Why is two better than one?

L: For so many reasons. You have someone to rely on and you are never alone. In our case that’s even more true, because when you work with a family member you have ultimate trust for each other. It gives you a sense of safety. And it’s important to get someone else’s opinions.

M: It makes everything so much easier. I work much better in a team, when there’s someone you can have an exchange with, someone to motivate you. I am less ambitious than Lisa and don’t like to be in the center of attention, so it’s good to have someone for that aspect.

Isn’t two harder than one?

M: No. For me it really makes everything easier. It’s good to be able to divide the work. For example Lisa takes care of the things related to communication which I don’t like that much.

L: I am very extroverted and my Mom is the opposite and rather introverted. But introverts and extroverts need each other, so we complete each other perfectly.

Does 1+1 always equal 2?

M: No. Lisa also does things on her own. That’s important, because she is younger and needs some freedom to develop.

L: Well, I don’t know. I don’t think that it’s important to do my own thing. I always want to take my Mom along. In private life that’s different of course.

Do either of you ever wish it was just 1? (Be honest!)

L: No. We would not be doing what we do now. Alone we would have never achieved this. It’s us together who make the images. And also it would be very boring to work alone.

M: No, never. There are fights sometimes of course, but that is normal, you also have that in a couple. But we generally work really well together and don’t stress each other. I really prefer working together.

Is 2 better than 3? They say never 2 without 3…

L: The third one could be my brother, because he believes in us and has supported us immensely the whole time.

M: I’ll answer with another saying: Two is enough and three is too much! It’s fine to work in a pair, but a constellation of three is always difficult. It’s an uneven number and someone might always feel left out.

Do either of you ever feel alone, even when you’re two?

L: It happens and that’s normal, we are still individuals. And the job includes tasks that require working alone, for example when retouching the photos on the computer. The moments at the screen are the loneliest.

Can you remember a life without your +1?

L: That’s really difficult, I mean, it’s my Mom and she has always been there. And before the photography project I was just a regular kid. It really formed me as a person because I started to early. It made me become someone who prefers to jump into wild waters than sitting at a desk.

M: For me it’s the same, she is my daughter. Before we started our project together I did some amateur photography, just for fun, but that was it. We really developed our art together.

Is it all 50/50?

L: If you start calculating it doesn’t work anymore. What matters is the entirety, the end result. It doesn’t matter who has taken care of which detail. In the end it’s always us together.

M: Sometimes we both take photos, sometimes Lisa takes them and I do the retouching or the other way round. But whatever we do, it always has our personal signature in the end.

Writer Charline Stoelzaed

With the collection In Sickness and in Health, a twenty-nine year project comes to an end for photographer Colin Gray. This is the final installment of a portrayal of Gray’s own parents, part of a piece of work that began in the eighties. The images that are often choreographed and humorous. Gray tracks the deterioration of his mother, Rene, in an attempt to find personal relief by immortalizing her agonising death. Bedridden following a stroke, the final chapter of the series The Parents depict Rene’s final days, no longer a caring wife and mother, but a ward of her caregiver husband, Ron. Assembled like a play, with blank pages indicating the succeeding phases of Rene’s illness, Gray’s images move back and forth between clinical registrations and impressionistic emblems with unseen colours and shapes. The voyeurism reflected in several scenes is strengthened by sub-temperature lighting, and brought back into balance by the subtle but unmistakable story of a life that is full of stories, and that shimmer through the images. In Sickness and in Health demonstrates Gray’s strong sensitivity to composition that is as just as often architectural as organic, while always making perfect sense. This concluding chapter puts the ugliness of the dependent and the concept of decay against the unconditional nurturing in the face of which the external disappears.

Colin Gray: In Sickness and In Health

Published by Steidl

Available from Amazon here

If you were to illustrate the word ‘love’ through one photograph, what would it be? We’re planning on running a photography gallery on our website on Monday 13th February to be entitled The Love Movement. The idea is simple: curate an online collection of photographs that, in one way or the other, allude to the word ‘love’.

You’re known for using very original instruments, what have you got for us tonight?

We use Casios of course, a shaker made out of an artificial donkey jaw that we found in Mexico City, and lots of other stuff. Unfortunately people started to steal all the special and strange things from the stage, so now we are forced to be as boring as possible. Three quarters of our stuff are cowbells I think, no one has more than us!

When you started, why did you decide to sing in Norwegian? Wouldn’t it have been more logical to sing in English in order to be successful outside of Norway?

When we started we really didn’t think about that. We never thought we would become big. We just wanted to sing in the most natural way for us, to make it as personal as possible. In the end it also makes us unique and original. Even if people don’t understand the language, they will understand the honesty behind it. We just toured in Japan and even there we met someone who spoke Norwegian – in the end we found out it was the guy who translates the books of Haruki Murakami!

How did it come about, your getting signed with Moshi Moshi?

They saw some of our gigs and then came to see us in Oslo at a festival. First we released some singles and then they signed us. It’s a great label because it’s small and they know how to work with a band that is not made for the masses. We are very lucky, also with Polyvinyl and all the others.

Your new record ‘Aabenbaringen over Aaskammen’ seems much more mature.

Definitely. It was a natural progression. It’s been a long learning process, becoming more mature. We had a lot of time to explore different possibilities.

Where did you record the album?

We moved into a new studio located in a big old slaughter house in Bergen that hosts a lot of artists. They have some good acts there, Röyksopp are our neighbours, for example.

What is the album about? I heard there’s a certain Dr. Tarzan Monsoon involved?

Dr. Tarzan is an adventurer. He discovers a new world, a rainforest. We used his story as a backdrop, but it’s not a concept album, just a loose theme. You have to imagine a mystical rainforest with strange animals. We use the moods that come with it as a tool to make the music.

What are the main differences between this and the previous record?

Before, we basically did a collection of singles. We toured a lot and we would spend a week in the studio, here and there. After, we gathered everything and made an album out of it. For this record, we spent four months in a row in the studio which enabled us to dig deeper and develop a better flow. It’s a much more prepared album. But it’s still very diverse, because of all our different musical backgrounds.

What’s the writing process like, with so many people involved?

It’s quite rare that we are all together. We write in different constellations, sometimes just two of us make a piece together.

I really like the song Dresine, it’s more rock-y than your usual sound. Can you tell us more about it?

Yes, it’s much more guitar-based. That’s actually the oldest song on the record. We wrote it in 2008 and it was used for the computer game Pro Evolution Soccer. I think they sold 150 million copies of it.

How do you choose the first single?

We do use input from others because you become blind after a while. We hear the songs so many times that we cannot tell anymore.

You have a very unique sound, it’s hard to put a label on it – how would you describe it yourselves?

It’s pop music, music that wants to make you dance and party, but with a special and unique element to it that’s very difficult to pigeonhole. When we were in Tower Records in Japan we found our CDs in the guitar pop section. In the end we just do what feels right. World music, indie, dance pop – and the secret are the 1% of classic rock (laughter).

How did Kevin Barnes end up making a guest appearance on the record?

Of Montreal had some days off in Bergen and came to hang out in the studio with us. We were just in the process of finishing and their violinist played with us a bit and Kevin added guitars on some of our songs. It was a lot of fun.

You’ve been touring quite a bit with Of Montreal. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from them?

His creative output is unbelievable. Kevin is so productive and his songwriting is intense. I remember we were travelling on a ferry together, everyone was relaxing and doing nothing, but he was constantly writing and soaking up everything around him. He is really inspiring.

What’s been your craziest experience so far on tour?

Once we went from Norway to Russia and then Mexico in one single weekend. In Australia we played at New Year’s Eve and did the countdown on stage. And once we were flown with a helicopter to a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean to play a gig there. Oh, and in Berlin the police shut down one of our concerts because it was too loud. Now imagine our songs played a capella – that was weird!

You’ve really toured a lot, more than many other bands. Why is that?

It’s a very good thing for a band, especially when you want an international career. There more you play live, the better you become as a band. In the end it’s all about playing live. It’s important to build a solid foundation, and very advisable.

You recently received a  125.000 € grant from Norwegian pop veterans a-ha – what did you do with all that money?

We invested it in three things: touring, being able to have time off to work on the new album and building the new studio. It was really a great help.

What’s next?

More touring!

Aabenbaringen over Aaskammen was released on Moshi Moshi on 16th January 2012

Available from iTunes here

Subway by Bruce Davidson published by Steidl / www.steidlville.com

With its more than 1,000 kms of tracks, 460 stations and several millions of rides delivered each day of the year, New York’s subway system is a world of its own, tirelessly running through its five boroughs like ever-pulsating veins, the nervous system to the city that never sleeps. American photographer and Magnum member Bruce Davidson infamously captured this urban microcosm on film back in 1986, focusing his lens on the commuters, musicians, train conductors, thugs, vagabonds, businessmen and buskers that made up the underground’s make-up at the time. And, given the particularly dangerous nature of the subway back in the 1980s, this was no small feat. Davidson: “As I went down the subway stairs, through the turnstile, and onto the darkened station platform, a sinking sense of fear gripped me. I grew alert, and looked around to see who might be standing by, waiting to attack. The subway was dangerous at any time of the day or night, and everyone who rode it knew this and was on guard at all times; a day didn’t go by without the newspapers reporting yet another hideous subway crime. Passengers on the platform looked at me, with my expensive camera around my neck, in a way that made me feel like a tourist-or a deranged person.” It is precisely this prevailing sense of tension that make Davidson’s visual journey so mesmerising, each of his subjects, for example, portrayed with haunting authenticity, staring zomby-eyed into Davidson’s direction. More than 25 years on, and although the book has been given a Steidl update (it now comes with additional unpublished photographs), Davidson’s work has aged magnificently, remaining a vivid and powerful reflection of the city’s past.

Bruce Davidson: Subway

Published by Steidl

Available from Amazon here

Christopher Coppers, Brussels

Brussels-based cut-up artist Christopher Coppers has a thing about ripping up magazines. Whether carving out a new cover for them, stripping out their souls to give them a new life or shredding their pages to use as coating for other objects, Coppers reworks and revisits magazines with his signature, destructive touch. Although his latest work has taken somewhat of a political stance – he recently set about recreating the G8 countries’ flags using nothing but shredded magazine pages – Coppers retains his uncanny ability to infuse his work with a light-hearted irony that, really, is the single reason we like his work so much. Maybe that’s why we once asked him to recreate our very own flag.

Opening tonight at 17h00

Exhibition runs until 25th February

Bodson Emelinckx, Rue de Henninstraat 70 – 1050 Brussels

www.bodson-emelinckx.com

The Criime and Asura, Brussels

The Criime, a Brussels-based tribal-infused, tech-house two-piece from Luxembourg founded by Andrea Mancini and Fabio Picariello in 2009, have stirred quite some attention of late with the release of their debut EP ‘Fidji’ (released on Finnish label Top Billin). Confirming its place amongst the city’s nightlife circuit, newcomer Mr Wong puts on a night which pairs the fresh-faced duo with Parisian DJ project Asura (think sombre and melancholic beats). Their fourth album, ‘360’ came out in 2010 on Ultimae Records. Get your dancing shoes on because this one promises to be long.

Tonight, at 22h00

Mr Wong, Rue de la Vierge Noire 10 Zwarte Lievevrouwstraat – 1000 Brussels

www.mrwong.be

Tomas Alonso, Brussels

“I would like my objects to be used, lived with and enjoyed,” says designer Tomas Alonso about his work. Accordingly, his pared-down designs combine functionality and practicality with a quirky elegance. By working with different materials in an original way, the Spanish-born, London-based designer explores structure and form whilst eliminating all unnecessary elements. This exhibition puts forward some of Alonso’s most recent works, such as his Mr. Light series of lamps, and makes good his reputation for down-to-earth, pragmatic  furniture-making. It is no surprise, then, that his works have gained a place in London’s Design Museum‘s permanent collection. Not to be missed.

Until 5th February

Victor Hunt Gallery, Rue Lambert Crickxstraat 16 – 1070 Brussels

www.victor-hunt.com

Zero Gravity Revolt, Brussels

‘Zero Gravity Revolt’ is more than just your ordinary exhibition. The works of Moscow-based artist Nikolay Oleynikov, part of the Russian collective Chto Delat, are based on bringing people together from different backgrounds and disciplines and building temporary communities that actively participate in the creation of the artwork. The end result is a mural juxtaposed with sketches, scripts and research material stemming from countless group meetings. The subject: early Soviet science fiction from the 1920s. Subversive and thought-provoking, Oleynikov’s didactic murals are always influenced by surrealism, punk culture, comics and the Soviet monumental school.

Until 11th February

Zero Gravity Revolt, Avenue Van Volxemlaan 295 – 1190 Brussels

www.kmplt.be

Chilly Gonzales, Brussels

Grammy-nominee, world-record holder (longest ever piano play), prodigy producer, versatile vocalist. It’s fair to say Canadian-born, Paris-based Gonzales (whom we interviewed back in May 2011, read the interview here) has more than a talent up his sleeve. And, following his cancelled show on 22nd December, he’s (finally) back in Brussels touring his latest album: ‘The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales’. Expect lots of laughter, wit and a good dose of playful arrogance.

22nd January

Botanique, Rue Royale 236 Koningsstraat – 1210 Brussels

www.botanique.be

Ben Murphy, Antwerp

The building of the United Nations‘ headquarters near New York City’s East River is without doubt an urban icon and an obligatory stop for all visitors to the Big Apple. Only a handful have been able to venture inside the building though, which adds to its sense of mystery and general aura. Over a period of 15 months, British photographer Ben Murphy had the opportunity to capture its hidden spaces on film, creating 100 images that in a way reveal a sublime and melancholic beauty on the backdrop of power-broking corridors.

Until 26th February

Stieglitz 19, Klapdorp 2 – 2000 Antwerp

www.stieglitz.be

From Back Home, Ghent

Anders Petersen and JH Engström are two of Sweden’s leading and most important photographers. The exhibition ’From Back Home’ is the result of a seven-year long collaboration between the two. From 2001 up until 2008, the pair photographed the Värmland region, a barely-populated region in Sweden from which they both originate. Their resulting captivating, melancholic and slightly dark pictures pay tribute to the people, places and landscapes of their childhood. A fascinating and very personal journey down memory lane.

Until 29th January

ZebraStraat, Zebrastraat 32 – 9000 Ghent

www.zebrastraat.be

American artist Shirley Jaffe’s works are all about colour. Colours are what determine her compositions and generate form, stimulating the viewer’s gaze and pleading for experiencing art just by looking at it. Her geometrical, flat paintings are clearly inspired by abstract expressionism and the innovative movements in American painting since the mid-forties. Jaffe was part of a group of young American and Canadian artsits that moved to Paris after World War II and became referred to as the Second Generation Abstract Expressionists, including artists as Ellsworth Kelly or James Bishop.

Until 14th January

Galerie Greta Meert, Rue Du Canal 13 Vaartstraat, 1000 Brussels

www.galeriegretameert.com

Design Brasil, Brussels

Even though for a long time design was not considered as a separate discipline but rather integrated in other related fields as art, industry or architecture, Brazil’s design history goes back to the 19th century. With the creation of the country’s first design agency in 1958 and the foundation of an Industrial Design School in Rio de Janeiro a few years later, design became more established. This exhibition especially puts forward products from the famous Brazilian designers Fernando & Humberto Campana who, inspired by their country’s street life and carnival culture, created objects made of found pieces as wood waste in combination with advanced technologies. At the same time Design Brasil gives a comprehensive overview of a large number of Brazilian designers whose works are characterised by vibrant colours and a certain playfulness.

Until 5th February

Design Vlaanderen, Rue de la Chancellerie 19 Kanselarijstraat, 1000 Brussels

www.designvlaanderen.be

Ferdinand Schirren, Brussels

Even though always a bit in the shadow of the most prominent Belgian Fauvist, Rik Wouters, Ferdinand Schirren was a pioneer of his time who in the beginning of the 20th century greatly contributed to the emergence of what we now refer to as “Brabant Fauvism”. With this exhibition the Royal Museum of Fine Arts continues to put forward some of Belgium’s lesser-known artists who clearly deserve more spotlight. Schirren’s paintings, that mostly display rather simple subjects taken from everyday life or landscapes, are defined by glowing, vibrant colours and a precise composition whilst rejecting symbolism. Reminiscing French Fauvists such as Matisse, Schirren’s focus on colours became the overriding theme in his oeuvre.

Until March 2012

Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Rue Royal 3 Regentschapsstraat, 1000 Brussels

www.fine-arts-museum.be

Baxter Dury, Brussels

Six years after his last album, English singer-songwriter Baxter Dury is back with his latest record ‘Happy Soup’, an intimate collection of laid-back, warm and intriguing songs. At times melancholic and dreamy, at others optimistic and uplifting, Baxter Dury has become quite good at something he originally never wanted to do: Be a musician and follow into the footsteps of his famous father (Blockheads punk-era hero Ian Dury). With the ten tracks on ‘Happy Soup’ that Baxter cryptically describes as ‘seaside psychedelia’, the artist proves once again that he does not have to be afraid of his father’s long shadow.

Listen to the single ‘Claire’:

14th January

Botanique, Rue Royale 236 Koningsstraat, 1210 Brussels

www.botanique.be

Best Vinyl Art 2011, Brussels

Over the years album artwork has become much more than just a marketing or promotion tool: Designing record covers is considered as an art by many nowadays. It is within this context that Brussels’ Jonas Gallery exhibits a selection of the 50 best album sleeves of 2011 with Das Pop being the only Belgian flag-waver. Also on display are the newest LP covers of The Horrors, Metronomy or Bon Iver, for example. Considering the rise of digital downloads and the decline of buying, it remains to be seen how important the CD format will be in the future.

Until 28th January

Jonas Gallery, Rue de Flandre 35 Vlaamsesteenweg, 1000 Brussels

www.jonasgallery.com

Peter Lindbergh, Antwerp

With his melancholic photographs of international supermodels Linda Evangelista, Kate Moss or even Tatjana Patitz marked by their effortless character and emotional depth, German fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh brought the new faces to worldwide attention. A master of black and white photography, he contributed more than any in shaping the fashion scene of the last 25 years. Combining a selection of Lindbergh’s world famous images with his more recent work as well as a series he shot for Vogue in Berlin in 2009, this comprehensive exhibition is a must for photography and fashion fans alike.

Until 29th January

FotoMuseum, Waalsekaai 47, 2000 Antwerp

www.fotomuseum.be

Johan Grimonprez, Ghent

Mixing reality and fiction, Belgian artist and filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, a child of the first TV generation, explores and documents the ever-growing influence television, cinema, advertising and the news have on our perception of the world and the imminent risk of manipulation. His video works, which play with delusion and deception whilst expos- ing the importance of the moving image in our lives, are based on recycled images taken from news broadcasts, documentary material, Hollywood movies, animated films and commercials as well as from archival items. In his award-winning video collage Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y for instance, Grimonprez explores the worldwide history of high-jackings. And it is exactly this kind of uncanny relevance that draws you in. Think of him as a Michael Moore but with an even bigger grin.

Until 29th January

S.M.A.K., Citadelpark, 9000 Ghent

www.smak.be

All photography Pauline Miko

Knitted cardigan from Henrik Vibskov and scarf by SPRB

As its name suggest, Danish designer Henrik Vibskov‘s Nordic Kimono – a heavy-knit oversized cardigan with tie belt – astutely blends Japanese cuts with Nordic patterns, bringing the best of both worlds together. A unique piece that scores house points both for its originality but also for the quality of its craftsmanship, the cardigan is made out of Merino wool and is cut to perfection (fitted but with enough room for manoeuvre should the Christmas dinner get out of hand). Topped by this exquisite hand-knitted scarf-come-hoodie made by Dutch imprint SPRB, and we’ve concocted the perfect solution for winter snuggles.

Thursday 23rd December’s proposal: Maison Fabre gloves and Il Bussetto coin purse

Taking colour-coded style to new heights, we’ve selected two items today guaranteed to bring smiles around the Christmas tree. First up, a family of leather-clad colourtastic gloves for women from venerable French glove-makerMaison Fabre. With a palette that tilts towards the bold and beautiful and a cut that aims for the timeless, the decade-old family business once again confirms its reputation for excellency. Next up is Italian imprint Il Bussetto‘s elegant coin purses, handcrafted using an ancient Italian manufacturing technique. Available in three different sizes and with a range of different colours to choose from, they’ll sit perfectly with the gloves.

Wednesday 21st December’s proposal: Good One sweater and Calourette necklace

As stylish as it is eco-conscious, this effortless, slightly-on-the-quirky-side sweater from London-based sustainable fashion imprint Good One stands out through its colour-patterned design, the label’s trademark look. Combining modern and contemporary features with an innovative production method (known as ‘up-cycling’, a trend that blends sustainable fabrics with reclaimed textiles), this unstructured pullover will appeal to the fashion-fiends keen to add a little lightheartedness to their wardrobes. Add to that the restrained sparkle of this necklace (made of real walnut and real silver) from Calourette – a French jewellery label with a knack for playful and original creations – and you have yourself another sure-fire duo of Christmas pleasers.

Tuesday 20th December’s proposal: Faguo & Johnstons of Elgin high tops and Alexander Wang hoodie

We’re suckers for collaborations here at Word HQ, especially when they bring seemingly opposing forces together. In steps French upstart sneaker label Faguo (The brand that pioneered the ‘buy-plant-support’ business model) and Johnstons of Elgin, a Scottish imprint that is over 200 years old (its tweed and cashmere are favourites of the British Royal Family). The unlikely pair have teamed up  on this Scottish-themed high top that combines Faguo’s modern and elegant design with Johnstons’ exceptional fabrics (the shoe is made of authentic Scottish tweed), bringing a little bit of Highland authenticity to the street. And, since we’re on the topic of street-savyness, we’ve picked out this Alexander Wang wool and cashmere hoodie as the best one to rock with the high tops – hands down.

Monday 19th December’s proposal: Asus N55S and Coffee Spot

In barista world, coffee enjoys the same kind of precision rating as wine. Indeed, the (somewhat belated) emergence of coffee joints in our cities has been accompanied by issues of bean quality, provenance and processing. What’s more, the image of the barista has evolved from one of spotty teenagers trying to make some pocket money to well-travelled, knowledgable coffee captains whose passion for the bean is second to none. Well, they now have a trusted little companion in the shape of this handy little coffee spot book. Designed by DeInvasie.be founder Yves Drieghe and printed in Belgium on an original Heidelberg press, think of the book as your very own little ratings agency on paper, a 100-page strong archive of all your coffee experiences. And, just in case the paper runs out or your pencil gives in, we suggest you take this sleek and sexy new notebook from Asus along. Called the N-Series, its built-in HD camera and Bang & Olufsen powered sound system (complete with subwoofer) makes it ripe for coffee lounge media consumption.

Friday 16th December’s proposal: Contacts DVD and 032c

Contacts is a comprehensive and exhaustive three-DVD boxset collection of movies (English, French and German audio) which profiles the world’s greatest photographers in a fresh and unashamedly personal way. Everyone from Sarah Moon, Jeff Wall or even Henri Cartier-Bresson takes to the camera, revealing secrets behind their iconic images and providing insights into their singular artistic approaches. A captivating behind-the-scenes look, the documentaries often make for exhilarating accounts and manage to picture these legendary photographers in their natural habitat: in the darkroom, on location or in the studio. And, to complete your Sunday afternoon culture fix, a yearly subscription to culture bible 032c (the self-proclaimed Manual for Freedom, Research and Creativity) will ensure you remain on top of your game as far as everything fashion, art and culture is concerned.

Thursday 15th December’s proposal: Santal Massoia perfume by Hermès and l’Eau de Villée limited edition bottle by Manor Grunwald

Since 2004 Jean-Claude Ellena, the mastermind behind all Hermès perfumes, creates elegant scents for the Hermessence line aimed at men as well as women. Santal Massoia is his tenth and most recent composition for the unisex collection, combining a rather unusual mix of two milky woods: the more common sandalwood and the rare massoia, a protected tree species found in New Guinea and Indonesia. Exotic yet discreet, the scent hits all the right notes this winter and is guaranteed to warrant an approving nod from the connoisseurs. And, keeping within today’s fire power tone, we’ve dug out a Manor Grunwald-designed limited edition Eau de Villée bottle that will without a doubt keep spirits high around the Christmas tree.

Wednesday 14th December’s proposal: Swatch Touch and Maison Martin Margiela gloves

Riding the current wave of everything ‘touch’, the Swiss watchmaker-to-the-masses reveals its Swatch Touch, a watch that, you’ve guessed it, comes with a touch screen. Trading in the customary twists and turns for swipes and taps, the Blade Runner-worthy timepiece comes in a timeless black (pictured), although the less serious souls will certainly go for Swatch‘s signature pallet of uplifting colours – everything form pink to turquoise. And, to guarantee you keep both your hands and your new watch nice and warm, these Maison Martin Margiela gloves will undoubtedly do the trick whilst staying true to your ‘presentation is half the battle won’ mantra.

Tuesday 13th December’s proposal: Sony Alpha 77 (with 18-55mm lens) and Louis Vuitton City Guides 2012

With its elegant disposition, this freshly-updated and tightly-packed collection of travel tomes consists of nine separate city guides that take in everything from a town’s museums and tearooms to it’s best shopping addresses and drinking dens. With the addition of a cutesy section entitled ‘Good Things’, the Louis Vuitton City Guides’ focus is clearly on the good life, dishing out innumerable insider tips as to what a city has to offer – from the 22 year old wine cellar in Zagreb to the 150 year old pastry shop in Warsaw. Choosing to give a shine to Europe’s lesser known capitals and satellite cities (Vienna and Salzburg; Naples and Bari; Odessa and St Petersburg), it is the depth of local insights and the simple way in which the intelligence is presented that really makes these city guides the perfect companion for your 2012 city-hopping plans. And, whilst you’re at it, take Sony‘s excellent Alpha 77 D-SLR with 18-55mm lens along in your weekend holdall to guarantee the tip’s many memories are captured to perfection, be it in photo or video mode.

Monday 12th December’s proposal: Marshall Headphones ’The Major’ and Slove ‘Le Danse’

With its synth-driven melodies, catchy guitar riffs and addictive bass lines, Slove’s debut LP ‘Le Danse’ is undoubtedly one of our favourite albums of the year, clocking up impressive amounts of airplay on Word radio. In fact, the band’s sexy-cool blend of uptempo and uplifting dance-pop so captured our hearts and minds that we invited the Parisian duo for a live showcase at our blue album release party (Watch the video here). Easily our number one music pick if we were to draw up our own wish list this Christmas. (And we’d probably throw in these sparkling white headphones by Marshall – ideal for bass-heavy listening.)

Cinema

Be Film Festival, Brussels

The 7th edition of the Be Film Festival, an four-day long showcase of the best of Belgium cinema, not only offers five days of film screenings but also gives cinephiles the chance to meet with directors. Besides several premieres, the festival provides a selection of the best films released in the past year, with certain screenings even accompanied by live music performances – Belgian band The Bony King of Nowhere, for example.

From 19th until 23rd December

Bozar, Rue Ravensteinstraat 23 – 1000 Brussels

Cinematek, Rue Baron Hortastraat 9 – 1000 Brussels

www.befilmfestival.be

Exhibitions

Vincent Fournier, Brussels

Courtesy Joye Gallery

You could say photographer Vincent Fournier has it in for robots and rockets. Having travelled the world on a quest to document the secret and unknown world of space exploration (his passion project has taken the Frenchman everywhere from Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia and the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah to the Atacama Desert Observatories in Chile, Fournier’s photographs capture with mystifying exactitude the intriguing world of space research, doing so with all the innocence, exuberance and excitement of a child. This is the first comprehensive exhibition of the artist’ work in Brussels, and is sure to delight fans of Solaris and 2001, A Space Odissey alike.

Until 18th January 2012

Joye Gallery, Chaussée de Vleurgat 125 Vleurgatsesteenweg – 1050 Brussels

www.joyegallery.be

Riffs, Brussels

Courtesy of Wiels

Riffs is an exhibition of the wide-ranging works of Yto Barrada. Showcasing everything from the artist’s old and new sculptures, her films as well as her photographs, the exhibition is evidence of Barrada’s engaging narrative – more statement than mere observation (Her pictures display rare plants, children absorbed in a game or a road under construction). Having studied political science, the artist also leads the Cinématheque in Tangier, which makes the current social and political upheaval currently gripping North Africa especially relevant. Indeed, Barrada’s work seeks to show the complexity of  Moroccan reality and everything that continues to resist homogenisation plans.

Until 31st December

Wiels, Av. Van Volxemlaan 354 – 1190 Brussels

www.wiels.org

Music

Chilly Gonzales, Brussels

Grammy-nominatee, world-record holder (longest ever piano play), prodigy producer, versatile vocalist. It’s fair to say Canadian-born, Paris-based Gonzales has more than a talent up his sleeve. He’s back in Brussels tonight touring his latest album: ‘The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales’. Expect lots of laughter, wit and a good dose of playful arrogance.

22nd December

Botanique, Rue Royale 236 Koningsstraat, 1210 Brussels

www.botanique.be

James Taylor Quartet, Ghent

The James Taylor Quartet, described as one of today’s most important British jazz-pop crossover outfits, comes to Ghent to celebrate its 25th anniversary after having played about 1000 shows and released countless of albums. The band’s latest, titled ‘The Template’, makes good on the quartet’s reputation for blending funk, mod and acid jazz in its very own, distinctive way and continues in its tradition for unabashed, unashamed and unrestricted goodness.

23rd December

Vooruit, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 23, 9000 Ghent

www.vooruit.be

Café Central Christmas Party, Brussels

If you’re of the type to run for the bar the minute the Christmas tree goes up, chances are you’ll end up at Cafe Central this Saturday. Trading in Stille Nacht for experimental, psychedelic rock, the downtown drinking den invites Brussels-based Shazzula (of acid punk group Aqua Nebula Oscillator) for a night of electric eclecticism. Everything from kraut rock, noise and progressive rock is on the menu.

24th December

Café Central, Rue Borgvalstraat 14 – 1000 Brussels

www.lecafecentral.com

Fuse & Wildfamily Xmas Madness, Brussels

Wildfamily, a collective led by Belgian DJ Igor Vicente and known for its truly wild nights, is set to put the house on fire at Fuse this Saturday, giving yet another perfect excuse for Christmas grumps to escape the dreaded festive proceedings. Igor, known for his dark and deep sound, is also part of Ultrasone, a collaboration with DJ Vernon Bara. Both have played all over Europe (Spain, France, Ukraine, …) and the duo recently started putting out their debut tracks on the reputed Visionquest label. Christmas’ going to be a party this year.

24th December

Fuse, Rue Blaesstraat 208 – 1000 Brussels

www.fuse.be

Writer Guy Dittrich, Photographer Sarah Eechaut

Tastes and textures. Herbs and happiness. Gastronomic restaurant Bouchéry, a recent opening in the suburban south of Brussels is all you could want for in a gourmet experience. “My inspiration comes when I am cutting the herbs I need,” explains Damien Bouchery of his locally sourced seasonal menus. And local means local, with herbs culled from the terrace garden upstairs. The menus are short, with only three starters and three mains, but varied; the three-course lunch (a snip at € 24) stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the à la carte choices. The cooking is outstanding. Veal cheeks, a set menu option, glisten darkly on the plate; “melt in the mouth” good, enthuses my dining companion. The firm white flesh of the sizeable chunk of Iberico Pata Negra pork fillet is succulent and flavoursome.

But the real pleasure is to be served food evidently prepared with passion and sourced with knowledge.

But the real pleasure is to be served food evidently prepared with passion and sourced with knowledge. The herbs and unusual vegetation crop up throughout the menu. Nasturtium petals plucked from a plant growing on the tree-shaded terrace outside decorate an amuse-bouche. A platter of cheeses arrives before dessert with a side of sharply dressed salad leaves. Some look prickly as if they might sting, but their slightly bitter taste cuts through the butteriness of the cheeses. Bouchery also gives plenty of textural contrast both through his choice of ingredients and their preparation. A cappuccino of lobster bisque, the second amuse-bouche, is topped with an airy celery foam. Hidden is the surprise of little cubes of crisp, Granny Smith apple. Slices of pure white radish or organic beetroot add crunch to the juicy Pata Negra and veal cheek. Similarly to The Word, colour plays its very own part at Bouchéry: a mash of violet potato swirls across a plate and the orange nasturtium petals sit lightly beside the crispy carroty spring roll. Bright, really bright yellow egg yolk captures the attention in a starter served in a bowl with Trumpet de la Morte, black chanterelles, and crunchy bits of Jerusalem artichoke. There’s that texture thing again.

Interiors are simple but classy and thought through. The timeless blond wood-framed Wishbone chairs by Hans Wegner front tables pert with crisp linen. Cream leather banquettes opposite are accented with spherical pale turquoise pendant lamps. This is the only colour besides a simple red wild flower amongst a vase of green grasses. The lunchtime dining room receives light from two sides and looks towards the terrace. The additional main dinning room with high ceilings is overseen by twin Spanish landscape images of ‘escape’ taken by Bouchery’s actress-partner and the restaurant’s charming host, Bénédicte. Bouchery from Breton leads the kitchen of his eponymously named restaurant. Sharp readers will have picked up the accent on the restaurant’s name. This was added by Bénédicte to lend a bit of glamour to the name that also references boucherie, a butchers. Having earned a Michelin star at his last restaurant, Bistrot du Mail in Ixelles/Elsene, the cuddly men from Michelin will doubtless be deliberating on Bouchery’s Bouchéry soon.

Bouchéry, Chaussée d’Alsemberg 812A Alsembergsesteenweg, 1180 Brussels

(This article was first published in the white album)

(Scroll down to the bottom of the interview for a free mix.)

Interview Nicholas Lewis

Photography Thomas Sweertvaegher

Nosedrip. Quite the name. How did you pick it?

Dynooo found it. I thought it was funny and kept it. The name I had before was even worse…

When and where were you born?

Ostend, November 1988. A few hours later I ended up in Leuven to get my face fixed.

Where do you live?

In Ghent.

Which current musical tribe/scene do you feel the closest to at the moment?

Just the people I see on a regular basis. I don’t feel connected to people who like the same music as I do actually.

How would you describe your style and sound?

All drama

Describe your listener to us. Who do you think your music speaks to?

People who can get along with themselves when they are alone I hope…

Tell us a little about your childhood. How did it shape your musical direction?

I grew up in Mariakerke, Ostend, with a lot of guys and almost no girls. We were outside all the time skating and doing stupid white kids shit. We didn’t listen to music much and when we did then to Punk, Dancehall or Drum and Bass, which I had almost no affinity with. I listened to Hip hop, but the real interest came when I was around 19.

Growing up, did you have any posters on your wall? If so, which ones?

First I had a Ferrari Testarossa and a Disney Book Club For Kids one with a picture of myself on it. The skate posters came later.

Who would you say is the most important figure in your life musically?

Timothy, Shaerin, Dynooo, Lorin, Tommy and Gummy.

Which five albums would make your 2011 top list?

I don’t really have a top five, but I listened the most to My Friend Wallis – On Hawaiian Time, Julia Holter – Tragedy. James Pants – James Pants, Drake – Take Care and Seekae – +Dome.

What’s the best party you played at in 2011?

The Nachtlawaai parties at AAP Ghent were very enjoyable for me. 10DaysOff was a blessing too.

What three songs would you play to a girl on a first date?

I would say DJ Jazzy Jeff – Roc Wit U, Laurel Canyon – I Gotta Woman (Abel Edit), Pac Div – Show You. Most probably something dark and sad.

What’s missing in your life today, if anything?

Cash, girls and adventures. But I’m fine.

What’s coming for you in 2012?

Good times I hope…

What websites do you religiously have to check every day?

The usual: Facebook, Gmail, some newspapers, porn and VBS.TV. I also used to check a lot of dog shelter websites.

Which radio show/podcasts do you recommend?

Definitely mine… and Duyster‘s, every finders keepers mix and Ahu’s Avant-Garde.

Are you on Twitter? Who do you recommend we follow?

Yes, I am. The tweets of @Demhunger & @Kimhollandxx already made my day today.

Listen to Nosedrip’s Word-exclusive mix below. To put it in his own words: “It’s a 33-track mix to cry on at night…”

Listen: the_word_white.mp3

Track list

Amen Dunes – Baba Yaga
Memory Tapes – Humming
Apparat – Ash Black Veil
F.S. Blumm / Lucrecia Dalt – Old Amigos
Milagres – To Be Imagined
Seekae – You’ll
Cymbals Eat Guitars – The Current
Connan Mockasin – Fakking Jazz Together
Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
My Friend Wallis – Sky Horse
Chad Vangaalen – Rabid Bits Of Time
Welder – I Still
Atlas Sound – Doldrums
Rangers – Jane’s Well
Dynooo – Onion Funck
King Krule – 36N63
Yes Please – Mazu Heart Sutra (Naminé Remix)
Andy Stott – Intermittent
Daughter – Home
James Pants – Screams Of Passion
Quilt – The Silver Stairs Of Ketchikan
U.S. Girls – Island Song
Washed Out – Far Away
Pressed And – Parties
Wonder Bear – Hunziker’s Bowl
DRC Music – Departure (Ft. Bokatola System)
Zomby – Basquiat
Babes – Noel
Maria Minerva – I Luv Ctrl
The Flaming Lips – Squishy Glass
Black Moth Super Rainbow – Mockingbird Comes Calling For You
Julia Holter – Office Of The Dead

All photography Yassin Serghini

(First published in the white album)

Writer Philippe Pourhashemi, Photographer Pauline Miko

Eddy Beaurain has been fighting dirt for more than 30 years. Pressing n° 1, the dry cleaning business he set up in 1979, is a trustworthy address, enviably located on Rue Antoine Dansaertstraat, Brussels’ fashion epicentre. A former civil servant, Beaurain got bored with red tape, office hours and paperwork. He wanted to be in touch with people and thought dry cleaning could do the trick. “When I was a kid, I lived in the neighbourhood and my parents used to bring their clothes here. They were sent elsewhere for cleaning and they’d come back to collect them after a few days. When I took over from the previous owner, I set up a workshop at the back, allowing us to do everything on the spot. We got regular business fairly quickly, enabling me to hire more staff.” There’s something real and charismatic about Beaurain. Besides his affable manner and openness, he comes across as a sincere and hard-working guy.

“I always find solutions when it comes to dirt. In dry-cleaning, milk and biro are the biggest challenges.”

The fact that he’s been on Rue Antoine Dansaertstraat for so long gives him a unique insight into the life of the street “It changed so much here,” he explains. “I’m 57 now and remember how it was. There were mainly craftsmen. Some were making watches, others were running small ateliers for leather goods and crocodile bracelets. Stijl was one of the first designer boutiques to open in 1984. Sonja Noël (owner of Stijl and Haleluja) is still a client of mine. Theatre companies – such as La Monnaie / De Munt – began working with me, too. I’ve always dealt with creative people and they are very loyal clients.” Never defeated when it comes to stains, he rarely refuses to clean clothes. He doesn’t seem to object to the obsessive habits of some of his clients either. “I always find solutions when it comes to dirt. In dry-cleaning, milk and biro are the biggest challenges. Some folks complain constantly, but they keep on coming back. Others bring things that don’t even need cleaned. We have a guy who drops a bag of white underwear every week. It’s always the same brand and the same amount of briefs. Another elderly man has one black shirt he gets cleaned on a regular basis. The week after, he comes back with the same shirt and a silk white tie. It’s like a ritual and has been going on for years. When the shirt starts falling apart, he has the same one made at a tailor’s he knows.”

As clothing deals with privacy and intimacy, clients start opening up after a while, becoming friends with Beaurain and his staff. “People will talk about personal matters behind the counter. They feel we can be trusted and that we listen to them. Clients become friends after a while.” Beaurain has touching stories about some of them, “I became friendly with this guy who came in every Saturday. He was a joyful person and we had great chats. Then he disappeared for six months and I wondered where he was. One day, I got a call from him, telling me he was at Saint-Jean / Sint-Jan clinic and really ill. He wanted to see me the next day and I went there. We never talked about his illness, but I think it was AIDS. Although it hurt to see him weak and diminished, I had to be there for him. He died a few days after my visit.” Ironically, Beaurain was approached by a fashion brand three years ago and has finally decided to sell his shop. He will close in December this year, starting a new chapter in his life. The stains may be long gone, but Beaurain’s indelible stain on the neighbourhood won’t be washed away any time soon. (Farewell Eddy. Brussels’ fashion strip won’t be the same without you.)

(This article was first published in the white album.)

Photographer Ulrike Biets

Rachel: The nostalgic burger

“Eating burgers makes me think of my childhood, and I wanted to revive that,” says Boston-born Frédérik Haspeslagh, the owner of Rachel. Having been impregnated by American culture during his formative years, Haspeslagh thought to bring a little touch of American comfort to the city’s streets, opening up his burger joint Rachel in the heart of Brussels’ St Jacques neighbourhood – right opposite Le Fontainas. Playing the nostalgia card to great effect, the eatery’s interiors delight in their quirkiness (think Sponge Bob pillows, Rubik cubes, comic books and lots of colour) whilst the burgers on offer place Rachel right at the top of our list. Traditionalists will no doubt go for ’the Chuck’, a 130 gram, 100 percent pure Belgian beef patty burger with sliced pickles and tomatoes, cheddar cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard, held together by an authentic soft burger bun topped with sesame seeds and served with nachos and green salad. It’s the kind of burger that’ll send you on a trip down memory lane.

Classic ’Chuck’ Burger: € 10,00

Rachel, Rue du Marché au Charbon 100 Kolenmarktstraat, 1000 Brussels

Balmoral: The hangover burger

“I got the idea for the restaurant while travel- ling through the US back in 1989 and have been going back ever since to get new inspirations,” says Balmoral owner Pascal Nihoul. Serving up traditional American food (everything from nachos to pancakes and spare ribs are on the menu), the diner’s best known for its burgers, which honour American’s belief that big is better. At a whopping 200 grams, and way larger than any other burger we sampled, Balmoral’s Classic Cheeseburger (100% pure Belgian beef, cheddar cheese, grilled onions and ketchup) comes out top of the list as far as grease count is concerned (and, don’t be mistaken, that’s a good thing in our burger books). It’s a messy affair, yes, but that’s half the fun. One the Sunday morning hangover victims will relish.

Classic cheeseburger: € 12,20

Le Balmoral, Place Brugmann 21 Brugmannplaats, 1050 Brussels

Hotel Conrad’s Bar Loui: The gourmet burger

A favourite with the city’s businessmen and visiting dignitaries, Bar Loui, like most hotel bars, has a simple but well-kept plan: it serves up classics, but it does so well. Take its Bacon-Cheeseburger for starters. The work (and pride) of head chef Frédéric Gonzalez, it surprises in its juiciness, every bite delivering its own dose of carefully scripted grease drops down the burger bun. It also is perfectly balanced, with every ingredient (110 gram beef patty imported from Ireland, cheese, crispy bacon, crunchy iceberg salad, a tomato slice and a freshly-baked golden bun) playing its part in ensuring each and every taste bud is satisfied. Add to that Gonzalez’ sauce (a secret recipe) and you’ve just found another way to burn a 30euro hole through your pocket. It is highly worth it though, trust us.

Bacon-cheeseburger: € 30,00

Bar Loui (inside the Conrad Hotel) Avenue Louise 71 Louizalaan

Brussels’ other stand out burgers

DELECTA, Rue Lannoystraat 2, 1050 Brussels

HOUTSIPLOU, Rue du Midi 161 Zuidstraat, 1000 Brussels

FATBOYS, Place du Luxembourg 5 Luxemburgplein, 1050 Brussels

COOL BUN, Rue Berckmansstraat 34, 1060 Brussels

(first published in the white album)

Photographer Julie Calbert

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Writer Melisande McBurnie, Photographer Stine Sampers

Camden by Jean-Christian Bourcart – Images en Manœuvres Editions

Bourcart’s most recent publication – what could almost be described as a photo journal – sees him set foot into one of Americas most malignant areas. It portrays the subject in complete disarray, caught off guard. It’s as if the state had just come and repossessed the bed, the fridge, even the roof, just as he was about to click the shutter. Q-tips litter the floor, along with pen caps and exposed cables. From bitter cold streets to sticky tarmac and, every so often, a gesture, a kiss, an embrace. This is the stuff of “shit”… All the things you weren’t supposed to see. And to think he simply googled “most+dangerous+city+america”, result “Camden.”

Available from Amazon

Gone? by Robert Adams – Steidl

In his latest book Gone?, Robert Adams take us on a “Hansel and Gretel” journey into the landscape of a recollection based in Colorado. Shot in black and white, a series of photos taken in the 1980s document the slow evolution of a once wild region. Revisiting a place, where as a young boy Adams walked and the impact it now plays on reshaping his memory, Gone? is the disappearance of personal landmarks, of how one got from A to B and all the little pit stops in-between. There is something engaging upon seeing Adams’ vast lands devoid of colour that leaves us with an urge to fill it in, a true scrapbook of sorts. One can’t help but want to remember with him of how it used to be.

Available from Amazon

Black and White by Ellsworth Kelly – Hatje Cantz
Investigating the interplay of positive and negative, form versus colour and the space that surrounds us, Ellsworth Kelly brings us back to basics. With over six decades of study and observation into his everyday surroundings, having first gained worldwide acclaim for his paintings and drawings, Kelly now presents us with Black and White. Asking the viewers’ approach to be that of a child, who learns from disassembling and reassembling, the result is engaging and playful – looking somewhat simple at first sight though closer inspection reveals there’s an equation behind each move, a “working out” so to speak, a consideration of weight, balance and its tipping point. Indeed we are left with a querying feeling of “What came first?”

Available from Amazon

Red Roses Yellow Rain by Marrigje de Maar – Hatje Cantz
In Red Roses Yellow Rain, Marrigje captures the more humble abodes and their interiors over a period of several visits to the “Motherland”, a country rapidly hurtling into modernisation. Here she allows us to spy into a culture still steaming with history and traditions. A domestic journey into communist China and what lies behind the wall. It’s almost like walking onto the set of a Zhang Yimou film. The classic coral-red and jade-green with floral flasks and pink plastic bags taking on a form of true “minimal-decor” all captured with that similar somber light. So inviting are these images, one can almost smell the tea brewing.

Available from Amazon

Far Too Close by Martina Hoogland Ivanow – Steidlmack
Far Too Close entangles the boundaries between familiar and foreign. Drawing the viewer into something of a secret and what lurks in its shadows, Ivanow depicts the features of an almost faceless person, making it near impossible to make out where one subject ends and the other begins. Having traveled extensively over a seven year period to remote places such as Siberia, Sakhalin Island and Tierra del Fuego, on the southern tip of Argentina, the photographer sets out to explore and capture a personal history of “home”. The shape of sheets are here and the place on a pillow where a head had rested.

Available from Amazon

(First published in the white album)

Photographer Pauline Miko

rueblanche.be

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Interview Nicholas Lewis

Hi there, where are you right now?

I am in Kingston, London, meeting up with Lee Mangan, who’s our video director, and we’re trying to sort out the cover for the album, which is basically going to be stills from our videos.

Have you guys started doing a lot of promos and performing live shows for the new album?

Yeah we basically started doing gigs about May last year for it, mainly around Hoxton in London and in 93 Feet East. Its been really great actually because its given me an opportunity to play some places that I’ve always wanted to play, you know, and it’s nice having something which you feel will make some statement of some kind, make more of an impact than just some kind of apathetic band that can’t even be bothered to make an effort. There are quite a
few of them around.

When and where was the album recorded?

We recorded it from about 2008 to 2010 in Ben’s studio, in his house in London.

What was the vibe during the recording sessions?

It was cool. The way it started was with one song really, Charmless State. I’d been playing music for a while and knew of Ben because I’d met him through friends. I recorded an acoustic demo of the song and Ben heard it and, you know, liked it and so I came in to his studio and I just put down my acoustic version just using guitar, then I sung over it, and then he just built it up. He had a very strong vision which was that he wanted it to be dark and industrial. For me it involved a lot of trust in a way because I was always quite suspicious of things that were too programmed but he played it back to me and I was blown away and it kind of went from there basically.

When did you actually start calling yourself White Russia?

Well at that point we never actually said ‘OK we’re in a band, this is what it is’, it was more of an intrigue about this song, and then it was quite a natural process. There was one point when we probably had three songs and we were like ‘OK, what it this?’ Then we sat down early 2009 and called it White Russia and decided to do a whole album.

Why White Russia?

I was looking at a really old, beautiful map and was scanning the east European section and saw ’White Russia’ written on the map and I was so surprised that I’d never seen it before. It just seemed to go with the music really, that was it.

I don’t want it to be coming across as a patronising preacher going around saying ‘oh you all got it wrong,’ but for me, music is the most powerful platform

A lot of your songs and lyrics, and even your track names, are quite powerful. They could sometimes be seen as a call to arms to a generation of jilted people.

Yeah, I know what you mean. And I don’t want it to be coming across as a patronising preacher going around saying ‘oh you all got it wrong,’ but for me, music is the most powerful platform in the sense that it is the only form of art that is completely intangible, it’s not physical, people receive it in the air, yet it has such a physical force on you that for me that’s a responsibility. People need to be shaken out of the normality that is being forced upon us, that actually to me is very unnatural. I think we do live in quite dark times, there’s a kind of menacing element to society, the fabrication of society that we need to challenge, and question, and at least look into.

Menace. That’s the word I was looking for. There’s a sense of intense menace in your music. One of the things I couldn’t help think of was that your music would be perfect as a backdrop to the recent London riots…

The riots were quite invigorating. Everyone was scared shitless. It was hitting places nobody thought possible. Ealing is the leafiest, wealthiest suburb and buses were on fire there, you know? People’s houses were getting broken into too. It was a sudden shock to the system…And to be honest, I think that can be a healthy thing in the sense that it makes people debate, question and wonder what this was about. I think the truth of those riots is that it shows you that the society we’ve structured doesn’t really fulfil human happiness at all.

One of the words that was used to describe your sound was hazy. You don’t sound hazy to me…

That’s probably more of Ben’s influence. He probably wants to raise more questions that answers. Ben likes the idea of something really quick and extreme that then disappears. Something that sounds like the beginning of something epic but then it doesn’t come. He likes to create this sense of ambiguity that makes you feel quite unsure because you don’t know what to expect. It kind of puts you on edge which in a way makes you more alive.

In terms of style, and maybe this is more a question for Ben, the music kind of touches upon everything. There’s hip hop, there’s dub step, a little bit of electronica, there’s folk, chill wave. How would you describe your music if you had to pigeonhole it?

Yeah, it can be quite hard actually. I suppose alternative electronic is what we’ve been calling it. But obviously there are other elements in it and I know that Ben’s definitely coming from quite a few different strands. He’s got this really amazing way of drawing all these things together in a way that makes sense.

In weird ways Ben and I are complete opposites, we have completely different backgrounds.

What music scenes or tribes did you belong to growing up?

Oh very strong tribes. In weird ways Ben and I are complete opposites, we have completely different backgrounds. For me, my baptism as far as music began with one close best friend when I was 13-14. We started listening to Led Zepelin, The Doors, Guns N’ Roses and we were obsessed with them, we wanted to be them. I wanted to be Axl Rose, like a man you know. We disowned our femininity and we started playing music together and it was brilliant because it gave us an identity. It gave us the confidence to fucking rebel I guess. People used to take a piss out of us, saying, ‘Oh you listen to grandpa music’ but for me it was amazing because it was the beginning of me playing music. Then slowly but surely I opened my mind to newer things. The 60s, the 70s, the 80s. The Cure, The Smiths, obviously amazing. The 90s, Nirvana, Faith No More. It was mainly alternative and rock for me. Then I went into Depeche Mode, weirder stuff. Bonnie Prince Billy and just more mind-wrapping stuff, that was less literal, less of an image-based thing and more about ideas. And then Ben’s obviously introduced me to things like Yazoo, a lot of more electronic stuff.

Do you guys have any side projects or is White Russia your main thing?

Actually I’m working on something new with one of my friends whose playing bass and I’m playing guitar. It’s called The Russian Orthodox Wedding. That’s the working title so far. We recorded our song on a reel-to-reel analogue recorder all in one day. I can’t play guitar very well, she had just learned the bass, so there’s a complete naivety to it. It reeks of all the mistakes. It’s the bare bones but I’m quite excited about it. And Ben’s always working on different stuff. He produces stuff for a band called Steranko who are a punk band in London who Lee Mangan, the video director, is the lead singer of. They’re a fucking amazing band, truly amazing live. Very very rare band.

This is maybe a classic one, but what are you listening to at the moment?

You know the band Girls?

Yeah we’re interviewing them for this same edition…

Oh cool. Their second album is fucking amazing. It’s so fucking profound. It’s like old school music again. You know an organ, and the song is allowed to develop. I love it.

White Russia’s debut album O Jerusalem is out on L’Agenda Records on 28th November.

myspace.com/whiterussiamusic

Interview Nicholas Lewis

Your love and use of analogue equipment is well-documented…

When I first discovered electronic music and started to play with it, I was using computers for the first five years and then I started to buy real analogue hardware instruments, real synths, real drum machines and so on. It’s moved from the computer to outside the computer. I still use computers to record and to do all the editing. My music is still very much written on a computer but the sound doesn’t come from a computer at all.

You sent me some of your most recent releases. Can you explain what the difference might be between you recording as White Car, you recording as Aguirre, and you recording as Streetwalker, your project with Beau Wanzer?

Aguirre is kind of an earlier project, that I started in 2005 with a buddy of mine I went to high school with. We really got interested in a lot of electronic music together, listening to a lot of Warp and Planet Mu records, stuff like that. Post-rave, UK stuff. White Car is a solo recording project that is based around taking these genres of electronic dance music that are very specific to the context of where they came from, and then morphing it into my songwriting and bringing these movements of electronic dance music closer to singer-song-writer territory. It’s not club music, but it very much uses all the ideas from past eras of club music to kind of start its foundation. And then my solo recordings is experimental electronic music, much more abstract and working with ideas of texture and sound. White Car is more of a cultural party fun project whereas my solo stuff is made with modular synthesisers so far so it’s much more about picking up sounds and then trying to make them happen.

In a very broad sense, your music tilts towards the dark side, which might seem odd for someone who comes from California…

There’s a lot of darkness in California. There’s no short answer really. It’s not a personal extension of ’my’ darkness. I think that the darkness you hear in the music is the story that it tells, more than who I am.

White Car is [...] based around taking these genres of electronic dance music that are very specific to the context of where they came from [...] bringing these movements of electronic dance music closer to singer-songwriter territory.

What story does it tell then?

It’s the story of humanity, human beings. Ignorance, oppression. America is kind of in a state right now where people are worried. It’s not a full-on depression, but there’s definitely a sense of darkness in the country right now with being at war for 10 years and the economy going under. Some people live in darkness and some people in light. I think that the stories I’m drawn to in terms of those I want to tell as a songwriter tend to be stories about darkness because it’s hard to learn from happiness. A lot of people say you learn more from your mistakes, and this is kind of the same thing. You profit more from being with darkness. I’m not depressed, but I’m intro- verted and I do have a pessimistic look. I don’t really look at people and have faith in them, and I think that comes out in my music. But I wouldn’t say dark, it’s such an overused word. It’s more paranoid, multi-faceted in its darkness. In the same way a Cronenberg or a Lynch movie is dark – you’re more intrigued by its darkness than turned off by it. There’s humour to it. And I think darkness is funny. My sense of humour is very black and very dark and I think that bands that take themselves very seriously in how depressed and how dark they are? That to me is fun.

Coming back to White Car, when did you start recording as a unit? The first songs, the first EPs….

The first release was the White Car EP that came out in February 2010 on Rainbow Body Records, a Chicago label run by a guy called Chris Sloan and I had met the guys from the band Gatekeeper, and we had really connected. I started hanging out with them more, playing with their gear, they were playing me a lot of music I hadn’t heard before. I got really inspired by a lot of it. And that was how White Car came about. We played our first show in June 2009, together with Gatekeeper.

You write most of the band’s songs right?

I do yes. Orion (the other half of White Car) helps with the visual side of things, he plays electronic percussions. He is an editor, which is more helpful than anything else at this point in time with where we’re at with music-making. I’d say that in the last 10 years the most innovative instrument has been laptops and computers and being able to make better recordings in your house. Everyone’s a solo artist now, no one’s in a band anymore. That’s why there’s so much music now. But everyone’s recording them- selves and half these people don’t have anyone in there helping them make their music. That’s what Orion does, he’s an editor. He comes in and listens to it and says “I like this part, I don’t like this part, this makes me think of this, this makes me think of that. We kind of understand each other’s language so well that I kind of understand where he’s coming from with all these ideas.

You’re working on your new LP at the moment. It was supposed to be out in August right?

It was supposed to be out in September. It’s gone through a few different versions, it’s a work-in-progress. Working on the music by myself mostly, there’s a sense of isolation to it. It’s hard to gage when its done. But right now, the release is set for late February 2012.

How important do you think Chicago’s past underground scene was in shaping your current sound?

I don’t think that this music is only discoverable in Chicago, but being there, being in proximity to it and being in proximity to people who hold it really close to them made me revere it more. There are a lot of people there who are really interested in the history of Chicago and Chicago music and are interested in making sure that people hear a lot of the older records. So, just in terms of a physical thing, you can go and find good Chicago house records in almost any record stores, which may not be the case somewhere like California or Ohio.

The image of a white car always fascinated me, there’s some mystery to it.

Can you describe your recording space? Is it mad scientist type lab or clean-cut minimalist studio?

Oh I’m pretty organised. But, you know, there are a few cables flying around. I’m at a stage where I’ve been using a lot of the same stuff for three years now, and I’m trying to switch it out. But I’m in the process of also being broke, so I’m trying to figure out how to build a better studio for nothing. But it’s pretty clean: three or four keyboards, synthesisers, a couple of drum machines, some processors, a computer and some racks. It’s like, you know, a small room’s worth.

What’s behind the name White Car?

It’s literally a reference from a Cabaret Voltaire song. There’s a song on the last record Code called White Car. The song is about wealth and extravagance and the darkness of having money, which has always been interesting to me. I guess I resonated with that song. And the image of a white car always fascinated me, there was some mystery to it, some pre-conceived notions about it. The image of a white car is very creepy to most people, it’s always associated to kidnapping, or human trafficking. Plus you have to have money to keep it clean.

If you were guest editing our white album’s music special which icon would you want to interview?

There’s a good Chinese band called White. I would look into them because it’s very interesting to think of China’s underground scene. I think they’re from Beijing or Hong Kong.

Last one: what’s your plan tomorrow?

I have to paint a house. White….

White Car’s forthcoming album ’Everyday Grace’ is out on Hippos in Tanks in February 2012.

(This interview was first published in the white album)

Chauncey needs no introduction to these pages, their cashmere and knitwear collections having won our hearts and minds over a long time ago. And the hits just keep on coming from the Brussels-based French couple, this time in the shape of its long-sleeved cables knitted jumper full of details. There’s the chunky twisted knitted patterns that lace the entire jumper, the body-perfect straight fit as well as the small V neck detail at the centre of the ribbed collar (on the men’s version only). Made in Mongolia, home to the finest cashmere in the world, don’t be surprised if this revisited classic becomes a regular on your winter clothes rack.

Chauncey white crew neck (329 €)

Available from chaunceystore.com

(this article was first published in the white album)

Interview Nicholas Lewis, with additional research by Pauline Miko

I just saw the video for your single Honey Bunny. I think you guys posted it on your Facebook page two days ago. It got quite a good response. Are you happy with it?

Yeah, I think so, yeah I like it. Well you know, it’s not a big deal for me. It’s more for the fans.

This interview we’re doing is going to run in our November edition and it’s going to be themed “the white album”. Hum now, I read in an interview of yours that you have some sort of fetish for white sneakers…

Ha ha!

…and I noticed that the car, the Corvette, in the video was white as well. I mean, is there a link to be made or is it just me tripping out?

(laughs) No, you’re, no… You’re reading into it too much! The Corvette is silver.

Well I watched it on my shitty laptop.

Yeah. I wear the shoes not because of the fact that they’re white, but just because of the fact that they’re the classic Air Force One’s. You know, because of the fact that they’re not trendy. That’s why I like them.

I don’t want to indoctrinate anybody with any kind of theories, but I do want to communicate my feelings.

Compared to the first one, this new album sounds a lot richer, more accomplished. I mean, it definitely sounds like you have come of age as a songwriter. Other than relentless touring, what would you attribute this maturity gain to?

Yeah, you know, I don’t think there’s any difference. One third of the songs on the new album were written at the same time than the songs from the first album. It’s just that the recordings are better, we’re working in a studio, with a group of musicians that are very good. But in the first album I was playing every instruments and JR was running all the equipment and now on this album we had engineers, producers and musicians and a studio and everything was done right. But there’s no change.

On the album’s first song Honey Bunny, which is also the video you just released, you sing ‘they don’t like my bony body, they don’t like my dirty hair’ and then you go on to sing about a girl who loves you for who you are. This theme of acceptance – are you referring to anyone in particular or is it more of a general statement?

It’s a general statement. The song was written at the time when the person in the song doesn’t know for sure if they’re ever going to find somebody, the right person. It’s about saying: I’m not going to give up, I’m going to keep trying because it might be right around the corner. It’s about optimism.

You’ve been quoted as saying that you think that music is a spiritual way to communicate transcendent things…

Yeah, it’s more about just communicating my feelings. I think it’s important for me because I’m trying to figure these things out myself. It’s just talking about it in the songs in the same way that somebody might go to therapy or write a journal. That’s really the motive. I don’t want to indoctrinate anybody with any kind of theories, but I do want to communicate my feelings. For me it’s really selfish.

If Pitchfork had given us a bad support on this album it wouldn’t have made a difference. The tour was already booked before this. We don’t go and say like: ‘ Hey, look at the score, will you give us a show? ’

How important is the validation of web- sites such as Pitchfork to you? What do you think of this moral authority that one website commands on the indie scene?

I don’t really know. I don’t follow it, I don’t check it, I don’t read it. But I know when they give us a good score, I hear about it. It’s just like anything, when you get an award or you get praise… It’s really not the time where you feel successful. You feel successful the first time you listen to the album after it’s finished. It’s the same for live shows – when you’ve had a good show and when the audience was really great. And after that it’s like when people close to you are telling you they have real respect for what you’re doing or something. And finally after that, of course you want to get some respect from the people in the industry. But it’s really not the first thing. Our booking agents, our record label, our fans, … They were there before our first album, before we got a review. I think it helps, of course, but I know for example if Pitchfork had given us a bad support on this album it wouldn’t have made a difference. The tour was already booked before this. We don’t go and say like: “hey, look at the score, will you give us a show?”

Doing my research, I couldn’t help but feel that you’re definitely moving closer to the mainstream and it’s not a move that you seem to be doing yourself. Rather, it’s the mainstream that seems to be embracing you, I mean you have interviews in GQ, Vogue Italia, showcases on Conan. How do you feel about that? You’re clearly becoming the darling of the airwaves.

It’s just because those people are just slower than the public. You know, it’s the same in politics for example. Finally yesterday, there’s no discrimination about homosexuality in the army anymore. It’s just the government always needs an extra 10 years just to catch up. It’s the same with people like GQ. They would never say “Oh, I saw a band last night in a bar, let’s do a story!” They wait until you’re becoming rel- evant. The only reason that the mainstream is catching on is because they’re the slowest ones. Probably the final person to catch on would be like hum… Obama or something!

That’d be nice…

Yeah, that’s the goal! They’ll give me a call and say: “I’ve listened to your album and it’s really good!”

You recently stated in an interview that “The album should go down in history as an important album. I hope people realise that. Whether they do or not, they should at least not write it off as music that is trying to sound a certain way.”

Yeah, you know, I believe that this is a great album, I believe that the music is great and that we did a good job making it. We took huge steps up from the first album to the EP to this record. It would have been really easy for us to spend three or four thousand dollars and make another one of those and just put it out and stick to what we know, but we invested much more money into this new record. That’s the whole thing, even right now, on our tour, everybody got engaged to go on the road and they get paid a lot of money. And you know, the easy thing to do would have been: keep the same plan up from the beginning, keep the money just low, keep going on cheap tours, and rack up some money for ourselves. You know, when you look at it, it looks like a small business or something: every time we get extra money we put it straight back into our business and we make a better thing for the people involved. I have a lot of pride about what we’re doing because for me it’s the first time in my life where I’m doing something and I’m basically a part of a company. I’m making decisions. I’d like for people to understand that this is a very serious effort and that there is a lot of work going on. People like to label you as a certain thing and to me it’s frustrating because here I am 32 years old trying to run a company, make a career out of this and make the best albums possible.

You’ve spent some time in Belgium. Can you tell me how you ended up here, where you lived, any memories you kept, things you remember about the place?

Yeah I spent like six months there! I was living in France at the time and my mom had a new boyfriend and I wasn’t getting along with him and that was becoming… you know young teen (I was like 13 years old, or maybe 12) and I was being rebellious. So there was this place where they wanted to send me away so I could maybe be mature or something and to be totally honest with you I don’t really know what city it was, I don’t remember anything about where I was. I remember that it was a very nice place and I liked it a lot. We had goats roaming around freely.

Do you remember if you were in the French speaking part or in the Flemish speaking part?

I was speaking French, for sure.

So you went with your mom to Belgium?

No, I was by myself. I do know one detail, which is that they used to take all the children together and there were a lot of children and we’d go sing in the docks of Antwerp – where there are all the big ferry boats from every- where around the world – and we’d go on the boat and sing “Stille naaacht, tralala naaacht”.

Really?

I’m serious!

To the sailors?!

Yeah! And then we would sell some cassette tapes of us singing. And that’s how we would make some money. But it was like a program for kids who were kind of having a hard time growing up. You’d go there and learn how to sing Christmas carols and take care of goats and play outside. I don’t know if that helped me or not. But I remember I liked Belgium a lot.

You’ll be playing in Brussels in November. Do you still know some people here?

Oh, I don’t know anybody there. Even one year later I never spoke to any of those people again. That’s the story of my whole life, you know. Be somewhere, experience it, leave and forget about it.

What about the time you spent in Texas?

Well you know there is a huge amount of time there. When I moved to Texas I was 16 years old, in 1996. And a lot of things happened. I spent about nine years there.

So nine years after you moved to San Francisco?

Yeah. When I moved to SF I was 25.

I feel like in my youth I had religious music, and then in my teenage years I had punk music and it was only when I became an adult that I wrote my own music.

But you were always into music, like back in Texas, you were already playing in bands?

No, when I first moved there all I did was just buy albums. It was the first time for me to buy albums. I spent about four years just buying as many albums as I could. I was just a fan, a very honest fan of bands that were on MTV. That’s all I knew. And then I got into punk and that’s a very different thing. A part of the thing that came with my punk lifestyle is that I moved into a house where a lot of us played music together. There’s something about getting into punk very seriously where you do start playing music, and I did, but it wasn’t like this. I never wrote any songs, I didn’t care about music. It was just like in the same way that religious people sing in a church, and they have a huge musical history, well it’s the same for punks I think. Every punk will tell you “Oh yes, I’ve been in a band.” I feel like in my youth I had religious music, and then in my teenage years I had punk music and it was only when I became an adult that I wrote my own music.

What do you qualify your music of now? How would you describe it?

I really don’t know. I think it’s just pop music or you know, rock and roll music. Like I’ve seen our CD on iTunes and it’s says “alternative music”. You know I think that’s really nice but I think that’s also very big. Like “alternative to what?”

A lot has been said regarding your upbringing and how important religion was, so I don’t want to go into detail about it. But, your album’s name evidently conjures feelings of some sort of religious reference. Now I’ve also read that it was not your attempt at all. But I guess what I’m trying to get to here is that seen from our eyes, the current political climate in the US is really highly charged on religion. So I just wanted to know: where do you stand on that?

I don’t really agree actually. I think that’s a mess. It’s kind of like the idea that America is free or something like that. These are lies. I think that the “in God we trust” and the American Republican sort of Christian thing is a lie that is presented to the rest of the world so you guys think we’re very religious. It’s propagated by the American government and by the culture here. I spent a lot of time in my life travelling around the world, living in countries for years and years. I still travel now and I follow the world news and I’ll go so far as to say that a lot of European countries are more strongly Catholic and traditionally religious than America! For example if you go to Belgium, it’s the same kind of feeling in America: some people are religious, some people aren’t. Nobody really cares. You know, Bachmann, Rick Perry those people are not religious people. They’re hypocrites. They do that to receive votes. The population here is just stupid. You know I guarantee you that those people all have really disgusting demons in their closets.

Do you have religion overload? Given your upbringing, is there a point where you’re like “Gosh these guys are making so much out of this!”

Hum I don’t know, I kind of understand the whole reason why people are saying that. I think it’s because of the 60s American “hippie cult”, you know, it’s something that happened here, and half of the country (maybe 75 percent) subscribe to this. They all said: “Yes we should drop out, we should take drugs, we should have free sex…” I mean there was a time when the Children of God were very normal – I mean not specifically our cult but – these were the very normal feelings that America was turning to. And then everybody knows that these things came and failed. I mean people killed them- selves, the Government went in and killed the branch deviant. Everybody knows that free sex lead to AIDS. America has literally shifted. So there are two elements. One, it’s interesting to see the child of this very specific American culture come and say ‘this is my take on what actually happened’. But then for other people this cult is just so bizarre. This crazy sexual cult. All these things they don’t know about. You know: yes there is a religious aspect but I don’t think it’s so much religion, I think there is a political and historical element to it taken by the adults. You know, I feel like I got fucked over by the older generation, by the hippies. I realise that. But then for the people of my age it’s like ‘he was born in a cult’. This is very dark. I think nobody has ever asked me any questions about religion, it’s always like ‘So then, what happened?’ They want to hear juicy things ‘Oh your brother died’, ‘Oh your mom did this, your mom did that.’ I never had anybody ask me about the religious beliefs of the John Booka.

Do you still, to a certain extent, live the way you where brought up? Do you still believe in certain of the things of The Children of God?

No I can’t you know, it’s not possible. In order for me to do that, I’d have to separate myself from the world again and live in a community with hundreds of people, I’d have to stop earning money, I’d have to… We used to live in a very complicated way and I think I would never live like that again. I would have to go back to them. I’m 100 percent free right now. I had no freedom before.

Is it a part of your childhood that you look back at negatively?

No. Because I don’t want to do that. I did that for a long time but it’s very unhealthy. You know I would not just be upset; I’d get so angry. It’s not even an option for me to be upset about that. If you research anything about this group, you’d know what I’m talking about. You’d know that the children try to kill the parents that brought them up and kill themselves. This is not a fucking joke! I’ve been out of the Children of God since 1996. It’s a long time ago. And I’ve learned how to appreciate what happened to me and like myself. If I don’t do that, it’s all over. I’d be finished, other people would be finished. You know, there is just no option. The only option that I have is to say “everything is fine”.

One of the things in your childhood is that you couldn’t discover music directly. Apart from going to record stores, how would you discover new music now?

On YouTube. (laughs)

Personally, SF is a city I love. I’ll always remember the record store “Amoeba Records”? Does that still exist? Does it hold a lot of meaning to the city’s musicians? Did it help in anyway for you? Did you play there?

Yeah we played there for our first album release. I go there all the time, I live in that neighbourhood, so that’s where I buy my albums.

Like I said, this interview is going to run in our white album, which will evoke themes of purity, transparency and honesty. Which are themes that could really describe a big chunk of your latest album. There is a fresh naivety, it’s simple, self-spoken. You talk about ‘starting anew, that’s why I’m sticking with you, nobody makes me feel better and magic.’ It’s very honest and transparent. Is that kind of who you are? Do you  say things the way…

Yeah yeah. This is how I am. I’m very open. Of course it’s great for the song writing and it’s great for interviews and it’s great for any kind of public personality. When I see people, I can talk with them and it’s just much easier to be just very honest but then at the same time I have a lot of stress…distressfulness. I feel stupid or I feel like people know too much about me. You know I read interviews and I feel like they made mis- takes at the wrong things. I have to talk to my family all the time because they think I have a drug problem…The reality is that I’m OK, you know. The reality is just that I’m running a big business here. People work for me, and there’s been a recession in the United States for the past five years while I had to develop a brand new company! And I’m doing well, so.

I can’t help but notice that any artist refering to his band or his art as a business is pretty rare! I’ve never met an artist who takes it so seriously and really talks about it like you’re the General Manager for the company “and I have employees and all”. You know, this shit is serious!

Ha ha! I don’t know. Maybe it’s the wrong thing to say.

Just to give me an idea, I don’t need a specific figure here but you know this second album, it’s getting so much praise. Is this it for you? Are you guys kind of like comfortable for the next five years of your life and can you now buy yourself a studio and invest in gear and buy yourself a house, or…?

No! I mean, nobody makes money selling records anymore.

But you’re touring.

Yeah but this is our first tour for the new album. And sure, if we tour for the next two years, a lot, we can earn enough money. Anyway, without getting into money details, reality is yes, we have a opportunity right now: we could stop recording, play tons of festivals and outdoor…because the licenses are admitted…Coca-Cola…Just today I turned down a option from Tommy Hilfiger!

Why?

Because that’s what we do. We would not accept Tommy Hilfiger’s option for a commercial and we would not play festivals for two years on one album and keep the money apart: we’re going to the studio by next year.

I feel really similar to Biggie or 2 Pac’s personalities; they both were raised by a single mother who was very dynamic with a lot of personality

If I had to choose a musical genre that was the furthest away from what you guys are doing now, I’d say rap is definitely it. Do you listen to any hip-hop, who’s is your favourite gangsta rapper?

Oh I love hip-hop. My favourite rapper right now is Tylor the Creator. I’ve always liked rap. I feel really similar to Biggie or 2Pac’s personalities; they both were raised by a single mother who was very dynamic with a lot of personality. 2Pac’s mother was a political activist, Biggie’s mother was a single mother and they both didn’t finish college and they, at some point, started to write songs and they became very open and honest and tried to write everything and they did it until they died. And Biggie’s real name is actually Christopher Wallace. But, realistically I feel exactly the same as those two guys. I used to be a very big Wu-Tang fan but I think that’s kind of over now.

We asked a couple of our readers to send us questions on Twitter and one reader had a particularly funny one. He’s like ‘What does it feel like to be idolised by Pitchfork media but not to be able to be found on Google?’

(laughs)

I read somewhere that you’re working on a reggae album. Is that a project that’s still going on?

Yeah, I mean not really. When I talked about working on it, that was the time when I was writing the songs but I had to put them away. That’s really how all of our work is done: I write them, put them away and the next day of work is just in the studio, there’s nothing in between so yeah, the first job has been done for the reggae album (the songs are written) but really I don’t know when we’ll work on it, I don’t know if this is going to happen.

It will be a Girls project, then?

I’d like it to be. I’ve received a lot of oppositions from the others involved, specifically on this one! It’d have to be done differently. I think that people have done co-records like that. It’d have to be done in a studio with a Jamaican pro- ducer, vocal musicians and all that.

All right. Last question: if I’m not mistaken, you like Oasis, the band?

Oh yeah!

What do you prefer, Beady Eye or High Flying Birds (Liam and Noel’s new projects)?

Oh God, I wish I knew, ah. I’d really love to tell you an answer but I haven’t listened to either of them. My intuition is to stick with Noel on this one.

Watch the video Honey Bunny:

Girls’ latest album Father, Son, Holy Ghost is out now on True Panthers.

(This interview was first published in the white album)

Where are you right now?

Mario: We’re one foot in Lithuania and the other worldwide.

Vidis: Haha…That’s a more generic point of view. But it’s right. We’re in the studio right now to be more specific, putting down some answers for you. We’ve been working on a new track with Ernesto today. It’s called ‘Care’, and we really really like it. We’re really feeling it because it turned out like no other track we’ve ever made. Ernesto recorded two tracks with us for our album. Now we’re giving something back to him – producing some stuff for his new album as well.

What have you been up to this month?

M: We’ve just finished a remix for Australian indie-pop band Architecture In Helsinki which turned out to be very different in a good way – none of our remixes sounded anything like that before. Yes! Again. We’ve been doing some hybrid tracks recently. We don’t even know what the style is really. It just happens when we work together in the studio…

V: Also we’ve been working on a Bon Iver cover for ‘Re: Stacks’ featuring vocal treatment of James Mathé. We’re very much into this at the moment. We want to finish it as soon as possible and we’ve been traveling quite a lot recently too. Playing Russia, Ukraine, then again Russia, and ready to do a few dates in Germany, Italy, and Turkey very soon.

We tried to make it a real journey, not just a collection of our tracks new and old.

Tell us about the album. How long has it been in the making? Where was it recorded?

M: We were working on the album for three years. It was recorded in my studio apart from one session when we were recording live drums which were recorded in another studio. Also with Plastic People, which was co-written by Vytautas Sondeckis a good old friend of mine, he recorded these plastic fantastic keyboards in his basement studio and the vocals too! Believe it or not but only the songs with Giedre were recorded here in this studio. All other vocal parts were traveling back and forward in between Vilnius, London, Brighton and Gothenburg.

V: This is where we have a slightly different approach. The album showcases our work from the last three years. But it was recorded mainly in five months from May to September 2011 and most of the work was done in the middle of the summer – in July 2011. So I’d say we recorded it during a very productive summer of 2011. Even though the album showcases our work from the last three years.

How would you describe the mood of the album?

M: Deep and mysterious.

V: I’d say it’s got a consistent mood. Different tempos and styles aside we’ve put a lot of time and effort editing tracks, mostly the beginnings and the endings, to make it a smooth listen. And pardon for the cliche expression, but we tried to make it a real journey, not just a collection of our tracks new and old.

Electronic music is very much an art of context.

The two disks possess drastically different moods, tempos and directions. How would you distinguish one from the other?

M: The first one is vocal and the second one is fully instrumental. The first one is more suitable for listening, the second one is more suitable for dancing. The first CD is more Mario and the second one is more Vidis.

V: Those two discs showcase our different personalities and even different sides of us. One day we feel kinda blue and want to put down one more melancholic song. And another day we feel like banging it out with a dance floor destroyer. I wouldn’t say the moods are drastically different though – we fit most of this diverse material quite easily into the sets we play. You just have to know how to do transitions. Then you can move quite easily and convincingly from electronic ballads to dance floor bangers. Electronic music is very much an art of context.

Talk us to about some of the vocalists you had on the album. How did the collabs come about? I’m especially interested to hear/learn more about Giedre.

M: Vidis could you please take on this one…

V: Jazzu is a good old friend of ours, Kathy Diamond became our friend during her gig here in Vilnius at one of my events, and we got in touch with Ernesto with the help of the internet when we wanted to do our first track featuring a male vocalist. Giedre is a local legend. She’s a lead vocalist of a band called Empti. They were the ground breaking Lithuanian act at the end of the 90s, fusing electronica, indie and pop in their own way. We felt like inviting her for a variety of the vocals on the CD and for the respect we have for her, she felt like joining us. Now everyone’s happy with results.

What’s the thing that surprised you the most recording the album?

M: Hm. Maybe realizing how much time and energy it really takes, especially the technical work, the final mixing and mastering.

V: Me too. On the one hand I was surprised but of course proud at the same time that we managed to come up with a double album – we had enough of material! On the other hand yeah, we didn’t think it will be consuming so much of the time, we were saying this is our first and last double album haha…

What’s the one most important thing you learned whilst recording the album?

M: We learned new things about each other, we learned new things about music styles, we learned to sit down and review our tracks to make sure they would fit onto the album, and would last longer than a usual dance floor material or DJ tool. We learned to express ourselves and present our sound. We’ve learned about working with tube compressors and limiters because that was a new hardware which arrived around the time of the album recording. We learned a lot.

V: We learned to accept changes. That’s the idea behind the album and it’s title. We re-arranged, re-edited, and re-adopted absolutely all the tracks. Even the ones which were produced 3 years ago. It’s all about re-thinking your ideas, attitudes and values all the time. It’s a never ending process. ‘Changed’ was changed one more time even after it’s release. We released the CD for the Lithuanian territory at the very end of 2010. During 2011 some of the tracks were signed by a few international dance labels and released as singles or EPs with a bunch of remixes added to them. Then we changed the artwork slightly, changed our artist name – shortened it a little bit, and are releasing it for worldwide audience.

We learned to accept changes. That’s the idea behind the album and its title. We re-arranged, re-edited, and re-adopted absolutely all the tracks.

What would you say your top three LPs of the year were so far?

M: MCDE DJ Kicks compilation, John Tejada‘s album, Jamie Woon‘s Mirrorwriting.

V: Oh. I hate this kind of questions. Three is never enough. How can you put the whole year into three albums? Let’s talk about last three months maybe? Then it would be Joakim ‘Nothing Gold’, Little Dragon ‘Ritual Union’, Bon Iver ‘Bon Iver’.

Can you talk to us a little about your hometown? What’s your neighborhood like? what’s the nightlife like? which clubs/parties do you go to? Any shops you recommend?

M: I don’t go out that much so it’s a question for Vidis.

V: For good parties you should check Opium, Soul Box, Gorky, for live concerts Loftas. You’ll always find good stuff at Zoe’s, Briusly, La Boheme, and Kitchen. For up to date art the definite place is Contemporary Art Centre. For all kinds of designer items you should go to Daiktu viesbutis. And just for a nice walk around you should go to Uzupis, check out theriver side, and the old town of course. Come visit us!

Who would you book for your last ever party?

M: Nuyorican Soul.

V: Freddie Mercury would be nice. But he’s unavailable for gigs right now. Beastie Boys then. Sa-sa-satisfaction guaranteed. Maybe Grace Jones too.

What three websites do you religiously check everyday?

M: Facebook, Xhamster, Swedbank – my bank account.

V: Facebook, Google Calendar, racas.lt – a blog of one local wise guy.

What is next for you, as a band but as individual musicians?

M: Two original releases – ‘We Are Child Of Love’ and ‘Jeremy Glenn’ which doesn’t have a name yet. And remixes for Jay West ‘Smile’, Crazy P ‘Changes’, Bradka ‘Fine Fine’, Metronomy ‘Corrine’, The Mecanism ‘Can’t Believe’.

V: I’m planning my first international mix album for the new year to show everyone where I’m coming from. I also wanna give some exposure to local talent – we’ve got a small but really vibrant scene these days.

Are you guys on Facebook?

V: Yes we are – follow us on Facebook here.

Changed was released on Future Classic in May 2011

Photography courtesy of Zeno X Gallery Antwerp

One of the most prominent photographers of his generation, Ghent-based Dirk Braeckam‘s work has been enjoying something of an increased interest of late, with exhibitions in Leuven (M Museum) and Antwerp (at Zeno X Gallery, which ends this Saturday), artist books (to be published in conjunction with the exhibition in Leuven, and which will include many previously unpublished images) as well as a documentary on Belgian television (aired last night on Canvas’ Goudvis). A teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Braeckman is known for his grey-scaled works that owe as much to his accute sense of composition as to his restrained approach (he sometimes doesn’t develop his rolls years after having shot them). With his exhibition at M Museum spanning his entire career to date (from early-beginning self portraits and later years landscape images to his most recent experimentation with digital photography), Braeckman cements his reputation as the grand-daddy of Belgian fine art photography. We met up with him a couple of days after the opening to talk analogue photography, eliminating colour and working against photography as a medium.

(Scroll to the bottom of the page for an image gallery review of the exhibition, shot by Joke De Wilde)

Photography Joke De Wilde

At the moment there are two exhibitions of your work in Belgium. Do you actually have a say in how your photos are displayed?

Yes. For the exhibition in Leuven – my biggest so far – I wanted the hanging to be very classical. 12 years ago I had a completely different approach: For example I did a show with mainly small prints, all hanging in one row and very close to each other to give it a cinematic feeling. Now, when the moment for an overview of my work had come, I prefer to keep the pictures apart and want to let them stand for themselves – even though there will of course always be a dialogue between the pieces. There is also book, something that is very important to me. It is not just a usual publication to accompany the exhibition. It includes about 350 images, many of which are published for the first time and in the book only – they don’t even exist as prints. It is a piece of art in itself – I see the book as an additional independent space to present my work.

What is your way of working? Do you arrange your photographs or are they more spontaneous snapshots?

My way of working is very impulsive. I never know what I want before I actually start shooting. I don’t arrange the setting. The golden thread running through my work is the autobiographical aspect – but not in an obvious way. It is autobiographical in the sense that I photograph things close to me, what is around me.  And in the end it matters more in which way I print it and how I photograph something than what.

It matters more how I photograph something, not what.

You recently started with landscape photography – can you tell us more about that? Is this the current focus of your work?

It all started with a sponsorship by Nikon. They gave me their best camera on the market and in order to see what it can do I travelled around a bit. That’s how I started photographing nature. But in the end my landscape images have the same feeling to them as my interior ones. For example I kept the habit of concentrating on little details. Currently landscapes are my main motifs and I photograph much more outside. I guess I needed that after 25 years of working in rather enclosed places. But as I said, the looks and atmosphere of the photos stays the same and it is a logical continuation of my work.

Some of these landscape photos are displayed in the exhibition in Leuven.

Yes. They actually refer to the origin of the world and are partly inspired by the same-titled painting of Gustave Courbet. Many people do not recognize this reference though.

Photography courtesy of Zeno X Gallery Antwerp

Do you have a favourite picture in the exhibition?

It’s hard to say, there are quite a few of them. There is this one image though where I eliminate almost everything with the flash – all you see is structure. It’s probably my most secretive picture, the most intriguing, mysterious and abstract. I took it about six years ago and some people even considered it as the final point of my work and asked me: ‘What now?’ It is a very important picture for me.

You almost only photograph in black and white – is there a specific reason for that?

Eliminating colours means eliminating information. It becomes more suggestive. And even if an image is black and white – you can always feel the colours. It is not necessary to display them. Coloured images feel more like illustrations to me. When I do use colour I do it in a rather monochrome way, as an artificial yellow light for example.

In a way I work against the medium and do the opposite of what photography is originally meant for.

You mentioned the elimination of information in your photos – what is the reason behind that?

This is a very important aspect of my work. I delete all references to when and where the picture is taken. In a way I work against the medium and do the opposite of what photography is originally meant for. My goal is to make the viewer guess and wonder. I want the image to stand by itself – a story is not necessary. It could be taken anywhere. I don’t want to show a certain reality, rather a sensation. My pictures are very tactile, they become objects, like a painting – many viewers actually want to touch them.

Who are the people in your photos? Are they people you randomly meet on the street? Or do you work with models?

No, they are all people I meet, some I know well, others just for one night. As I mentioned already, I never stage the setting, but I can still stir it into a certain direction if I want to. But the subjects of my pictures are not important. It is much more about an inner reality, my state of mind, a very personal perspective. Sometimes you don’t see the person on the picture, but they are in the room and you can feel their presence. I don’t want things to be too evident.

Photography courtesy of Zeno X Gallery Antwerp

You recently started experimenting with digital cameras. What are the biggest differences between analogue and digital photography? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

They are two completely different things. With analogue photography you always have this mystery of what will be the outcome in the end, you don’t see directly what you photographed. Using digital cameras there is no process, the result is there immediately and I can’t do the printing myself – something that is very important to me. I’m not a big fan of technology and computers. I need to spend time in the darkroom, I need the physical act of developing the picture myself.

So you never use digital cameras?

Sometimes I do, some of the big prints in the Leuven exhibition are made with a digital camera. I also combine both methods from time to time. For example I take pictures with a very small camera or even a mobile phone and then photograph them again on the screen with an analogue camera. I like to experiment and I’ve never followed the common rules of photography. But yes, I prefer the analogue way – a very nostalgic reaction, I know.

I’ve never followed the common rules of photography.

Is digital photography changing photography as an artform?

Many young photographers nowadays first look at all the technical possibilities and then think about the image – in my opinion that is the wrong approach. I first come up with an idea and then I choose the tool to realise it with. But with all the possibilities opening up through digital technology this is changing into the other direction.

Dirk Braeckman

Until 8th January 2012

M Museum Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28, 3000 Leuven

www.mleuven.be

Photography courtesy of Zhao Li

Did you study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp?

Yes, I did. I graduated with a BA in Jewellery Design and Metalworking in 2009 and got my MA in July last year.

Why did you choose Antwerp to study?

The school has a very good reputation and, of course, I knew about the Antwerp Six. I started doing fashion in the 1st year to realize I was more into the finer details and craftsmanship. I also wanted to do more research on materials and my teacher suggested I do jewellery instead. I started the course in 2006.

Did you have any other options apart from Antwerp?

I would have loved to study in Paris. For me, Chanel and Dior are references, especially when it comes to Haute Couture. It’d be fascinating to work there and gain some professional experience within a larger company.

I love adding a conceptual layer to jewellery making, it’s something that truly drives me.

Why is jewellery so important for you and what does it bring you creatively?

One thing I learnt from the Academy was to focus on the concept and research behind a product. I love adding a conceptual layer to jewellery making, it’s something that truly drives me. I love learning about new techniques as well.

What materials do you like to use in your collections?

The main material I use at the moment is this medical plastic I get through a Belgian healthcare company called Orfit. They basically give me the material for free and I get involved in workshops with schools. I could do anything I wanted with the plastic and remember showing my first pieces to the factory’s owner and his daughter. They both loved it and ended up sponsoring me for my final year project. I’m still using their plastic now.

When did you launch “talitali by Zhao Li”?

I launched the line a year ago and am happy with the way it’s evolving.

Being creative is one thing, but turning it into a business is another.

What are the challenges you face as a young designer?

It takes time for people to notice your work and understand what you are about. You cannot just rely on your own brand and have to work on several projects at once. I work with Heaven Tanudiredja in Antwerp and enjoy our collaboration. When you come out of school, you don’t know anything about the business and have to learn from scratch. Being creative is one thing, but turning it into a business is another.

Where does your passion for animals come from?

It’s funny, because I always get very strong reactions from people, particularly when it comes to insects. Some of them do not seem to be that popular… You would not believe how many adults are terrified of spiders for instance, even when they’re made out of plastic! While I was experimenting with materials, I noticed how beautifully the plastic merged with textiles. I needed something to create a strong contrast between the shapes and materials used. Animals came to mind very naturally, I cannot say it’s something I planned in advance.

Did you like the paradox between the sweet feel of your pieces and the way insects can be perceived?

Yes, definitely. I wanted to work on that contradiction throughout the collection. My aim was not to scare anyone, you know, but it’s nice to see people react to what I do.

Which textiles work best when combined with plastic?

I love using lace. It’s easy to work with and striking at the same time.  I have to melt the plastic first and press the lace on top of it. As lace has many holes, you get this bubble effect on my jewellery, which I really like.

For me, luxury has more to do with creativity, innovation and emotion.

What is luxury for you?

For me, luxury is not about using expensive materials only. In jewellery, many designers are obsessed with diamonds, gold or expensive stones, but luxury can be precious for different reasons. It has more to do with creativity, innovation and emotion. I guess luxury is a very relative notion.

What do you think of artists experimenting with jewellery at the moment?

It’s great. I have exhibited my work in several galleries already and like working with contemporary jewellery pieces. The idea of limited, artistic jewellery appeals to me as well.

Do you think jewellery can be envisaged as an art form?

Yes, I do. There’s this big trend at the moment with contemporary jewellery artists, which I find very interesting. I love the way jewellery has become much more interdisciplinary, dealing with several creative fields at once.

What are the advantages of working and living in Belgium?

Belgium has a great location within Europe. You can easily go to Paris, London or Amsterdam. It’s a very creative country, too, especially when it comes to the fashion world. A lot of things happen here. The best thing is quality of life and the fact that things are still affordable, compared to other major cities. I like the peaceful atmosphere, too.

Do you find people support each other in the business?

Yes, they do. You get to meet a lot of designers here and exchanging ideas with them is not difficult. The Flanders Fashion Institute really helped me, too, and I’m grateful for it. To be honest, I have no intention to move elsewhere. I love it here.

It features artists talking about their fear of the blank canvas, professions that still wear white aprons at work and the oldest tennis club in Belgium (members are required to wear white). It also features a snowball collector, a tribute to white socks and an interview with White Russia (the band’s whose song, Charmless State, was used for the teaser).

Come on down, get your copy, have a Volga (Brussels’ latest beer) and a little boogie (Nosedrip‘s on decks).

Address for the night: Rue Vandenbrandenstraat 2 - 1000 Brussels (Next door to Galerie Catherine Bastide and behind Café Modèle). Find it on Google maps

JOIN THE EVENT ON FACEBOOK

All images by Raya Rayax

Light. It sometimes points you in the right direction.

Light. It sometimes entertains you.

Light. It sometimes comes from outside.

Light. Sometimes you receive it.

Light. Sometimes you dance to it.

Light. It sometimes is captured on tape.

Light. It sometimes is imaginary.

Light. Sometimes you try to catch it.

Light. It sometimes is artificial.

Light. It sometimes is magic.

Light. It often can be found at the end of the tunnel.

Light. It sometimes becomes an addiction.

Interview and photographs Yana Foqué

Photography Yana Foqué

You are a travelling man. Tell us the best thing about being on the road.

The random encounters, and landscapes.

Do you feel as though being in between places is a necessity for your music?

No, it’s circumstantial. I’ll play with the cards I’m dealt.

What can make you extremely happy?

Eating good food, of course.

Your music can be very subtle, at times almost hypnotic. Listening to your record feels a bit like a drift. On top of that you named the album ‘Badlands’, which gives it an extra cinematic ring to it. How did you decide on the name?

It was definitely in tribute to the American landscapes I’ve driven through.

Photography Yana Foqué

How far can you go to get a song just right?

Ideas are not forever. If the moment is lost, I abandon the idea.

The song ‘ Coast to Coast’ echoes the voices of the past. The introverted yearning shimmers true. When did you write this song?

Between 2007-2008. The idea came from driving in the night, also as a passenger. Drifting in and out of sleep.

Your music overflows with images. Do you sometimes feel as a character to your own film?

Yes, because I think of that person as a reflection, like staring into the infinity mirror.

Nicest compliment you got on the record?

My mom said “ You are my pride” when she saw a picture of me in the newspaper.

‘Badlands’ is available on iTunes here

Photography Pauline Miko

Ever since Coco Chanel’s game-changing little black dress hit fashion boutiques’ shop floors, the staple has become a wardrobe must for self-respecting women – the kind of piece to defy any cyclical turns in the fashion sphere. With its purist aesthetic and understated luxury, this black heavy cotton satin dress from Belgian designer Sofie D’Hoore, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, perfectly captures the little black dress’ philosophy, effortlessly combining elegance and minimalism to delighting effect. With clean lines, a modern look and an oversized collar adding a playful twist to the frock, this black dress is our clear favourite from Sofie’s current winter collection focusing on dresses inspired by the 60s . As Sofie D’Hoore herself puts it: “I want to dress women, instead of dressing them up.”

Sofie D’Hoore 100% cotton dress (325 €)

Available at Walter, Henri van Heurckstraat 3, 2000 Antwerp

www.sofiedhoore.be

How old are you?

I’m 21.

What are you up to nowadays?

Tell us a little about your .be series? What’s the inspiration behind it? Where are most of the houses you shoot located? Do you know about the people that live inside those houses?

Is it an on-going series?

What does grey say to you? Why is it a colour that speaks to you?

Would you say coming from Mechelen influences your eye, and photographic work?

What are you working on at the moment? What’s your end of college project?

What more do you have in-store for the grey series?

If your photography were music, what genre would it be?

Which photographers would you say helped shape your work?

What’s next? After answering this email and after finishing up your last year at college..

What websites do you check every morning?

A last exhibition you checked out?

Photography Pauline Miko

Bleu de Chanel 100ml bottle (€71).

Available nationwide from Ici Paris XL.

chanel.com

Photography courtesy of Sofie Claes

When did you create your label?

I started working on it at the beginning of October last year. My first showroom took place last March and I just got back from Paris where I presented the second collection.

You have studied in several countries before and have had a pretty unusual path. Can you tell me more about your experiences?

During secondary school, I took evening classes in sewing and pattern-drawing. The plan was to enter the Academy in Antwerp, but I had a strong feeling I needed to go to Paris first. I learnt French there and studied at Esmod for a year. The teachers encouraged me to do the full course, but it was too pricey for me. I started looking at places that could be of interest and decided to enrol at Amsterdam’s Fashion Institute.

What made you decide to go there?

The course offered a great balance between commercial thinking and creativity. We had management and branding classes, as well as courses on 3D design and designing pieces for shows. It was a good preparation for the future. In Antwerp, I have the feeling that students learn to develop their own creativity, but do not know so much about the business itself. You’re left to your own devices after school and have to learn how to start a business from scratch.

What happened after graduation?

I went to India, working for 3 and a half months on a special project where an atelier had to be created. It was a charity initiative, called «Satara», where we got to design a complete collection, using Indian fabrics. We taught 15 women how to sew the pieces there. That was a great experience for me.

Did you come back to Belgium after that?

I came back home, looking for work. The crisis could be felt and it look longer than expected to find opportunities. I was also looking for ways to set up my own brand, getting information and help wherever I could. I launched it 9 months after I got back.

Was it always clear for you that you would create your own label one day?

Yes, it was. In fact, it had been my goal since studying at AMFI. I remember having interviews in Belgium for commercial jobs where people told me I was actually too creative for their companies.

What are the advantages of living and designing in Belgium?

The best thing is proximity. You can go to the atelier often and check what people are doing. You avoid expensive travels costs. It makes the whole process much more personal and it’s nice getting to know the people who are dealing with your production.

Is it the human interaction that you enjoy?

Yes, definitely. The women working there are the same age as my mum, which creates a sense of closeness and familiarity. Having that kind of connection is important for me.

Does this have an impact on how your clothes are perceived by potential clients?

I think it does. The fact that my clothes are made in Belgium seems to be well-received, even though it might not be the most important thing. Price and quality are probably more relevant.

Are your clothes expensive?

Manufacturing in Belgium is expensive. That’s something I need to consider for the future. Do I want to keep everything here or will I have to look at other countries in Europe? I guess my prices are high for a young designer, but this is an aspect I’m going to work on.

Do you find that foreign buyers are more sensitive to the fact that your production is local?

Yes, they are. It’s not something Belgian buyers seem to value that much though. In Paris, I noticed how the Japanese loved this for instance. I guess it could be cultural.

What kind of woman do you have in mind when designing your clothes?

I called my line Wolf. because I was looking for something that could sum up the type of woman I like. She’s independent, smart and has a mysterious side. It’s the strength of the animal that appeals to me. It’s not about aggression at all, even though women have to be tough sometimes.

What is your reference behind the more tailored, structured pieces?

I am drawn towards military clothing and keep reworking it. I like the geometry and precision of uniforms.

Would you say your style is minimal then?

It’s funny, because I tend to start with more and end up with less. Any effect that is not essential does not have a reason to exist. I try to simplify things as much as I can.

Are there fabrics you refuse to work with?

I’m not into synthetics. I’d rather use wool, cashmere, cotton or pure silk. I want my clothes to be soft, comfortable and easy to wear. No polyester for me, I’m afraid.

If you happen to see some when you’re out and about, please do take a picture and email them to wewrite@thewordmagazine.be so that we can increase our archive.

And, if you want your pack of 25 ‘We Own Belgium’ stickers (6 euros a pop), email us at wewrite@thewordmagazine and we’ll tell you what to do.

Photographer Antoine Ghisoland

Kiehl’s Creme de Corps (from 13 euros)

Available at Kiehl’s

Lombardenvest 80

2000 Antwerp

Photography by Pauline Miko

Given their age (Jan Paternoster is 22 and Dries Van Dijck only 20), Black Box Revelation – a pair of youngsters from the small Flemish town of  Dilbeek – have quite an impressive output to their name: Three albums in three years. With their new record ‘My Perception’, to be released on 3rd October, the band proves once again that it has a knack for composing dirty and powerful guitar-indie-rock that reeks of cigarette smoke, sweat and whiskey. Clearly having its roots in the garage rock of the 60s and 70s, their sound stays surprisingly unpretentious and direct, eschewing the current craze for all things remotely electronic in rock music, preferring instead to keep it real.  “We want to keep it pure. It doesn’t matter if we make mistakes as long as the vibe and atmosphere is great”, Jan explains. From the heavy-duty guitar riffs to the howling vocals and punchy drum sequences: the album does justice to the ‘less is more’ maxim. Ranging from the album’s catchy first single “Rattle My Heart” to the almost psychedelic seven minute-long opus “Sealed With Thorns”, Black Box Revelation remain true to their style, ensuring loyal followers won’t be disappointed – nor surprised. With their raw and heady sound – which often draws comparisons with the Rolling Stones or The Stooges - the Belgian garage rockers certainly do not reinvent the wheel, nor do they pretend to. But, and this is important, what they do, they do well.  With ‘My Perception’ the duo finally wants to take the European success of their 2009 debut ‘Set Your Head On Fire’ and the equally accomplished follow-up ‘Silver Threats’ across the Atlantic ocean. Pulling out all the necessary stops, their intention is more than obvious: The album was recorded in Los Angeles, they teamed up with producer Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures) and an American tour is in the works too. Whether Black Box Revelation’s first official US release will really be able to conquer the States remains to be seen – but they can rest assured in the belief that they’ve definitely conquered their home shores.

Watch the video to the first single “Rattle My Heart”

Black Box Revelation in Belgium:

Eden, Charleroi, 28th October

Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, 3rd and 4th November

Ferme Du Biereau, Louvain-La-Neuve, 5th November

Belvedere, Namur, 3rd December

Photography by Charlie De Keersmaecker

My Perception is out on PIAS on 3rd October.

Available from iTunes here.

Photography courtesy of Eric Beauduin

What made you want to focus on bags?

I guess it was a combination of different factors. I had my own clothing line before and started designing shoes. I ended up freelancing at Delvaux for a while and realised I loved making bags. I’ve always been into sartorial details, such as pockets, finishings, buttons and fastenings. I guess my bag line grew organically.

What’s your educational background?

I studied at la Cambre and graduated from there. I was born in Rixensart and moved to Brussels, which was the logical thing to do.

When did you launch your own label?

I launched my brand in 2000 when I was in my 30s.

How old are you now?

I’m 42.

How do you feel has people’s behaviour changed towards sustainable designer brands?

People’s perceptions are quite different now. I guess sustainable fashion is not as “weird” as it used to be. First and foremost, I see myself as a craftsman. I like the idea of “slow fashion”, which is rather political in a way. I guess I’m a bit of a lefty boho-type. It’s about having a certain lifestyle, too.

What are the advantages of working in Belgium?

Having my atelier in Brussels gives me a sense of freedom and flexibility. If someone orders some styles now, I’ll be able to ship them before Christmas. I could forget about that if I had to work with foreign manufacturers. I have my own production here and wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s just faster, I guess, even though there are always challenges to deal with.

How do you source vintage materials?

I have suppliers I can buy from in France and Belgium. Recently, I noticed prices went up, because the demand for vintage leather goods has increased globally. The market is much more competitive now. For instance, Japanese companies often buy from Europe, as vintage clothes here have a history and certain cachet.

First and foremost, I see myself as a craftsman.

If you’re working on a large piece, how much time does it take?

It takes up to 10 hours for a big bag. When you deal with larger sizes, you can only make one piece a day, not more.

How do you reduce waste in your production?

That’s part of the fun. You have to be inventive. I use patchwork techniques to reduce it and try to use each skin as much as I can.

What is luxury for you?

Luxury has to do with quality, beauty and rarity. Then again, I don’t consider myself a luxury aficionado. I come from a working-class background where luxury was not an interest. I think craft defines my work. I’m much more into manipulating materials and traditional techniques than an industrially marketed concept of luxury.

Do the stores that buy your bags care about this?

Yes, they definitely do. I don’t see any reason why tradition and craft should ever go away. We can still count on them for centuries to come.

Who influenced you in fashion?

Someone like Martin Margiela really influenced me. When I studied at la Cambre in the early 90s, Belgian fashion was perceived internationally as cutting-edge and groundbreaking. Véronique Leroy‘s shows were a revelation for me, too.

Does that mean you learnt about fashion through Belgians?

Yes, I did. It was a great group to learn from actually.

Do you think being Belgian and working in fashion is a plus?

I guess people like giving an identity to the objects they buy and they seem to care more and more about the origin of their products. I make my bags here, so I guess that’s something they are sensitive to.

If someone offered to buy your company today or handle your production, what would you do?

I’d refuse. Offers have come in the past -some interesting, others not- but this is my baby, you know. I’m not going to give it away any time soon.

Slove is playful. It’s sexy and suggestive. It teases you. Even leads you on sometimes. It’s highly addictive too. Like that girlfriend of yours you spent all night with, and still want more. Slove. Slow + Love as we find out when we speak with Léo Hellden and Julien Barthe, the two men behind what is arguably one of the strongest efforts to come out of Paris this year.

A lot has been made about the recent revival the French music scene is going through, especially so in the indie/electro/house scene. Where do you feel you fit into this, given that, although very French is some ways, your overall sound seem to lean more towards the other side of the Atlantic…

Julien: I think our melody and sounds come from the UK’s & beats and sequence scene, but also from  ”savor faire” old school house and a very french touch for sampling …

One of the things I like the most about Le Danse is the drums. They’re rhythmic, come in at the right moment and always provide just the right amount of tempo to a song’s backbone. I particularly think they hit the right spot on Carte Postale. Who does the drumming?

Julien:  I mostly take care of the drums, mixing real drum samples with techno drums.

Who does what in the band? How do you go about composing a track?

Julien:  Positions aren’t fixed. Sometimes Léo suggest a melody and I’ll respond or vice versa.

Carte Postale is probably the most fun-loving yet sexy track I’ve heard in some time. Somehow, I imagine 30-something bored housewives wearing headbands all working out a sweat to the song. The vocals couldn’t be any simpler, yet they seem laced with ‘insider’ references. Who is singing? What’s with the number counting? And, most importantly, what’s with the “Si tu as un plan cheval, let me know”? I assume it is telling that the counting stops at 69…

Léo: The singer is Anne-Laure from Appaloosa. We contacted her after hearing “the day“. For us it’s a perfect pop song. I’m not sure about what she meant with the lyrics. I’m just happy that I was around when she recorded it. When she’s recording she puts herself in a state, an out of body experience, and I don’t think that neither me nor Julien expected that style but were both amazed. It was intended as a demo but we basically didn’t touch the song after her recording to not fuck up the presence of the performance.

Anne-Laure Keib: This song, I was back from a trip to Camargue, South of France. I took this trip after someone dear to me, died. He was someone very destructive. I arrived in the most lovely place, near Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, owned by a British woman, and it was 8 hours of horse backriding, everyday, for three weeks, and it was amazing. One of the happiest moments of my life actually. When I came back, Leo and Julien asked me to write a song and sing for them. They were into the stuff I have been doing for my band, Appaloosa. I was in front of the mic and started to count. I guess this counting is about when you go through borderline or painful experiences, and find a stability and peace of mind, with doing something you really love doing, something very positive for your well being. The “si tu as un plan cheval, let me know”, I guess, is a bit ironic, not sexual, but more like “let’s make shit happen.”

Can you talk to us about the various different people involved in the making of the album?

Julien: An the beginning, Léo & me started pop songs which tilted towards dance music and we suggested them to singers we knew…

You have several projects you’re working on at the same time. Can you tell us a little more about them?

Léo: Tristesse Contemporaine is a project with Mike (also on Slove) and Narumi, a Japanease keyboardist and vintage clothes shop owner. We just completed our first album, produced by Pilooski. As for Aswefall, which I do together with Clement, our second album came out last year. We’re working on new songs now and hoping it doesn’t take five years until the next one.

Julien: I’m always running Plaisir de France, remixing many French pop personal hits.

What is both you guys’ background? Have you always worked in the music industry? What were you doing before Slove?

Julien: I studied graphic design and used to play bass and guitars in an indie pop band until 1993, then discovered DJing in 1995. I started to produce singles as Plaisir de France on Pro Zak Tax record in 2000.

Léo: I started in 1997 as a guitarist with Swedish singer Jay Jay Johanson and worked with him for about five years. Since then, I’ve worked on different projects and moved gradually into composition and production. I worked for some time antiquarian booksellers first in Stockholm and later in Paris. Right now I’m not doing it anymore but wouldn’t mind doing so again at some point.

I’m just happy that I was around when she recorded it. When she’s recording she puts herself in a state, an out of body experience, and I don’t think that neither me nor Julien expected that style but were both amazed.

Can you tell us a little about the atmosphere in the studio whilst recording? Where was the LP recorded? How long did it take? Did you develop any routines/habits (good or bad) whilst recording?

L. We share a studio in Paris and spend much time there talking and making music. The Slove album took about two years and an intense six months of finalizing.

Who are you listening to at the moment? What’s the last album you bought? Were you listening to anything in particular whilst recording the album?

Julien: At the moment I’m listening to indie pop, lots of edits and electronic dance music. The last album I bought is the soundtrack for “My Little Princess” by Bertrand Burgalat and Mogwai. During the album’s recording sessions, I was listening to a lot of house revival from Mark E , Eddie C, Noze, as well as edits and remixes from Joakim, Pilooski, Superpitcher, Inflagranti, Cosmo vitelli, Get a room and Datassette.

When and how did you guys meet?

Léo: First time we know of is at Sonar in 2005. We were playing in the same party, Julien with Sweetlight and me with Aswefall. Some years later we met again in Julien’s studio. I was renting the studio next door on a short term basis to finish the second Aswefall album. We ended up sharing Julien’s studio and started making music together.

What’s in store for you until the end of the year?

Julien: Good remixes of fFash and a release of two Plaisir de France remixes of a French 80′s band Mikado.

Slove’s debut album is out now on Pschent.

plaisirdefrance.net/artistes/slove

pschent.com

The exhibitions to go to: Richard Prince and Donna Wilson

Photograph courtesy of Almine Rech Gallery

Richard Prince: The Fug

We all know Richard Prince for his Jokes, Nurses, Cowboys and Girlfriends series, as well as for his heavy use of rephotography. A member of the influential Pictures Generation, the American artist had a strong hand in expanding the scope of conceptual photography through the use of appropriation. This first solo show at Brussels’ Almine Rech Gallery gives the audience the perfect occasion to explore Prince’s fascination with American culture, Borscht Belt jokes, car enthusiasm, pulp-literature, and his unmatchable knack for elevating material directly sourced from the underbelly of soceity to the status of fine art.

Until 5th November

ALMINE RECH GALLERY

Rue de l’Abbaye 20 Abdijstraat -1050 Brussels

www.alminerech.com

Photograph by Gareth Hacker

Donna Wilson, Ercol & SCP

The Brussels-based design showroom La Fabrika has invited Donna Wilson to create an installation in collaboration with established British manufacturers Ercol and SCP. Earning the accolade of British Designer of the Year 2010, Wilson has been quoted as being “wonderful with wool”, a “material marvel”, a “textile designer extraordinaire” and even an “all round textile legend”. Characterised by a playful nature, tactile aesthetic and multicoloured palette, the young designer’s work ranges from colourful knitted creatures to striking upholstered furniture designs, which all promise to be a refreshing sight during this month’s Design September festival.

Until 30th September

LA FABRIKA

Rue Antoine Dansaert 182 Dansaertstraat – 1000 Brussels

www.lafabrika.be

The tour to take: Designers Weekend

© SICIS - The art mosaic factory

Hot on the heels of Design September, Brussels’ Designers Weekend brings together professionals as well as amateurs for a weekend of impromptu meetings and punctuated showcases. Over 15 hotspots have been selected – showrooms, shops and galleries – to provide as rounded a view as possible of the current crop of local talent. Think open doors with a slightly more commercial focus. What’s more, the lazy ones out there can rejoice in the thought of a shuttle service having been organised just for them, taking them from one stop to the next at their own pace. Sign up for it here.

The shuttles run from 10h00 to 18h00, and departs from the Nonciature, Place du Sablon / Grote Zavel

The movies to watch: Truffaut retrospective at the Cinematek

This Thursday, Brussels’ Cinematek started a comprehensive retrospective dedicated to French director and cult cinematic icon Francois Truffaut, one of the most influential filmmakers in history and co-founder of the French Nouvelle Vague. An extensive collection of Truffaut’s films will be replayed on the big screen until 31st October, with this weekend’s agenda screening Les Quatre Cents Coups (Saturday at 19h00), awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and the director’s first huge success, as well as its more experimental successor Tirez Sur Le Pianiste (Sunday at 19h00).

CINEMATEK

Rue Baron Horta 9 Hortastraat – 1000 Brussels

www.cinematek.be

Watch the trailer of Les Quatre Cents Coups:

The shop to stop by: Diito’s Hay pop-up store

Photograph courtesy of Hay.dk

Brussels-based gallery and interior design shop diito opened up a pop-up store solely dedicated to award-winning furniture namesake Hay. During the course of three weeks you’ll be able to admire the Danish imprint’s creations which bring 1950s and 1960s design philosophies closer to and contemporary ones.

Open every day of the weekend from 11h00 to 18h30

HAY POP-UP STORE

Rue de la Régence 9 Regentschapsstraat – 1000 Brussels

www.diito.be

Chanel’s ‘Les jeans de Chanel’ (25 euros for one)

Available exclusively at the Chanel Fashion Boutique, Chaussée de Waterloo 63 Waterloosteenweg – 1000 Brussels

www.chanel.com

The concert to go to: Boots Electric

There’s no point denying the soft spot we have for Eagles Of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes. The self-proclaimed hillbilly and endearing sleazebag extraordinaire has taken some time off from the cock-rock band he shares with bestie Josh Homme to embark on a solo journey as Boots Electric. Cannot wait.

Watch the album trailer:

17th September

TRIX, Noordersingel 28-30 - 2140 Antwerp

Get tickets here

The show you can’t miss: Raw Edges, from flat to full

Design dealer Victor Hunt brings Israeli-born, London-based designers raw edges to town for an extensive overview of their most recent work, the lot to be exhibited in the city’s favourite style boutique Hunting and Collecting.

8th to 25th September

HUNTING AND COLLECTING, Rue des Chartreux 17 Kartuiserstraat- 1000 Brussels

The night out: Indie Club

You don’t have to wait for a weekend trip to London or Berlin anymore to dance to indie tunes: Brussels finally has caught up and hosts its own indie rock/pop party every month in the The Wood. Expect an eclectic mix ranging from Blur and Arctic Monkeys to The Doors or Metronomy. The season’s opening party is this Friday and we wouldn’t miss it for a thing.

16th September

THE WOOD, Avenue de Flore 3 Floralaan – 1000 Brussels

The walk to take: Design September’s Open Doors

You’ve always wondered how and where designers work? Now you have the chance to find out, thanks to Design September, the Belgian capital’s biggest design festival stretching out over four weeks. This weekend the two-day Open Doors event invites everyone interested to come visit Brussels-based artists’ workspaces and have a look behind the scenes. The perfect occasion to stroll through the city and discover its hidden creative laboratories.

For an overview of all participating studios have a look here.

The thing about Van Noten’s clothes is that you can actually wear them – everything you see on the catwalk will end up in stores. His frocks aren’t made to sell more lipstick. This sense of reality is as rare as it is refreshing in an industry where designers often rely on shock value to make the headlines. Blame it on the recession perhaps, but conceptual fashion doesn’t cut it any longer. There’s a yearning for the authentic, qualitative and crafty that Van Noten has come to be synonymous with. In fact, he has enjoyed support from the international press ever since his early beginnings, even though he never advertised in it “I think that, for a very long time, our decision not to advertise was not a choice, but more of a necessity as we simply didn’t have the budget. Since then the company has grown, and our decision not to do it remains, but for different reasons. We do not necessarily want to increase the price of our clothes to fund the advertising and I personally don’t feel that my collections should be associated with a specific image or person. When it comes down to the press, I think that – after 25 years – people get to understand your thought process a bit more. They respect that I’m an independent designer and I respect their point of view, too, whether it be praise or criticism.”

“Independence” is an important factor for the home-grown designer. His company is privately owned and he doesn’t have to answer to anyone, except himself.

In a weird way, Van Noten could be Antwerp’s answer to Giorgio Armani, who still owns his name after more than 35 years in the business. However, Van Noten admits he did consider getting a third party involved when things got challenging, “I remember back in the 1990’s when many young designers – including myself – were under huge amounts of pressure to sell to the big groups. When Galliano and McQueen were sold, my business partner and I did think twice about whether or not it would have been a good idea to seek financial help. We decided to forgo that option, got through the worst part and came out stronger in the end, with the ability to work at our own pace and no constraints. I cannot really speak for anyone else on that matter, because I’ve only ever had to make decisions independently.”

This free-spirited approach also serves to shape the designer’s aesthetic. Indeed, one of Van Noten’s skills is the subtle way in which he astutely balances references in his clothes, avoiding clichés and stereotypes. For his last womenswear collection, he had opulence and collage on his mind “I had the pleasure to see an amazing exhibition on the Ballets Russes at the V&A museum in London last year. I was enthralled by the different ways in which the wardrobe masters were able to create new costumes out of old ones. Sergei Diaghilev – the founder of the Ballets Russes – was also a huge inspiration. This idea of bringing movement and asymmetry to the silhouette was something I found very powerful.” Shown in one of the ridiculously grand reception rooms of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, the collection was a multi-sensory experience, offering a heady and idiosyncratic take on luxury. The Thin White Duke’s “Heroes” played on the soundtrack, giving a fiery and poetic vibe to the presentation. Bowie is, in fact, one of the designer’s major musical obsessions “His music has been an endless source of inspiration throughout my life. He was able to capture the essence of his music through his wardrobe choices. Besides the endless variety of his looks, Bowie was a true chameleon who had this ability to change constantly. I was referring mainly to two of his periods: the “Just a Gigolo” film – shot in the late 70s – for the menswear’s winter collection and “Ziggy Stardust” for the womenswear. It felt perfectly normal to use his music for both shows.”

Despite having both feet on the ground, Van Noten can nonetheless be vulnerable and sensitive at times. He leaves room for doubt in his life and still questions his choices as a designer.

When he talks about the end of a collection – and the whole process that leads to the fashion show – his emotional side takes over “I suppose you could say that there is that element of postpartum remorse.

After working on something for more than six months, it is tough moving on to the next collection straight away. You do feel sad initially, but there is a great sense of accomplishment, too. Then, of course, you wait to see how people will react. This heightened sense of anticipation runs a little longer until you’re fully involved with the next collection.” The increasing speed of fashion is not something that leaves him indifferent either. With the steady rise of mass clothing chains and the amount of product and styles out there, “designer fashion” has had to reposition itself, jump on the collective bandwagon or stick to what it does best. This has led to more and more collections being produced annually by luxury brands, something Van Noten believes clearly affects the designers’ creativity “Look at all the collections people have to design each year, including pre-collections and accessories. If a designer creates 12 collections a year, I do believe he or she will get burnt-out pretty quickly. Ideas should be nurtured and have a chance to grow before being pushed out the door to make room for new clothes. It’s hard enough doing 2 lines each season. I have enormous respect for other designers who – year in, year out – continue to produce excellent work. As a designer, it all boils down to my love for the craft and always wanting to push and grow.”

Van Noten is less forgiving to the fashion circus and its pretentiousness. His clothes work for different body types and nationalities, proving that the industry does not have to be narrow-minded to survive “It would be foolish for a designer to think that his entire client base is sample sized. Sadly, fashion can be too elitist sometimes, often economically, though hopefully never creatively. My main basis when I work on a collection is to create garments that anyone can include into their own wardrobe. I want people to be able to mix pieces up and make them a part of their own style. There is no better feeling than seeing someone walking down the street wearing something you designed in a way you wouldn’t have expected it to be worn.” There is a generosity in Van Noten’s approach that does not apply to other designers’ work. He is fascinated with exoticism and foreignness, letting his fertile imagination do the travelling “The idea of different cultures being incorporated within my collections is obviously something very dear to me. I like to learn more about them, through reading or exhibitions. I guess I’m fascinated with other ways of life, cultures and history. I will often use these rituals and traditions in my work, but always in a contemporary way.”

I have a confession to make: Dries Van Noten is one of my fashion heroes. Season after season, he produces beautiful, wearable clothes I want to have. His shows move me, too. He manages to create the right atmosphere and lures you in, without being pushy or in your face. Walking into his flagship store in Antwerp is like sneaking into an old, cosy English library, full of hidden gems and promises. His generosity as a human being shines through, from the drinks and tasty nibbles he serves his audience at shows, to his support of new designers. In fact, he makes a point of returning what he received “Each year, we hold seminars in the studio with students from the Royal College of Antwerp. This is a time where members of my team and I have the opportunity to show fashion students the ins and outs of running a fashion company. It is an important thing as an ‘established’ designer for me to do, considering the years of support the industry gave me when I was growing. When I was selected to be president of the fashion jury at the Festival d’Hyères in France last year, this was another way for me -with the help of some extremely talented editors, designers and stylists- to advise younger designers on where their energies should be focused on, giving directions to the ones we thought were the most promising.” They say you should never meet your heroes, but, honestly, that’s just a load of BS if you ask me.

driesvannoten.be

Anthony Gonzalez, the creative mind behind the project, thinks big with this self-proclaimed concept album: “It’s a retrospective of my life, from childhood to being a teenager and then an adult.“ Setting the bar quite high he cites The Beatles’ white album, Ummagumma by Pink Floyd or Smashing Pumpkin’s’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness as inspirational influences – concept albums which had heavily impressed the young Gonzalez. M83, this time produced by Justin Meldal-Johnson (NIN, Beck, The Mars Volta) clearly do not reinvent themselves but rather take their typical sound one step further, going for a more symphonic and epic sound. ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’, in part due to its sheer length, acts as a vast playing field for the band, allowing it to experiment and let their creativity run wild. And, although this gives the album an added layer of cosmic complexity, it does at times go on unnecessarily, and runs the risk of loosing your attention. That being said, the double album offers a truly multifaceted listening experience skillfully uniting the coldness of 80s inspired synthesisers with romantic pathos. “It’s a journey, not unlike a rollercoaster ride“, Gonzalez explains. And ‘Midnight City’, the LPs’ first single, is the perfect incarnation of the dreamlike and at the same time dancy tunes that we grew to love Anthony Gonzalez for.

Watch the album teaser

Watch new single Midnight City

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is out on Naïve on October 17th

Available from iTunes here

Photographer Gregoire Pleynet. With many (many) thanks to Link Leisure for the art intervention.

With thanks to Damien Aresta

(first published in the blue album)

(first published in the blue album)

Interview and photographs Yana Foque

The Word: What are These New Puritans at the moment?

Jack Barnett: In transition.

TW: For ‘hidden’ you learned how to write music. Do you feel as though this changed your perspective on music in general? Is it much harder now not to see everything in scores?

JB: To an extent. I crave a bit more complexity, but an intuitive feel is just as important /interesting… For me the mysteries keep multiplying. Anyway I don’t know that much. I’ve got a few more.

TW: How do you keep track of your ideas?

JB: With notebooks & files on my laptop. And a couple of dicta-phones. But I try not to let the records of the ideas overtake my grasp of the ideas themselves .

TW: You often claim that lyrics in the song are less important then the structure that embraces it. Would you agree that music speaks louder then words?

JB: My music speaks louder than my words.

TW: Somehow Hidden reminds me of the civilisation of orphans in Italy after WWII. : A group of children who created their own rules and even language. They where fearless and loving at the same time. Could you relate to this perspective and  how is it for you to hear all these different ideas about your music?

JB: I’m not always sure what they mean, but I’m grateful that they’ve been thought about.

TW: What do you want for your future selves?

JB: Prosperity + an electronic piano…

Hidden is out now on Angular and available from iTunes here

The Word: What gets you up in the morning?

Dynooo: My cellphone, usually. Only I get up around noon.

TW: What puts you to sleep?
D: Coffee. In the morning.

TW: The freshest thing you’ve heard lately? an expression, a verse, a joke, an insult, a word, anything
D: My buddy telling me about these little house cleaning robots he’s building. He made one out of a bristle, a 9v battery and the vibrating motor from a PS2 controller. He named it The Bristlebot and apparently it has 2000 something views on Youtube.

TW: A few words on your label mate Cupp Cave….
D: One of my best friends. He takes me through the woods and gives me tranquillizers. We have granola together.

TW: The alter-ego/alias you feel most at ease with?
D: Bob.

TW: Your fantasy?
D: A nice little girlfriend would be cool. Turned into such a loner.

TW: Your naughtiest moment?
D: A couple months ago at the supermarket I snatched a cherry.

TW: Your vice?
D: My solid 7 daily cups of joe.

TW: What gets you in the studio?
D: I’m most inspired by movies. Last week I saw every Vincent Gallo film I could get my hands on. I fucking loved Buffalo ’66 and The Brown Bunny (get over the fellatio scene, people). Really into Chloe Sevigny these days.

TW: One word to describe your music (and it can’t be dope)?

D: Dome.

TW: The one album you’d kill for?
D: Can’t think of one. Sorry.

TW: The year you were born in?
D: 1983. Flashdance and Mario Bros.

TW: The year you should have been born in?
D: Naww I’m good.

TW: The TV series you’re watching at the moment?
D: Twin Peaks season 2 again. Best series ever made. Me and François can talk about that stuff for hours, he recently found 3 gigabytes worth of special features. So exciting and timeless.

TW: A good joke you’ve heard lately?
D: A bit ashamed of that one. In London this hoolie-looking Scotsman told me a joke involving a knife and a baby. It was so absurdly disgusting which made it superfunny. People need to lighten up.

TW: Your top 5 albums of 2011 up to now?
Hype Williams – One Nation
Lone – Emereald Fantasy Tracks
Ssaliva – Thought Has Wings
Peaking Lights – 936
James Pants – James Pants

TW: Your favourite fictional character?
D: Benny Dalmau

TW: What’s your next move?
D: Carpe diem, brother. Carpe diem.

Follow Damien on Twitter for wordplays and jokes.

Photography Joke De Wilde

The first instalment in our series comes courtesy of Soumaya Dancemachine, a DJ and party promoter who constantly criss-crosses the Belgo-German border in her ever-lasting quest to put on some the best parties around. She’s best known as the founder of High Needs Low, the next edition of which takes place on 9th July at K-Nal.

Listen to Soumaya’s Soundcloud here.

Photography Tine Claerhout

Photography Tine Claerhout

Photography Tine Claerhout

Photography Tine Claerhout

Photography Tine Claerhout

Catclub special birthday edition

This Saturday, 25th June

iMal, Quai des Charbonnages 30 Koolmijnenkaai - 1080 Brussels

We first started toying with the idea of developing an iPad app towards the end of the summer 2010. Apple had just released its game-changing device and, well, we were just as excited as the rest of them. I remember calling Geoffroy (of Central Design, our web agency), foolishly telling him: “we need to do something on that iPad thingy”, thinking at the time that a day or two of coding (three at most) would do it. Not quite, no…

First there was the three months of planning: napkin doodles and sketches, navigation flow charts and design screen shots – picture white walls plastered with sheets and sheets of screen shots continuously being amended, moved and removed. Once the app’s design and flow was set in stone, we met with our developer Thomas (of Suit My Mind), outlining what we had in mind. Once he told us what was doable, and what we could already forget about right from the get-go, he got down to business and started coding. This took another two months (give-and-take), and was the stage where Geoffroy and Thomas really came together like Voltron. I saw the Basecamp exchanges the two wizards had, but hadn’t a clue what they were on about.  All I knew is that I couldn’t wait to test the first version of our app.

Fast-forward to February 2011, and here I was, like a little puppy, installing a first Beta version on my iPad. And I loved it. Sure, it wasn’t perfect and certain tweaks still needed to be made, but then and there I knew we were on the right track. The excitement was palpable, and I could already see the magazine’s name in big letters under the AppStore’s ‘App of the Week’ banner. It was clean, it looked beautiful and, above all, it was Word (my incessant pestering to Geoffroy about needing to keep the app as ‘Word as possible’ had, it seemed, paid off). All we now needed to do was take into account all the feedback people had given us (we had asked the extended Word-fam to test the app out to the max), and we’d be ready to submit it to Apple for their approval. Not quite, no…

First, Apple came back with some rather tedious things they wanted us to change (add disclaimers to contests, remove dummy banners, etc…). Then, the advertiser we had secured to launch the app in conjunction with was forced to pull-out at the last minute following the double-pronged disaster in Japan. And this happened five days before launch. Arg!

In the end, this turned out to be quite an omen as an advertiser we had approached as an alternative, Nikon, showed immediate interest and took no more than two days (two days!!) to come back with a positive answer. Finally, ten months after that first napkin doodle, we were ready for take-off and the tip-top Word icon Geoffroy designed for the app finally made its debut on the AppStore.

So, what can you expect from The Word’s iPad app and its five sections (Life, Style, Music, Culture and Exclusives)? More video content (music interviews, humming sessions, studio visits, neighbourhood guides, summer festival coverage), image galleries (exhibition previews, photographers’ portfolios, throw-away projects) and extended profile pieces, interviews and features. All of The Word’s back issues will also be available for free download. We’ll be posting more tips on how to use our app as well as other iPad applications which would sit well next to ours throughout the week.

I truly hope you enjoy this new version of The Word and please do let us know what you think of it, either on our Facebook page, by email (wewrite@thewordmagazine.be) or by Tweet-mentioning us with your comments.

PS: a massive (MASSIVE!) thank you to both Geoffroy and Thomas for their patience (the levels of indecisiveness they sometimes had to put up with would have driven me mad), perseverance (there is no doubt they were tempted to tell me to, very simply, fuck off more than once) and ingenuity (we basically asked them for 50K euro project without having even a tenth of that budget). If the web/app world sainted some of its players, these two would be top of the list.

Download The Word’s iPad app here

© Yana Foqué

Can you explain why the album is called ”Skying“?

Well for us the name Skying came about because it was an old tape technique that was used in recording studios in the 60s.

Like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop?

Well I guess they probably did do it. Yeah in fact they definitely would have done it in the Radiophonic Workshop. But what it basically is it’s before the introduction of phasers, which give this – you know – the phase, drums and that whooshing sound. But when they originally did that, it was essentially like having two of the same parts of the tape out of sync and being manipulated so you hear it going out of sync and it’s a natural flanging. Before they had actually the use of phasing and units in studio – in England in the 60s – this technique was known as “skying”. Very much a psychedelic thing, which we’ve always been aware of. There’s also a record by a guy called Caleb called “Baby, your phrasing is bad” which is…

…Brilliant!

Exactly – but it’s kind of suggesting: “baby, your phasing is bad” because they had their first ever phaser in the studio the day they recorded. And the name of the phaser was the Grand Skyer Mark II so it kind of originally came from there. But for us it very much suited the record because it was kind of astro and elevating.

Yeah, the new album is indeed very soothing, especially when you compare it to your previous records Strange House and Primary Colours…

To be honest I thought that Primary Colours was already pretty soothing. That’s the kind of music that has that effect on me. Sometimes I find that the most intense music is the most relaxing.

Well, it is relaxing, but Primary Colours had a darker, sexier tone to it than this one which has a softer and more unwearable ring to it. Opening up and maturing even?

Yeah I guess, maybe. Again, it’s like a perfect reflection of the music.

The title basically speaks for itself like, when I looked up skying in the dictionary as it isn’t listed in my day-to-day vocabulary…

… I don’t think it is in a dictionary…

… Well, it actually is – but what it refers to there is what happens when you throw something up in the air not knowing where it’s going to land.

So that’s what we’re doing with this record.

You don’t really think there is a difference between the records, more of a continuity?

Yeah for us, definitely!

A list of adjectives to describe Skying is a list of contradictions: it’s penetrating, it’s ironic, it’s intimate, elusive, distant but most of all it’s vulnerable and warm. So the biggest inspiration for this album came from this technique, then?

Well, it wasn’t the biggest inspiration for the record. Basically all the things you’re saying are just as important as the actual place where it came from. In fact it could just be – it was supposed to just be – something that you as a listener take in your own way. And the title just seemed to describe all of that, everything that we’ve been doing.

That of course is the title, but above all you have the music on the record: how it’s grown and the first steps you took after the success of Primary Colours. I wonder how that goes… Suddenly you’re all back together, after touring for a very long time, and you start to discover minor differences in your own way of playing. You feel that you’ve grown in a way. Suddenly you discover that you’ve ended up with these tracks enchanting each other – talking to each other…

Yeah! I think you’d better answer the questions.

Well, that’s because I’m good with words.

I know but usually people get it completely wrong so it’s nice to hear someone who’s coming from the right direction. But you know we learned a lot from working on Primary Colours: how we worked as a band, what our rows where within the band, what are strengths where, how we each individually attacked our instruments or the way we like to play,… I think Skying is definitely us focussing those ideas and our strength and also making them work in a different way. If Primary Colours was more disorientating and almost distracting, then this album is definitely…

More open? Less about those deep (dark) personal feeling inner deep, more of a universal feel?

There’s definitely a lot of freedom in this record and a lot of space. And I think there’s a lot of space in the music but I think space is an inspiration to it as well.

A final frontier.

I don’t know if that’s actually right, it’s too easy!

So aside from the music, I was blown away by the album cover. Who came up with the cover for the album – this amazing picture of a sea with a Solaris-aura?

I don’t know if I know that book. So far in our all of the artwork has sort of presented itself to us. And that’s kind of what happened this time as well. We always have very strong ideas as a band of what we want, but we can we never find it and we have so many discussions of “what should be the right thing”. And every time so far we’ve just been presented with this image and again this time. We worked with an American photographer called Neil Krug for Primary Colours and he came over to make some shots of us for the cover. And we did a whole lot of stuff that was going to be used for the artwork and the press. Like a whole series of portraits we did using double exposures of our faces and mixing it up with flowers, and plants and other natural elements. I’ve got a dandelion somewhere in my face… But we didn’t want to be on the cover, we didn’t feel the need to be on it. We wanted something that was more timeless and represented – again – the record. Again with us everything seems to come together without having to think about it too much. Like the title, theme or the artwork itself. And that was the photo that Neil had taken that just seemed to be the perfect image to go with the record.

You’re going to be on the road a lot with this album – festival season is coming and it’s just going to be touring galore! Which number are you looking forward to playing live each and every night? What song on the album, do you reckon, will never bore you?

Well – last time it would come to a point where I really REALLY came to enjoy playing that! But at the moment everything is still very fresh and it all sounds great. We start the set with Changing The Rain and that’s pretty exciting. I don’t even play bass until halfway trough it, I’m just playing tambourine, which is really cool as well as we haven’t had to much percussion in the live sound before. But I guess if I had to pick one Still Life is a very powerful tune to play – pretty exiting to play – so I’m enjoying that very much at the moment.

Do you think that it’s not only the song itself but also the reaction from the audience that contributes to whether or not you enjoy playing it every night?

Yeah it’s weird, isn’t it? Because, Sea Within A Sea is really exciting to play – it’s just fun and it sounds cool! But yeah, you’re right, Still Life is the one that’s most recently been put out there and people have been responding well to that. In short: it’s always amazing to play for a crowd when they are going crazy. That’s always cool… but I can’t really talk about it in terms of this album as we haven’t really played it yet. So I don’t know what song is going to make me feel like that. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

What for you is a perfect concert though?

For me playing? Or for me watching a show?

Both! I can imagine that the answer would be similar?

Mmmh… Yeah, I guess I would probably say the same thing. I don’t really have a favourite venue or anything – for me it’s more about the moment, about being involved in the music, being moved by it or made to feel something – wanting to dance, or to go crazy, being involved in something that’s happening whether its you as a performer or as a listener…

A very unique moment.

I definitely prefer very intimate live shows in a real venue (as opposed to festivals) an being able to present the music and take over a space for the evening. I went to see Roedelius playing recently, do you know him?

I do, yeah!

It was like an afternoon show with him. Playing live piano and just talking to the audience and asking questions, playing old recordings from the seventies and talking… So I was just asking him questions about some of my favourite tracks. And it was so calm and quite. That was a really great live experience for me.

In a previous interview, you mentioned that guitarist Joshua was obsessed with My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. Primary Colours was a clear homage to My Bloody Valentine and shoegaze, where do your musical roots take you in this album?

We’re all massively inspired and enthusiastic about music from the birth of rock’n roll, blues, soul, jazz, everything is inspiring to us. And of course as individuals we all listen to different kinds of music. For me, I’m massively into weird psychedelic music in all its forms and from all over the world. I’m literally constantly buying strange recordings by old psychedelic groups. But even electro and Detroit techno – which is inspired by groups like Kraftwerk, etc.

Not to forget by disco…

Yeah, I guess in a certain extend but I’m not really into disco.

No, I know. What I meant was that Detroit techno originally came from old disco records. Same beats, but more brutal…

Absolutely – There’s a track called Sharevari by A Number Of Names, which is actually a good example of that. It’s a basically a disco record.

Do you see yourself as a person that looks at life trough glasses of the past or the present?

No, No the future! The most important thing is to make new music! I think the there is nothing worse then relying on the past, but at the same time it’s a lot of those things that make the difference. For me it’s about important movements in music. But that’s only because I’m not massively inspired about what’s happening in music now. But as far as I’m concerned it’s about making music. Not about yesterday – and this is the most terrible part where I’m gonna say (laughs) – it’s about tomorrow. It’s about new music to listen to… Reaching out to people that have never even heard of the bands that inspire us. It’s about reaching those ears as much as anyone else’s. Not about recreating a sound of the past – that’s something that just isn’t important to us. Taking ideas forward is exiting to us. And I think we often succeed in doing just that.

I think Skying definitely proves that. Your side project Spider And The Flies doesn’t only have a brilliant post sci-fi name…

Yeah?

Congrats for that!

(laughs)

… but it also is influenced by the magnificent BBC Radiophonics Workshop electronica we talked about earlier. A workshop in which a lot of new instruments found there way to the surface. Are you yourself interested in creating instruments, cutting up tapes…?

Well we haven’t gotten into the tape-thing yet, although it has been something we’ve always been quite interested in. But another great thing about looking back is to be able to take the best bits from it and doing it in your own way. A lot of our equipment is in fact vintage but that’s just because for us it makes the best sound! (Pause) We’ve been playing Spider and the flies-hows recently and Joe has been playing drums. We’ve just been playing – quite different tunes from the stuff we’ve been recording – half an hour sets of just one song. We have a loose idea of that which we’ve rehearsing, but then every time we play it it’s improvised and spontaneous.

I would love to come and see a show.

Yeah it’s great. We’ve just recently played a show at a Japanese fund-raiser and one at the Cave Club in London. Funny enough – we played the same song, but each time it sounded so different. We should have recorded it.

Last but not least, something out of the blue: what’s your favourite colour?

Purple!

Skying will be released 11th July on XL Rrecordings. Pre-order the record here.

The Horrors will play Pukkelpop on 20th August.

The kinky collectors - Pornaloid

“What better medium to capture your girlfriend naked?” suggests Gilles Kasverdenko, co-founder of Tumblr instant hit Pornaloid. A tasteful, passionate and only but slightly kinky blog roll, Pornaloid is instant erotica: “A Pornaloid is a game. It’s sexy, never vulgar, or just that little bit,” continues Gilles who, together with designer and pleaseletmedesign founder Damien, started the page about a year ago. Scouring the web for these lost moments of intimacy, their collection blends found images, their own, as well as submissions they receive – the one and only rule they’ve imposed on themselves being that every picture must be an authentic instant. With plans to publish these gems in books that will feature a selection of snapshots by regular “pornaloiders”, such as Stuart Mitchell, April Lea Hutchinson, Kevin Kay, Collin J. Rae, Sascha Smut, Phil Garcia, Thibault Tourmente or Joël Blanter, as well as others by special guests.

pornaloid.com

The thrill-seeker - No Balls, No Glory: A Polaroid Story

“Jay Electronica called me once at 3am for some small talk and I ended up Polaroid shopping and clubbing with Theophilus London in Berlin,” recalls blogger/model/photographer/party promoter Elisabeth Ouni, the brains behind No Balls, No Glory: A Polaroid Story, a blog the Ostende/Oostende native started three years back. A diary that is just as much about the story as it is about the story behind the story, it is the intimate and honest way her trials and tribulations are recounted that draws you in. That, and the mind-boggling amount of instant classics she’s amassed. She’s photographed everyone from Pharrell, Erykah Badu and Gil Scott-Heron to Snoop Dogg and M.I.A., although these many successes haven’t tamed her resolve one bit. Her wish list still counts a number of targets (soul and R’n’B legends Grace Jones, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Diana Ross and Sade to name but a few) and she’s still working on getting that Jay-Z Polaroid. Something tells us it’ll only be a matter of time before Mr Carter’s saying cheese.

apolaroidstory.wordpress.com

Writer Sam Steverlynck

This documentary shows Alec working on his Broken Manual project about hermits living in the most remote areas in the US. “It was one hell of a ride,” smiles Arnaud. “A crazy road movie for which we drove 30,000 kms and journeyed throughout the entire United States from east to west and north to south.” Though Paris-based Laure had previously worked on a documentary about Chilly Gonzales (read our interview with the artist here), Somewhere to Disappear was Arnaud’s debut. “Besides being a film, it was a real adventure for both of us. An amazing experience to have travelled that much and met all those singular individuals. And being a photography buff, it was awesome to spend so much time with Alec, whose work I adore.” Anecdotes from their peregrinations include a hermit on methadone freaking out and holding them at gunpoint, as well as being arrested by the FBI. In one scene featuring Tony – a daunting man living in a barred house without windows who seemed to suffer from paranoia – one notices the camera shaking. It was Arnaud trembling with fear.

The low-budget documentary was entirely funded by private money. The directors had difficulties selling their proposal, as they were constantly faced with the questions: “So what are you guys making? Is this a portrait of the photographer or the people retreating from society?” The reply was simply “both”. “We wanted this feature to be as much documentary as fiction; without interviews or the conven- tional codes of the documentary genre. That is why we treated Alec as a character. For us, it was more about making a poetic film. We took our time to create a slow sense of atmosphere.” Though there is no real narrative development, the documentary does have a sense of rhythm. The camera follows Alec closely in the beginning, yet shots become broader as the documentary progresses, focussing on the wild landscapes. Ghinzu’s guitarist Greg Remy (featured on page 61 of our red album), as well as Rob & L’Aiglon from Phoenix, kindly contributed to the introspective soundtrack.

Arnaud assures us that finding the hermits was less difficult than expected: “contrary to what one might think, a hermit living by himself in the woods is connected to society. He has electricity and Internet. Some even have a Facebook account and are members of online hermit communities!” Surprisingly enough, the interviewees were far from reluctant to chat with the crew, visibly in dire need of human interactions. They all had different reasons to retire from society but were all equally interesting. From the extremely shy teenager, to the redneck or tree hugger, the documentary por- trays a motley crew, but without ever sinking in the sensationalism of a freak show. Though Laure and Arnaud are still looking for a distributor, the documentary has already been screened in Minneapolis’ Walker Art Museum, Toronto’s Hot Docs festival and the LACMA in L.A. It will also be featured in the upcoming Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival. Seems like its directors will have to wait a bit before they can retreat themselves.

Below are movie stills as well as a director’s cut of behind-the-scenes images.

© Joke De Wilde

These “no fuss, no frills” 7d Bermuda shorts, found in Brussels’ Privejoke boutique, have the versatility of a simple basic backed by an irreproachable cut, discreet details, and superior quality natural fabric. The kind that’d work well for a casual Friday in the office, Saturday evening drinks or lazy Sunday brunch. Designed in Ghent, the menswear collection launched in 2007 finds its place between high-end sportswear and designer pieces and can be seen as Belgium’s answer to A.P.C. “You could compare it to very simple music that manages to achieve great creativity despite only using the same few notes,” says designer and founder Philippe Poelman of 7d’s collections. With its neutral colours, discreet details, and elegant understated sophistication, Philippe Poelman’s timeless designs speak to men who know fashion and seek to forge their own style or younger customers who are simply looking for quality in pieces that will never go out of fashion.

Bermuda shorts from 7d (€135)
Available in black or white from Privejoke (Brussels) and Hot Couture (Ghent)
7d-be.com

Where are you right now? What time is it?

Mark: It is 16:58.I am in Hamburg right now…We are shooting a video for one of the songs from the album…

Eduardo: Berlin – sitting at home. Its 7PM

What is the first thing you see from wherever you are?

Mark: The first thing I see while I read your question is your question… if a question is a thing…I also see a playground outside the window. Kids are playing…

Eduardo: A black desktop computer. I also hear thunder.

Can you describe the recording sessions for Adios Berlin? How was the vibe in the studio? Who was there? How long did it take to record? What kind of place is it?

Eduardo: We just played and recorded at the same time. We felt quite free… No headphones, no clicks, no complications. The vibe was very nice. Three people: Thomas Stern (engineer) Mark and myself. Having no guests also means a better concentration so the record is more one whole thing. We recorded at Thomas’  place for seven days straight, in his messy guest room. But with the possibility to play loud…

Mark: Yes, the record was recorded mainly in one week. But we worked in three studios…At Studio Babuschka in Munich (Hitze and Funkgeraet), at Daniel Nentwig’s (Whitest Boy Alive) Butterama Recording Center in Berlin (Kopfhoerer and Angst vorm tanzen) and at the end with Thomas for the rest and most of the record. All studios had a good vibe. All of them are classic studios except Thomas’… Eduardo was playing bass on the guest bed. The only visitor we had was Michaela Kühn because she is making a movie about me and my work.

Eduardo Delgado Lopez (left) and mark Boombastik (right)

Can you tell us a bit about the album’s name? What does it refer to?

Eduardo: Bye Berlin or the Berlin sell out. The change of the City from a place with plenty of freedom to a usual clean and expensive capital.

Mark: Adiós Berlin means the dying underground art, the raising rents…. I really saw this years ago in Hamburg – a lot of people who lived their whole life in Berlin can’t pay the rent anymore.. old pubs are closing… you can see how bad capitalism is in Berlin right now with an arty farty make up… I’ve lived for more or less eight years now in Berlin… a place or a city is always as good as you make it. I hope people get the title right. It is the start of a form of radicalism if you want… more in the sense: if people dont fight for free spaces they’ll soon be able to say “adiós” to Berlin’s spirit: Dont move in my area where it’s been loud at night for the past 30 years if you call the cops and kill the freedom people fought for for more than half of their life! It’s called Adiós Berlin because we live there and we see it, but you could call it Adiós New York, Adiós Paris, Adiós Germany. This record is about my or our life in Berlin. We chose a title which makes clear that it is a subjective and angry record. Oh, and it is Spanish/German like Eduardo and myself.

Your record label, Shitkatapult, seems like the perfect home for you…can you talk to us about your relationship with them?

Mark: I know some secrets on Shitkatapult’s owners… they have no chance. No but more seriously, Shitkatapult is a nice playground for us. They let us do what we can and this is making good music which is coming out of our heart and momentary situations. We chose Shitkatapult for the different music they release. It is allways a sign of taste if a label is bringing out different stuff with a good quality. Aparat, Soap and Skin, etc are not making the same music…when a label works like this it is a sign that they really like what they release. Shitkatapult is a good example that it is possible to do things a little different from others.

Eduardo: Until now the work is very effective and good. We like each other, we all are broke. We have a good relationship, especially since Marco (T.Raumschmiere) did the mixing, which we are very satisfied with.

Shitkatapult’s website describes it as “like a speech, between accapella and beatbox, punk and rough cut – techno and experiments for a special audience.” How do you get to such an eclectic and some might say ill-suited blend of influences?

Eduardo: That’s life.

Mark: I just make music… every mood has its sound. My influences are everywhere in life… my lyrics often find a beginning in pubs…I hear music without a music player. Everyday I find something interesting and good amongst all this crap we have to listen too…it can be a song or even a cat screaming at night. It is the nature of us you hear on Adiós Berlin. We are sons of our surroundings. Life is a big mix of different impressions – music is my ventile to scream it out.

The album definitely has an overriding sense of Angst and Stress that pervades it. Are you generally a rather tenuous and stressed out person?

Mark: angst and stress are part of my life such as love and hate. My life was quite colorfull until now, and fast… from having the dreamflat to being homeless for a while. From heartjumping until heartbroken. From being completely broke to nearly rich. From having to much to do to fit in one day to having no job at all. I have a calm soul and a stressfull life. And angst (fear) is a big part in life. See me as a streetcat: every second i can i lay down… but i have to keep my eyes allways open…

The minimalism of the formula you found with Edouardo is really refreshing. A beat, a bass line and a barely noticeable melody. The complete opposite of the current craze for layers-upon-layers of synth, chants and other kinds of electronic noises. Why do you think you opted for a less-is-more approach to music whilst most of the industry seems to be going for ‘big is better’?

Eduardo: Keep it minimalistic and simple. We don´t have to prove how good we can play or arrange or what one can do with the newest electronics. I hate music for musicians…

Mark: Also, there is good music and bad music. It doesn’t have something to do with how many layers or how minimalistic it is. Our music has nothing to do with the industry – fuck them! Mc Donald’s is not selling you food – the music industry is not selling you music.

What do you make of the current hype surrounding Tyler, The Creator and his odd Future cohorts? Hype or substance?

Mark: he is very talented and young. That is an explosive and often poisoned mix. It is possible that he will be a superstar for lifetime and it is possible that he will fall faster then he can say “bastard”. For my part, I am addicted to his song “Yonkers”. What a video and what a fresh new sound! Hype or substance… let’s see what he will sing about when he is older as well. Definitely a zeitgeist document of now.

Eduardo:  Who? I dont know. Never heard this name.

The album’s third track, Putzen, packs a punch. You could just as well head nod to it as you could mush pit to it. Can you describe the vibe in the studio when you were recording it?

Mark: the word Putzen meens cleaning. Lyrics-wise it starts with the usual things everybody knows: wash your hands, clean the floor, wash the hair etc…and then it goes further: money laundring, brain washing, polish the bullets, clean the government. You can use it as a party song or as a political song or as something making fun of the German obsession with beeing clean and sober. The history of Putzen is that I wanted to explain to a friend how beatboxing worked… I explained: ” if you say the word Putzen in a loop – “putzenputzenputzenputzenputzen….” without using your voice, it is a techno beat.. my friend said to me I should make a song with this but I thought it’d be a bit of a gag… later on I had to give an encore after I played all my songs so I had to improvise… I played Putzen for the first time directly on stage. Everything was improvised and it worked. Putzen was my last EP on Khan’s label i´m single. It became a club hit, especially the remix of Nerk & Dirk Leyers. Now we made an album version of it which is more aggressive then the original… it feels allways strange, funny and a tiny bit scary when i sing it.

Where are you based at the moment? Can you describe the city you live in and, more particularly, ‘your’ city? Where do you hang out and meet friends for drink? What is your favourite spot to find/buy music? Where do you like to perform the most?

Mark: I am based in Berlin and since a few months also in Hamburg again. Berlin is my music base – Hamburg is my teatre base. Berlin is big whilst at the same time also being small because people treat their areas as litlle cities. Berlin eats you and spit you out sometimes. It is a place where the people let you do whatever you do… but no one really cares when you fall. Hamburg plays big but it’s fucking small for people like me. Give a stranger like me two weeks and he nearly knows everyone. I was born in Hamburg and know every single point here. I like it here and i hate too… like youngsters and their parents.

Drinks in Berlin: i like to go to Trödler; it is a pub I like a lot. Peter the owner is an oldschool Kreuzberg guy and a friend of mine. He is a person like my music: a golden heart but not easy to take. I also go to different places, often to cheap pubs where the people let you be as you want as long you take a drink there. I’m in a lot of different places…and often just straying like a cat in berlin.

Drinks in Hamburg: I am a pub-child, i’ve known pubs since I was five or six years old – maybe even younger – because when I used to visit my father he took us to soccer games of Sankt Pauli and after we’d go to the pubs. Pubs know me and I know them. In Hamburg you can find me often in the Yoko Mono bar because the owner Gesine is a friend of mine. There is another cool bar in Hamburg called Egal bar, but it will close down soon to make another crap office building or a shop nobody needs.

Can you recommend any local acts we should check out?

Mark: Yes, many… On +brr from Hamburg are a good example of non profit musicians… they do it because they love it. Mueran Humanos – I produced their last LP… Namosh – he is such a good one… Angie Reed – you know her right? Driver & driver (Patric Catani and Chris Imler)… Taprikk Sweezee – Nikolai Oppel von Sallwitz, someone important for the Hamburg underground… Gina Dório from Cobra Killer – she also wrote the lyrics for one song on the record.

What is the last album you bought/listened to?

Mark: an LP of “Alexandra“, which is one of my german idols in music on the fleemarket .

Eduardo: I found the first Wire album, Pink Flag, yesterday in a second hand shop. That was the second time I bought it.

If you had to chose, which musical tribe would you say you belonged to?

Mark: This is allways the question when I have to make the clicks on myspace and the other sites…We are punks in a way… but to call it punk is not enough because our influences are in a lot of different genres. We are breaking the rules of making genre music accidentally because we are not conceptual musicians. In Adiós Berlin I can hear 80s punk roots, a bit of  hip hop, electronic roots, dub, noise, experimental, march and a bit neue deutsche welle…Ok, if I had to choose, I belong to jazz in the sense of no rules.

Eduardo: ?????

What is your summer looking like? Lots of touring for the album? Any festivals? Plans to come to Belgium anytime soon?

Mark: The summer looks hot. Our record is out now. I will make a music-theatre piece with our production team “KRRK-KRRK Produkt”, that’s me and Jessica Broscheit. And I will also make another theatre-piece as a musician on stage performing with “Norton Commander Production” from Dresden this year. We will play concerts as much we can. Belgium – yes book us! We just startet with the booking now. We’re chaos like 9 out of 10 artist are. The next concerts are our release-parties (09.06. in Hamburg, 18.06. in Berlin) and after this the next big gig is a festival called “dockville” in Hamburg.

Eduardo: I play with Caspar Brötzmann Massaker in Oostende on the 5th August. But that’s another story…

If Adios Berlin was a movie, which would it be?

Mark: E.T. because the lyrics are subjective from my eyes… not about a totalitary truth… but an E.T. which can’t go home and is a prisoner in a world he didn’t choose.

If Adios Berlin was a lady, what kind of lady would it be?

Mark: a sweet, self-destructive smoking prostitute. A young angry woman fighting for her rights and loosing herself regularly. It would definitely be a woman I can’t take my eyes of…

Watch the video to Plastik/Lieb

Watch Anders, a track made for the compilation ‘snuff trax for japan’

Adiós Berlin is out now on Shitkatapult

Available from iTunes here

Active since 2000, he’s now released 10 albums of irreverent swinging remakes with jazz trio Lounge Against The Machine (milking the dairy joke with members aliases like Bobby Ricotta, Frank Feta and Billy Bleu), spoofing cult classics with titles such as I’d Like a Virgin, Sunny Side of The Moon, OK Bartender, Tuxicity, or Aperitif For Destruction. With Cheese’s trademark crooner style and falsely naïve emphasis on explicit lyrics, bubblegum pop hits are suddenly exposed for all their vapid absurdity, angst-laden anthems (System of a Down’s Chop Suey, Slipknot’s People Equals Shit) take a humorous pathetic turn and the offensive (Nine Inch Nails’ Closer, Nirvana’s Rape Me) verges onto the profoundly disturbing. The result is riotous and nothing short of plain genius. Paying his very own “fromage homage” to the biggest names in music, Davis selects songs that “have that special… something, songs that will be around five, 10, 20 years from now.” By no means the sole perpetrators of the Vegas lounge-style cover genre, RC & LATM remain the loudest and edgiest, pushing the latent irony of current Top 40 hits to the farthest. Don’t miss the band’s only headlining concert in Europe this year, at London’s HMV Forum on 6th July.

Slipknot – People Equals Shit

Closer – Nine Inch Nails

Rape Me – Nirvana

System of a Down – Chop Suey

Gin and Juice – Snoop Dogg

Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot and Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode live on the Jimmy Kimmel show

Milkshake – Kelis

Creep – Radiohead

Smack My Bitch Up – Prodigy

Let It Brie comes out in July on 26th of July.

Photographer Melika Ngombe

01. Books

Divided into six chapters (Body, Objects, Spaces, Words, Scenes, Faces and Masks), ‘La Photographie n’est pas de l’art’ brings together art collector Sylvio Pearlstein’s monumental private collection of photographs. Built up over four decades, the collection clearly is a passionate and very personal undertaking, as rich as it is eclectic, and this book is the closest you’ll ever get to seeing it in its entirety. If there ever was a granddaddy of fashion photography in Belgium, Serge Leblon would be prime contender. Having shot fashion editorials for the likes of Vogue, Dazed & Confused, Another, all the Belgium-based photographer really needed to crown his career was a book. And, thanks to the initiative of BaseDesign who spearheaded the project, this full-paged opus is pretty much it. “Pretty much” because word is a second volume is on its way very shortly. Goes to show how monumental Leblon’s oeuvre really is.

Left: La Photographie n’est pas l’art, Collection Sylvio Perlstein (2009) – Musee d’Ixelles, Bruxelles. Right: Serge Leblon, Fashion (2011) – Lido.

02. Publishing

Two recent discoveries have kept our passion for print very much alive. Paris-based independent publishing imprint Editions FpCf (the brainchild of graphic designer Claire Schvartz and university professor Maxime Milanesi) launched its fanzine Tell Mum Everything Is Ok with the sole purpose of championing emerging photographers. With a participative approach to content producing (each fanzine’s visual narrative is shaped using photographs that the pair find, or receive), an aesthetic that tilts towards the “less- is-more” (all you get are the photographs and their credits) and a limited print run (the fourth edition was printed to the tune of 500 copies), Tell Mum Everything Is Ok is the kind of cute and cuddly photography fanzine we’d like to see more of. On the other side of the spectrum, Belgian publishing house Le Caillou Bleu is the closest the country gets to Steidl. Founded by 41-year-old Fabrice Wagner, the company, in the words of its founder, “publishes photography books of all type.” And, although the photographers selected deserve mention (Satoru Toma, Andre Cepeda, Christophe Bourgeois), it really is the books’ finishing (textured covers, different types of paper stock) that define Le Caillou Bleu’s catalogue.

03. Memberships

Since its creation nearly 25 years ago, Charleroi’s Musée de la Photographie has accumulated an impressive collection of more than 80,000 pictures and 2 million negatives, making it the closest to heaven on earth for the true photography lover. Tracing back to the very origins of photography in 1860 and renewing its displayed selection on a regular basis, each visit offers a new look at the evolution of the medium, and their frequent exhibitions examine the work of the greatest photographers in depth. This membership card will grant its happy owner free entrance at the museum for one year, invitation to exhibition openings, subscription to Bulletin Photographie Ouverte, a 10% reduction on gift-shop books and items, as well as free entrance in Lausanne’s Musée de l’Elysée. A must-have, in every sense of the word.

Les Amis du Musée de la Photographie membership card (from €20 to €70). Available from the Musée de la Photographie.

04. Gear

Depending on the kind of getaway you’re gearing up to, either one of these cameras is the perfect one for you. If it is a city trip you’re going on, Sony’s new Cybershot DSC-TX10 – compact and reactive – is the perfect camera to take along: as good at taking portraits of the little one as it is at capturing urban landscapes. If, on the other hand, you’re setting sail for slightly further (and rougher) shores, Nikon’s Coolpix P7000 – solid and sturdy – is the camera to bring along. Perfect for those Safari treks…

Left: Nikon Coolpix P7000 (€500,67).

Right: Sony Cybershot DSC-TX10 (€350).

05. Magazines

In this day-and-age of instant, digital photography, sifting through the rubble and spotting talent has become harder than ever. Fortunately for us, these three magazines do a spot-on job. The View – a semi-annual platform for contemporary photography – has lead the way since its creation in 2005, doing justice to the photographs it publishes with its weighty paper stock, discreet varnish and generous format. Smaller-scaled and slightly more conceptual, Bokeh’s short texts add to the visual poetry of its selection, whilst quarterly Foam Magazine (a quarterly published by Amsterdam’s museum of the same name) presents eight portfolios around a single theme. Pictured is their Spring 2011 “Happy Issue”.

View Photography Magazine (€15).
Bokeh (€5).
Foam Magazine (€17.50).

06. Tech

Given the amount of camera phone contests we’re often asked to take part in, we thought it was high time we took a closer look at smart-phones that put photography at their core. With a touch screen practically as big as the phone itself and a one-touch-does-it-all policy, BlackBerry’s Torch 9800 scored high in terms of snapping-away. It scored a little lower in terms of the actual telephone (too bulky, small touch keys, a little too fidgety), but this isn’t a ‘telephone special’ now is it?

BlackBerry Torch 9800 (€549,99 from The Phone House and Proximus, €549 from Base).
Blackberry.com

As always, a massive thank you to Guillaume for the pictures.

Thomas, Bert and Dries © Yana Foqué

Dries Dauwe (drums) and Bert Huyghe (vocals, bass) formed the band in 2008, recruiting the latter’s then 16-year-old brother Thomas to take on guitar duty. With a radically DIY approach and a colourful aesthetic, their debut – 11 furiously erratic and spontaneous no-wave tinted tracks – was taped on second hand cassettes and sold in a bag with a lollipop and a balloon. Not loud enough to fit in with the local metal scene yet too deconstructed to achieve national airplay, the band ended up in the strange sonic no-man’s land of lo-fi. Although the boys rapidly gained a loyal following in Ghent, even securing an opening slot for Wavves at Brussels’ L’Ancienne Belgique, they’re still relatively unpopular back in their hometown. “It’s really hard to explain how redneck and conservative our area is,” says Bert. “Most of our songs sound like the place they’re made in – a very grey and sad zone,” adds Dries, whose parents’ shed in Lembeke serves as a rehearsal and recording studio. At first listen, their tunes carry a bright, summery and overwhelming feel. Hope shines through, yet reality always seems to catch up with the music, pervading it with melancholic undertones. And that pretty much sums up their core. “After every ambitious sentence we utter, we always just say ‘then we can go shovel shit under a train’. We want to make it, but also know we might end up becoming postmen in our villages,” Bert cynically jokes. An LP on indie label Smoke & Dust is planned for September, but “it will still be recorded on a four-track,” assures Thomas. “We’re not leaving the shed just yet.”

Below are some pictures the boys took of their homes and Lembeke shed on one of our disposable cameras.

Photographer Murielle Scherre

Maison la fille d’O
Holstraat 91
9000 Ghent
lafilledo.com

Photography Joke De Wilde

Is the Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales really the first ever all-orchestral rap album?

I have no idea. Abd al Malik probably sung with an orchestra, there’s been a lot of orchestrated hip-hop but there’s always those crashing beats in there. I’m sure there have been special projects but as far as a whole album? I’ll stand by that for now…

It’s definitely your most intimate to date. Every song’s lyrics read like a page torn from a diary. Having stressed the difference between “the artist as a masturbator” and “the entertainer as a love maker” in the past, do you feel you’re tilting more towards masturbation on this one?

I hope not. I just try to avoid putting anything on stage or on an album that I feel would not be entertaining. I think the only difference with this one was that I was really thinking about the people who know me, who follow me on Twitter (@chillygonzales), who are regularly at my shows. It could seem like masturbation to someone who’s not interested, but I do consider it to be a fundamentally communicative album because getting really personal is something I haven’t done yet.

You seem to feel very strongly about the notion of an entertainer as a servant – does the audience dictate a lot of what you do?

Yes, based on what I can provide. There are a lot of things I know audiences like but which I can’t do, such as dancing or singing in the way that some people get shivers at the back of their neck, like Leslie Feist or something. But the things I can do – my piano skills, talking skills, ability to have fun in a deep way with the audience – I put that in service. I don’t think I’m a rap genius or a cinematic genius. I’m a musical genius – it has to do with the scientific knowledge of music. That gives me the confidence to try other things.

Having studied music in such a deep and thorough way, do you ever feel the intellectualization of every note and chord might come in the way of instinct and spontaneity?

During my teenage years I was conscious that I had no taste. I’d listen to a lot of musician-y music like classical and jazz, and analyse the structures, just like a toy. And I wasn’t afraid to break the toy and go on to another one. Only later did I develop a taste, and it’s still hard to know what I like. Either it touches me or it doesn’t. It has to do with the image of the person, how they chose their name… Just like anyone else I wanna feel cool when I listen to music. And it goes both ways. I recently saw this Metallica documentary, Some Kind Of Monster, and suddenly became a Metallica fan, even though it’s not my cup of tea. I generally like to nod my head to music, not bang my head. But they had this really weird group therapist who’s like a sports psychologist trying to get them to get along. You saw them in these sessions and they become humanised and all of a sudden invested in the Metallica story.

You’ve been strongly influenced by rap – which names would you recommend to someone who has no real background in that genre?

My mini-mission especially with people who aren’t into this stuff is to get them into the rap of today. Everyone loves Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Wu-Tang and A Tribe Called Quest, but a lot of them have lost track. If they like crazy rap, I’ll get them to listen to Lil Wayne. If they like really good funky rap, then Rick Ross cause he’s kind of the Biggie of today, with a big huge voice. There are a lot of guys, but these ones are up there, in the NBA of rap. It’s the only meritocracy left. The most successful rappers are considered the best, which isn’t the case in other genres like French chanson.

It also has a lot to do with the Anglo-Saxon vs. French way. You have these dinosaurs that get to the top and are never brought down.

Yes, they get that “tenure” as we say. In the US you have to fight for your place until you die. I come from that capitalist continent so of course I always think competition’s great. I love pressure and I love risks. I like failing too. Soft Power was a big failure but I learned so much… It put me on the right path so I’m grateful.

You mentioned your education played a big part in your over-achieving nature and drive. Has it mellowed down over time?

It’s like people who grew up catholic – you may get out, but it’s always there and there comes a point when you have to accept it. “You’re nothing if you’re not successful” is the kind of sentence that’s hanging over my head all the time. The Ivory Tower movie was a bit about the moment where I was fighting it in a way. I think being a pure sell-out is not good and being a pure artist neither. My whole life will be reacting to this brainwashing I had.

“Unspeakable” sounds very intriguing and mysterious – yet it seems unspeakable because it’s just plain honest. Subjects like money and ambition have become very taboo. Is that why you chose this word?

Yes, those are the things you can’t normally say in conversations. But mostly it just has this supervillainous feel. When I heard the epic quality of the music my brother was making it just came right away. The supervillain imagery is something I’d always had floating around. I never dressed up with a cape and a mask, it’s more about the idea of being someone who’s very gifted but uses the gift more for himself. But of course a supervillain just wants to be loved so I’ve always seen myself in that character.

For how long were you part of Puppetmastaz?

Very briefly, like 10 years ago. I only performed a couple of times in its prototypical phase, back when there were only a few puppets. To be honest, I’m not a great puppeteer and I love to be able to see an audience and react to them so it was a little bit like torture performing with no idea of what the audience was like.

In Never Stop, one of the tracks from Ivory Tower, you refer to music as being a joke on two occasions. Is it better to laugh or cry about it?

Both I guess. Jewish humour is a bit about the “no difference” between laughter and crying. I think the first reference was about signing autographs… That’s the part that makes me laugh. The second reference was about a groupie situation, which is maybe more sad.

There’s a strange dimension of humour in what you do. You nail it pretty well in Crying: “I know it’s tempting to call me a sad clown, cause my mouth tells jokes, but my fingers make sad sounds”. But what puts a smile on your face? Are you a happy man?

Yeah, very much. I really like my job, I get to make a living doing pretty much what I was put on earth to do. A good gig, a good interview, a good listening session, a good meeting, a really well written email to Drake – so that I know that I can work with him again – all those things will make me a happy man.

Anything not work related?

Of course, like my friends. But in that case, I guess the friendship and the work is very blurry, because I’m part of this musical family with really wonderful people that happen to be great musicians too like Peaches, Feist, Mocky, Jamie Lidell, Tiga… That’s part of what makes me happy, everybody is doing so well, we manage to collaborate, still be friends and there haven’t been a lot of clashes that we couldn’t handle over 10 years. And you know, everything else that a normal person could enjoy, like relaxing.

Do you get to do that a lot? You definitely come across as being very productive, hyperactive and workaholic.

A lot of it usually comes at the end of a period of really heavy work. When all you want to do is just do nothing. And I can be quite good at that when I want to. I can watch an entire season of Mad Men in three days. You’ll know the kind of stuff I like cause it’s all in the songs.

Like South Park? By the way, what is the truth in Eric Cartman?

He lives in all of us. That little petulant, completely manipulative creature of pure ego and insecurity. I see myself and everybody else I’ve ever met in Eric Cartman.

Any good joke you heard recently?

I follow this guy called The Fat Jew on Twitter (@FATJEW), he’s really irreverent and funny. (Gets his laptop and reads a few jokes):

“This joke will never be not funny: What’s brown and rhymes with Snoop? DR. DRE”

“Hate is a strong word. Unless you’re comparing it to murderfuck. Murderfuck is a strong word.”

“Owen Wilson’s nose looks like a dick that was run over by a tank.”

“If hot people don’t stop pretending they’re funny, I’m going to start pretending I’m hot.”

“Ladies, sex with me is about as thrilling, magical and breathtaking as watching ‘Avatar’ on an iPod.”

“If everyone walked around with their orgasm face, nobody would ever get laid.”

This guy is actually LOL. I actually laugh out loud.

You’ve got strong views on wannabe artists/ poseurs. Who seems sincere to you these days?

I don’t know about sincere, but who seems like the real deal? Someone who is larger than life but manages to find something very poetic in it. Anyone from Daft Punk, with their robot costumes, to a million rappers whom I love, or someone like Philippe Katerine in France.

You moved from Canada to Berlin ten years ago and have spent the past eight years in Paris. What prompted your exile?

Total career frustration. When I signed a record deal in Canada, I thought my problems were over but that was just the beginning of my hell ride through the music business. I was grossly underprepared for being on stage, being in interviews, knowing how to act in meetings, so I made a bunch of mistakes and it was a disaster. I felt like a zero, I was going nowhere. So I just moved to Europe, as it was better for what I wanted to do. I signed to Kitty-Yo, this tiny Berlin label, and they released mine and Peaches’ album within a month of each other and it just blew up. We sold about 5,000 records but for them, we were like platinum artists!

Could you describe home?

Canada is a wonderful place in terms of quality of life and I am proud to come from a place that seems to have a little bit of the best of Europe and the best of America. Unfortunately the set of priorities there doesn’t really match mine. Musically, it’s more this indie rock that thrives, with bands like Broken Social Scene or Arcade Fire, who were the apex of it. I really respect those guys for building this whole Canadian scene but musically, it’s not something I can nod my head to. Humour and musical accomplishments are not a big part of it so I’m kind of fucked.

What made you kill Jason Beck “the purist artist” to give birth to Chilly Gonzales “the pragmatic capitalist entertainer”?

It happened right around the time I came to Berlin after the whole Canadian experience. One of the biggest problems was that I felt I had to suppress a lot of real character traits, like my egomania, the part of me that could seem arrogant but is really just a precise confidence in one certain thing I can do. My wanting to use humour didn’t really work out so I ended up acting like all the other indie rockers, for lack of a better plan, and I hated myself for doing so. Saying whatever everyone else says like “you know, I do what I do for myself and if everyone likes it, it’s a bonus,” which is stuff I don’t believe now and didn’t believe back then. So I just picked a name that was a bit far away from me. A Hungarian Jew with a Cuban name is impossible in a way but I like the impossibility of it. There are a lot of musical geniuses called Gonzales too, so it seemed like a good pedigree. Another thing was that people warned me about being too all over the place musically and that it could work against me. I was really not intent on repeating the same thing over and over so I decided to make the personality so intense that it could link it all together and people would understand how I can rap and play the piano.

It’s very hard to pigeonhole you as an act. You’ve been described as “Berlin underground prankster rapper”, “workaholic Grammy-nominated producer”, “melancholic piano virtuoso”, “Guinness World Record holder”…

I’ve had such a great life. Doesn’t that sound like a cool guy? See, my teenage self is now going like “yeah, cool!”

Those definitely are all very cool and accurate titles to have, but what would your epitaph read?

Oh jeez, you’re making me envision my death? I have no idea. I often think about what the title of my autobiography would be but I don’t have enough distance yet. I’d love to become the official piano guy that all rappers go to when they need piano parts. That would be a real achievement. I got a bit closer now with Drake, with whom I performed at the Juno Awards, which are like the Canadian Grammy’s.

Are you still in touch with Pharrell?

He came to me after I played at a Louis Vuitton show and he just gave me his number. I ended up calling him thinking it would be some answering machine but he did answer, so I just dropped off my Solo Piano album at his Georges V suite. Then every once in a while he’d just randomly text me “man are you in New York?!!!” But that’s when I realised that a lot of shit happens in North America and it’s just about being at the right place at the right time.

So that would be the next step – being accepted and solicited in what you call the “NBA of rap”?

Yes, because all the other solicitations, which are very nice for the resume, only fill me up to a certain amount. I didn’t even really grow up with rap, I discovered it more towards my 20s. Rap really came after the Canadian problem and I thought “who I think acts cool in interviews? Who says cool shit?” and then I realised it was rappers. The way they act like themselves but very exaggerated, the way they’re very honest about ambition, at the same time they’re also very artistically ambitious too, but they don’t really have to say it. In fact it looks a bit stupid when a rapper tries to be too artistic. Look at Kanye West: he’s overreaching a bit. He’s not Matthew Barney… He’s not Alejandro Jodorowsky…

You broke the world record for the longest solo-artist performance. Playing piano for 27 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds, how did you manage practicalities?

You know Guinness lets you have breaks, right? You get five minutes every hour, which you can cumulate. I did 15 minutes every three hours, but it’s still very short. I had a bit of everything; some muscle cramps three hours in, but Guinness has doctors on site. To get the Guinness stamp you have to be very formal. You have a notary, a witness, they don’t really fuck around and it’s also a bit expensive because you have to pay for the guy from Guinness to come down on a first class Eurostar.

So you actually paid to get your own record?

Well with selling tickets I think I lost a bit of money but yeah, a totally worthwhile investment (gestures towards the framed certificate hanging in his living room). That was some of the most poetic branding I could do. After the Soft Power feeling of dilution, it was about re-establishing the two most important aspects of me: musical genius and crazy competitive guy.

Could you describe what was going on in your head during the 27th hour?

There were some hallucinations as of hour 24, forgetting where I was, the piano,… this was during a three-year period where I had stopped smoking weed by the way, because if I had, I surely couldn’t have done it. I wanted to go one hour further than what I had announced. Because I thought that would be cool – that when I got to 27 and everyone was going crazy, I could still continue… I couldn’t though. I did four minutes more and then my hands stopped playing by themselves. Most importantly I saw the reaction the day I woke up. It had become the number two topic on Twitter that week. I didn’t even have a Twitter account! I called my manager straight away and said I had to go to the States to work asap. I would not be sinking further into the crust of this quiche in France. It’s a really funny period because I also gained a lot of weight so now when I see photos it feels like “my weird fat French exile.” Now I’m back to how I looked before, Ivory Tower was a huge success for us, I’m my own boss, I can put out a new album eight months after the previous one and do crazy shit like that – it’s wonderful.

What instruments do you play?

A bit of everything, but mainly keyboards. Drums were my first instrument and then I switched to piano a little bit later.

Is it true that you played drums for Iggy Pop?

Well yeah but I wasn’t in the studio with him. Motor Inn was an instrumental track I had done with Peaches and another friend in Berlin, and Iggy ended up hearing it and just sang on it – almost like he got a rap beat and did a song on it. I also played on their Kick It duo, which is on Peaches album. So yeah, you can hear my drumming behind Iggy Pop on two songs.

Is there an instrument you’re absolutely not familiar with but would like to have a go at?

It would be nice if I could just pull out brass and string instruments and play. But I like to delegate a lot. Boys Noize basically produced the whole Ivory Tower album, my brother took care of this whole album. I didn’t direct my movie, even though it looks like I controlled everything but I gave the most important job to someone else. I’m through trying to do everything…

Which is funny because you tend to project this image of a control freak…

Well, newsflash: I’m growing up and improving on my character defaults, very slowly.

You crowned yourself “President of the Berlin Underground” at one point. Do you still feel underground?

I’m a bit of a Where’s Waldo? I just pop up in weird places. As Chilly Gonzales, the albums I put out are still absolutely underground but a lot more people know about what I do, and who don’t necessarily know my music. I try to do most things like press and shows because I’m basically still hustling. On the other hand I’m mentioned so often in the same breath as Feist, Peaches, Tiga, do weird things like the Juno Awards broadcast, or the iPad commercial... Can I really say I’m underground when millions have heard my music?

You’re performing a Piano Talk show in Brussels, what can we expect?

That’s the way to see me. It’s the best thing for sure. When I have a group, it’s good, but is also always a bit of a compromise for me. When I’m alone on stage I can just really take it anywhere, like do something crazy in the middle of a song.

At what point did it become clear you’d only perform in a bathrobe and pyjamas?

Mainly since early 2009. I did it a bit on Soft Power circa 2007, but before that I had the rap costume, the pink suit, the safari suit,..

Could you explain the statement?

Like a lot of things I enjoy, it’s a really convincing illusion of intimacy. Seeing a guy in a bathrobe playing an upright piano is different than seeing Richard Clayderman in a smoking jacket playing on a white grand piano with a dove. I know it’s weird for French people, because a bathrobe and slippers are something you wear when you’re sick at home.

Which might explain this mental image we could have of you as a grumpy old man…

Hey I’m aware of the cranky uncle Gonz’ persona that I emanate but it’s more acute in France. In England, people would say: “he comes on in a dressing gown,” which has a very different connotation.

Are you looking to build up this new pop culture icon, like there’s The Hef’, The Dude, and now The Gonzo?

The Dude is definitely another big signpost cause he was a great character, but I don’t know to be honest. For this album, because it seemed so close to Ivory Tower, I didn’t feel like changing the look and suddenly become the parody of a rapper. And I think that given everything, it’s probably best to stay consistent for a while.

How many bathrobes do you currently own?

Only three. There’s a tartan one I sometimes wear around my house and two from Old England. A Swiss designer approached me because he wants to create a custom-made bathrobe with a monogram CG print all over it. That’s definitely how I see the future. With matching slippers.

The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales comes out on 6th June on Gentle Threat.

Dont miss his Piano Talk show on 31st May at Theatre 140
Avenue Eugène Plaskylaan 140
1030 Brussels

Photographer Joke De Wilde

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.

Interview and photography Yana Foqué

1. What’s on your mind?

Fights and smells. I want to control them more at our shows.

2. Favourite albums of the month are…

I haven’t listened to many albums, more just songs.

3. Arabia Mountain is going to be released next month. What inspired you to make this album?

South-American folk music.

Hip-Hop – S&W (instrument).

4. In the two years it took to write, create and record the album – What has changed?

The flavours of the months.

5. How was working with Mark Ronson on this album? Why did you want the album to be produced by him?

I think the Grammy Awards speak for themselves. He is in the upper echelons of pop production.

He was sweet.

Name: Cole Alexander

6. What has been the best psychedelic experience of your life, so far? And has it got anything to do with the cover of your newest album Arabia Mountain?

No, but my greatest psych experience is when I imagined I had lost all of my organs and bones. I melted and I was like mush for a moment

7. Black Lips has a habit of colouring outside the lines: If it hasn’t got anything to do with the gig, then it mostly has to do with the gig’s location… As a band, you’re not afraid to play venues and countries that typically don’t see many rock bands perform…. Which country is high on your list?

Iraq, Cuba, Syria, Tunisia, Zambia, Uganda, Antarctica (we have leads).

8. What’s a borderline bad idea to you?

Smoking.

9.The sex, drugs, and rock’n'roll lifestyle – think you’ll ever grow tired of it?

I only know so much about it. I know the cliché well. But in actuality, I know so much.

Photographer Joke De Wilde

Photographer Joke De Wilde

Photographer Joke De Wilde

Brussels-based artist Matthew Crasner popped up on our radar about three years ago. At the time, his work was anchored in a deep street sensitivity, his brush stroke tilting more towards the urban than the classic. You got a feeling that he hadn’t yet made the transition from art student to fully-fledged ‘artist’. Now, having got down to business in his Schaerbeek studio for the last three years or so, he emerges with a body of work so strong and singular that you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was the work of someone entirely different. Playing with a contrasting palette of colours (he mixes black, grey and white with splashes of yellows and greens), his world is made up of intriguing characters – some tribal warriors, others office workers – whose intensity of character is made all the more poignant with Crasner’s realist and relatively heavy strokes. The work he produces at the moment is without a doubt serious in its approach and intent, but remains light-hearted and tongue-in-cheeked in its substance. “I just started painting for my own pleasure,” says Matthew when we spoke to him on the phone last week “I got tired of painting for people’s appreciation and feedback.”

Photographer Joke De Wilde

Joining forces with studio neighbour Christine Philipp, the pair open their doors this weekend for what promises to be an intimate and insightful peak into the universe of what is, to us, one of the up-and-comers on the local art scene.

Day In Day Out

Opens Friday, 20th May 20th 2011 at 18h00

Runs until Sunday 22nd May until 18h00

Address: Rue Verbiststraat, 95 - 1210 Brussels

Photography Quentin De Wispelaere

When did you get into photography full-time?

A few months ago, when I enrolled in the photography section of La Cambre, I’m currently at the end of the first year.

What drew you to this medium?

I’ve always been into image manipulation, when I was a kid, I was creating small movies with my sister, then we became teenagers and we started shooting each other, and now …

What is your first ever memory about photography?

It was just after La Cambre’s entry exams, when I discovered the series made by the students who got through the selections. Before that moment, I had no idea about photography in a “fine art way” (how they like to call it). I realised that it’s all about having fun.

How would you define your style/practice?

I try to keep my work as personal as possible, I think photography and art are about freedom and I want to keep mine. In photo reports I want to capture intense emotions in a constructed scenery. By building unexpected textures for example, creatures made of different components or simply imaginary stories created by little games between the plans, I always give importance to the light as well. About studio shoots, I imagine a story that is often related to events that happened to myself and my friends, or simply about facts that I find interesting or that make me laugh. I always do a lot of research about what I’m shooting and I like to write only some parts of the development down – not everything – so I forget a few details that make me bounce on new things.

Who are your top 3 favourite photographers?

It’s been changing and it changes often but for the time being I would say Daniel Sannwald, Luke Gilford and Ryan McGinley.

Who/what is your Holy Grail? (A person, location, scene that you dream of capturing someday)

I don’t have any obsession, I just have a lot of ideas that I hope to realise. For example a shoot with volatile designs in a high speed wind tunnel, with the face of a girl changed by the wind, or a shoot about similarities between girls and cars faces; another one with a tall white LCD screen with liquid sprayed on it, or again another about flying hairdryers on which the gravity is not the same… I can’t say my preference goes for one of them.

What’s your fondest photography moment?

I think it was my first series “Photos de classe“, when I still was at the pilot school. I had a big team of motivated people and it was amazing to see them doing precisely what I was expecting, in a very happy and positive mood. My first fashion week coverage in Paris was also a really intense moment.

One that you would like to forget about?

When I had to shoot the CEO of a big fashion house and his muse for Another/Dazed, everyone was very late on schedule and the shoot took 5 minutes. I wanted them to pose in a beautiful way, not with arms on each other’s shoulders… It ended up in a small conflict and in the end the portrait was not good.

What are the habits you get into whilst shooting? Is there one word you constantly use, or one person you always need with you as a lucky charm?

I always work with a close friend as first assistant, he knows nothing about photography but he always gets what I mean. There’s a strong connection between us and we work really well together, he makes me save a lot of time and eases the pressure on each shoot.

What do you listen to in the studio?

Mixes done by great DJs like Lady Jane, Compuphonic, or to artists such as Jay Shepheard, Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Pantha du Prince, Gold Panda, Four Tet… Cheap techno music is also a good stimulant. More recently I started listening again to the tracklists of the catwalk shows I saw in Paris, even if it’s sometimes not my type of music, it puts me into focus just as I was on the shows and this works well.

Don’t miss out on their exhibition at Expart Gallery, which opens 9th June and will run until 2nd July.
Place de la Vieille Halle aux Blés 29 Oude Korenhuis
1000 Brussels

And even though it’s the kind of concept that has New York, Tokyo or Dubai plastered all over it, Electrolux, rather strangely, picked our humble capital as the starting point for The Cube’s itinerating route, which will see it set foot in Stockholm, Moscow and Zurich during the coming year. For the moment though, it can be spotted towering atop the Cinquantenaire/Jubbelpark’s triumphal arch, where it will remain for three months.

Playing the cutting-edge tech card to the fullest, each guest is greeted with a shiny new white iPad 2 and encouraged to take pictures of the panoramic view. Using the classic “table d’hôte” concept, all 18 guests are seated at the same table, encouraged to mingled and interact. L’Air du Temps’ innovative chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre cheerfully shares his passion and knowledge of local products and herbs with anecdotes, poetry and even forest sounds recordings playing in the background, and with each step of the meal explained and detailed, the average length of a lunch/dinner (three hours) go by in a flash. Haute cuisine then, in its most literal meaning.

The Cube by Electrolux
In Brussels until 3rd July
Booking can be made online here
electrolux.be

Photography Sarah Eechaut

Messing around with snakes is no innocent choice; such is the strength of mythology associated with them and the fear they seem to elicit in a vast majority of people. “There is a clear will to demystify the animal,” admits Rien, “but they’re also of an extreme beauty, colour and texture wise.” Working in collaboration with other breeders, Rien purchased several snakes, mostly red ones, and began experimenting three years ago. “You can predict the outcome of the colour and pattern, but there are no guarantees.”

One could obviously question the true artistic value of this project. After all, this could very well happen in nature. Yet the boundaries of artistic creation keep on being pushed, as technology, scientific research and biology merge into new forms of expression. Commonly referred to as BioArt, made popular in the late 90s when Eduardo Kac introduced Alba, the world’s first transgenic fluorescent rabbit, Sébastien’s work is more traditional in that he simply exploits accidents and genetic flukes. But the selection on top of that is key in differentiating his approach to that of a scientific researcher or a mere breeder. Sang Mêlé is a study on form and colour. “Just like a painter, I chose my colours by selecting certain individuals, and like the sculptor, my work operates in shapes as the snake is a three-dimensional object,” he explains. Sang Mêlé could there- fore very well earn its place within art history, even though having living creatures as a main medium definitely challenges its archetypes and the way people perceive art. If anything, the dichotomy between nature and human productions is one in which Rien does not believe, as he firmly stresses. “We often speak of nature as being something external to our productions but when you think of it, if we are products of nature, than our very own productions are those of nature too.”

Having worked on Sang Mêlé for three years, he lacks distance and results. His livestock currently counts about 18 specimens and he produced one baby in August, which sadly died a few weeks later. The product was a blend of four different species, and Sébastien is unsure as to the exact causes of this failure. The defunct one has now been recycled into another project. “It sounds sordid, but I’ve always kept all my carcasses in a freezer,” he says with a mischievous smile. Frozen into interesting shapes, his colubrids, boas and pythons have become sculptures, which he then photographs. Busy with countless other projects, such as his collective Phase 3 or Le Bestiaire – a line of silver pendants cast in the shape of small animals’ jaws, created in collaboration with jewellery designer Artamonoff – Sang Mêlé currently remains a non-profit side-enterprise (the artist can’t sell the products in order to keep the process going). It is also a never-ending one: “there will always be new ways of pushing the selection in other directions. It’s a work in movement, like life. Like the world.” And just like life, this project doesn’t have an ultimate goal, if only perhaps, achieving the creation of specimens that will be as far removed from their original forms.

Sébastien Rien’s photographs of frozen specimens will be displayed at the MAAC
Rue des Chartreux 26-28 Kartuizersstraat
1000 Brussels
From 27th May to 25th June
maac.be

All the pictures in the exhibition are self-portraits of the photographer in various situations and deal with women’s image. The women depicted aren’t necessarily Veerle and can be seen as “any woman”. They may seem fragile and vulnerable, but are in fact very strong, and the different stereotypes they emanate are exaggerated in such a way that they almost become caricatures.

“It can be seen as a reaction against how women are represented in popular media, with ideas about ideal beauty and sexuality,” explains Veerle. The women in the pictures are subjects of the male gaze but tend to resist this gaze, turning it around by staring back. “I don’t really remember how I got my inspiration for the series,” she says. “It was very personal and partly how I felt back then – I started this series almost two years ago. I recently made some new ones because I really like doing it and because the subject keeps being fascinating.”

Veerle Frissen’s Théâtre des Femmes Perturbées will be on show until 1st May

ZebraStraat
Zebrastraat 32
9000 Gent
www.zebrastraat.be

Former model turned instant counter culture soldier Elisabeth Ouni has also been dabbling in party promotion of late. Her latest gig, dubbed ‘The Spicy Issue‘, sees none other than Spoek Mathambo take centre stage at Antwerp’s Club magic, a retro-fantastic venue nestled in the basement of the city’s Ramada Plaza Hotel. With Luxembourg’s Kwistax and our very own Funkmaster Frits as supporting acts, we pinky promise the night to be as electric as Jimi Hendrix‘s Fender and as sunny as a Studio One-scented Sunday morning.

Never ones to leave you out of it, we have two pairs of tickets to give-away to the two first readers who email wewrite@thewordmagazine.be specifying ‘The Spicy Issue’ in the subject box and your full name and date of birth in the body.

“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 Yana Foqué

Name: Dee Dee

Best place to get a tattoo?

Forearm // London @ Shangi-la

Words for the future you?

Chill out.

Favourite love songs?

Fade Into You – Mazzy Star

Ladies And Gentlemen… – Spiritualized

Analy – Minko

For which reason was Richard Gottehrer so high on your personal list when you first got the opportunity to create a full EP?

He wrote Sorrow. He produced the last Richard Hell LP. He was a Brill Building songwriter. He was in The Strangeloves.

Other bands that are often associated with you are Vivian Girls, Best Coast, Wavves, Jeans Wilder and Girls – all excellent shoegazing noise pop bands. Do you feel at home in these surroundings?

Yes, but my favourite line-up was one last with Minks and Dirty Beaches.

How has DDG grown further away from this generalised image/sound these past few months?

Practice. Bigger amps!

In what way did your music and relationship as a band evolve while making He Gets Me High?

I recorded the EP without the girls, but the next LP is already done, and they all played so well. Very good and necessary step.

The album itself is short and sweet. Why these four tracks?

I wrote the originals in a weekend and they just sounded like an EP.

You’re touring with the album right now… How do you survive the long drives between gigs?

My iPod… Books… TV shows

If you could pick anyone throughout history, who would you ask to make a double split single with you?

Jason Pierce (Spacemen).

He Gets Me High is out since March on Sub Pop.

• Photography Toon Aerts, Vincent Dechamps, amongst others

Photography Yana Foqué

Dean (vocals, drums) and Randy (guitar)

What’s been keeping you busy these days?

DS: PPM, NO AGE, LIFE, ETC.

RR: Going to the dentist in Antwerp. Driving from Barcelona to London. Playing shows. Listening to John Cale.

What’s the weirdest thing that happened on tour so far?

DS: Went to a bar in NY, Saw two fights, almost got robbed & got asked to buy heroin in the span of 20 minutes.

RR: What’s weird? Everything is weird, so weird is normal, and normal is weird, so seeing ‘normies’ is weird!

You’re well known for playing in the most “untraditional” places: a vegan store in Portland, the Los Angeles Central Library, the Late Show with David Letterman, but what has been the best venue so far?

RR: The best venue is one that feels challenging and beautiful. I like when a venue is able to make an audience and band feel like they are making an event together.

On which spot would you love to play a show somewhere in the future?

RR: I want to play somewhere in the future. I want to play 5 minutes in the future, always.

DS: The moon, the White House, the city of Bell.

You’ve been making music together for almost 10 years now. After a while – I guess words become unnecessary. Where though lies the challenge for the both of you when working on a new song?

RR: It’s a challenge to get on the same page sometimes. We almost know each other to well. We challenge ourselves to not do something expected.

DS: We still need to talk most of the time. Pages get mixed up sometimes…

Everything in between, for you, is…

DS: EVERYTHING we went through from nouns to this record (sometimes).

RR: The moments between big things happening in your life. The in-between moments when nothing happens, but everything happens that makes your life your life.

The artwork that accompanies your music has always been very important. Through various EP’s, LP’s, tapes and singles Brian Roettinger‘s involvement has been essential. How did you meet him?

DS: Brian and I grew up in the same suburb. I saw his band play when I was 13. He took out his penis & threw a pumpkin!

How can we picture the process between the three of you when working on a new album cover?

DS: We talk a lot. Sit around and show each other images, songs, whatever. It’s a long process of hanging out. Trying things; trying to make each other psyched. Trying to laugh.

What has been a very inspiring event for you these past years?

RR: I was inspired when I went for a walk in my neighbourhood.

DS: THIS NOTEBOOK!

Are there any upcoming projects we can look forward to?

1. The bear

2. A new jacket

NEW RECORD!??

What are your pet peeves?

DS: I love cats & dogs. Don’t want a lion. Whoops! People who slurp! P.E.T.A.

RR: People who write too big!!!

And last but not least! Who’s your favourite Belgian band?

HUBBLE BUBBLE!!

“Toots” Thielemans.

Born in Nice, Benoit Grimalt spent 15 years in Paris shooting for various magazines before migrating to Brussels a year ago, where he’s now based. Now working on more personal projects, such as the book Do You Know Syd Barrett? – in which he documented everyday scenes and landscapes of Cambridge, where Pink Floyd’s founding member spent the rest of his life as a recluse – as well as moving images.

• Photography Benoit Grimalt

When did you get into photography full-time?

Ten years ago. After I graduated from a photography school where we mainly studied studio photography. But now I prefer being outdoors, I prefer natural light.

What drew you to this medium?

I like family albums.

What is your first ever memory about photography?

The old pictures in family albums.

How would you define your style/practice?

Spontaneous and directed at the same time.

Who are your top 3 favourite photographers?

Irving Penn, Henrich Kuhn, and Bernard Plossu.

Who/what is your Holy Grail? (A person, location, scene that you dream of capturing someday)

Jean-Pierre Léaud.

What’s your fondest photography moment?

Shooting landscapes.

One that you would like to forget about?

A commission for a magazine with rockabillies

What are the habits you get into whilst shooting? Is there one word you constantly use, or one person you always need with you as a lucky charm?

“A little bit more on your right…a little bit more on your left…”

What do you listen to in the studio?

I have no studio but I used to listen to Tindersticks, the last two Talk Talk albums, Jim O’Rourke, Ned Collette, Hamilton Yarns.

Photography Joke De Wilde

Amongst brands currently stocked, you’ll find Vivienne Westwood, Pierre Hardy (both exclusives in Brussels), Emma Hope, Belle by Sigerson Morrison, Avril Gau, Atelier Mercadal Vintage, Pretty Ballerinas, and Rupert Sanderson‘s pre-collection (as of June), as well as a small clothing selection with designs by Indress and Tsumori Chisato. She handpicks all the brands and models herself, favouring timeless pieces and strong designs. As for men’s, Audrey clearly plans on extending her selection in the future, but is waiting to build a better knowledge in that field. The sweet and shy Belgian grew up in a strong fashion environment and even jokes about spending the better days of her childhood falling asleep on fitting room couches during her parents’ endless shopping sprees. As for her philosophy when it comes to footwear? “I could spend the rest of my life wearing a white t-shirt and 501’s every single day, as long as I have a different pair of shoes to fit every mood.”

Walk The Line
525A Chaussée de Waterloosesteenweg
1050 Brussels
+32 (0) 2 346 55 30
walktheline.be

Photography Lionel Samain

One thing leading to another, the Belgian-born, self-taught photographer quickly found himself doing portraiture, finally then taking up fashion photography in the shape of magazine editorials and advertising campaigns. His approach is clearly informed by his early obsession with cinema, although his overall aesthetic is shaped by his own personality – timid, somewhat tormented (“My wife always says I’m a tormented artist.”) and restrained. “I find it harder when I’m given complete free reign over a shoot’s artistic direction,” he says in between two long drags on his cigarette, “I work better when given some boundaries to work within.” Not one to be pigeonholed, Lionel’s photographs retain a certain mysticism to them, one which he clearly entertains through a continuous re- evaluation of his work. Indeed, despite having honed his singular technique of shooting against a backdrop of projected imagery – one which has defined his work ever since – he felt confident enough to set it aside for a while in order to avoid any categorisation. His clearly is an approach to photography that comes from the gut, an extension of his own self: cerebral, intense and painful.

Photography Yassin Serghini

Launched in 2008 by Frenchmen Nicolas and Frederic as part of their end of year project, they make starting up in the notoriously fickle fashion industry sound easy. “We went to Beijing as part of our Erasmus exchange year, were taking aback with the entrepreneurial culture there and came back to France knowing we wanted to start our own company” explains Nicolas. The pair already being sneaker aficionados (“not necessarily Air Force Ones but, rather, Fred Perrys and Feiyues”), the decision to move into sneakers was instinctive as well as contextual, China being sneaker kingdom. Back in France, they asked their professors if they could, instead of doing the classic internship in one of France’s major employers, work on the launch of their own brand; he accepted. “The most challenging part at the time was balancing our student life with launching a start-up” continues Nicolas, who is quick to point to their inexperience in the field at the time, “Our philosophy was: lets design our little shoe, put in an order for 5,000 (the minimum quantity allowed) and see what happens.” It turns out that ‘what happened’ is nothing short of spectacular.

A first version of a Faguo shoe, rendered on Paint circa 2009

The pair decided to launch entirely through Facebook, creating a Faguo fan page (“the perfect tool to put us in touch with our network of friends from business school”), which racked up a mind-boggling 5,000 fans in 15 days – and without even one pair of shoes having hit the shelves. True to form, Faguo was on everyone’s lips, with every self-respected hipster wondering (worrying, even) who would end up getting the first pair. With such preliminary buzz, it is no surprise that the brand’s first collection sold out in 12 days, whilst attracting the attention of key stockist. “We begged Kiliwatch (the avant-garde Parisian style boutique) to come visit us at one of our private sales” fondly remembers Nicolas, “The buyer ended up coming, was instantly seduced by the shoe and, the following Monday, Faguo was sold in their store.” The apparent ease with which Faguo manages to win the hearts and minds of its ever-growing fan base is essentially due to the brand’s essence, its spirit. Simply put, it ticks all the boxes as far as successfully launching a new product in today’s digitally-literate and well-informed consumption culture goes. Sustainable sensitivity? Check (for every Faguo bought, a tree is planted in either of three forests in France). Responsible approach? Check (reduction of CO2 emissions, transport by sea). Smart communications strategy? Check (witty use of social media platforms, reliance on non-traditional media). Transparency? Check (“right from the start, we acknowledged our Made in China label”) Appealing design? Check (think the finesse of Tretorns, the comfort of Keds and the style of Jack Purcells). No wonder, then, that within four years, the company’s workforce grew from two to ten (including a staff of two in China), and its turnover from 375,000 euros in 2009 to 700,000 euros in 2010, with the figure set to double in 2011.

Faguo is available in Brussels from Mapp

Photographer Merel ‘t Hart

The venue employs a staff of 45. This is in addition to cleaners, security agents, bar and restaurant staff.

Located in a 10.000 sqm complex that is said to go back to the 11th century, L’Ancienne Belgique – or AB as it is also known – was a popular concert hall in the early 20th century. Often threatened with closure due to noise complaints from the neighbourhood, it underwent several renovations and even filed for bankruptcy in 1971. Saved by funding from the Flemish government in the late 70s, the main hall was completely soundproofed and reconditioned in 1982, resulting in the AB as we currently know it. Entirely tinted in a deep cardinal red – commonly used in most theatres as it absorbs the stage lights – the venue retains a unique warmth and intimacy, even when at full capacity (2.000). Upgrading the entire equipment with state of the art technology and a perfect acoustic system, it has become the venue of choice to capture the CD and DVD live performances of artists such as Iggy Pop, Oasis, Kings of Leon, Goldfrapp, Queens of the Stone Age, The Hives and Yeasayer to name a few. Mike Patton has been quoted saying “AB is the best venue in Europe. No, in the world!” and Lou Reed was in awe when he discovered the main hall before performing at last year’s Domino Festival. Praises coming from such demanding musicians who have toured throughout the world are no mean feat, and the 300.000 concertgoers who flocked in last year can’t be wrong either. The 233.450 tickets sold in 2010 have earned the AB the third spot in Pollstar’s annual list of Top 100 Worldwide Club Venues, making it the only European venue in the top 50.

The backstage zone in front of the production room.

For the Morcheeba or Iron & Wine fans, 730 balcony seats are available. Free seating is on a “first come, first served” basis.

The catering canteen. “Proper food” is a luxury touring artists don’t take for granted, something that the AB understands only too well. Former house cook Lut De Clercq was even renowned abroad for her dishes and wrote several books on the subject.

The AB Sessions room, which also doubles as an extra dressing room on busy nights. Two microphones and a camera are on hand to record sessions of acoustic sets broadcasted on the venue’s website.

“If you get lost, just follow the red line” is a sentence often overheard in the backstage zone that stretches from the main hall to the recording studio and catering canteen.

A couch from the Stella bar.

Lights, fixtures and fittings.

A dressing room.

State of the art technology has been customised to suit all the needs of the wide breath of artists that come through AB’s door.

The AB Sessions room.

The AB Sessions room.

A dressing room.

The Stella bar, right next to the main hall.

A couch from the Stella bar, often used for photo sessions and interviews.

Iggy Pop – Lust For Life (1999)

Massive Attack – Karma Coma (1998)

LCD Soundsystem – Yeah (2010)

Ghinzu – Blow (2008)

© Veerle Frissen

This combination of pragmatism and imagination is alluring, but it’s her typically Belgian modesty that will win you over. Even though Alexandra graduated with great distinction from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts not once but twice – for her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s in Fashion Design – she’s far too humble to point this achievement out. Her perfectionist streak is, nevertheless, immediately noticeable. “I work a lot with details and really focus on them. My silhouettes are simple and minimal, but I like the idea of embellishment. I love origami, because pleats give me a sense of meditation. I remember ironing each piece individually for ages last year, but didn’t mind at all,” she explains of the collection she presented at the Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival, which won her the Grand Prix of the Jury. If pleats are one of Alexandra’s trademarks, she also finds inspiration in everyday objects, translating their appeal into clothing. “I’m quite neurotic at work and get obsessed with certain things. At the moment, I’m really into these Japanese water bottles, with their sleek design and moulded curves. I’m trying to work out how to reproduce these waves into fabric, which is not easy to do.”

Things have been hectic since her triumphant victory at Hyères, although having a lot on her plate is not something that scares the Antwerp native. Inspired by paper, Japanese traditions and architectural shapes, she produced a strong and beautiful show, which not only managed to excite the international press, but aroused the interest of industry key players as well. The online site of French Vogue added her to their list of last year’s most influential fashion names, an accolade she still cannot come to terms with. “It was surreal for me and I felt like I didn’t deserve it,” Alexandra admits. “It’s an honour, of course, but other people on that list have achieved much more than I have. I think it pushes you to prove yourself more.” Currently working on the 15 new outfits she will present during her comeback show at Hyères, she’s also busy with the launch of her eponymous womenswear brand. Researching a PhD on the relationship between fashion and architecture at the University of Antwerp has allowed her to get funding and teach students on a regular basis. She will also inject part of her €15.000 Hyères prize into the launch of her debut collection and has talked to banks, industry professionals and experienced insiders to find out about financing and production options. “People here always tell you not to start your own thing, but why shouldn’t I? I’ve already met quite a few manufacturers and will focus on my own label after Hyères. Manufacturing in Belgium is expensive, but there may be openings in France or Japan. I’m planning on presenting my first collection in Paris next October.”

Photographer 354 Photographers

From left, clockwise: Urban Interventions (Gestalten), Gang Leader for a Day (Allen Lane), Bankrupt (Twin Palms Publishers), Anish Kapoor (Phaidon) and The Red Balloon (Doubleday)

Bankrupt (2004) by Phillip Toledano – Twin Palms Publishers

Bankrupt presents no foreword nor summary, its subject matter being quite self-explanatory. A handful of anonymous termination emails are featured as the only textual elements, eluding to the sense of incomprehension or disbelief their recipients might have felt upon first read. New York-based photographer Phillip Toledano started taking pictures of recently abandoned offices in 2001, documenting what he referred to as “economic archaeology”. The oversized dimensions of the book and Toledano’s large-scale prints emphasise the desolate character of these vacant offices. Page after page, we are faced with empty drawers, dying plants, the mess and chaos of desks that have been hastily abandoned, piled boxes, coatless hangers, lifeless rooms, ending with its most moving and ironic image: a cleared desk above which a blue sticker on the wall reads “We’re all in this together”.

Available from Amazon.

Anish Kapoor (2009) by David Anfam – Phaidon

From its beautiful and rich cover reminiscent of the textures of his wax works to the colour pictures that capture the intensity of pigment sculptures, this book – prefaced by art historian David Anfam – is a useful resource for understanding Anish Kapoor’s highly rated oeuvre. Famed for his larger-than-life pieces that involve trompe l’oeil and site-specific installations, the British sculptor has rapidly become one of the most respected artists of his generation. With hundreds of images ranging from reproductions of his work, photographs of Kapoor in his workshop, as well as sketches from his most ambitious projects, this weighty volume certainly lives up to its promise of being the most comprehensive monograph ever published on the artist.

Available from Amazon.

Gang Leader for a day (2008) by Sudhir Venkatesh – Allen Lane

When American sociology student Sudhir Venkatesh infiltrated a gang to gain an in depth understanding of urban poverty in early 90s Chicago, he certainly had no clue of how far it would take him and how drawn he would become to the subjects of his interests. Spending nearly a decade in the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago, one of the worst ghettos in America, he quickly found himself in the midst of a crack dealing crime ring. Recounting his trials and tribulations with an unexpected candour, this book tells the tale of a curious young man that ended up getting far more than he had bargained for.

Available from Amazon.

The red balloon (1956) by Albert Lamorisse – Doubleday

Based on the French movie of the same name, The Red Balloon tells the story of little Pascal, a lonely only child whose vivid imagination leads him to befriend a large helium filled red balloon which he manages to tame and turns into an obedient pet. The pair embarks on a series of adventures through the streets of Paris, until a gang of jealous schoolmates “burst his bubble” by throwing rocks in its direction. The minimal amount of colour stands out amongst the beautiful black and white photographs taken during the filming of this 1956 children’s classic. As heart-warming as it is poignant, this naive tale will bring out your inner child, a few smiles and possibly even tears.

Available from Amazon.

Urban interventions: personal projects in public places (2010) by Robert Klanten – Gestalten

Part street art, part agitprop, urban interventions have become a permanent feature of cities’ landscapes in recent years, gaining both in notoriety and interest. Whether artists, that chose to make use of public spaces for creative expressions, or activists, who go to the street to spread political messages, both use the city as their personal drawing board. The results are often amusing, and whether political or simply aesthetic, always thought provoking. This book showcases the projects of over 70 individuals and collectives, who operate throughout Europe and America, taking art out of white cubes and into the agora.

Available from Amazon.

© Veerle Frissen

Walter is the flamboyant one: massive rings on each finger, a thick beard and a bright sweater. Dirk appears more discreet, slouching on his chair and with a preppier look. What unites both men is a deep-rooted creativity, a complicit sense of companionship and an ability to enjoy themselves. Their story reads like the ultimate telenovela, minus the expected drama: “We were really young when we met,” explains Walter. “We both came from outside of Antwerp and were here to study. I got into the Academy (Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts) to do fashion and Dirk started his degree while I was in my second year. I remember thinking about jewellery or architecture at that time, but it was seeing the graduates’ fashion show that sealed the deal. You know, it’s not something I got into when I was 12 years old, playing dress up with dolls in my room. No Barbies for me, please!” Despite his Big Jim-less childhood, little Walter was not into macho comics either: “A lot of people think I’m crazy about them when they look at my pieces, but that’s not the case. I guess you can find traces of superheroes and other figures in my work, but it was never a fixation for me.” Van Beirendonck’s clothes have an urban and direct appeal, which he has been working on and refining since the 80s. Colour, geometry, ease and utility are all part of his vocabulary. His clothes make you smile, but they also make you think. Making statements that are often political, social, sexual or cultural, his shows promote inclusiveness, as opposed to elitism. His decision to use bigger guys for several collections was seen as a clear reaction to the industry’s limitations. “I think my clothes have always been very personal and my message hasn’t really changed with time. I had used bears and larger guys in a previous show in 1996 and remember that it was quite a small scene then. When I did it again recently, I was taking a stance against anorexia and models that were too skinny. I just wanted to show another type of physique on the runway.”

Walter Van Beirendonck’s Spring/Summer 2010 “WONDE®” runway show

One could describe van Saene’s fashion sense as more subdued and elegant. “I guess a lot of people talk about a Couture feel when they describe my clothes, and it’s something I’m actually fine with. Deconstruction was all the rage in the mid-90s and what I was doing was so different… People thought I had lost it,” he jokes. “They couldn’t understand what I was doing. It was just so out of context in a way, but also true to my own taste. I wanted to react against that movement and do exactly the opposite.” Van Saene hesitated between canvases and clothes before joining the Academy. He could perfectly live without fashion: “I don’t really need fashion to feel creative. Walter does. I’ve developed a new passion for ceramics lately and am still learning about the craft. I’ve always loved the act of painting, too. You need a team when you’re making clothes and there are so many external forces involved. I’d rather spend time alone and create what I want. Fashion is such a huge investment, both financially and emotionally. You see that with young designers now. There’s hardly a chance to grow anymore. People expect you to be huge in three seasons only.”

© Veerle Frissen

Although they never worked on a collection together, the pair opened WALTER in 1998, a unique space located in the heart of Antwerp, which stocked furniture as well as edgy fashion brands. During our conversation in the store, I can’t help but wonder what it must be like for two designers to live together. Fashion being the “Cursed Land of Inflated Egos”, many would probably end up strangling each other. “It’s a lot,” admits Walter. “Everything is doubled: deadlines, commitments, pressure. When we started our careers, we were in it 24/7, but now we’re much better at taking a step back and separating things. I still take a lot of my work home, but it’s different now. We never felt the need to compete with each other either. There was no reason to.” Dirk is very much involved in Walter’s work, helping out with the shows, models and offering constructive feedback. “I do give my opinion, yes. I also work on the casting for his shows. We were invited to San Francisco last May to show his Spring Summer ‘10 collection and that was a lot of fun. There were many fans coming to the event and we felt very welcome. We’re used to doing things like that together.”

Silhouettes from Walter Van Beirendonck’s Fall/Winter 2011-12 “Hand On Heart” collection

They also can’t help finishing each other’s sentences, which is both sweet and amusing. The initial reserve I felt at the beginning of our chat slowly disappears and I’m enjoying being with them as times passes by. The store closes and it’s time to say goodbye. When I ask Walter what he would do if he were not in fashion, he answers with his now customary cheek: “I’ve always loved animals, you know, so I could have worked in a zoo, or something to do with flowers. And porn, too… I would direct, of course.” But of course.

Silhouettes from Walter Van Beirendonck’s Spring/Summer 2010 “WONDE®” collection

W.A.L.T.E.R.
12 Sint-Antoniusstraat
2000 Antwerp
+32 (0) 3 213 26 44

Photography and captions Vermin Twins

Jean-Pierre Jarre, the unknown twin of Jean Michel

Too many stickers but no talent!

Fire in the hole!

5 Point Finger Fire Split Technique Skill (5PFFSTS)

He used to be our friend but now he lives in Diest!

Food motivation: 0.1

Back Scratch Fever

Some call him J or Djanaan.

Get out of my dreams, get into my car.

Blurry Fluf Rubber

Our Highness!

Some hooligan we picked up...

With thanks to Ulrike Biets

Thomas, Bert and Dries

© Yana Foqué

Name: Bert Huyghe

What was the first thing you did this morning?

I baked a crazy omelette! Ingredients: tomato, cheese, mushrooms, onion and egg.

What’s your favourite older song at the moment?

Southern Man – Neil Young

What would you do on a hot summer day?

Watch the Tour indoors! (Dries Dauwe – Drummer)

Which events in your life where very influential to your music?

For us as a band I think the first “pat on the back” we got from other Belgian bands we looked up to.

What inspired you to make your new album Sensual Dancing?

Older women in our village when dancing to music of their youth. Always very 80s inspired and sensual dances.

Why did you use tape?

Because these songs where very radical and unfinished. They belonged on cassette.

Ping Pong Tactics has been a DIY band ever from the very start. How does the artwork fit into the whole package?

It’s just a part of the music, it all belongs together.

Who would you ask as a guest musician on your next album?

Nobody! Maybe Willem from SAII on drums again when he’s around.

Who can remix/cover one of your songs any day of the week?

(note: this person doesn’t have to be alive or even real)

Phil Spector.

Best musical memory so far?

Mini Netherland tour with just us three, in our van, meeting weird “hollanders”.

Where to next?

US of A.

Do you have a plan B?

This is our plan B.

What can in your opinion never go out of style?

Thank you’s!

Left to right: Mon-Chan (drums), Taigen (bass, vocals), Yuki (guitar) and Kohei (guitar) © Laura Hernando

How did you guys meet?

Taigen: Kohei and I were in different bands and met four years ago at an event where we were both playing. After a friend in common introduced us, Yuki joined as second guitarist and finally Mon-Chan to take on drumming duty.

Yuki: Mon-Chan actually joined the band on the day we played our first gig together, back in March 2007. We just had one rehearsal in the afternoon before performing.

So you had already been in different bands before?

Taigen: I was in three or four different bands in London.

Kohei: Yeah, I was in a band.

Yuki: I’d never played with anyone before.

Mon-Chan: I was in a band with an English guitarist and Iranian bassist.

When you guys started playing, did you have a clear idea of the direction you wanted the music to take?

Taigen: Not really, we just jammed and it took form. We didn’t really want to copy anyone because most of the bands in London start with a very clear common influence and just tend to copy it. When we first formed, it was hard finding venues that suited us – something more open minded in a way. But after a year or two, it got easier, building up connections and the lot.

By now you’ve certainly managed to establish a name and solid live reputation for yourselves in London, to the point where everybody seems to know what to expect. You just started touring outside the country, how does it feel playing to completely new audiences?

Taigen: France was a bit different because we already played twice. Paris is quite similar to London, they probably saw us on TV or something. We just got back from a month-long Japan tour two weeks ago. It was so different – even within Tokyo – every single venue had a different atmosphere. So the audience reaction was completely different. But in Japan the audience’s reaction can be really quiet, even if they like the music. It’s an appreciation token. They pay attention. Some crowds can go crazy and wild. It’s really different from Europe. Of course the people who see us for the first time are probably more…

Kohei: Surprised?

Taigan: Yeah, definitely surprised.

It is quite a shock experiencing it for the first time. Mine was at last year’s Stag and Dagger festival and it was probably the most intense and insane thing I’d ever seen.

(All laugh) Ah yeah, Stag and Dagger…

Yuki: Kohei was completely drunk and couldn’t play properly. Towards the end he was just lying down and generating noise.

Kohei on the floor during the band's performance at the 2010 Stag and Dagger

There’s also that epic video from your performance at the 2009 Offset Festival that captures the madness of your finales. Is it something systematic or do you sometimes end the set in a more conventional way?

Taigen: I think we don’t want to just finish a concert the normal way. The end bit is the one that contains the most freedom. It is really different to each show. The outcome might be similar but our mood, motivation and actions are really very different for each show.

Yuki: Taking the extreme to the end, that’s what we do.

Did that ever lead to any serious injuries? Back to the Offset footage, Yuki, you seemed to get quite hurt…

Yuki: Yeah, well everyone thought I’d hit my face against that pole but it was in fact my chest. I couldn’t breathe at all. But I didn’t feel any pain because I was was in this strange state of trance and so high on adrenaline. Then I felt a whole lot of anger and just thought to myself “I have to break something”. I just ignored my guitar, got back on stage and trashed Mon-Chan’s drumkit.

Kohei: Well, it wasn’t even his drumkit…

Yuki: Yes. We’ve become quite infamous for our unpredictable on-stage behaviour. So the Offset people had warned us beforehand and asked that we not break anything because they had provided all the equipment.

Any other significant gear damage?

Taigen: All the time. My bass is missing two tuning pegs. Yuki’s guitar is almost dead now. We brought a spare one for this tour just in case. The drumkit has been damaged, as well as all the pedals. But to us, the live performance is more important than the equipment.

It’s about getting lost in the moment?

Taigen: And just not thinking too much. We always said – if we think while we’re on stage it can’t work. It has to be something quick and spontaneous, other wise we’d feel like we’re lying to ourselves.

Yuki: We’re just empty to start with. Nothingness is what I want to get out on stage.

Do you feel that certain venues or promoters are weary to book you because of that unpredictable element?

Taigen: Maybe before but not really these days. Well perhaps because we bring our own backlights now (all laugh).

You’ve recently played in Spain, opening for Lydia Lunch. How was that?

Taigen: We supported her a year ago in London, and she’s still so crazy. Really an amazing performer and artist. She’s crazy onstage and backstage, but in the good way. A bit like a witch, really mysterious, but really kind too. We also supported Faust, Damo Suzuki, British Sea Power and Liars in Japan. They’re really nice guys and make great music as well. Thanks to them we got to play really big venues in Japan, too.

Do you feel a certain recognition in your homeland?

Taigen: Kind of, it’s slowly starting. When we did the Japan tour in 2008 it was self-promoted – really DIY. This time, we did some promotion before; we had an EP and an album. It was great timing because record shops had just received our imported version. We seem to occupy a really weird position. We can’t be categorized in one scene. Our CD is in the import section – in the same rack as British Sea Power actually – which is funny because it’s very “reverse import”.

Yuki: That’s our only identity actually. Uncategorized except for being a British band.

Whereas in the UK you’re probably regarded as being a Japanese band?

Yuki: Yeah, exactly.

What other British bands have been exciting you recently?

Kohei: Lasers From Atlantis, they’re really young, around 21.

Taigen: They play heavy psyche. Kind of in the same direction as us, but not quite the same. It’s quite rare to find a band like them in London.

Yuki: It’s true that when you think of it, all these heavy riff bands are not really very popular.

Taigen: If it’s louder, it kind of becomes like metal. And that’s a whole other scene…

Any notable Japanese acts?

We could write down at least a hundred! But here are a few that are really good: 54-71, Merzbow, Masonna, Keiji Haino, Yura Yura Teikoku, Hisato Higuchi, Les Rallizes Dénudés, LSD March, Aburadako, Eddie Marcon, Gagakirise, Yolz In The Sky, Sakiko Kitamura and Zazen Boys.

Not understanding any Japanese, could you talk us through some of the main lyrical themes?

Taigen: Well, I change the lyrics for almost every show. I usually explore the connection between the past and now in most of the songs. I don’t write lyrics on paper, I just really sing anything I feel during a jam or concert and whatever. So it’s a bit abstract as well.

How would you describe your music, were it a painting?

(They all think and discuss in Japanese) Totally not composed or planned. If four painters paint one canvas – our way of doing it is: just start painting and see what will happen. It’s not really abstract. There is content.

Yuki: A bit of futurism in there?

Kohei: There’s something of action painting and Pollock. Constructed and surrealist.

Taigen: The mix of improvisation within something structured.

There’s something visually very strong about the way you guys look. Do you feel people might be intimidated?

Taigen: Maybe sometimes.

Kohei: On first impression.

Yuki: It depends, for example when we supported British Sea Power, who are more mainstream, it was a completely different audience. For them, these Japanese guys with massive hair doing really loud noise with weird movements might have seemed scarier.

Are people afraid to approach you?

Yuki: Not really, they will after the show. Even if we scare them, if they enjoyed the show, they will come and tell us. Japanese people are shyer, though.

Taigen: There’s more of a separation that occurs between the artist and audience. So we try to hang around the merchandising table, just to talk to people and show them we’re equal.

Could you guys ever imagine doing this without the hair?

Taigen: When we started it wasn’t this long.

Yuki: Without hair… No, I just can’t imagine it…

Bo Ningen’s self-titled debut is out on Stolen Recordings.

Photography Bo Ningen

Address – Le Bar Rouge, Rue du Pépin 41 Kernstraat (1000 Brussels). Find it on Google Maps here

Join the Facebook event here

Music by Jealov

Hedi Slimane – Fragments Americana
Until 26th March
Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels
Rue de l’Abbaye 20 Abdijstraat
1050 Brussels

California Dreamin – Myths and Legends of Los Angeles, an exhibition curated by Hedi Slimane
Until 26th March
Almine Rech Gallery, Paris
19 Rue Saintonge
75003 Paris

alminerech.com

Photography Ismaël Moumin

When did you get into photography full-time?

About two years ago. I was initially a news photographer. I’m now mainly into fashion and retouching.

What drew you to this medium?

It’s a bit of a cliché, but when I saw the movie Blow Up, it was just like: “That’s what I want to do!”

What is your first ever memory about photography?

When I saw Blow Up.

How would you define your style/practice?

I’m still too new to photography to claim a style of my own. How about asking me the same question in 10 years?

Who are your top 3 favourite photographers?

Gregory Crewdson, Philip-Lorca Dicorcia and Robert Frank.

Who/what is your Holy Grail? (A person, location, scene that you dream of capturing someday)

Woody Allen.

What’s your fondest photography moment?

My shoot for The Ones2Watch.

One that you would like to forget about?

Nothing so far!

What are the habits you get into whilst shooting? Is there one word you constantly use, or one person you always need with you as a lucky charm?

No shoot without Françoise Salinger.

What do you listen to in the studio?

Blonde Redhead, Nicki Minaj ft Eminem: Roman’s Revenge, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Jay-Z: Monster

We have 10 tickets to be won for the fair’s private view on Thursday 24th February (tickets are valid for two persons, and remain available for the rest of the fair, which goes on until Monday 28th February). The 10 first readers to send an email to wewrite@thewordmagazine.be, with AAF in the title box as well as your full name, postal address and date of birth in the body of the email will each be sent a ticket.

The Affordable Art Fair

Tour & Taxi Brussels

From 25th february to 28th february 2011

Photography Memymom

Where are you right now, and what are you doing?

Hi there!! We’re in Chile in Valparaiso where we performed at the Rockodromo festival on Saturday night, heading on to Santiago tonight.

What time is it where you are?

17h.

Can you tell us a little bit about your move from Chille to Paris in 2001? What spurred it? How much do you miss Chille?

In 2001 we’d been doing Panico for 7 years.  We had already a long story, our label Combo discos and about 4 records released.

In those days bands would’nt play much outside Chile, and at some point we were frustrated of performing in the same venues for the same people.

We needed some fresh air so that’s why we decided to move towards mexico. But finally the first label interested in releasing our music outside chile was a french one.

That’s how we ended in Paris.

Listening to your albums, you come across as a band born to be performing in front of an audience. Would you rather be on stage than in the studio?

Two totally different situations. Our music is based on a mixture of energy and transe so it works really good live. But the studio is the place where we experiment with sounds and rythms so both are great to us. But we’re definitely a band that enjoys gigs!

Can you tell us a little bit about working together with Jon Savage on Kick? How did you find recording in Glasgow compared to recording in Chille or New York?

The difference with all our previous recording experiences is that the studio we were recording in was owned by musicians and therefore it was full of instruments, pedals, weird synths. And above everything it wasn’t clean and clinic as many studios are. This one was messy, strange as it was built in the backstage of an old theater. And Paul was great, we really enjoyed sharing this moment with him. He was very professional and focussed, as we only had 5 days to do the whole album.

You also had Christian Vogel remixing the album, and Joakim contributing to the producing…how did that come about?

That was for our previous album, Subliminal Kill.  It happened because Joakim was releasing the album on his label  and he suggested Cristian to mix some tracks, we were in the idea of making a record that would sound great in night clubs.

You sing in English on Kick more than you do on any other of Panico’s album. Is it a conscious decision, a more a natural progression?

It’s because I was bored to sing lyrics that no one could understand outside south america! So when we started writing this album i added more and more words in english in my songs. It’s sort of a Spanglish thing. At the end, nobody really understands what i say – but i think it’s fun doing it. Seriously i think i can have a better contact with our audiences in europe now.

To Europeans, your history begins in 2005 with Subliminal Kill. But, in fact, you’ve been around since 1995 if I’m not mistaken, having released four albums in Chille. How difficult has it been to crack Europe?

It was hard, specially at the beginning, because we came from a comfortable situation to a tough one. So it took long before we started having our own audience again. Also we had all the classic problems people have when they come to europe and want to live there : visas, language, money etc…. So it was like penetrating a jungle without the equipment ! But now we’re enjoying this a lot, I think people know better the band, it’s been very intense.

Your relationship with Tigersushi began by a chance encounter in a Parisian book store. Could you tell us a little bit more about that?

It was in 2004, we were living our worse days : absolutely no money, no label, no distribution. We were desperate and we wasted our last funds in releasing a 12″ vinyl with 4 songs. So we were selling ourselves the ep to record shops and some art book stores. We met Joakim in one of those and we enjoyed the music and that’s how all began again…. it was our last chance!!

Being mostly an electronic label (although recently that could be debated), it might seem odd to some that you’ve developed such a successful relationship with them. Could you talk to us about your work with the label, and how you see yourself fit in with the rest of their roster?

It’s true, but at the same time Tigersushi is an eclectic label and Joakim is open minded. We wanted to have a weird rock band in his label; and he thought we’d fit good.

Would it be right to say that you’ve moved the band a little closer to pop with your latest album? Its definitely a little more radio-friendly…

Yes probably; it’s because we came back to writing songs more than just jamming and building tracks based on that jam sessions. We wanted to write songs again and sing chorus and bring an emotion to the listener:)

You’re about to embark on the European leg of the promo tour for Panico. How has been the response to the latest album? Can you tell us about some of the opening acts you played with in Latin America, and some of those you’ve chosen for Europe?

Yes, we’ve had a good response to the record, specially in the UK, wich is great for us. We’re working there with a label called Chemikal Underground and they’ve done great work. We will tour the UK in April and then the rest of europe and summer festivals.  Now we’re in Chile doing a summer tour as the album was just released here, and we’ll be performing with LCD Soundsystem in Santiago next week. All very exciting!!

What’s next for Panico? Can you talk to us about your schedule for the next 6 months?

We will perform in Europe and South America for a couple of month, and then in September we’ll release a movie called “Panico, from rock to eternity”. It’s a documentary directed by James Schneider. The camera follows the band on a trip to the Atacama desert in the north of chile and shows the recording of an experimental album in isolated ghost towns and meteor craters.

What is the band’s vice when on tour? The bad habit you instantly get back into…?

We’re like any band, alcohol abuse I guess !

What are you listening to at the moment? Who gets to pick what you all listen to on the tour bus/van?

Depends, there are no rule, but it’s all very eclectic, from cumbia to industrial music. I’m enjoying the album of a band called Creep.

If you had to make a top 5 playlist of your all time favourite songs, who would make the cut?

I’d say

Perez Prado “Caballo Negro”

Modern lovers “Roadrunner”

Los Golpes “Olvidarte nunca”

Sonic youth “Teenage riot”

Bo Diddley “Who do you love”

Panico’s new album, Kick, is out on Tigersushi

© Yana Foqué

Name: George Lewis Jr.

Current interest:

/

Quote of the day:

SHAM-WOW!

What are some of your favourite words?

SHAM and SON.

Why did you name your album Forget?

I am forgetful.

How did growing up in the suburbs of Florida impact you as a person and as a musician?

It made me bored – so I had to do something.

The song I can’t wait is filled with lost moments – underlining passion and desire, first kisses and making love in a cornfield. All these feelings are held back, though. They almost hurt. Where did the idea for this song come from?

I have to keep it to myself.

How do you keep track of your ideas?

I voice memo them on to my iPhone.

What feeling did you want to surface out of this album OR was there no intended feeling?

I just wanted to be honest about all of the lies I told myself in the last 20 years.

Does every artist need a tragedy?

NO.

What do you collect in life?

Kisses.

• Interview and photography Yana Foqué

Name: Edward Graham Lewis

What’s your current state of mind?

Probably over stimulated from the amount of time travel I’ve recently experienced from Tasmania to Brussels.

Where did you get your first instrument?

My first instrument was a bass made from me by Jimmy Moore, a funeral director and coffin maker.

What are your three favourite bass lines (in songs)?

Papa Was A Rolling Stone by The Temptations.

The bass solo in Free Live by Andy Fraser.

Aerodynamic by Kraftwerk.

Penguin Orchestra Café or Bad Brains?

Pass.

Which experience had a big influence on how your music sounds today?

The use of logic/Mac hard disk recording.

What/Who can light your fire anytime, anywhere?

Humour, generosity, openness.

What’s your favourite mistake?

The most recent… Which I repeated and turned into a creative beginning. As Duchamp said: “Mistakes happen to the unaware. Artists must be aware at all times.”

Why bother?

What else is there?

Cruising through Flanders – 23 year’s too late… A plan for tonight?

No plan… Always cruising.

This tour in five words?

Long, three continents, a grand search.

What is the most FAQ you hear out of the mouths of journalists?

“Who are your influences?”

Which young band wouldn’t you mind being compared to? Or vice versa?

Holy Fuck! I believe Kraftwerk would be doing something similar if they were starting now. As they where a dance band as well to start with. Also Melt Banana. AWESOME.