolder spine. Oh, and our eponymous Post-it page has been replaced…

Back from the printers on Friday, subscribers will get it first, with the rest of you having to wait until next week. (Subscription information an distribution points here)

“Funny story, when we were doing the shoot, two guys from the heating company came to do a standard check, but Zoe was  almost fully naked, so I had to hide her. I opened the door with my camera in my hands, and the guys thought I wanted to shoot them for our wall of fame (we take pics of all the guests and put them on a wall) so I started shooting the guys, while Zoe was still in the closet. Afterwards they took so long, so we snuck outside into the elevator, right at the moment the guys were ready to leave…with the elevator of course. Welcome to the house of fun, I guess they will be back soon! Oh, and I also tried the shoes on Ioan (my boyfriend), and the Isabelle l’enfant chain on the cat. And we phoned Veronique Branquinho with her shoe.”

Allo Veronique

Veronique Branquinho shoes

Isabelle l'enfant

Isabelle l'enfant

Isabelle l'enfant

Zoe in the elevator

Zoe in the elevator

All books available from Amazon:

Studio Culture (2009) by Tony Brook and Adrian Shaughnessy – Unit Editons

Antwerp Street Style (2009) by Jens Mollenvanger – Ludion

Bibliographic (2009) by Jason Godfrey – Laurence King

Oil (2009) by Edward Burtynsky – Steidl/Corcoran

American Power (2009) by Mitch Epstein – Steidl

Born in the Streets (2009) – Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

This Book is Elektronic (2009) – Ludion

Photography Yassin Serghini, Art Direction Melisande McBurnie

Photography Yassin Serghini, Art Direction Melisande McBurnie

Photography Yassin Serghini, Art Direction Melisande McBurnie

Lots of cakes, lots of ideas ( photo: Veerle Frissen)

Three issues back to back – November, December, January – by the time we came to brainstorm the third one, we needed a mountain of sticky pastries in the middle of the table to get our poor, tired, brains kick-started.

After all the attention they got for their Japanese series on our blog, we HAD to invite Arnaud and Adrien, and they ended up being the only men at the table; jeez, I’ve only been editor one month and it’s already become a chick-fest around here!

Arnaud, Adrien, Ulrike (photo: Veerle Frissen)

January is going to be The Morning After issue, which lead to some pretty base trains of thought – the absolute worst-ever morning after stories (most of which seemed to involve pee  and/or amnesia), the most embarrassing-ever late night text messages (most of which seemed to involve sex), the freakiest before-after photo stories (none of which would have made it onto the pages of Flair.)

Hettie-the-editor makes that tricky more caffeine /more sugar choice (photo: Veerle Frissen)

We finally forgot all the gross stuff long enough to get down to the business of serious content, and laid down some the treats that are in store for you in January; what happens to a band’s musical output once it goes through rehab? Has being watched by Facebook changed the way we behave on a night out? Who takes the first metro of the morning? What happens to doomsday cults when the apocalypse fails to happen when predicted? How many days does it take for a full English breakfast to go really mouldy? How do you get your space ready for the morning after an almighty binge?

Meli, keeping us grounded (photo: Veerle Frissen)

Loads to get working on – too many ideas, too little time – we’re already tempted to cancel Christmas to make sure this issue gets to you super perky and looking fresh for the morning after.

Obama checks out the brainstorm notes (photo: Veerle Frissen)