No-Alternative

NYC Spotlight: La Sirena.

2012-03-06T11:37:00.006-08:00

I tend to gush about independent shops in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, and La Sirena (which means "the mermaid") is certainly a note-worthy gem in that category. This past Xmas, I spent some time amid the shop's colorful, ceiling-high clutter looking for little gifts for family and friends. I ended up purchasing a Day of the Dead matchbook, hand-made ornament, miniature angel figure, skull-woman magnet, and a luchador figure... because honestly, what is Xmas without a little rubber Mexican wrestler?

The shop sells Mexican folk art that really runs the gamut: from tiny trinkets to printed shirts to funky jewelry to artful collector's items. I love all of the Catholic iconography and pendants, especially when combined with images of skulls and flowers, and portrayed with glitter in absurdly bright colors. The owner, Dina Leor, is also sweet and helpful (she even gave me a free calendar). But the best part about the store (other than its killer kitsch factor) is that many of the crafts are handmade from Mexican artisans, which reflects "the beauty and richness of the country of Mexico and the people who live there." As it says on their website:

The store is filled with arts and crafts from all over Mexico, from museum quality pieces to traditional marketplace merchandise and in all price ranges. Much of the work is crafted by families whose traditions have been handed down from generation to generation. Families whose lives, in and of themselves, are living art. The pieces are bought directly from the artists, whenever possible. This is very important because it ensures that the artist fully profits and the traditions live on.

It really doesn't get much more authentic than that. Next time you need a quick gift or find yourself in the mood for browsing, stop by this little space. I guarantee you'll see some things you've never seen before, and you'll probably acquire a sudden need for a tiny Mexican wrestler of your very own.

-a.d.

Inspiration: Urban Fantasy.

2012-03-03T12:30:00.005-08:00

Artists and designers often use inspiration boards to help them conceptualize and create something new, but I think writers can too! And while I may not be a visual artist in any conventional sense, there are certain aesthetics, colors, images, objects, and people to which/whom I am fiercely attracted, and from which I find personal "artistic" inspiration. Every now and then, I will compile these in a themed blog post. For now, let's take a dip into Gotham City...

Batman overlooks Gotham City

Promotional art for Batman #608 (Oct. 2002, second printing)
Pencils by Jim Lee and inks by Scott Williams

as Patti Smith awaits the train,

Patti Smith on platform in the 68th Street/Lexington Ave, subway station, New York City, 1971
Image by © Gerard Malanga

encountering this man inside,

Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

who watches a girl dance on the platform

while another girl dances on the fire escape,

above two gems by Dane Shitagi

dreaming up a new Batman and Robin.

Nico and Andy Warhol pose as Batman and Robin for Esquire in 1967

Mix Tape: Magnetic.

2012-03-01T12:43:00.005-08:00

It's been awhile since I posted one of my 8tracks mixes, so let's celebrate March 1st with one. I made this dancey little playlist over the summer when I really needed to groove to some electro beats! The last song is one of my favorites...Iggy Pop covering The Velvet Underground! Thanks too to a celebrity stylist named Melis for personally tuning me into a couple of the beginning tracks.

magnetic. from amydee on 8tracks.

"Cult Logic" - Miike Snow / "Any Way You Choose It" - The Black Ghosts /
"Blind" - Hercules and Love Affair / "Daylight" - Matt & Kim /

"Whirring" - The Joy Formidable / "Enjoy (Further Over the Edge mix)" - Bjork /
"Paris" - Friendly Fires / "Heroin" - Iggy Pop & The Stooges

(photo of me dancing in Detroit)
lv, amy.

Santigold's New Album Cover.

2012-02-29T12:31:00.006-08:00

I was first introduced to Santigold back when she was Santogold, and sort of by accident. I was at SxSW in 2008 and waiting to catch MGMT, when Ms. Santi White took the stage first. As I wrote in my rather long-winded recap four years ago:

"Friday night began for me on the dirt behind Stubb's again, where I caught the infectious Brooklynite called Santogold....By fusing reggae, hip-hop, club, R&B, and Caribbean and African drumming, Santogold creates a delicious brand of shiny, funky pop that is very much her own. She performed in front of a DJ and in the middle of two backup singers/dancing, who donned colorful baggy pants and plastic sunglasses, while Santogold herself bounced around in a loose tanktop, pants, and sneakers; I found these three strong, black females very inspiring."

I even wrote a cover story on Santigold for BRM, when it was still a print magazine. But then, Santigold failed me! See, I was super excited to see her perform at Terminal 5, when she was on the bill with Miike Snow, as well as Major Lazer. As I wrote here on my blog: "The only reason I endured that hour of standing close to the stage among dancing, drunk 17-year-old girls was to see Santigold, who was supposed to perform. She came on stage for seriously one minute, 'sang' a song I didn't even recognize, and left. That was it." What a let-down...and who does that when they're on the bill, and not just a special guest? I thought Santi and I were through.

But now, with her upcoming album set for release on May 1st, I'm giving the L.E.S. Artiste whose debut album I so adore another chance...especially because she's just too cute in the video about shooting her album cover for Master of My Make-Believe. This cover perfectly encapsulates the strong, confident Santigold I stood in awe of back in 2008. She poses as three (well, four really, but two are "identical") characters on this feminist yet terrifically playful cover, and it's just thrilling to see an independent black woman continue to defy both societal and musical expectations.

What I loved about Santigold from the very beginning was not just her almost masculine edge and catchy-yet-quirky music, but also her desire to break the mold of what the media and music industry seem to expect from its female "pop" performers. Nothing about Santigold is what one might call "typical," but it's also not so atypical as to be contrived or a gimmick. And above all else, her creativity and point-of-view always seem to shine through. So, maybe it's just me, and maybe it 's like a "duh Grace Jones!" moment, but I find this new album cover truly inspiring, especially the Revolutionary War-esque painting with Santi White in place of a rich, white dude.

Interview Series #10: Shawn Fernando

2012-02-26T11:36:00.007-08:00

Within a few minutes of talking with Shawn Fernando, it becomes clear that he studied both music and economics at Sarah Lawrence College. Shawn loves to tackle new projects, be they musical, political, entrepreneurial, or otherwise. Case in point: he helped campaign for Obama, began constructing a solar energy tower in his backyard, helped displaced Sri Lankans build new homes after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and started his own business in 2008, which is now a non-profit organization. That business, Square Patrol, is a donation-based designated driver service dedicated to getting your drunk self home in your own car and thus preventing harm to the Austin community.

But more visible than his business savvy and political know-how is Shawn's musical talent. He has played keys for The Stevedores (previously fronted by Spencer Bell) since 2004, and has formed his own band, Union Shop. Shawn is the songwriter, singer, and keyboardist of Union Shop, while Maria Mabra plays drums. The band recently released an EP, The Healing Machine, along with a music video that Shawn directed and edited. And while Shawn may not exactly be "press-ready" or Facebook suave, perhaps that's what makes him even more genuine an artist. I've known Shawn personally for years and could predict some of his answers, but I still grilled him about music, business, and living with a dog named Koya and a dude named Wolf in "the motherfuckin' ATX."

Quick Look
Birthday: February 4, 1984 (or is it April 1?)
Living in: Austin, Texas
Originally from: Erie, Pennsylvania
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Union-Shop/336717663016520

No-Alternative: How did you start playing music, and were you always specifically attracted to piano? Do you think you exhibit any traits that other pianists/keyboardists (or musicians in general) tend to share?

Shawn Fernando: My older sisters played, so even when I was a baby there was a keyboard that I would bang on. I started taking lessons very young, so the piano has really always been a part of my life in some way.

The piano is an architectural kind of instrument. The layout allows you to observe musical structure plainly. That sense is something I think keyboardists tend to share. It's also an academic instrument, so I think great keyboard players display a real academic insight into the structure of music. I try to have a little bit of that insight myself...that’s what I aspire to.

You sang lead in an earlier band, then sang back-up for The Stevedores, and now you sing for Union Shop. What is your personal relationship with singing, and is it ever a struggle?

Singing is a struggle, I think it must be for everybody. If it’s not then you’re not trying hard enough. Singing came for me after the piano and it’s a different type of control because it' a very physical act and you sing with so much of your body...the sound alters when you get into it, which is different from piano. It’s a different use of emotion and a very naked form of expression, which is hard psychologically. Ultimately though, probably because singing is hard, it is extremely rewarding.

Honestly it’s still a little bit weird. It’s much more taxing for some reason, both physically and mentally. And the writing process is certainly more revealing. But that’s my role.

The Stevedores in WI, minus Spencer Bell

Let's backtrack a minute. The Stevedores basically stopped writing new music less than a year after lead singer Spencer Bell's death, in 2006. Then the four remaining band members, yourself included, moved from Madison, Wisconsin to completely different locations. What was this transition like for you?

It was rough at first. That band was like a little family. Being without it so suddenly was difficult for all of us, I think. There was a lot more that we needed to write. Of course it was a tragedy, and I wish things had been different. But I can't complain about moving to Austin or where the journey has taken me.

What does it feel like to perform old songs with The Stevedores during Spencer Bell Legacy shows, which serve to honor, share, and remember Spencer's songwriting with a larger audience, all while raising money for adrenal gland cancer research?

That's a hard one to explain. A strange mixture of nostalgia, pride, sadness, and suspension of reality. When I come back to Austin after those shows it always feels like stepping out of an alternate reality.

Your current band, Union Shop, just released a debut EP. Are there any lyrical themes or concepts that tie together the seven tracks you wrote?

It is not a concept album or anything like that, but there are some themes that reoccur. There's a lot in there about loss and searching for something new. I've been playing most of those songs for a while now. When I wrote them, I was still trying to make sense of a new life here in Texas. I was still trying to wrap my head around the circumstances that brought me there and the nostalgia for the past. I guess the central theme is learning to let go of what is gone, and learning to embrace what is here.

The Healing Machine album cover

I know you worked with several people to create this EP --- from rapper/recording engineer Matt Weiss to bongo player Uncle Larry. What was it like collaborating from the "helm of the ship" as opposed to within the standard band dynamic?

Fortunately, when you work with the right people, you don't have to micromanage. Most of the time, it was a really natural creative process. The only real difference between being "at the helm" and being a collaborator is in the initial writing process. I had the basic structures of the songs all figured out at the get go. But just like a true collaboration, there was still a lot of room for surprise.

Your first music video, for "The Mix," features a very happy man running himself silly! Can you talk about the backstory of "Running Man?"

Running Man is a very interesting figure. He is a real person; that isn't a character he's putting on. The dancing, the running, the shout outs to people in cars: that's his normal day. Almost every day, he wakes up in the morning, eats over 4000 calories, and runs for 12 plus hours. He's a deeply religious man in the very best way. He runs because he believes God wants him to make people happy with sweat and smiles. It's a life that only makes sense on an emotional level, and in many ways I think he's gotten it right.

Amid the many creative projects --- musical and otherwise --- you have undertaken in the past several years, what do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

I haven't given up hope. I do damn near everything I do because I love it. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Moving away from music, you started your own business in Austin. Can you talk about the initial inspiration and how the company first came together?

Square Patrol came about when my friend Vladic visited Austin for the first time. We had a few too many, and when we walked out of the bar, we realized our car was going to be towed if we left it in in the parking lot. Vladic remembered a news story that we had seen years earlier about a service in London that delivered designated drivers. He said we needed one of those...because we did. We ended up walking home that night (thankfully it wasn't far), but the idea hooked me. People all over town make that decision every night. If we can get to some of them before the keys hit the ignition, we all end up safer.

Is there any personal motto you live by, or want to live by? And do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?

Always try to understand. Understand the world; understand yourself; understand the people you love. That's where music comes from.

Last but not least: your song "ATX" is very pro-Austin! So, what is it about Austin that you love?

A lot! The weather, the bbq, the culture. It's a true melting pot here. People from all backgrounds can coexist, make eye contact, and drink beer together. It's a town full of travelers, and you can tell.

The Mix, By Union Shop from Shawn Fernando on Vimeo.

(photo of Shawn by a.dupcak, photo of The Stevedores by Claudia Ochoa)

From the Vaults: Julianna Barwick.

2012-02-23T11:00:00.009-08:00

In June of 2010, I interviewed Julianna Barwick on a lovely day, accompanied by photographer Kyle Timlin. Since then, Julianna has become more widely known and has released The Magic Place to much critical acclaim (it also found its way onto my Best Albums of 2011 list). So here is the article I wrote two years ago (for BRM), just before Julianna was about to head into the studio, when she still wasn't sure what she would create....

The music of Julianna Barwick seems far more profound than any one person can create. Yet Barwick spins poetic, silky, multi-layered songs alone in her Brooklyn bedroom, with the desire to sing as her central motivation.   

Sitting on a bench outside a coffee shop in Greenpoint, Barwick is rather unassuming; wearing a simple dress, glasses and a genuine smile, one would never guess that her voice engulfs crowd after crowd as she performs around town and on tour. None would imagine that by way of her voice and the most basic of equipment (namely her laptop), she transforms ordinary spaces into sonically ethereal terrains. And perhaps most remarkable part of all, Barwick—humble, modest, and with an 11pm bedtime—isn’t out to impact any music scene. “I’ve done this since I was a kid,” she offers, “where I’m in my own world and I sing, and tears would come to my eyes. I don’t know what that is…the sound of singing.”  

Growing up in Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma, Barwick attended church with her family (her father worked there) up to three times a week. She performed in choirs that sang acappella. “Some of the hymns were just so beautiful,” she says, “and I love that sound of voices coming together.” Throughout all her years of school, she continued to discover her voice, and then tried her hand at traditional songwriting, which just didn’t click. For Barwick, music means having the freedom to experiment, and not about writing the next poppy love song. “I never wanted to be in a band, I love being a solo performer,” she admits, recalling her earliest gigs, upon moving to Brooklyn about nine years ago, when she performed with an electric guitar and emitted lots of reverb; a style she soon abandoned.   

It wasn’t long before Barwick's bedroom became the ideal studio: “I usually just plug everything in, sit on my bed, and make up something on the spot…everything starts as improv.” Armed with a microphone, effects pedal, and Garageband, she loops and manipulates WAV files of her voice, and then plays with as many as twenty layers per song. Although she occasionally sings a simple refrain, most of the sounds aren’t even English. On her first album, Sanguine, she played a little electric guitar, and then on her second, Florine, she recorded the piano at home for one track, and also employed a few Garageband synths. “But I think that’s it,” she said, almost surprised. “It’s mostly vocal.” Sometimes her songs do sound like a choir; all of the members with her gorgeous voice.

When it comes to her shows, Barwick affirms, “What I use to perform is what I use to record,” which means that vocal looping happens live, with her voice as the sole musical instrument. The escalating soundscapes often move the audience to internal melancholy, but such emotional reactions take Barwick aback. “Everything is so great in my life right now and I’m super happy…but I get these messages from people being like, ‘You must be really sad! You must be a sad person!’ I’m totally not that way, I’m super positive and optimistic. Those sounds just come out sometimes."

As ghostly loops of Barwick’s voice multiply, her songs swirl into endless, hypnotic spirals, capable of stirring anyone’s emotional core. While she's certainly aware of her power, Barwick assures me it isn’t her intention. “I want people who dig it to dig it, and you know, feel good about it, and maybe to be transported or be able to think about something that’s going on in their lives while they’re listening to it. But, I’m not trying to change anyone’s mood or emotions consciously.” Pondering the dichotomy even deeper, she reflects, "I’m not too emotional in my daily life, so maybe that’s where it comes out.”

 Sanguine and Florine have been re-released by M’Lady’s, and Barwick’s third album (and first on a label) will appear later this year on Asthmatic Kitty. After signing Barwick, A.K. offered her some whirlwind opportunities. First, she had the chance to tour with Roberto Lange, of bands Helado Negro and Epstein, and visual artist Jonathan Dueck, whose work often involves collaboration. Along their tour, they concocted a record about “getting to know each other” and combining their musical sensibilities, which Barwick describes as being like an art project, especially with Dueck acting as photographer. Second, Barwick started recording her new record this summer, which A.K. will release to their wide and loyal audience.   

True to her intrinsic music-making-moral code, Barwick didn’t plan her as-yet-untitled record before stepping into the studio. With the opportunity to invite other people in and make use of more diverse instrumentation, she sought to take her process and music one step further. While Florine was more dynamic and instrument-laden than Sanguine, Barwick wanted this new record to top them both by incorporating piano, clarinet, guitar, and other vocalists. But she assures me, “I don’t think it’s gonna be like a jam band record or anything!” Of course, with her unintended penchant for melancholia, she joked that it just might turn into the Goth album of 2010.

While Barwick loves to travel, she's also content to perform in New York; in fact, one of her stand-out live shows happened at Bowery Ballroom, when she opened for Dirty Projectors. "David Byrne played with them," she gushes, "and Joanna Newsom was in the crowd, so that one was really off the charts crazy. I walked up to David Byrne and was like, 'Hi, um Hi!' It was certainly an introduction she didn't regret. When it comes to performing and creating in Brooklyn, she tells me “The reason people who are doing their creative thing move to New York is because you’re surrounded by people doing their thing too. It’s super motivating. I don’t identify with any kind of Brooklyn sound at all, but that’s why I’m here.”

(top photo by Carrie Villines; bottom photo by Kyle Timlin)

Tavi Gevinson, the Style Rookie.

2012-02-21T15:55:00.005-08:00

Yes I am now 28 years old, but my new "idol" is only 15. Her name is Tavi Gevinson and you might know her as that kooky little girl who dyed her hair gray, dressed like a granny with big huge bows and oversized clothes, and started her own fashion blog at age 11, apparently without her parents' knowledge. In the past few years, she's become something of a fashion icon, partying with celebs and attending runway shows galore. She also started her own magazine called Rookie, which is a website for --- and essentially by --- teenage girls, about fashion, culture, art, and life.

When I first heard about Tavi, I was skeptical. I mean, an 11-year-old's fashion sense? An 11-year-old's writing? I also don't typically care about fashion --- it just so happens that my '90s look is in again, and I'm not even happy about it. But after researching Tavi on my own, I have to say this girl is definitely an inspiration. She doesn't just mimic things she sees for attention or to look cool; she's genuinely interested and seems to possess an innate artistic sensibility, as well as a precocious awareness. She's also just having fun experimenting...and she's allowed to.

Most 15-year-old girls today are obsessed with fitting in at school, fitting whatever societal mold, fiddling on their phones, getting boys to like them, the works. Most of them don't sit down and compose well-planned blog posts...and if they do, they certainly don't read like Tavi's do. This girl defies most of the stereotypes her generation has received (well, aside from an addiction to the internet, but I'd like to think Tavi's using it wisely)...she's hard working, ambitious, independent, and has discovered many things that came out before she was born. Things I myself love, both then and now. Things like Hole, riot grrrl, Sylvia Plath, Twin Peaks, Virgin Suicides, Ghost World, Rocky Horror, My So-Called Life etc (she has good taste). Her blog is filled with handwritten journal entries, art, musings, collections, and plenty of photographs: she takes pictures of herself wearing outfits she put together, and she displays vintage finds and little art projects she creates in her bedroom. She's a girl who's constantly inspired, and that inspires me. I hope it inspires girls her age, too.

Maybe I'm giving Tavi too much credit...certainly it's also true that Tavi reminds me of myself. I wrote my own magazine in tenth grade, called Punky. Unlike her, I printed mine on paper and distributed it at school for 50 cents. Unlike her too, it did not focus on fashion, but I researched and wrote about music, films, and plenty of other things that interested me, like she does. I also loved to decorate my room -- one of my favorite forms of self-expression -- as well as my self, though we had different ways of going about it. Tavi also reminds me of two particular girls (looks-wise and mind-wise) that I thought were cool when I was around her age (well, I still think they're cool). The first of these girls had pink hair at age thirteen, and she was as artistically inclined and intelligent as Tavi. The second of these girls had a funny haircut; she was also an artist and a writer in the making. I guess sometimes we never grow out of our former mindsets...

In case you need convincing about how intelligent Tavi is, I want to share something she wrote on her blog to accompany a recent photo of herself; a photo she hesitated to post because she knew she looked good in it, as opposed to looking like a "grandmother on ecstasy at Fashion Week." I'll skip some bits for the sake of brevity (as indicated by an ellipses), but here are her own words:

First, let's talk about beauty privilege real quick, just so we're all clear and so I don't sound like a jerk:

When I say good or pretty or attractive, I mean by the standards that dictate our society, which usually start with being thin and white. I'm not saying I always like how I look, and you may look at the picture above and be like "what are you talking about you resemble an opossum," but through the very narrow lens of mainstream media, pop culture, etc., I possess some beauty privilege.

...

The general voice of my blog has been very much against the idea of those (or, in a way, any) standards for a long time, maybe not in so many words, but definitely in spirit. I once relished in an email I got saying I was an ugly boy because it felt like proof that I hadn't given in to societal pressure to be pretty that girls usually feel affected by. I got all self reflecty on Tumblr about creating my own ideas of beauty. I wrote simply during September's No Makeup Week that I never felt the urge to wear any. I used to dress much more frumpily and goofily, on here and in public real life. Which was great, and I loved it. But, as is the point of this blog, my style has changed a bit.

I would be lying to say it ends at simply wanting to try a different aesthetic of dressing, though. With one's freshman year of high school comes a new batch of insecurities and a new kind of self-awareness. Except...I would be lying to say it ends there, too, because I know I'm smarter than that, and I know I have a good bullshit filter when it comes to conformity pressure in high school and women's magazines and men's magazines and industries that thrive on their female demographics' insecurities.

Before I got contacts in March, I just never really counted myself in the general pool of people who might be considered attractive. I wasn't insecure about how I looked, I just made peace with the fact that I wasn't, to me, an attractive person, and decided to milk my charming personality instead. The glasses were an easy way to isolate myself from even having to consider keeping up some kind of face. Then I slowly came to feel that, well, maybe I did want my face to be visible. Maybe I liked my face. Is that not okay?

...

Right now, I could pretend to be an archetype of a feminist superhero and say I never want to be a conventionally attractive person. But, while I have so much respect for the people who can say that truthfully, I'm not there yet. I think it would be, in my case, much more effective to be honest and willing to have this conversation instead of signing myself to a stereotype I can't fit. I admit to the basic human desire to be attractive. That's certainly not all I want to be, and I'm not bending over backwards every morning for it, but it's there.

I don't know if I'm trying to justify this to readers of this blog or to myself. I do know I'm uncomfortable pretending, on a blog that is, on a certain level, about appearance, and my personal ~journey~ with it, that I can keep up with a set of principles developed when I was younger and different and 12 years old. But I mentioned earlier my bullshit filter, and I think it's that awareness that makes it easy for me to know that my new almost-daily makeup routine and glassesslessness and etc. are for myself and no one else. --- Tavi Gevinson.

"Wrinkles and scars and imperfections are signs of life, not of being young and naive and sexy and nonthreatening, so if an aging woman doesn't take measures to erase indications that she's built character through experience, if she can no longer be viewed as a sex object or as recently discovered and relevant, she may as well just disappear. It's subversive to age as these women do, making themselves present, because they want to be. I know now that I'd rather keep all my life scars and be erased for doing so than have to erase them myself." -- Tavi Gevinson.

Nirvana, my history.

2012-02-20T14:03:00.001-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows how heavily Kurt Cobain has factored in my life. But maybe you don't know how that came to be. Today, on Kurt's 45th birthday, I thought I might try to figure out, for myself, how and when and why he made such an impact....

It all started in sixth grade. Prior to this, I was more of a pop girl, like most kids. In early elementary school, I was obsessed with Madonna and Michael Jackson, since I grew up listening to them in the mid-to-late '80s and early '90s (I do still stand by how great those songs are). Even though my dad was a jazz keyboardist and my mom was a huge Beatles fan, I wasn't exposed to much of that music. Instead, I listened to the car radio and thus heard music that was popular at the time. I also really liked The Cars (and, um, Ace of Base!).

Enter sixth grade: 1995. Alanis Morissette released Jagged Little Pill, which was essentially the beginning of my 'alternative' fixation. I didn't understand the depth of emotion in some of her songs, but I had inklings. One girl in my class, Christina, was a little more "advanced" than the rest of us. Our teacher let us play songs in class and share the lyrics, and Christina shared Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" and Hole's "Miss World." In our Catholic school classroom, I followed along with the lyrics. Holy fucking shit, I thought. This is awesome. I didn't know what "libido" or "mulatto" meant; not that it mattered. I knew that Kurt Cobain had killed himself, but it hadn't meant anything to me before...what 10-year-old would have gotten that, anyway?

So those two songs, perfectly coupled, etched themselves in my brain, though I didn't understand why. There was just something about them...something raw and broken and perfect, something that spoke to my future self, the self I wanted to be, or the self that was already taking shape. I saved those lyrics and, the next year, they wound up in a binder I kept under my bed: a binder I filled with poems and lyrics and other things I liked. Not long after, I bought Nevermind on cassette and listened to it on my Walkman. Live Through This would follow.

When you're a girl in junior high --- at least in my case --- you need something that represents you as an individual and also as a member of your particular social group. Nirvana would become that something. Christina was so "cool" that she kind of stole the show, but her something was Pearl Jam, while my best friend Rachel's something was already The Smashing Pumpkins. By eighth grade, my friends and I were fairly well versed in '90s alternative culture, even though we were all born too late to appreciate grunge in its prime. We got the leftovers of that era...but those leftovers were good enough. We were also getting into classic rock, each in our own ways. You could find us eighth grade girls sitting in a circle on the grass, Christina and Rachel playing "Stairway to Heaven" on their electric guitars. While my sister + friends danced around to The Spice Girls, we were the hippie class...we would be remembered there as such.

Getting back on track, it was really ninth grade that amplified my love of Nirvana/Kurt and turned it into a bona fide obsession. By then, I owned all of their albums on cassette. I started "decorating" my bedroom with Kurt's face, turning it into some kind of shrine. I wrote Nirvana lyrics on everything --- "Let down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back" --- and I read books and watched videos about Kurt's life, buying pretty much anything I could learn from.

Tenth grade was another turning point, since it was depressing as hell. The songs with which I was already so familiar took on new meanings and burrowed deeper in my heart. Kurt's symbolism sank into my prolific poetry, and I took an interest in the things that had interested and inspired him...I read William S. Burroughs because he was Kurt's favorite author; I read Perfume because the song "Scentless Apprentice" was based on it; I bought little turtle and seahorse objects because Kurt liked and related to those creatures; I listened to The Vaselines and The Meat Puppets and The Melvins and other bands Kurt liked, covered, or performed with; I tried to learn Nirvana songs on the guitar; and I named things after his songs: "Polly," "Marigold," etc. In other words, you couldn't get much more obsessed with Nirvana than I was, from tenth grade until sophomore year in college. Kurt Cobain helped me define myself; he served as a comfort and an inspiration. His voice (among others) was my personal soundtrack for many years.

When I started dating a boy named Jason in eleventh grade, I ended up getting him back into Nirvana too. He was the one who bought me the acoustic guitar on which I learned those few Nirvana songs. Jason and I loved to wander around flea markets and conventions and stores where we could find rare items for our personal collections --- for him, it was horror films; for me, it was Nirvana bootlegs. So in Generation Records and Stormville and a bunch of other places, I pieced together all 6 Outcesticide CDs, plus recorded live shows, interviews, singles, b-sides, imports, and I also re-bought their albums on CD. I got the import In Utero CD with "Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip" listed on the back. I bought No Alternative (so now you know!), on which a secret Nirvana track exists, and the DGC Rarities compilation album on which "Pay to Play" (an early version of "Stay Away") exists. I knew all of the tracks that had multiple names, and I knew all of the names Nirvana had once used, and well, I knew a lot! By the time the Nirvana box-set, With the Lights Out, was released, I already owned many of those songs.

19-yr-old Amy at the muddy banks of the Wishkah.

My knowledge grew when Jason surprised me with tickets to Seattle! As an East Coast grrrl, I had never been that far west. I started preparing what I would deem my "pilgrimage." I planned our entire trip and managed to find addresses to some important locations, mostly thanks to Heavier Than Heaven. So in June of 2003, we squeezed an incredible journey into six days, visiting Aberdeen, where Kurt grew up. We went "underneath the bridge, where the tarp has sprung a leak." We visited houses where Kurt lived or just crashed. We even visited his schools and walked through the halls (though his high school had burned down). Of course, we visited the house where he killed himself, and wrote on the bench where people had left flowers. In Aberdeen, we found an unsuspecting muffler shop that housed an elaborate Kurt statue that the town refused to erect in the park. The trip was highly emotional for me, more so than I even suspected. All of these names and places I had read about for years were suddenly in front of me. I took nineteen rolls of film, enough for two albums. It was...intense.

You could say this was the peak of my obsession, though sophomore year of college continued the trend. On the tenth anniversary of his death, I listened to KRock all night long as they played the entire Roma (live) album and other songs. One of my teachers, who was from Seattle, gifted me with a Seattle newspaper about the anniversary. Another one of my teachers (for a sociomusicology class), allowed me (with some hesitation) to write my conference paper about grunge culture, generation X, and how Kurt Cobain became an inadvertant icon. The paper ended up being 40 pages long, with about 40 sources. It consumed me, but I loved working on it. If there was one thing I had become an "expert" in, this was it. Between that paper and one for the Seattle-teacher about "the concepts of zero and infinity in medieval science and religion," it was a brutal semester!

I wasn't supposed to take this picture at the Museum!

Eventually, my Nirvana obsession slowed down. Naturally, I wasn't only listening to Nirvana this whole time, and other bands and artists who were both similar to and completely unlike Nirvana swirled around in my ears. After my friend Spencer Bell died in 2006 and his music gained followers who had not known him personally, I had to sit myself down and question my Kurt fandom. No, I did not actually know him. What I do know about him comes from what he wrote and sang and painted and said and did, and from what others said about him. No, I am not actually an expert on who Kurt was as a person.

But, getting to "know" Kurt, along with other artists/poets/musicians, taught me more about me. He allowed me to bond with others, to express myself, and to explore my own creativity. The biggest thing Kurt taught me -- and something I continue to value --- is authenticity. His music, if nothing else, is authentic in its origins, its delivery, and its power. I will always be the kind of grrrl who values the authenticity that grunge culture, and Kurt himself, inherently represents. And I will forever remember, from a sheet of lyrics in sixth grade, that "Smells like Teen Spirit" contains nine "a denial's."

o well, whatever, nevermind.

amy.

Somebody That I Used to Know.

2012-02-16T19:07:00.001-08:00

In keeping with my apparent fascination with symmetry, I was intrigued when I first heard about a Gotye song called "Somebody That I Used To Know." Instantly, I wondered if it was a cover of a not-so-popular Elliott Smith song, from 2000. But nope, Gotye created his own song, 11 years later, with the very same name, having nothing to do with the Elliott version aside from the obvious thematic similarity.

I have been a huge Elliott Smith fan since before his death, and I have devoured all of his records, including the truly dynamic Figure Eight on which "Somebody That I Used to Know" appears. On the other hand, with Gotye (like most people), I'm an absolute newcomer...and actually, this song, featuring Kimbra, took a few tries to truly grow on me. But now (also like most people), I am seriously addicted. I've always been into the idea of camouflaging one's naked body (in time-lapse stop-motion!) against a wall, a la Wednesday Adams. I'm also into how bright and vibrant his (very large) mouth looks when he belts out the words.

So here I present two songs with the same title, the same sadness in the midst of self-preservation and a forced sense of indignation --- a forced happiness, a forced "I don't need you anyway" even if I still love you --- which is basically as relatable as it gets.

While Elliott did not have a video for this song, you can at least listen to it!

I had tender feelings that you made hard
But it's your heart, not mine, that's scarred
So when I go home I'll be happy to go
You're just somebody that I used to know

And now for Gotye's video...

No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

...I have to say: Elliott has the better lyrics! No surprise there.
-a.d.

No.Alt Recommends, February

2012-02-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

This Beautiful Life

Published in August of last year, Helen Schulman's latest novel is incredibly topical, as it explores the relatively new role that technology/internet/media plays in the family dynamic. The family in question lives in uptown Manhattan, carrying out of those "privileged" lives like only Manhattanites can fully achieve...sending their kids to a selective, top-dollar private school and babying them every step of the way.

Until, that is, fifteen-year-old Jake receives an unsolicited email from a girl he drunkenly made out with at party in her Riverdale mansion, for lack of anything better to do...an email that becomes known as "Daisy Up at Bat," starring thirteen-year-old Daisy and her you-know-what. All it takes for the "child porn" video to reach thousands, possibly millions, is for Jake to forward the email to just one friend.

And thus we have entered a new era, where nothing is private, secrets never go away, blame gets tossed where it doesn't belong, money can get you out of anything, and lives are destroyed from the single click of a mouse. Switching points of view and fully exploring all angles of the incident, as well as its effects on each character's psyche, Schulman's novel raises many questions about how we should navigate the modern world. Also, Helen was one of my fiction teachers in The New School's MFA program, which makes reading the book extra special for me.

Wristcutters: A Love Story

I'm a little late in viewing this indie gem, but I am so glad I finally did. The 2006 "comedy-fantasy-romance" is about life-after-death for those who commit suicide...a new existence where no one can smile (try as they might), the sky's devoid of stars, and you're pretty much destined to live out your days wishing you hadn't killed yourself.

Such is the case for Zia, who slit his wrists after his girlfriend, Desiree, dumped him. Life post-suicide completely sucks until Zia learns that Desiree also killed herself, leading him on a quest to find her.

Zia sets off with his Russian pal Eugene, and the two pick up a hitchhiker named Mikal --- she insists that she entered this land by accident, since she overdosed unintentionally. Her own quest is to find the "people in charge" and hopefully return to her actual life, but Zia and Eugene aren't sure those people exist.

Hitting more than one bump on the road, their journey gets stranger and stranger, especially when a character named Kneller --- played by none other than Tom Waits! --- shows up. And while Zia is hunting and pining for Desiree, he becomes closer with Mikal, who keeps trying to make this mopey world a little brighter. The ending is super-sweet, and the film is quirky in all the right ways, maintaining a potent sense of emotion while also poking some (mostly harmless) fun at what makes people want to die.

Carcassonne

So, I like games. And this game is so addictive that the boyfriend and I play it almost every day. A "tile-based German-style board game for two to five players," the goal is to strategically place land, castle, road, and cloister pieces in all the right ways in order to earn more points than your opponent.

The game is aesthetically pleasing, puts your spatial/ reasoning/ and even math skills to the test, and the "board" actually looks different every time you play. With expansion counts, it can also get more and more complex. It's especially fun to play with three other people, though one-against-one doesn't take nearly as long. Either way, blast some music, eat some cookies, drink some coffee, spread out on the floor or a table, and place your monks, farmers, knights, and thieves onto the tiles! Then do it again.

happy reading, watching, & gaming,

amy.

Review: Elizabeth's photo exhibition.

2012-02-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

Two ladies I've interviewed [as part of the series I started on this here blog] held very special events this week, one after the next. So here, I shall review their shows, one after the next ;)

Elizabeth amid the crowd, with her friend Max

On Monday night, 2.6.12, Elizabeth Gordon-Tennant held her very first solo exhibition in a swanky apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side. With the help of a few pals (myself included), Beth prepped the space and hung/positioned 8 of her framed photos, projecting about 40 more onto a white sheet. The result: a very cool and perhaps unexpected photography show! Who needs an art gallery anyway?

While laptop-wizard Ari was DJing (Radiohead, Phantogram, Joy Division, etc.) in the main room, speakers were also set up in the master bedroom, which lent a different moody atmosphere perfectly suited to the pictures displayed. Inspiring photos aside, I was obsessed with the view! And with a constant stream of guests -- those involved in the fashion/art worlds and beyond -- viewing photos, drinking beer, talking art, and just generally enjoying the vibe, the 2-hour show was a complete success. Elizabeth proved herself to be quite the lady of the hour! Here are some of my own photos of the event...

***

(all photos from Beth's show by a.dupcak)

Review: Please Don't Let Me Die Alone

2012-02-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday night, 2.7.12, Amanda Miller performed the dark comedy show she created with Shawn Shafner, Please Don't Let Me Die Alone, at the Magnet Theater in Manhattan. Amanda and Shawn --- who met studying theater at NYU --- created the show together several years ago. They have performed Please Don't Let Me Die Alone on or around Valentine's Day for three years running, with the play gradually evolving, changing shape, and becoming even more potent. This year's show was directed by David McGee.

The symmetrical main characters, next-door neighbors Susan and George, are both hitting major roadblocks in their lives: job-wise and, more so, romantically. Susan was recently dumped, and George has hit a serious slump; with added pressure from their mothers (grandbabies!), both become so desperate that they not only consider throwing themselves out of their windows (literally!) but also jumping into whatever the dating scene may offer. From a matchmaker to Match.com, from speed-dating to blind dates, and from casual sex to pathetic booty calls, the two embark on parallel paths that soon merge when they (woops!) end up in bed with each other! But being neighbors, they, as Amanda put it in our interview, "assume it won’t work out and things will end up awkward and uncomfortable, so they make things more awkward and uncomfortable by looking elsewhere for something that already exists and cannot be replicated."

Seasoned actors Amanda and Shawn play every single role in this hour-long production, relying on only a handful of props: two chairs, a sheet, cell phones, and a condom. The actors, and the show itself, are outright hilarious...even in the darkest and most emotional moments. Inherently relatable, the show illuminates our basic human desires (and neuroses!) while poking fun at the absurdity of our culture.

One of the best moments is the speed-dating scene, where Amanda and Shawn play at least six characters each...all of them crazy yet accurate caricatures of people you've probably met (or hope to never meet). Battling rejections, insecurities, and some true-blue weirdos, Susan and George finally manage to come out on the other side...but not without a little guidance from one homeless man, appropriately named Jolly. Amanda and Shawn both play Jolly, who sometimes thinks he's two people! The show constantly maintains momentum, and while it is speedy and rife with characters, there's never a moment of confusion for the audience. An all around fun and enlightening experience.

(bottom photo from Amanda's show by Max Yochum)

Synchronous.

2012-02-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

Some things appear to happen synchronously...images speak to other images, words to words, experiences to experiences. Whenever you turn on your awareness, you start to notice how the things around you connect in ways that may take you by surprise.

My friend, the poet-artist-musician Spencer Bell (who died in late 2006 and about whom I have extensively written), left behind a myriad of journals filled with art, doodles, lyrics, poems, and dreams. He allowed me to view a couple of journals in person, but I was only exposed to the rest after he died. Some pages became available on the website dedicated to his artistic/musical legacy, and one such image struck me because it seemed un-Spencerian...in fact, it seemed more like drawings I used to do. No one really knows for sure if Spencer drew it, or if someone else did (sometimes he let friends doodle on his pages), but the thickness of the lines and the little notes make me think it was indeed him.

Now for the synchronicity...I bought myself a dance calender for 2012 because, as you may know, I wish I were a dancer. February's image reminded me of that one page in one of Spencer's many journals, which I then found to compare...

photograph by Lois Greenfield

artwork by Spencer Bell

While the similarities are evident, here comes the strangest part. If the copyright on Lois's page is correct, then she took that photograph of Natalie Lomonte and Marcus Bellamy in 2010. Spencer's art, obviously, was done several years prior. It makes me wonder if he was inspired by something else Lois has photographed (she's an eminent dance photographer), or if there's some kind of cosmic understanding of the human form floating around in the ether. The images themselves are inherently synchronous (two things happening, or existing, at the same time), or at least they represent a very fluid duality --- a dance of romance. A give and take, in either direction.

And in more synchronous news, I am soon embarking on a new writing venture as a blogger for The Ballerina Project, which I absolutely adore and have already spotlighted here, on my blog. On my birthday last week, I happened to come upon The Ballerina Project in action when I spotted Dane Shitagi photographing a girl in pointe shoes in my own backyard: Washington Square Park. I couldn't believe my luck! When I got back to my apartment, I eagerly wrote Dane for the first time (in a state of giddy birthday glee). Since then, we have met in person to discuss how I will contribute my writing to the blog aspect of his project. So far, only one image has emerged from that Washington Square Park photoshoot with a young dancer named Emma...

photo by The Ballerina Project

"All motion is cyclic. It circulates to the limits of its possibilities and then

returns to its starting point." -- Robert Collier

-a.d.

From the Vaults: Drew and the Medicinal Pen.

2012-02-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

Since my actual website needs remodeling and some of the links to articles and reviews I wrote for BRM are currently expired or in the process of migration, I will occasionally post work "from the vaults" --- all in the name of making sure certain articles still have a place in the beautifully chaotic world of the internet.

I interviewed Drew, Anna, Missy, and Zach in Brooklyn back in the late fall of 2009 (I think!). The band has since gone through many changes and mutations --- resulting in other musical and artistic endeavors --- but I'd like to think that I captured them in a particular moment in time, a moment worth remembering. . . . .

Drew and the Medicinal Pen began as Drew Henkels’ solo project, but eventually evolved into a full band; first when he lived with bassist Anna Morsett on McKibbin in Brooklyn, and then with the addition of Missy Liu on violin and a host of instruments, and drummer Zach Arlan. Combining their diverse musical backgrounds as well as an overlapping love of punk rock and Neutral Milk Hotel, they began creating organic, uplifting songs with darker undertones.

Of this dichotomy, Drew explains, “They’re melodic and hopefully enjoyable to listen to, but they’re not typical pop songs because they’re full of some harder things to talk about and some smarter things to think about and that’s what gives it its real content, its real grit; the poppy fun sound is an optimism embedded inside all of us, which has come out more playing with Anna and Missy.” He continues, “That kind of makes this pill a little more swallowable and digestible, it’s good because the content hopefully gets through to people later. You listen to the song and you’re bobbing your head but then you pause and say, ‘Wait, what did he just say?’ Stop and think about the lyrics twice.” Anna adds that the lyrics are “rooted in something you really care about.”

The band released their album, dream, dream, fail, repeat, on their own label, which is stationed in Drew’s cluttered, art-covered bedroom in Brooklyn. The epitome of DIY, the album was recorded in a homemade space (“The Sex Dungeon”) in a warehouse in West Philly. They camped out there during the dead of winter, with no heat or hot water, cooking on a hot plate, and going back and forth from New York to Philly for several days at a time. Discomfort aside, Drew assures, “This just felt like where this record needed to come out of.” A creatively rich environment, they smashed 200 glass bottles during the end of “Sleepy Don’t Cry,” sang through a heating vent for “Hey Chanae,” and also shot off fireworks for sound effects.

The DIY ethos extends to making posters, stickers, buttons, t-shirts, album cover art, and even films that add to the thrill of performances. Drew explains, “It’s all just kind of in between reality and dream world; there’s this whole plateau I’ve been building of images and thoughts and fragments of sentences and films and dream logs, and often these show up in lyrics.”

The ultimate dream is to quit their day jobs, live off the music, tour full-time (“The van can only go so far,” says Missy), and share their songs with as many listeners as possible, but they’re also content to continue playing house shows and hanging letters from fans in their “office.” However, for a little extra cash, they do have a plan to sell raffle tickets for fans to see Anna’s boobs; “you’ll need to buy two to see both boobs!”

All kidding aside, the band loves where they are right now. While it would be wonderful to be rock stars, Drew assures that they’re perfectly happy playing house shows, art shows, and basements, and thus sharing the music on a personal level. “If you make something you want someone to hear it. But at the same time, I have a lot of issues with commercialism. I do like that we have build up and momentum.” Anna adds that the goal is to sustain themselves from the output of creativity, as well as to “rise above where we’ve been and try to jump over it.”

It doesn’t hurt to make some friends along the way, like Brent Green, who puts the band up on his farm whenever they come through Pennsylvania. Drew says, “He's a filmmaker, but also one of my absolute favorite lyricists.” They’ve also been inspired by bands they’ve shared a bill with, such as Endless Mike and the Beagle Club. The four voices of Drew and the Medicinal Pen will continue to sing and maybe even scream their way around the country, state by state and house by house, bringing their own talents and emotions to every chord strummed. “That’s when it’s really transcendent,” Drew says, “and really worthwhile.”

(photos by a.dupcak)

Interview Series #9: Elizabeth Gordon-Tennant

2012-01-30T07:51:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Gordon-Tennant, or simply Beth to me, may have a limited palette when it comes to color, but her photographs never skimp on substance. It seems like Beth has been wearing black since birth, and her passion for fashion probably started then too. She earned her degree at Sarah Lawrence College (where we met, and even lived together), concentrating on costume history and visual art while interning for high-end fashion designers downtown. A year in Florence meant admiring art, architecture, and lifestyle all while further honing her design skills. She's been working in the fashion industry now for ten years: beginning with those hectic intern days and slowly but steadily moving up through the design world.

Merging her long-term love of art and fashion with a newer love of photography, Beth's been on a roll this past year, snapping photos left and right. But she plays the game differently than most: she almost exclusively takes pictures with her blackberry cell phone, which comes as a surprise to many viewers. She's already had her work featured in an NYC gallery as part of Carriage Trade's Social Photography exhibition, and she's currently preparing her first solo show, which she's planning with the help of a few college pals and her own artistic intuition. Beth may (admittedly) be one tough bitch, but that didn't stop me from peering behind the lens to understand her latest creations.

Quick Look
Birthday: January 16
Living in: Brooklyn Heights, New York
Originally from: Long Island, New York
Website: http://elizabethgordon-tennant.com

No-Alternative: Let's talk about your photographs. How did you begin taking them and what was the initial spark of inspiration?

Elizabeth Gordon-Tennant: It started kind of as a joke one afternoon. I was just fooling around and taking pictures on my blackberry of coworkers. Then, over the course of doing that, people just connected with them. A few of my colleagues approached me and told me I had an eye for it, which I found kind of funny because I never studied photography, so I replied, “Oh come on, I’m just fucking around on my blackberry!”

What sort of things capture your eye or attention? And what is the aesthetic you’re most attracted to?

Initially I was just taking pictures of people in my environment. Obviously I have a genuine love and interest in fashion: that’s my typical environment at this point, so a lot of the photos do focus on fashion. But I don’t want to be limited to that, I think it’s just based on my surroundings.

There is definitely a certain anonymous element to it…honestly I think that’s something that transcends photography. What interests me in general, and in the art I do, is the idea of the individual. For example, by not capturing a face and, rather, focusing on someone’s shoes, you can still grasp the identity. What they’re wearing, how they choose to present themselves, and the environment call tell you a lot about who that person is without it being so obvious…which I like.

How many of your photos are purposefully set up or manipulated by you, and how many are chance observations? Or does a blending of the two occur?

I would say the majority are taken by chance. I’ve been playing a bit with conceptualizing and staging certain photos but for most of them it’s an organic process. People who see my photographs do think they’re staged, but usually they just happen. I’m in a certain place, surrounded by certain people whom I find interesting and cool, so it’s a really natural thing. We’re just hanging out and I just happen to be documenting it.

Sometimes people think it’s this huge production and it’s not. And I like it that way. I’ve earned a certain level of trust with people because, afterall, I’m not gonna make anyone look busted (laughs).

Do you think that taking your photos with a phone has something to do with that level of trust?

Totally.

Would you consider using an actual camera?

I’ve been asked, and I have on occasion…I usually take a camera with me when there’s a really crazy event that I’m going to. I will start off with the camera, but then I always end up going back to the blackberry. People put on a persona when you have a camera and I’m not interested in that. I’d rather just observe. It can be intimidating to have a camera pointed at your face. But that’s the most beautiful thing about my process…that people forget they're having their picture taken.

What specifically inspires you as an artist and as a person?

Fashion, of course, but more so a sense of style…you can have style wearing a paper bag; it’s all about who you are. And definitely music. For me, music evokes feeling, and I love it because it’s something that I can’t do myself. I have no idea how it’s done. I can live without a TV, but I can’t live without music.

How does music relate to the photos you’ve been taking?

I think my photos evoke certain feelings too. To me, all the photos are minimalist, beautiful, yet kind of fucked up. And there’s a certain mood that’s created with that. Music can create the same thing…the music I enjoy is post-punk and electronic: simple, beautiful, and fucked up.

Your solo photography event is taking place on February 6th here in New York. Any hopes or expectations you’d like to share?

Ultimately I want it to be very much a celebration of the people and places that I’ve photographed, but I also want it to be identifiable as me and my work. I want to people to come and go, “That was Elizabeth.”

I know this photography exhibit doesn’t have a title or a directly implied theme, but I was wondering if you thought there was any one theme to be found within the work you’ll be presenting.

I don’t give a fuck, to be honest. The event is supposed to be kind of a love letter to the people I have photographed. That’s what it is. I had someone ask me too if there was a theme or what the bigger picture is in all of this. Someone else answered for me: "She’s just documenting her life." And they were right…fashion is part of my life. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by creative people, so it’s just natural to be inspired by them.

The large majority of your photos, and all of the ones that will be displayed at the event, are black and white. Do you literally see images in black and white when you take them, and do you think you’ll ever depart from this stylistic choice?

I wouldn't say it's how I see it, but perhaps it's how I would like to. I don’t think I’ll depart from black and white any time soon. A lot of the photos, or any of the series, tend to play out like a diary. They're supposed to tell a story, essentially. People do say, when they see the photos as a series, along with the words I use to title them, that they feel like they see them the way I see them.

Let's switch gears and discuss your visual art. What sort of artwork have you been working on in the past few years? And why is art, in and of itself, so important to you as a person?

When I was in Florence, I concentrated on painting. My art has always been focused on a fashion element, but then I’ve also done portraiture for quite some time. And there was a point when I'd sit on the floor and paint faces for hours. For me, my interest in clothing and portraiture are aligned in the sense that, again, it’s about this idea of the individual and who they are.

In general, art is something I have to do for myself. You have something in your head and you can't rest until it's created.

And how does painting differ from photography, for you? Or are they really not so different?

In terms of art as a process, you feel something that has to come out on the page. And the photography is different because if I see something that’s cool and I miss taking the picture, I feel like it should have been a picture and I lost the moment. So you feel cheated, like, “Oh fuck the train doors closed two seconds before I could take my blackberry out!”

Fine art, for me, is more controlled, whereas the photography is more instantaneous. I don’t have any control if someone throws their hair a certain way or what someone’s wearing or if the train doors close…you either get it or you don’t, it is what it is, and it’s a 2.5 second thing. But if I need to paint one day…I could be painting for three hours and then hate it at the end, but I still always get to paint it.

You have your feet in two seemingly different worlds --- the corporate world and the artsy world. Do you have any advice for people who also straddle these two worlds?

Hey, everyone has to earn a buck at the end of the day, and the most important thing is to stay true to who you are in the process. I have been fortunate to work for some amazing places.

When it comes to art or fashion, do you have a personal motto of any kind? Or something that you highly believe in, no matter the trend, year, or circumstance?

I’ve written it a lot of places: You were born an original, don’t die a copy (John Mason).

(all photos by e.gordon-tennant)

Twenty-eight.

2012-01-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

I made it out of 27 alive! Goodbye golden year, hello 28. Here is my inspiration for the day:

And tonight, Pyramid Club on Avenue A...a place where the woman pictured above

partied and performed in the '80s. Authenticity.

***

update:

I channeled her using clothes I already own and wear. I call this look: early-'80s-Madonna-Amy. Though the only authentically '80s (and possible early '90s) thing I am wearing are my old snap bracelets. And I'm not wearing my pink fingerless lace gloves in this photo!

José González's Covers

2012-01-18T12:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you discover an artist and cannot believe they haven't been with you for the past few years. Such is the case with José González, whose music would have perfectly suited many personal moments since he released his debut LP, Veneer, in 2003 (though it didn't come stateside until a few years after).

And, sometimes you become so familiar with a particular song that you cannot believe it when you discover it's a cover...or, a song you love takes on an entirely different meaning when placed in the hands and voice of another musician. Therein lies some of José González's magic (side-note, he also sings for the band Junip, though it's his Elliott Smith-esque solo work that really strikes something deep). Somehow, José -- who is Argentinian but grew up in Sweden -- can take electronica tunes and soften their sharp edges, while still retaining their potency. On Veneer, he transformed fellow Swedish band The Knife's oh-so catchy "Heartbeats," and on his second solo album, In Our Nature, he took on Massive Attack's most well-known tune: the moody and sensual "Teardrop."

I am already a bit obsessed with good cover songs, which are actually pretty hard to come by, and I only wish I'd known José González when I made this list of best covers in 2010. The wonderful thing about his versions of "Heartbeats" and "Teardrop" is that they are in no way comparable to the originals, so both versions can exist separately, in harmony. It's as if he swallowed these songs, digested them for awhile, and then spat them out acoustic-style with parts of his musical soul firmly attached. And that voice...oh what a voice.

Another new discovery is José's song "Down the Line" from In Our Nature...a song which I had actually attributed to The Gutter Twins, as it appears on their first album, Adorata. But how wrong I was! Here, The Gutter Twins covered José, and while they certainly worked their own hard-rock magic on the track, the original version wins the beauty contest.

So now, compare...and then do the same with "Teardrop":

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-a.d.

The West Memphis Three.

2012-01-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about this past summer was the release of The West Memphis Three after nearly two decades in prison (and, for Damien, on deathrow). If you don't know the story, I suggest you look at the Free the West Memphis Three website and watch both Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2 by directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, which gives in-depth looks at the trials of the three teenage boys in West Memphis, Arkansas.

When the directors set out to make the original Paradise Lost, they admit to having believed that the teens were guilty of slaughtering three eight-year-old boys. The whole town believed that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley had performed a Satanic ritual that resulted in the deaths of the three little boys. At the time of the murders in 1993, the accused were 18, 16, and 17 respectively and had been known to "wear black" and "listen to Metallica." As Berlinger and Sinofsky began documenting the case, they soon realized that not only were the accused completely (and pretty obviously) innocent, but that the town was conducting a modern-day witch hunt, right out in the open. People suspected and downright hated the West Memphis Three simply because they stood out in a crowd...especially intelligent and soft-spoken Damien, who was sentenced to die when all three were found guilty of murder.

So-called "experts" testified that Damien worshiped the devil, based on books they found in his room, his long dark hair and dark clothes, and his interest in Wicca (which, incidentally, doesn't even believe in Satan). The guys were found guilty on almost no substantial evidence...not a single fingerprint, footprint, weapon, soiled clothes, or drop of blood, let alone DNA or, hey, any kind of valid motive. The police also contaminated the crime scene, performed shoddy autopsies, and didn't look into any other leads (even when there was a man bleeding, muddy, and dazed in a nearby bathroom on the night of the killings).

The most the lawyers had to work with for their convictions was a false confession from Jessie (who has an IQ of only 72) after 12 hours of questioning without the presence of a lawyer or family member (despite being a minor), faulty "witnesses" who said they heard Damien admit to the crime but didn't accurately remember anything else, and the sheer fact that the boys were "freaks" in their backwards Bible Belt town. "Just look at them!" one woman said when asked if she thought they did it.

The WM3's situation seemed dismal, brought on by outright scapegoating and fear (Damien made a very good point when he said that people would rather believe that a Satanic cult killed kids than a parent of one of the children -- which, in this case, began to seem more and more likely). They couldn't believe they'd been proven guilty at all!

But luckily for them, the film directors only gained momentum in their coverage, and the debut of Paradise Lost caused quite a stir. It's safe to say that very few people would have known about the WM3 at all if not for this documentary and the subsequent one in 2000. Within this time, the 'Free the West Memphis Three' group started up. They tried to work with lawyers and experts to appeal the case, and also tried to get the general public to understand the larger consequences of what had happened. After all, if something like this could happen to these boys, it might happen to anyone who doesn't fit the mold and doesn't have the power to appropriately "fight back."

This, naturally, led me to wonder about myself as a teen. What if I was caught up in some kind of situation, unfairly blamed because I was "weird" and "misunderstood" and had some troubles, and then cops searched my teenage bedroom and presented what they found to a jury of Southern Christians with closed minds? Would they have labeled me as "Satanic?" And even if I was, would that automatically make me a murderer? And not only a murderer, but a murderer of little kids? What would they think of the following objects, all found in my bedroom:

-Ouija board under my bed (with my full name written on the back in permanent marker)

-CDs/cassettes by Marilyn Manson, books about Marilyn Manson, a Marilyn Manson winter hat

-pictures and posters of dead musicians and a Rage Against the Machine poster of nuns with guns

-books about Charles Manson, and his CD to boot
-a long black coat
-combat boots
-books about astrology, numerology, serial killers, and the occult
-dark lyrics written all over things

-notebooks filled with dark poetry and drawings
-moth wings in a box (no lie)

-horror films

Yeah, I'd probably have been screwed. Actually, Columbine happened during the second semester of my freshman year in high school, and I remember getting a few odd looks now and then when I was decked in Manson gear, black coat, and Docs. In my opinion, being able to identify with the WM3 is one of the things that got so many people invested in trying to help them. I myself purchased a 'Free the WM3' T-shirt and sticker several years ago. But whether or not you can identify with them (or whether or not they even identify with their former selves), no one should be convicted for a crime without any viable evidence and solely on the basis of prejudice, unfairness, legal loopholes, and hearsay. I think that's pretty much a no-brainer.

So, all of this being said, I am more than excited for the world premier of Paradise Lost 3, which airs on HBO tomorrow at 9pm. And if anyone needs proof of how two film directors and the public can actually effect change and influence lives, then turn to the Paradise Lost series. These directors were not just trying to make a name for themselves...they spent hours upon hours to create awareness, yes, to document important events in our country, yes, but more importantly, to free the WM3. And their work paid off (even if the men had to enter Alford pleas). If that's not an example of how art can impact lives, I don't know what is.

-amy.
(photo of me in my childhood bedroom was taken in early 2006 by Samuel Velasquez).

NYC Spotlight: Third Rail Coffee.

2012-01-10T14:33:00.002-08:00

Like many cities, New York is filled with places to get fresh coffee without having to rely on *groan* Starbucks or D'D. In fact, it really bothers me when people purposely seek out a chain store for coffee rather than pay a teensy bit extra to support local business (and probably drink better coffee!). I am far from a connoisseur and don't even drink coffee every day, but I like what I like and luckily what I like is just a stone's throw from my apartment (NYC is all about location!).

Third Rail Coffee opened a couple years ago and it makes me feel like I live in an actual neighborhood rather than a tourist/drunken frat-kid trap. The guys and gals who work here are cool and down-to-earth, carrying none of the pretension one might expect from a coffee shop near the West Village. This place feels more like a community than a mere cafe, and these dudes are totally my people! They play great music, eagerly stamp your card with a star (9 drinks and the 10th is free) and are just really passionate about the art of caffeine. One of their baristas, Mike Jones, actually placed 2nd in the Northeast Regional Barista Competition. And recently, after my klutzy self spilled an entire iced tea on their floor (I probably buy iced tea more than coffee, actually), not only did they clean it up, but poured me another one (for free) and assured me I shouldn't be embarrassed.

While Third Rail is a bit too tiny for staying and chatting or staying and writing (though many do), Washington Square Park is a block away and, on nicer days, the perfect spot to sip whatever you've got. They serve a wide range of coffees, with fancy shmancy ones like Americana and Kilamanjaro (I always save my free-drink ticket for those!) and they use slow-drip Chemex coffeemakers, which are simple and elegant. They even have liquid sugar (both brown and regular!) for cold drinks. Then of course there's the selection of scones, muffins (pumpkin apple walnut for the win), croissants, etc.

Cooler than even the ever-changing blackboard out front and the staff in general is the art that adorns its walls. Changing every few months (at least to my observation), the art adds to the overall ambiance. On the walls most recently is Ashley Gilbertson's contemporary exhibit of photographs from Occupy Wall Street in NYC. Maybe it's the Gilded frames or the sepia and black-and-white tones, but I originally thought the photos were from protests of the '60s. Very inspiring!

Third Rail Coffee

240 Sullivan Street

New York, NY 10012

-a.d. [photo of blackboard by me, photos from OWS by Ashley Gilbertson]

Hit the Shiny Things.

2012-01-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

First post of the year! Expect a little more regularity from me in terms of posting...it's a resolution!

To kick off 2012 9 days in, here are 2 new music videos of interest. The first is "Hit the Ground (Superman)" from The Big Pink's forthcoming album (the better song, in my opinion). I anxiously await this album, called Future Bliss, which will be out on the 16th, as I loved their 2009 release, A Brief History of Love. The second is "Shiny Things" from Fanfarlo's new album, Rooms Filled with Light, which will be released next month (the better video, in my opinion). Let's do some rhythmic gymnastics while we make our faces look malformed!

Concert Etiquette.

2011-12-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

I wrote this years ago, but since some old links and pages are currently deceased, I thought it needed a new location...

Going absolutely bat-shit-crazy for a band/music is all well and good (actually, this is what you're supposed to be doing), but some people nowadays are ignorant in terms of their own behavior. The point of seeing a band is to have yourself a little moment, whether it's personal and emotional, or raucous and high-energy, and it's also to enjoy the communal experience of sharing this music with others who love it. In the past few years, I've been all-too-often surrounded by jerks who fail to obey simple rules of etiquette that I assumed were common concert-goer knowledge.

Maybe people just don't attend many shows, and they're only interested in listening to the latest iTunes downloads on their pods. Maybe the loss of smaller venues and the popularity of big-budget stadium shows have caused fans to treat concerts like football games. Maybe people use concerts now as excuses to get drunk and let out what I like to call "male aggression." Maybe people feel too distanced from the music, or from the scene in which it exists, and since they don't seek out smaller shows, or feel connected to other fans, concerts become few and far between. Whatever the reason, everyone knows the notorious "Don't be that guy!" rule, as in, "don't wear the band's T-shirt," but there are plenty of more important, unwritten rules that ought to be followed:

1. Don't stand directly in front of the shorties. Honestly, there ought to be a section specifically reserved for us 5-foot crowd, but, since there isn't, consider who's behind you. There's nothing worse than your face being pressed against a big huge sweaty guy who doesn't give a shit but could easily see from another "row" back.

2. Respect the ladies, respect the ladies, respect the ladies. Especially if the crowd gets rough.

3. No elbows, unless they really deserve it (though, I've been known to pull an elbow move or two).

4. No kicking, biting, scratching, hair pulling, or anything they don't allow in boxing.

5. Girls, put up your hair. We don't need a face-full of it every time you bounce around, and I'm sure you don't want it ripped out either.

6. Guys, keep the shirts on. This isn't a sports game, so try not to behave like drunken idiots.

7. Shower. You'll only get sweatier and stinkier. And please deodorize. Again, rock shows are not jock shows.

8. Do not make out with your significant other (unless you're both super hot) for the entirety of the show. It's nauseating to us all.

9. Either you're in the mosh pit, or you're out. None of this in-between crap. And don't force a mosh pit to happen by slamming yourself into someone out of nowhere.

10. Do not, under any circumstances, raise your cell phones in the air to take pictures, or to let your friends hear the show, or to god forbid use them as lighters. It makes you look lame, very lame, and stands as a general reminder of the lameness of our times, as well as everything that is wrong within the world of commercialized rock n' roll. Don't talk or text on the phone either.

11. Help the crowd-surfers/stage-divers, don't hurt them. And do not crowd-surf if you are vastly overweight or abnormally tall.

12. Spiky anything is a serious no-no. It may look cool, but don't mosh with 8-inch spikes, man.

13. Refrain from obnoxiously belting the sad songs.

14. Throwing water/beer is fine, but be careful with actual bottles. And if you accidentally plow into someone and spill their drink all over them, do apologize.

15. Do not consistently yell out a request your favorite song, or some phrase you think is funny, or a barrage of curses between every single song. The band is not going to care.

16. Do not become a barricade hog, and by this I mean that there's usually more room than you think there is, so no need to squeeze others out.

17. And, finally, stop knocking my glasses off! (I know, I know, I should wear my contacts).

Okay kids, go nuts, get dirty, keep it real, and always wear protection!

(a)amy.

Xmas.

2011-12-25T07:42:00.001-08:00

John said it best....even if this video is too sad to actually watch today.

Best Albums of 2011

2011-12-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

Here it is, after lots of listening, writing, and thinking --- the best albums of 2011 in my humble opinion, based on my own preferences of course, but also with a music journalist's ear (ha). Feel free to drop me a comment!

1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Very few albums can make me instantly want to weep…and while such an experience may not seem enjoyable, Justin Vernon’s (aka Bon Iver) ability to provoke perhaps unwanted emotion is a sure sign of his undeniable talent as a songwriter and singer. A profound follow-up to an already incredible album (For Emma, Forever Ago), here he offers a fuller, more multifaceted sound with much less outright-folk involved. And while For Emma requires lying in a field, Bon Iver will turn your blood to ice. Even if the final track is a little too Peter Gabriel for my tastes, the rest of the album is more than beautiful.

Tracks: “Wash.” & “Holocene”

2. O’Death – Outside

A Brooklyn-based band combining folk, bluegrass, metal and punk to form mosh-happy songs, O’Death has topped an already stellar album (Head Home). Each song on Outside speaks to their influences in a new way, as genres mix and meld and cease to mean anything. These guys are like musical gypsies roving ancient lands in caravans. While some tunes (“Bugs”) are folksy and melodic, others (“Howling Through”) set the scene for something macabre and altogether wicked.

Tracks: “Alamar” & “Ourselves”

3. Active Child – You Are All I See

LA-native Pat Grossi is a classical harpist and ex-choirboy with a ghostly falsetto that moves through you like wind. On this first LP, he creates a richly textured experience that combines the musically technical with the abstract. An emotional and possibly spiritual wake-up call, this album is a modern-day masterpiece.

Tracks: “Hanging On” & “Shield & Sword”

4. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

A double-album is no easy feat for any band, yet somehow M83 leaves me wanting even more. Epic without a shred of pretension, these 22 tracks harken back to ’80s beats and vocals à la Tears for Fears, though all the choral-style harmonizing feels like ambient Arcade Fire. With an array of voices, trickles of piano, one-minute instrumental tracks, and almost classical compositions, you can slide through this album while lucid dreaming.

Tracks: “Midnight City” & “Echoes of Mine”

5. Bjork – Biophilia

Bjork is one of the most ambitious artists of our time and Biophilia is her most ambitious project. I haven’t delved into the album’s multimedia aspects, but Bjork described it as a collection “encompassing music, apps, internet, installations, and live shows.” And though I don’t own an iPad, Biophilia includes ten separate apps all housed within one “mother” app…not only that, but the music was partially created and recorded using an iPad. Bjork has never been a stranger to collaboration nor to technology—in fact, she embraces the unexpected unity of nature and technology. But games, apps, images, and invented “instruments” aside, the ten tracks on Bio roll off the tongue, once again demonstrating Bjork’s vibrant voice, poetic lyrics, and imagination.

Tracks: “Crystalline” & “Hollow”

6. Zola Jesus – Conatus

Young, talented, and musically interesting female performers are not as plentiful as one might hope, and while Ms. Jesus isn’t swimming in completely uncharted seas, her talent continues to blow me away. The songs on Conatus are blissfully soulful, as her resonant voice slips under and climbs over beat-laden crescendos. It’s this voice that acts as the main instrument of every track, as Zola exhibits avant-garde pop like some kind of mystical warrioress.

Tracks: “Vessel” & “Hikikomori”

7. The Soft Moon – The Soft Moon

So I caught these guys (well really it’s one guy) against flickering images in Brooklyn’s Monster Island Basement, where the jam-packed, spontaneous mosh pit left me scratching my head (and nearly getting killed). See, The Soft Moon’s orbiting post-punk doesn't exactly lend itself to basement-moshing. It is, however, ideal for driving at midnight with the windows down. Surf across these waves of reverb and echoed howls!

Tracks: “When It’s Over” & “Tiny Spiders”

8. Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Cut Copy’s sense of rhythm and melody make Zonoscope sound like something a modern-day, electronica-minded Beatles might create, even if New Order is a more obvious influence. And while disco synths are the icing on the cake, the heart of each track lies in Cut Copy’s actual songwriting, which has the potential to outlast any particular era.

Tracks: “Pharaohs and Pyramids” & “Sun God”

9. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

As the years go by, the ever-innovative Radiohead has been getting progressively atmospheric and ambient; King of Limbs reflects this musical wisdom and penchant for experimentation. On the band’s eighth studio effort, all eight tracks seethe emotion via complex musical landscapes and Thom Yorke’s otherworldly voice.

Tracks: “Codex” & “Feral”

10. Yet Cut Breath – Hinges

A seven-track debut, Hinges showcases Anna Morsett’s vocal and emotional range, with songs that soothe and sadden amidst those that pack a glistening punch. Powerful songwriting drives the organic instrumentation, and a violin and cello add a gorgeous neo-classical touch.

Tracks: “Kindness” & “Tied”

11. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

While there’s no track that matches the immediate potency of “Wolf Like Me” and “I Was a Lover” (from 2006′s Return to Cookie Mountain), the ten tracks on Nine Types are full of hooks, horns, and vocal rambunctiousness. Aside from the five band members who all play multiple instruments, Nine Types also features ten other musicians, which only adds to the funky eclecticism.

Tracks: “No Future Shock” & “Repetition”

12. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will & Earth Division EP

Every time Mogwai puts out a record (be it LP or EP), they manage to offer something new while sticking to the brand of post-rock that made them famous in the first place. Both Hardcore and Earth Division are full of epic builds (though these songs are slightly shorter than on previous albums) as well as slightly more "standard" heavy rock tracks. For me, Mogwai is always most poignant when they bring out the piano, like on the somewhat unnerving “Get to France.”

Tracks: “Letters to the Metro” & “Does This Always Happen?”

13. Caveman – Coco Beware

This quartet’s Local Natives' vibe gives them a major thumbs up in my book. But though the two bands (from opposite corners of the country) may share an indie-rock sensibility I can’t completely put a finger on, Caveman steers us on a new path, one lined with whimsical (but never quaint) melodies that will surely stick with you.

Tracks: “Old Friend” & “Vampire”

14. Phantogram – Nightlife (EP)

Last year, Phantogram’s debut album, Eyelid Movies, clocked in at #2 on my best-of-list. Luckily, the duo once again graces us with their gritty-and-pretty approach to indie-electronica. This year’s little EP is perfectly suited to a night of city-set mischief.

Tracks: “Turning into Stone” & “Don’t Move”

15. 13 & God – Own Your Ghost

An interesting collaborative group (The Notwist plus Themselves), 13 & God released their first (and only) record back in 2005; thus, Own Your Ghost was highly anticipated. Like the first album, the tracks here shimmer with crystalline sounds and oddly delivered lyrics. Mood, genre, and composition shift unexpectedly from song to song. By taking both hip-hop and electronica in these atypical directions, 13 & God assure that their listeners never get bored.

Tracks: “Et Tu” & “Beat On Us”

16. Future Islands – On The Water

Though it comes in second place compared to their first album, In Evening Air, Future Islands have offered another slick record of brooding indie-electro. Oscillating and a bit dark, put this one on repeat and let it steep.

Tracks: “Balance” & “The Great Fire”

17. The Black Keys – El Camino

These guys will always claim a spot somewhere on my list. The Keys sustain their dirty rock n’ roll, with healthy doses of guitar solos, catchy drumbeats, and classic-rock vocals. El Camino sounds like it was conceived and recorded a couple decades back, yet there’s nothing imitation about it. Makes me want to jump in a truck and drive across the desert (perhaps the album cover has something to do with that!).

Tracks: “Dead and Gone” & “Hell of a Season”

18. The Raveonettes – Raven in the Grave

Even though The Raveonettes have nailed an early ’80s-goth vibe, some of the songs on Raven are actually sunshiny. And whenever the dense and sometimes eerie guitar-fuzz feels overblown, we still maintain our grip on the gorgeous two-part vocal harmonies for which the duo is known.

Tracks: “Apparitions” & “Evil Seeds”

19. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place

I am well acquainted with Julianna’s ethereal, silky, multi-layered songs, having interviewed her, caught her live, and listened to both Sanguine and Florine. Now on Asthmatic Kitty, Julianna’s songs shine even brighter. But true to her Brooklyn-bedroom musical process, she didn’t plan her record before stepping into the studio, which certainly became a magic place.

Tracks: “Vow” & “Bob In Your Gait”

20. Braids – Native Speaker

Native Speaker is musical rock candy: shiny and sweet, with a few sharp edges. Combining the slow-paced glaze of Slowdive with the vocal meanderings of Bjork, these seven songs truly sparkle.

Tracks: “Lammicken” & “Native Speaker”

21. Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

It may only be six tracks long, but Take Care is sprawling. This Texan quartet knows how to create emotionally present musical terrains, with driving drumbeats and long-winded guitars that race around a central melody.

Tracks: “Last Known Surroundings” & “Trembling Hands”

22. Yuck – Yuck

With a delightfully ’90s indie vibe, or that of a slightly poppier Sonic Youth, Yuck’s self-titled debut is fun and familiar. Break out your Walkman and tie the laces of those Chucks!

Tracks: “Holing Out” & “The Wall”

23. Boris – Attention Please & Heavy Rocks

The Japanese trio that is Boris may owe their name and some musical inheritance to the Melvins, but these simultaneously released albums comb through genre conventions. While Attention is poppier and exhibits some rather sexy experimentation, Heavy is an absolute gem for any post-rock fan.

Tracks: “Aileron” (two different tracks with this name appear on both albums) & “Party Boy”

24. Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts

This album is musical poetry that carries an emotional but not melancholic weight. Even the song titles are lyrical, like “Blood Never Lies” and “In Silver Rain with Paper Key.” Most of the album feels hushed, accompanied by Samara Lubelski's familiar violin, but I particularly love those moments when Thurston’s thoughts become “demolished.”

Tracks: “Mina Loy” & “Circulation”

25. The Kissing Club – Little Acorn (EP)

This little four-track EP is like a handcrafted invitation to a divorce, or perhaps a peace offering of love gone awry. While the very slow songs scratch at the bones, a classic-rock-style guitar solo on “Someone Else” breaks the supposed tranquility and reminds us just how purposefully restrained these "sweet" songs really are.

Tracks: “Honeymoon” & “Someone Else”

26. Atlas Sound – Parallax

Deerhunter frontman Brandon Cox continues his dreamy, woozy art-rock that can lift you to the stars even though it doesn't feel ethereal. Cox’s subdued take on experimental indie is refreshing when set against some dancey post-millennial bands; therefore, the minimalism of Parallax (a very apt title considering those prior-mentioned stars) can be as comforting as tea.

Tracks: “Doldrums” & “Te Amo”

27. Weekend – Red (EP)

Droning and churning, this trio takes from post-rock, stoner-rock, post-punk, and shoegaze to create something uniquely theirs (even if a million other bands have some form of ‘Weekend’ in their name). Echoed vocals and swirling guitars will mildly assault your eardrums.

Tracks: “Hazel” & “Goifers”

28. JEFF The Brotherhood – We Are Champions

These brothers are the lovechildren of Fugazi and The Ramones, though let’s throw in some White Stripes and Black Keys for good measure. Evoking images of hair-in-your-face parties in somebody’s basement or garage, JEFF goes at it with a stripped-down guitar-drum combo, perfect for soaring riffs that literally shred.

Tracks: “Ripper” & “Health and Strength”

29. Paleo – Fruit of the Spirit

David Strackany wrote a song every day for one year using a “half-size children's guitar” while playing shows and being homeless. Some of these songs appear on Fruit, which maintains the sweet simplicity of life on the road. With tracks that are loosely constructed yet tightly melodic, Paleo is a descendent of the likes of Daniel Johnston and Darcy Clay.

Tracks: “Over The Hill and Back Again” & “Lighthouse”

30. Beach Fossils – What A Pleasure

These “reverb-slicked indie pop” songs sound like they need a little dusting. For a band that loves when shows get rowdy (at least according to the interview I conducted with frontman Dustin Payseur), this album certainly feels languid. But don’t get me wrong: the band’s lazy delivery is ideal for equally lazy days and lovers of dream-pop.

Tracks: “What A Pleasure” & “Out in the Way (feat. Wild Nothing)”

31. Foster the People – Torches

Fun and friendly, Foster the People’s cute vocals and poppy beats make Torches sound like children’s music. In fact, it reminds me of those pink cassettes that used to come with certain Barbie dolls. But such playfulness assures that Torches is properly riding the recent wave of dancey albums à la Passion Pit and CSS. And who doesn’t love when “Pumped Up Kicks” comes on in a bar?

Tracks: “Pumped Up Kicks” & “Miss You”

32. Robin Bacior – Rest Our Wings

The songs on this debut LP bloom as soon as Robin sets her stunning voice adrift across handfuls of organic instruments. Sometimes sun-soaked and other times ideal for a reflective rainy day, Robin sings with a musical wisdom far beyond her age: one that reverberates from the late '60s to present day.

Tracks: “Pair Migration” & “Ohio”

33. Gauntlet Hair – Gauntlet Hair

As shrouded, foggy and murky as these tracks may be, they’re still able to lure you in deep. There’s something enchanting about Gauntlet Hair’s debut LP…even if it sounds like they recorded this in the bathroom down the hall!

Tracks: “Top Bunk” & “Showing”

34. Elite Gymnastics – Ruin

It’s not like this duo is doing anything particularly groundbreaking, but I’m a sucker for their metronomic beats, samples, hazy vocals, and “electro-hip-hop-chillwave” (according to Oh My Rockness, anyway). Then there’s that Atari Teenage Riot flourish on “Here in Heaven,” plus the parallelism of the entire album: the second half is comprised of softer and subdued echoes of all the tracks that came before. Perhaps the band is referencing the uneven bars!

Tracks: “Here in Heaven” & “Omamori”

35. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

Quite the departure from the punkish PJ who sang, “That blue eyed girl became blue eyed whore,” Let England Shake’s PJ is theatrical in a different way. Recorded in St. Peter’s Church in Dorset, the concept here is “the anthem -- a love song to one’s country,” an idea for which PJ conducted historical research. With a Patti Smith edge to her voice and dramatic songs that remind me of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida (conceptually, not musically), this album proves that PJ is not done trying out new sounds, ideas, and even vocals.

Tracks: “Let England Shake” & “The Words that Maketh Murder”

BEST SONGS OF THE YEAR:

[those not included on any of my top albums]

1.     The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
2.     Grouplove – “Colours”
3.     Sleep ∞ Over – “Romantic Streams
4.     Gotye – "Somebody That I Used to Know"
5.     100 Monkeys – “Wandering Mind”
6.     J. Mascis – “Not Enough”
7.     The Kills – “Satellite”
8.     This Will Destroy You – “Communal Blood”
9.     Dom – “Jesus”
10. Mechanical People – “Magnolia”
11. Girls – “Vomit”
12. Cults – “Most Wanted”
13. Grinderman – “When My Baby Comes”
14. Lemonade – “The Place Where you Belong” (Shai cover)
15. Esben and the Witch – “Warpath”
16. Kurt Vile – “Baby’s Arms”
17. Gang Gang Dance – “Glass Jar”
18. Woodsman – “In Circles”
19. Cass McCombs – “The Same Thing”
20. Wooden Shjips – “Lazy Bones”
21. The Chain Gang of 1974 – “Hold On”
22. Minks – “Cemetery Rain”
23. Florence and the Machine – “Only If For a Night”
24. Davila 666 – “Obsesionao”
25. Slowdance – "Sweetness"

And a special shout-out to The XX, whose album I didn’t include in my best-of list of 2010, which you can check out here!

-alt.amy.

Christopher Paul Stelling

2011-12-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, I'm calling your attention to a recent feature I wrote and designed on Brooklyn musician Christopher Paul Stelling (also known as CPS). After catching him live a couple of times, the two of us met up in his favorite neighborhood bar to talk music, poetry, and even religion. Click on the picture below for the BRM feature (perhaps best viewed using Internet Explorer; make sure you can see the +/- on the text boxes to fully view all photos). And I'd personally love any and all feedback on both the writing and the design!

Now, here's some brand new CPS info...his official debut album, Songs of Praise and Scorn, will be coming out on 2/21/12 on the label DL/CD/LP. There wll be a record release show on February 18th on Stage 2 of Rockwood Music Hall in NYC. Here is the FB INVITE.

And there's a freeee MP3 download of the first single, "Mourning Train to Memphis," which you should most definitely download.

And just in case you're more of a visual person, CPS just did three lovely videos with the blog Sleepover Shows in Boston: observe them .

Inspiration: the Moon (as seen from below).

2011-12-12T08:04:00.001-08:00

the moon has always inspired me. here's a mini-exhibition. . . .

[snatched from the lovely Flying Oliphant]

["xxx blue moon xxx" by Andre Fromont]

[amy and jeremy in the moon, taken at Storm King in New York, by Garrett K.]

NYC Spotlight: The Bowery.

2011-12-10T11:21:00.001-08:00

Recently, a former student asked me for some help. Now a second-year architecture student, she was "designing a library in the Bowery area for class and wanted to make the content of the library music." She was wondering if I "knew anything about how the punk rock culture affected the Bowery and the neighborhood" as well as "its effects today and the mark it left in society." Naturally, I was flattered that she considered me some kind of expert on this topic. Below I share my rambling message, with some minor rewordings!

For starters, I recommend watching Captured (a documentary about Clayton Patterson), which details the chaotic history of the LES and the Bowery through the literal lens of its most important historian. In fact, I recommend just looking at pictures Clayton has taken, as well as this fantastic interview. Other pictures you should look at include those by Marcia Resnick (who happens to be good friends with my good friend's dad) and Jenny Lens. Both really capture the essence and aesthetic of the era and some of its major players.

Luckily I got to see one show at CBGB's (though certainly the place was already past its prime). I don't know if you know this, but CBGB's had "famous" bathrooms because of their extensive graffiti and stickering. Pretty much any good punkish venue should have heavily stickered bathrooms. Just think of all the things people do in bathrooms...cocaine and sex galore! I don't know if that factors in design-wise, and I'm afraid I can't say I know anything about how punk culture affected architectural design, but interior-wise, keep it gritty and dark. Not a lot of windows.

Have you seen all the mosaics around the East Village -- on streetlamps and such? Those were done by Jim Power s. They came after the whole punk thing, but I feel like they're a decent representation of the spirit of punk and were perhaps influenced by it. Jim took matters into his own hands and created public art that tied the community together, even though gluing tiles to lampposts was a rather dangerous endeavor when you consider how crime-ridden the area was. I think the culture of punk was very tight-nit in a similar fashion: lots of little pieces glued together, lots of colors, and most of it very "street" since there was not a lot of money going around. Punks all made use of what already existed, for the most part, like warehouses and basements and the sidewalk, and remember too that some of them were squatting in Tompkin's Square and abandoned buildings. Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe actually lived in the Chelsea Hotel .

I think the punk rock culture attracted people -- musicians, filmmakers, artists, and people who just loved those things and wanted to live an unconventional lifestyle in contrast to societal expectation -- to the area, and eventually this led to independent businesses that catered to such things: little bookstores, record stores, video stores, etc. I worked at Kim's Video for a year, when it was a three-level store on St. Marks (now it's a one-level store on 1st Ave) and though that originally opened (on Ave A) in 1987, I feel like even that store was, in some way, influenced by the neighborhood's history....the idea of selling vinyl, carrying zines, selling burned DVDs illegally (ha!), and renting out old videos on VHS. The neighborhood is extremely different from what it once was and gentrification is partially (or mostly?) to blame, but inklings of that era remain.

I guess I bring up Kim's Video because it appealed to people who still wanted to listen to music on record and watch a movie on VHS (and there were lots of 'em), which were around during the punk movement. Things back then were physical and bulky (as opposed to digital and invisible) and not as easily obtained or as functional as they are today. People listened to music in groups; there were no ipods or even walkmans. So everything had this communal vibe, particularly when you consider gutter-punks who often squatted together and watched each other's backs. I think all the gutter-punks you see now (around Tompkins for example) are probably attracted to the area for its punkish history. Then you have other little reminders, like a bar that plays punk music, a bar that has an old photobooth, or tattoo artists who remember working when tattooing was illegal in NYC.

Nowadays, I think Brooklyn carries the spirit of that era more so than Manhattan, though there are still a plethora of shows around the Bowery and in the LES, which has places like Max Fish and Cake Shop and ABC No Rio. I think that era also inspired the arrival of many art galleries, in Soho for example, which catered to low-brow art, video-art, the avant-garde, graffiti, found objects, etc. Then of course you had Basquiat --- watch Downtown 81 if you can. He's in that movie and it really shows you what the area looked like in 1981...it looked like a warzone!!

You also had the "Cinema of Transgression," led by Nick Zedd. It might not really be worth looking into this for your project, but the LES really did have its own unique film history (also documented by Clayton Patterson). Nick Zedd's films speak to this explosion of eccentric creativity, and Kembra Pfahler was in some of his films, looking all crazy and non-human and feminist risque, and she also leads a band called The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black -- they stir things up! I do think that a greater sense of feminism, "shock value," and daring artistic expression came out of the whole CBGB's movement, along with, perhaps, the idea of an extended period of youth in direct opposition to the status quo.

So as for the mark it left on society...well like I said, Brooklyn. I really believe that some of the hispter Williamsburg culture is an offshoot of the original punk movement, though there's a lot of imitation (of the Urban Outfitters variety) that lacks actual substance. But people start their own businesses (cafes, markets, boutiques, record stores, etc) and their own venues in weird places throughout Brooklyn (Glasslands, 285 Kent, Death By Audio, etc), and I've definitely compared shows I've been to with pictures I've seen from the '70s and it honestly doesn't look too different (though the rest of NYC does). There are rooftop shows and basement shows and lots of random DIY things going on...even the biking craze, anarchists, and Occupy Wall Street seem to owe something to NYC's punk past, at least to me.

The whole DIY culure came out of that ethos, which has fostered more art, more music, people starting their own record labels, people pressing their own zines and chapbooks, and even people growing food on their rooftop. On the Bowery today, we still have Billy's Antiques (it's literally on Houston and the Bowery) which has been going strong for decades...something like that (a guy selling old furniture on the street) also comes out of the punk-on-Bowery era, as does the Yippee Cafe, and even Bowery Poetry Club. It's all about making art, sharing art, and giving the middle finger to what mainstream media says is cool or accepted.

-amy.

The List (of bands seen live)

2011-12-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

Let's keep this simple...I maintain a running list of bands I have seen live, although I don't count bands I didn't pay any attention to while they performed, nor do I count having seen a band if I cannot remember the experience at all. Thus, I have left out a good number of opening bands I ignored or just plain didn't like...that's the other thing; in the case of festival-type shows, I don't bother counting bands I didn't care for in the least. I won't include a band I didn't specifically intend to see unless I enjoyed them.

Also, it doesn't matter to me whether I saw the band play in the backroom of a bar or on stage at MSG so long as it was a formal show, typically with tickets available for purchase (in other words, not just a practice session). And I do include smaller, lesser-known bands along with the bigger, well-known ones. So here's my running list, from age 13 until age 27 or from 1997 until 2011, of the bands I saw, remembered, and liked enough to include. I'm sure some have been forgotten.

This is what people mean by "the list," right? :)

* -- more than once

** -- five times or more
+ -- interviewed them, in addition to seeing them live

100 monkeys **+
active child
adam green
aerosmith *
albertans
alice cooper
alice in chains (with a layne staley replacement)
amanda palmer/ evelyn evelyn
american memory project
amina
and you will know us by the trail of dead
anthrax
a perfect circle
a place to bury strangers *+
arcade fire *
arctic monkeys
a.r.e. weapons
atari teenage riot
audioslave
avett brothers
bauhaus *
beach fossils *+
best coast
be your own pet
billy corgan (solo band)
billy idol
bjork *
black keys
black mountain
blonde redhead
the blow
blue man group *
blue velvet *
bob dylan
bodega girls
bon iver
braids
bright eyes *
busta rhymes
broken social scene/ brendan canning +
candlebox
cat power
chevelle
christopher paul stelling *+
clap your hands say yeah
coathangers
cold war kids
coldplay *
computer magic
counting crows
daft punk
daniel johnston
dark star orchestra
david bowie
dd/mm/yyyy
dead elvi, with ray manzarek
death from above 1979
death vessel
deftones *
depeche mode
dinosaur feathers
dinosaur jr
dinowalrus
does it offend you, yeah?
dr. dog
dresden dolls
drew and the medicinal pen *+
dub trio
duke spirit
eels
eskalators
faint *
faster dear pilot, we're going down
fiasco
film school *
filter
fiona apple
foals
fool's gold
foreign islands
freelance whales *
garbage
general miggs *
genuine imitations *
giraffes *
godspeed you! black emperor
goes cube **+
gogol bordello
gold panda
grandchildren **+
green day
guns n roses, with buckethead
gutter twins
hank and cupcakes
health +
ho-ag
honey brothers
horrors
incubus
indian jewelry
interpol **
isis *+
jane's addiction
japanther
javelin *+
jay brannan
jeff the brotherhood
jens lekman
jesu
jesus and mary chain
j mascis
joan jett
joe semz
julianna barwick
justice
kissing club **+
klaxons
korn
la laque
lcd soundsystem
legendary pink dots
le loup
live *
local natives
lovvers
m. ward
man man
marco benevento *
marilyn manson
mars volta
mason jennings
massive attack
max bemis (hehe) *
meat puppets
mechanical people
melissa auf de maur +
melvins
mercury landing
mgmt +
mighty mighty bosstones
miike snow
mindless self indulgence *
mission of burma
moby +
modest mouse *
mogwai *
monotonix
moonrats
mudhoney
my bloody valentine
my brightest diamond
my way my love
naam
national rifle
newvillager
nine inch nails **
nofx
no joy
no one and the somebodies **
o'death *
ohgr +
old time relijun
outernational
ozzy osbourne
pains of being pure at heart
paper cranes
patti smith
pax cecilia
peaches
peelander-z *
pelican
peter murphy (solo)
phantogram
pissed jeans
pixies
poison
pomegranates
proclaimers
queens of the stone age
rage against the machine
raveonettes
regina spektor *
religious to damn
richard ashcroft
rilo kiley
ringo starr
rob zombie *
roger waters
rolling stones
roots tonic +
rufus wainwright *
santogold
saul williams
save ferris
school of seven bells +
scissor sisters
sebastien grainger
she wants revenge
sigur ros *
skeletonbreath **
soft moon
so many dynamos
sonic youth
so so glos
sponge
stationary set
steel train
stevedores **
strange walls
suuns
system of a down
tamaryn
thurston moore
tin tin can **
tire fires **
toadies
tom morello (solo)
tool
twisted sister
valiant to vile
vast
vhs or beta
vibration *
wailing wall *
wallflowers
wavves *
weekend
what cheer? brigade
when dinosaurs ruled the earth
whigs
the xx
yet cut breath **
zwan

Of course, this leaves me with a lot of bands I still need to see, like Radiohead (!!), TV on the Radio, The Kills, Animal Collective, Explosions in the Sky, and whatever Jack White ensemble. It's safe to say that more live music is in my future....

[photo of tool by me]

No-Alt Recommends, November.

2011-11-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

Mary and Max

A quirky claymation feature-length intended not for children or even young adults (like many films of its kind) but for a particular type of empathetic audience. It tells the tale of an unlikely overseas pen-pal friendship between Mary, who initiates the letters, and Max, who is sent into a tizzy whenever he receives one.

Mary is a rather friendless eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne with her alcoholic mother and her neglectful father who performs taxidermy in the garage. Max is a forty-four-year old obese man with Asperger's Syndrome living alone in New York City. Both characters are obsessed with chocolate, and both live sad, solitary lives, which they attempt to explain, in their own clever ways, to one another.

Funny one moment and then so terribly sad the next, this is actually [loosely] based on a true story. The animation itself is incredible and all of the characters are like none you have seen before...and yet, they are all completely plausible and the world, though 'artificial,' is steeped in hard-to-watch reality. Such a simple concept, yet such a complex situation, with even more complex and painstaking visuals. Brilliant!

Blue Nights
I knew what I was getting myself into...I knew it was going to make me cry. If you haven't read The Year of Magical Thinking, you ought to give that book your time and attention first. A few years ago, Joan wrote about her husband John Dunne's sudden death and the "year of magical thinking" that resulted. This November, Didion published a book about her daughter, Quintana Roo, who died less than 2 years after John, following a long and complicated illness.

Didion's circuitous narrative style is easy to follow and reflects the process of grieving, remembering, and aging. She writes honestly about her losses and increasing frailty (after all, she's approaching 80 now). I read this book in 3 days, and while it isn't as gracefully composed as Year, Blue Nights is still requisite reading for the soul, no matter your age.

Uniqlo Pants

Okay, so this obviously doesn't carry the same emotional gravity as the things I just mentioned, but please excuse my triviality. I don't know why I have such a hard time finding skinny jeans. Seriously. Most skinny jeans just aren't skinny on my body, and I don't get it! Maybe it has something to do with my waist size versus my leg size, or with the fact that I'm short so the material gets bunched up? I don't know the answer...what I do know is that I found 2 pairs of pants, which fit almost perfectly, at the downtown Uniqlo!

So even though I am not into all of the Uniqlo ads running rampant on the subways announcing their new global flagship store, and even though the store is always way too crowded, at least they sell well-priced pants that actually fit me.

M83
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.
O man, this album. To be totally honest, I don't know anything about this band...I had heard the name before, and I was a little confused because it reminded me of MC5 and I was like "huh, what?" But lo and behold, I bought this album and I am in heaven!

As we speak, I am beginning my fourth listen of this double-album, which I have yet to even research like a good music journalist should. You know what, I don't care! Wherever they're from, whatever they released before, whatever they look like, it doesn't matter. This album is amazing, end of story.

That's all I can muster!
-amy.

Interview Series #8: Chris Gilroy

2011-10-31T14:45:00.001-07:00

Chris Gilroy, or simply Gilroy, loves twisting knobs, taking things apart, and testing sounds. He's a music-making mad scientist with an ear for the technical and an eye for innovation, and he's never afraid to try something new.

According to Chris, he's "a city boy who's heart is in the mountains. As an audio engineer, electronic musician, hacker, tinkerer, and builder, he finds inspiration in all corners of the world and just wants to explore more of what sound has to offer. He moved to NYC to see a bit more of what the world offers, which naturally scared and stimulated him. Now he can't stop moving." Oh, he also loves his bike and stout beers. And he was born on a Tuesday.

As founder of the In/Out Festival, Chris maintains a three-day, NYC electronic arts fest where musicians and artists are "huddled together to learn and share the secrets of computers." Perhaps not so coincidentally, I met Chris at the CMJ Festival several years back, and I've always been intrigued by his passions.

Quick Look:
Birthday: August 13, 1985
Living in: Brooklyn, New York
Originally from: South Kingstown, Rhode Island
Website: http://cargocollective.com/active# & http://inoutfest.org

No-Alternative: What made you decide to study sound recording technology while attending UMass Lowell? How did you know that this was the thing you wanted to pursue?

Chris Gilroy: When I was in junior high, I had my first studio experience with a shitty hardcore band. We sucked but the whole idea behind recording was crazy to me. Since I was playing drums, I spent the rest of the time in the control room watching. In high school I got my first hard disc recorder and got really into experimental music and noise. I would spent all night in the basement making weird sound scapes while playing in an instrumental band. We would record all the time and release a ton of music for free.

My parents were not too keen on me applying for performance related degrees and I wasn't sold on trying to be a musician my whole life so the next best thing was studio work. I wanted to be in sound, literally inside of it. I wanted to craft, manipulate, preserve, destroy, and capture it any way possible. Lowell was only because Northeastern didn't want me, which ended up being the best thing ever. The UMass Lowell Sound Recording Technology degree was amazing and taught me so much.

What type of music are you most interested in recording, engineering, or creating? And what is it about digital music and technology that speaks to you?

I love recording and working with any artists who are up for trying things out. I find it such a fun challenge to help different people realize what is in their head. I recently did a little project with a singer/songwriter and she didn't want any effects on the music, just raw sound. So we were moving all around her apartment recording in different areas with different mic'ing set ups to find new sounds.

As far as technology, I used to be a straight analog guy! Tubes and tape! I still am but I find that a healthy blend between analog and digital can yield some truly fascinating and inspiring results. There is a lot of new stuff out there that is inspiring, like what people are doing with Max/MSP and other programming languages. You can really get some cool stuff happening!

What bands/artists/recording engineers --- local or otherwise --- are you currently excited about?

I have been all about the Avett Brothers record, I And Love And You. It was produced by Rick Rubin, which is a totally different path for the band who is used to super DIY recording spaces. They have this pure vibe to them that is so exciting. On this record though, they had a big budget and used it. However, you can still hear the squeaks of the piano bench, or weird background sounds that is not common in a lot of big records. It has so much life in it below the beautiful harmonies and heart breaking performances. It's a spectacular record. Also, Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree has a great ear for surround techniques and combining the lo-fi with the hi-fi.

You've been involved in many projects as both engineer and musician. What have been your most memorable collaborations?

In college I started a group called Details, which was a downtown jazz group focused on me with live electronics and the fantastic drummer, Andy Fordyce. We always had a rotating cast of musicians sit in with us, which led to some really interesting performances. The whole project was a great way to experiment with audio and try to have conversations with sound.

Let's discuss your artist page on Cargo Collective, where you currently have six projects on display. Can you offer us a brief tour of the ideas, EPs, and sample packs you've showcased, and explain the overall themes or intentions?

Well, for better or worse the first little thing is an EP, Failed Houdini, of some downtempo electronic pieces that have been kicking around my hard drives for a few years. The album art was done by the lovely Danielle Brown.

Tendril is an idea I have for an open source control interface. Right now I am trying to design something that will have a few thin strips, similar to long blades of grass, that when bent send a control signal to a computer to process. They will ideally be back lit with a decoupled LED so the computer can send different signals, like the rate of an LFO, or gate, or brightness based on amount of change, etc. Super early stages of this.

The project called Ragnarok is a modular synth I'm building that will be housed in an old arcade box. All but one module I have built from PCBs from around the internet. Basically, it will be a noise machine of doom meets a signal processor for my own music and for mixing.

Finally, A, B, and C Names for Girls are a sonic study on different forms of acoustic sound sources cut up and released under a Creative Commons license for public use. I really got into the artist Eskmo and his use of foley sounds as percussion/melodies and started experimenting with them myself. These are part of a ongoing series: Girl Names will be all acoustic sounds and soon Boy Names will be electronic sounds.

You started New York City's In/Out Festival, which is dedicated to open source programming and controller design. Why did you create this now yearly event? What makes your festival different from others like it?

As I mentioned before, I really was inspired by this little device called monome. A friend of mine was planning on organizing an NYC meet-up for people using this device, but as we started the event, we realized so many people are doing so many inspiring and awesome things. So why not bring them all together?

I think we stand out as a festival because we focus not just on designers and developers, but on people using different technologies to make art. For a community that has grown because of the internet, we are bringing people together in real life --- online friends and now real life friends. It's funny overhearing conversations at the festival, there's a lot of: "on blah blah forum, I am blahblahboogie666," followed by, "Oh man, I know you! I'm AwesomeTriFold!"

Which programs, shows, and workshops in past In/Out Festivals have been your favorites? And what can we expect to see at this year's Fest, taking place at The Knitting Factory on November 11-13?

tehn played the first year, and everyone in the room rushed forward and sat on the ground right in front to watch him play. There was so much energy in the room for such a low key, ambient set. And Felted Signal Processing has done a few workshops about how to build your own felt midi controllers, which I think is amazing!!

This year we are super excited! Not only are we at The Knitting Factory for two days, but we are also holding workshops and lectures at 285 Kent/Babycastles! We are waiting to hear back from everyone, but already Smomid, Comandante Zero, Christopher Willits, and Daedelus have confirmed. Workshops are still being sorted, but look for something on Max4Live (probably hosted by Willits) and a panel about controllerism, from design to use, with Brian Crabtree, Alfred Darlington (Daedelus) and more.

What is your opinion on the way music is shared, distributed, purchased, created, and digested these days? Do you have any qualms/pet peeves, or are you completely open to all of the recent changes in the music industry?

This is a conversation best left to be had over a few beers! Overall I am super excited about the industry as of late. A ton of independent people are doing some truly great things and are getting the word out about it. I love Soundcloud and other sites like it --- I think it is a great way to share and be involved with artists on a direct level. The RIAA shot themselves in the foot when they started suing customers for downloading music and not paying for it. They spent so much time worrying about what they weren't making that they didn't try to adapt and make the system work. I truly hope they end their existence soon...

I know you worked at MtyMxm, the Mexico-based all-ages music festival that followed SxSW --- can you talk about this experience, and how it might have been different from doing sound at US-based festivals?

Ah Monterrey...it was a crazy experience. Without getting into any detail, a lot went wrong and a lot went so amazingly well. Everyone who was there had an amazing time. I was the front of house engineer for the entire three day event, with a great talented friend of mine, Katie Davidson, doing everything backstage. We worked 15 or more hours days then drank till we passed out and then did it again.

What I can say is: know the local language and culture! When they say the power generator will be there soon a day before the event starts, they really mean two days from then! We got there the morning of the festival and found that almost none of the gear was there and no power generator, hours before the first bands should start playing. The system was calibrated much lower than normal...the whole thing was out of whack and no one knew until the last day. Bands were walking offstage because the monitor system was less then 250 watts, while the main system is well over 20,000 watts. It was crazy. Know the system inside and out, and know the language!

Do you feel like you're part of a "community" --- through creating and attending festivals, through being an audio engineer, through living in Brooklyn, or through any other means?

An online community, yes. But what I do and how I do it, I am all over the place. I'm friends with tons of great people involved in the indie show scene in Brooklyn, as well as electronic musicians in the city, to the hip-hop cats in the Bronx. Online I am very active in the open source community, modular synth community, and pro audio DIY. It's great because I have so much inspiration coming from all sides; I love it!

You're involved in activism, anarchy, DIY culture, biking, and healthy living. What advice or words of wisdom might you offer folks who are interested in such lifestyles?

Go for it! Don't let anyone make you feel stupid about it. There are so many amazing things going on in the world, and if you're in NYC it is all super condensed, you just need to go after it. Almost everyone you meet will be awesome and welcoming. To pass on some words of wisdom from The Pete; Don't forget the 5 Ps: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Progress!

Can Saint Mark's Bookshop survive?

2011-10-26T10:31:00.001-07:00

New York City has always been recognized as the setting (and instigator) of many important subcultures, social movements, and artistic revolutions. CBGB's was home to American punk; Washington Square Park fostered the Bohemians and Beats; the Lower East Side generated graffiti, hardcore, and underground hip-hop. The unifying factor of all movements, otherwise separated by time or topic, is not only the city itself, but all that it stands for. My great-grandparents, for example, came to America via Ellis Island, watching Ms. Liberty grow larger and larger as they approached a new home where they could have a better life.

New York has thus always represented independence, whether it be for those who immigrate here from other countries or for those who escape their suburban/rural lives in hopes of finding more like-minded people with whom to make something happen. And it's that idea of independence that really drives New Yorkers to create, compete, push forward, learn, speak, and change the world one little step at a time. Here, it seems like almost anything is possible, and nobody will judge you for expressing who you are (or at least, no one will spend an extra five seconds staring at you when there's something else to look at just a stone's throw away).

Of course, the NYC I'm talking about is not Wall Street, nor is it Park Ave. Naturally, people move here not only for creative freedom, opportunities and inspiration, but to make money and lead a wealthy lifestyle. So perhaps the NYC I speak of is particular to people who prize art and culture. In any event, an innovative and independent NYC is fading away and falling apart, especially lower Manhattan. Small businesses here are in danger...as is anyone who treasures them. While chain stores and restaurants do exist throughout the boroughs (and Times Square is one giant advertisement), NYC is also known for its independently owned stores, restaurants, and bars that you simply cannot find anywhere else. I mean, who goes to NYC to shop at Kmart and eat at Applebee's? Hopefully no one.

Now that rents are so high, small business owners can no longer afford to operate (so long CBGB's, etc.), which not only totally sucks for the people who put their heart and soul into them, but also for patrons who have made such places a part of their identity. Many shops, clubs, bars, cafes, and venues are NYC landmarks --- they define us and shape us and they are crucial to the neighborhoods in which they exist. So while having a Chase bank on every other block is...uhhh...helpful, what it's really doing is destroying what makes NYC unique, thus rendering it impossible for a new generation to discover and embrace independent businesses. All of this makes me very sad and angry. Why doesn't New York value, and attempt to save, its very own culture?

The plight that concerns me most right now is that of St. Mark's Bookshop. I cannot tell you how much this store means to me, and how much the continued demise of Saint Marks Place hurts! Recently, over 43,000 people (including me) signed a petition to get the store's landlords, of Cooper Union, to lower the monthly rent, but this appeal was just turned down.

Michael Moore visited the store this month and "spoke about how St. Mark’s is actually the price we are being asked to pay for Wall Street’s greed, and in recent weeks, members of Occupy Wall Street have made stops at the store to help rally against the landlords. Bookshop owners, Bob Contant and Terry McCoy, say that it remains to be seen if the recent surge in customer support will be enough to keep the bookshop’s doors open." >> Read more in this article.

Not only did we lose the massive chain Borders, but now cultural landmarks are next in line. Unlike Borders, these stores are irreplaceable; they foster community, expression, and independence. St. Mark's Books is both independently owned and carries many titles from indie publishers. Let's look at the facts:

St. Mark's Bookshop was established in 1977 on New York City's Lower East Side, a community of students, academics, artists, and other discerning readers. Our specialties include Cultural Theory, Graphic Design, Poetry & Small Press Publishing, Film Studies, and Foreign & Domestic Periodicals and Journals.

Located at 31 Third Avenue between 8th and 9th Streets, we are convenient to the 6 Train at Astor Place and the N/R Trains at Broadway and 8th Street. Our neighborhood is home to New York University, The Cooper Union, and such cultural institutions as P.S. 122 and St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, which offer theatre, dance performances and poetry readings. There are also many vintage clothing stores, designer boutiques, import shops, antique stores, and new & used record stores in the area, as well as dozens of cafes, restaurants and bars.

My plea to you is this: if you are in New York, buy a book there. If you know anyone in New York, ask them to buy one for you, or themselves. You can also buy a gift certificate for someone. I know Amazon is quick and easy, but try St. Mark's Bookshop first. Please...we all know where this is going. And don't neglect other indie bookstores like Bluestockings, McNally Jackson, the Strand, Book Book, etc. The alternative is not pretty...sitting inside all day alone and looking at things on screens. O what fun.

-a.d.

The Ballerina Project

2011-10-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Before my love of all things alternative, I bore an enormous passion for dance, especially ballet. But you already know how that story goes...little girl loves ballet, little girl isn't a good enough ballerina (like most!), therefore girl stops doing ballet. No matter, I'll always adore ballet (and dance around the house to Clint Mansell's Requiem score). Another thing I adore is New York City, ever since I started riding the train down to the village in high school. So when you combine the grime, grit, and beauty of NYC with the ballerina's phenomenal form, you have created photographs that make me beyond thrilled. The Ballerina Project is like a series of images ripped from my mind. As the "about" page says:

Like a dream becoming reality the Ballerina Project is a series of photographs created by photographer Dane Shitagi. Crafted over the span of ten years, the Ballerina Project is not “dance photography” but an etching of a ballerina's heart and emotions.

Every aspect of the Ballerina Project is carefully crafted and cultivated. The project has been photographed entirely on traditional photographic film and not with modern digital cameras. The majority of ballerinas who have posed for the project are professional dancers and the minority are advanced ballet students in renown dance schools. The crafts of dance and photography are truly upheld on both ends of the creation of the Ballerina Project.

Here are just a few of my favorites....

and all of these prints remind me of one very relevant image (the original shot of the ballerina was actually taken by Dane Shitagi):

99%

2011-09-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

I am lucky, I know.

I attended one of the most expensive liberal arts colleges in the nation as well as an MFA grad program at another college, both based on my own merits and passions. I am not in debt for doing such. I have an apartment and health insurance and (currently) a job and food and clothing and hot water and a car and some moderate savings for someone my age and with my resume. None of this would have been possible without the financial and emotional support of my parents and, going back even further, my grandparents and their parents and their parents and so forth. I do not pretend to be struggling in the same way that I have seen others struggle, especially those who have not been as fortunate in the supportive-parents department.

My generation certainly needs support in order to pursue the things about which we are passionate. Essentially, this means running the risk of having absolutely nothing to show for ourselves other than our creative/social efforts, our ideas and experiences, and a fancy schmancy degree, though degrees have become, in some cases, almost meaningless. What is life really about if we take away creativity and ideas and experiences and learning from one another? How can we ever hope to advance if we are not continually introducing new stories and images and patterns and perceptions and opinions and methods? In order to properly cultivate such things, we need an appropriate education, but in order to receive an education, we need money...and in order to make money, we need an education.

At times when I was unemployed and desperately hunting for a job I was not only "qualified" to do but truly wanted to do (what's the price of personal satisfaction nowadays?), I was lucky to have been able to save some money plus receive the support of parents who had wished me success in writing rather than pushed me to follow a more "guaranteed" path. BUT THIS IS NOT THE NORM. More people than not are without health insurance, without homes, without jobs, without education, without pride, without hope, and without financial support. I have felt hopeless too, but my feeling of hopelessness about my worth in the job market as it currently exists, or my voice in the world at large, is nothing compared to those who have absolutely no support system to fall back on if they fail (and who never fails?)....those who are forced to turn to the government for help or relinquish themselves to working at, oh I don't know, KFC.

What I am trying to say is that living a life of doing what you actually WANT to do (for the good of yourself and others) is not easy and sometimes impossible. What I am trying to say is that I AM ONE OF THE 99% and I will stand with those who are broken and hopeless and cheated and lied to by the white collar diplomats of this country...you know them: the leaders and politicians and businesses that have caused massive job cuts, extreme environmental destruction, deaths due to lack of health insurance, et cetera. The ones who don't give a second thought to those humans and animals affected by their actions. The ones who, in this democratic society, are only looking out for themselves. The ones who are controlling all of us and reversing or halting any progress we might have made. I was born in this country and I continue to live in this country and here I am saying that I want change. No, I demand change, and so should you. This is OUR future we're talking about. There is so much more I can say...but for now, PLEASE read more (both words are links):

TESTIMONIALS & DECLARATION

-a-my.
[first image is of me, second was taken at the Occupy Wall Street protest]

The Disintegration Loops

2011-09-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I am rather late to discovering William Basinski, but I have always loved ambient music and the story of his Disintegration Loops completely fascinates me.

First of all, let's look at what a loop is (please don't mind my assumption that you, the reader, like me, the writer, also need a little definition). A tape loop is "prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound."

So we've got patterns and rhythms and phasing and repetition that can either stand on its own, aid a solo artist while he/she's playing live, or add background sound to any number of compositions. Also consider that "a measure of recorded magnetic tape is cut and spliced end-to-end, creating a circle or loop which can be played continuously, usually on a reel-to-reel machine." Sort of like a Mobius Strip of music!

William Basinski is an American avant-garde composer of ambient music who, throughout the 1980s, created many experimental works using tape loops, as well as found sounds and radio static. While Basinski played with bands, collaborated on projects, and produced records, his most widely known contribution to music is these Disintegration Loops. And herein lies their incredible story, more of which you can read here.

Back in the early '80s, Basinski made some tape loops. Fast-forward to August of 2001 when he was living in Brooklyn and seeking to transfer these loops from analog reel-to-reel tape to hard disk. As he began transferring, he realized that the old tapes were disintegrating as they played, all of which he continued to record. In the liner notes of the four-disk Disintegration Loops, he notes that "the music was dying." He recorded his old loops into September of 2001...on September 11th, he was completing his process as the Twin Towers fell.

Michael Heumann writes: "He and his friends went on the roof of his building and played the Loops over and over, all day long, watching the slow death of one New York and the slow rise of another, all the while listening to the death of one music and the creation of another....The music, however, is beautiful, subtle, sad, frightening, confusing, and ultimately uplifting. What's he created here is a living document: a field recording of orchestrated decay. It sounds like nothing else I've heard, yet, at its core, it's the simplest and most familiar music I can imagine."

On her blog, writer Amy Rose shared one track from the Loops as part of her three-song playlist. There are many more tracks available, but I think this is particularly peaceful and hypnotic.

-a.d.

Miranda July's The Future

2011-09-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

Miranda July: writer, actor, performance artist, director...and oh how I love her brain.

Well, to be more specific, I love the quirky sense of humor that emerges in stories and films; her willingness to expose personal fears and flaws, thus bringing authenticity to a storyline; and her boundless creativity, which never seems to hinder her ideas and always pushes the audience/reader to consider new possibilities in fiction and film. Have I gushed enough?

This summer, I happily attended one of the premier showings of Miranda's latest film, The Future, at the IFC Center. Much like the stories in her collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You --- which reveal small moments of tension, sadness, and awkwardness in the lives of rather odd individuals --- The Future's main focus was the relationship between Sophie and Jason; in their mid-thirties, the two have been dating for four years. Not unlike Miranda's first film, Me, You and Everyone We Know, Miranda plays the female lead. But while Me, You and Everyone We Know jumped around to unexpected scenarios involving different, yet interrelated, characters, The Future maintains its focus and appears more linear...but that isn't to say it's in any way "the norm!"

See, Sophie and Jason feel obligated to adopt a cat with a damaged paw... his name is Paw-Paw (and Miranda does his cute little voice). The only problem?: they're afraid that becoming responsible for this ill (and existential) cat will change their lives for the worse, and they're convinced they need to achieve some goals before Paw-Paw invades their home. For Sophie --- who quits her job as a dance teacher for toddlers --- that means creating 30 dances in 30 days and posting them on the internet. For Jason --- who quits his job as an at-home computer repair guy --- that means walking door-to-door selling trees...a job that doesn't pan out quite the way he imagined when he chanced upon it. He does, however, meet an old man named Joe (from whom he initially buys an old blowdryer, as advertised in the PennySaver) who offers him sage advice about how he is just in the "beginning" stages of his relationship with Sophie, and how the two of them will likely do terrible things to each other.

Jason decides that he and Sophie are, like most people, too dependent on the internet, so he has it turned off for a month --- a truly funny scene that involves the two of them making last-minute, desperate attempts to look things up before the internet's shut off, and prompts a conversation in which they try to figure out how they will now get information. Despite all attempts to better their lives and perhaps their romance, neither Sophie nor Jason is what one would call "happy"...though the nuances of their relationship are adorably personal and suggest that they are meant for each other. But those collective fears of the future, of change, and, in some ways, of themselves are truly holding them back.

Sophie is often paralyzed by her own inexplicable fears, as evidenced by her (hilarious!) attempts to record new dances. She turns to an old tee-shirt, named "Shirty," for comfort. During one panic attack, she decides to call the number of the artist on the back of a drawing, which Jason has purchased at Paw-Paw's animal hospital. The phone call leads to Sophie shouting out the window to see if Marshall, the artist, can hear her. It also leads to a pretty severe "oops" between Marshall and Sophie. And here's where things get even weirder.

On the night Sophie feels she must confess to Jason, he touches her head and literally stops time --- this occurred earlier in the film as a game the two of them sometimes play, but now time has stopped for real. Not only that, but the moon is talking to Jason through the window, and the moon's voice is old man Joe. This break in time --- and break in the film's realistic, albeit odd, narrative --- leads to an alternate universe wherein Sophie is with Marshall, and Jason, too afraid of what Sophie is about to tell him, realizes that he has stopped time permanently and must try to fix the world. In Sophie's alternate life, she lives with Marshall and his daughter; while some things seem idyllic, her former life keeps creeping up on her...most noticeably when Shirty tracks her down. There is no simply no escaping the girl she once was. And all the while, Paw-Paw tries to be patient, as he waits for them to take him home.

I love when a film or story can break form and still find its way back to "normal" so that its believably is not completely lost. Sometimes, when a film goes off the deep end, there is no turning back...it just spirals into "huh?" territory. Other times, things become too logical and explanatory. In The Future, however, Miranda seems to already anticipate her artsy and open-minded audience, thus allowing her to present impossibilities and still bring us firmly back to the land of the (mostly) possible...no big explanation needed.

In the Q&A session, Miranda revealed her creative process and the evolution of this piece, from script to performance to film. She spoke about creating a sort of visual language as well as symmetry --- in casting Hamish Linklater to play opposite her as Jason, Miranda assumed the audience would feel that Sophie and Jason belonged together aesthetically; on the other hand, she and David Warhofsky (who plays Marshall) look absolutely wrong.

Miranda also revealed that Shirty was based on her very own precious tee-shirt that travels with her from city to city and hotel to hotel; and just like Sophie, Miranda often feels trapped by her own anxieties. By exposing some of the things about which she personally feels ashamed, Miranda has allowed viewers the chance to analyze and maybe even accept their own idiosyncrasies. She also told us that that Joe was an old man she met when she went door-to-door to meet people who had advertised in the PennySaver! He ad-libbed a good percent of the role!

One of the most poignant moments (which also pushes the movie further toward "art film") is the dance Sophie performs inside her tee-shirt, while living in Marshall's house. Miranda discussed how this dance emerged in her performance, and how she felt it was a pivotal moment for Sophie --- she is literally wrapped in her past self as she hurdles, like we all do, toward some kind of future.

--amy dupcak.

Interview Series #7: Scott Alexander Hess

2011-09-08T19:23:00.001-07:00

Scott Alexander Hess knows a thing or two about sex...and thank god for that! His literary novel, Diary of a Sex Addict (published by JMS Books), is a dark and incredibly racy portrait of a gay man for whom sex acts as a drug, comfort, punishment, and sometimes even a sport.

Scott is no stranger to pushing the envelope. One of the plays he's written and starred in, BJ, explored transgenderism in America and won an NYC Fringe Festival Jury Award for Excellence. He's performed one-man shows in a myriad of settings, penned screenplays, and is now hard at work on his third novel. Almost all of Scott's creative works contain a lustful mixture of grit and glamor --- harsh realities and gruesome details coupled with exotic parties, sparkling clothes, or simply beautiful, dreamlike images.

I first met Scott at the very start of The New School's MFA program, where we both studied Fiction. It is with great pleasure that I continue to devour the pages of his many evocative projects.

Quick Look:
Birthday: May 25
Living in: Manhattan, New York
Originally from: Saint Louis, Missouri
Website: http://www.scottalexanderhess.com/

No-Alternative: Let's start by discussing your novel, Diary of a Sex Addict. What is this book about, and what makes it a unique take on sex addiction?

Scott Alexander Hess: The book is a snapshot into one wild, sex-drenched, dark month in the life of a New Yorker. The blurb I wrote for the book jacket sums it up pretty well, so I’ll share that...

Witty, dark and explosively carnal, Diary of a Sex Addict chronicles a gay New Yorker’s month long descent into a circus of anonymous hook-ups as he struggles to erase the pain of a failed romance, and the routine of a soul-numbing day job. Written in prose that is at once poetic and unabashedly lewd, Diary offers a glimpse into a forbidden fringe world of longing and debauchery that ultimately reveals the narrator’s fervent search for something to fill a profound emptiness.

Diary is told from the perspective of the unnamed protagonist --- the sex addict of the title. Why did you choose first-person narration for this story? Also, do you think that, despite our addict's poor decisions and risky behaviors, he remains likeable and sympathetic to readers?

I chose first person because of its immediacy. I want the reader to feel, smell touch and experience the depravity and intensity of the story as much as possible. Along those lines, while the narrator does reprehensible, even violent things, I feel the subtle, underlying anguish that guides his decisions help make him at least relatable, if not likeable.

You mentioned that the book takes place over a mere few weeks in the life of the addict. What made you decide on this specified time frame?

I wanted one icy, sex-drenched burst in this man's life, so I chose one frigid month in December. I think sustaining this type of destructive behavior for too long could utterly exhaust the reader. I hope to take the reader on a wild ride, and to whirl him/her to a peak of perversity, before it all crashes and they ideally lay spent, post prose orgasm.

Is there ever a time when you feel you've gone too far in your work? Do you ever feel the need to hold back and restrain yourself? And do you ever worry about readers' reactions to such raw, erotic, and sometimes brutal scenes?

No, I don’t. I am blessed that my post-graduate school writer’s group (the ponies) keeps me on the beam in terms of what is working in the narrative, and how it drives the story. There are times I have made changes because an action by the narrator is so reprehensible that he could lose all sympathy with the reader. Some narrators (like Patrick Bateman in the brilliant Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho) are so incredibly drawn they can get away with this, but not often. This type of holding back though is based on allowing the reader in, not on whether such action is too extreme or erotic.

Have you ever surprised yourself through writing and editing Diary of a Sex Addict? Have you experienced a moment of personal discovery or reflection while creating this harrowing tale?

I think with everything I write I do discover more about myself. I tend to float into a netherworld when I write. I lose myself in the work, as the character. I rely a great deal on stream of conscious writing, my mentors being William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy, among others.

How is Diary of a Sex Addict different from your previous novel Bergdorf Boys, which was serialized in Ganymede Journal? And how does the novel you're currently writing, Jockey, differ from them both?

Bergdorf Boys is a lighter romp, though with a few dark edges. It was my first novel, so the feat of creating the novel itself was an accomplishment. Jockey is very different --- a mainstream and poetic novel.

All of my work deals with people who are a bit on the fringe (sex addicts, or a jockey who by trade must be small and weigh under 120 pounds all of his working life). And there is always a sense of the sensual in my work --- in Jockey, it is the boy’s gut level relationship with a horse. So that ties the work together on some level. But I can vary greatly in the use of language and topic. The rhythm of the book, the tone and language are determined by the narrator’s voice and the flavor of the book (erratic sex addict in Manhattan vs. a 12-year-old boy in rural Arkansas in 1918).

With novels, screenplays, plays and stories under your belt, plus Jockey halfway done, you're quite prolific! What is your writing process usually like? How do you get into the right mindset?

I don’t wait for a mindset, because if I did I’d talk myself out of writing. I set time to write, I sit down, I write. Discipline is key and I trust that what needs to flow will flow.

You are also a gifted performer. Has singing, acting, and performing in drag enhanced or inspired your writing life?

I think my experience as an actor has helped when it comes to really getting into the head of a character in a novel. . .and living his life.

How do you think being gay in New York has influenced and informed your creative projects?

Well, I was gay in Missouri when I popped out, so….I don’t really think much about my sexual preference in relation to my creativity.

What was some of the most helpful advice --- writing or otherwise --- you have ever received? And do have any advice for aspiring writers and artists?

Sit down and write. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could write. At one point someone said to me “sit down and do it,” which was incredibly simple and incredibly helpful. I also really was inspired and kicked in the ass by two life changing and amazing books: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way.

Which books, films, and places have inspired your work the most?

Travel is incredibly inspiring and cracks open my brain. I loved Egypt and Rome. Films are a constant inspiration. I’m currently re-watching two amazing films: Brian DePalma’s Dressed to Kill and Bertolucci’s The Sheltering Sky. To write, I read. Constantly. My mentors are McCarthy, Faulkner, Alan Hollinghurst, Jean Genet, and many more.

How do you plan to celebrate the release of Diary of a Sex Addict, and what are you most looking forward to with the book launch?

I want everyone who reads this interview to come to the book launch party at NYC Therapy Lounge. It’s going to be truly outlandish. All details are at www.scottalexanderhess.com and you can also read an excerpt of my novel and reserve a copy of the book. The ebook is out in September, the print in October.

Click here to purchase Diary of a Sex Addict

(photos courtesy of Scott Hess)

Mix Tape: After-dark.

2011-08-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much of a chance to update (so busy!), and I've got several posts on the back-burner. But, I did make time to do some mix-tape-magic over on 8tracks. Give it a spin, if you dare. This one's dark and dirty, inspired by my brooding, crunchy side. Think dimly lit spaces, thick boots, ragged cellos, a full moon, glistening sidewalks, dusty pianos, cigarette breath and...umm...guys walking down the street in spacesuits?

"U.R.A. Fever" -- The Kills / "H" -- Julian Plenti / "Tiny Rubberband" -- Butthole Surfers & Moby / "The Stations" -- The Gutter Twins / "Dirty Hole" -- VAST / "To Fix the Gash in your Head" -- A Place to Bury Strangers" / "Burn" -- Nine Inch Nails / "Clean" -- Depeche Mode

Photo by Elizabeth Gordon-Tennant.

Hurricane Daze.

2011-08-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

For my fellow New Yorkers, this weekend means staying inside (hopefully in your own home, unless you're in Zone A) and keeping yourself occupied. I'm pretty damn good at keeping myself occupied, if I do say so myself, so I decided to provide some ideas! And since I'm on the edge of Zone C downtown, I hope to be staying put.

1. If you have power, watch a good movie, or even a trilogy....but absolutely NO disaster flicks because that'll just increase your dormant panic and make you wanna buy even MORE bottles of water. Panicking is no fun! Neither is waiting on line while people buy out supermarkets like it's the end of the world. Now would be a great time to watch all the Star Wars films, but unfortunately they're not streaming on Netflix. So instead....how about:

Summer in New York City. Perfect, but not perfect enough to make you panic....maybe riot, though.

2. Read, read, read...by candlelight if you have to! Rainy weather reading is the best. Again, no disaster books, and nothing dystopian or post-apocalyptic. Now's a good time to do some guilty pleasure reading, so you won't have to pull out your book on the subway. Conversely, you could also get to that book that's been sitting on your shelf for months. If yr a local, Saint Marks Books is staying open until further notice: how convenient! Here is one idea, which I previously mentioned as having a phenomenal cover:

This memoir is fucking awesome, despite some grammatical/spelling errors that drove me crazy. It's raw and real and tough as nails, but also beautifully handled and thematically organized. It's about water in both a literal and abstract sense, but no hurricanes involved!

3. Play some games! While listening to music! I came up with a few game/album combos to get you started:

Set + Dinowalrus' %
Chess + the blues! anything you've got.
Scrabble + Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion
Solitaire + Sigur Ros's ( ) or Teleon Tel Aviv's Farenheit Fair Enough
NES or Super Nintendo, with the original soundtrack(s)
Rummy + Wavves' King of the Beach
Hide and Seek + Sun 0)))'s Black One (that should scare you)
Truth or Dare + Sponge's Rotting Pinata (because you'll feel about 13)

4. There's no better time for snacking than being indoors all day. Here are some ideal Hurricane snacks:

Apple + organic peanut butter
Blue chips + hummus and/or salsa and/or guacamole!
Brownies, while the power's still on
Booze, if yr a boozer (duh)
Bunny Friends

5. Then there's also drawing and writing and crafting and yoga and staring out the window. If all else fails, just sleep. It'll all be over soon. Stay safe and dry!

lv,

amy.

Brooklyn Flea inspires my Fall Wish List.

2011-08-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I finally made it to the Williamsburg waterfront for the Brooklyn Flea, which features "hundreds of top vendors of antique and repurposed furniture, vintage clothing, collectibles and antiques, as well as a tightly curated selection of jewelry, art, and crafts by local artisans and designers, plus delicious fresh food." I was on the hunt for some new "jewels"...anyone who knows me knows I wear lots of somewhat cheap, somewhat funky jewelry, but that I'm also constantly losing or breaking it! I'm embarrassed to say how much I spent on Sunday (ha!), but I'm happy to say I bought unique items from true artisans who have clear, creative visions.

With all that perusing and other things lighting up the "I want that!" part of my brain, I felt inspired to create my version of a Fall Wish List. Blogs do this sort of thing, right? Well, try not to judge me for being materialistic. But, if you're feeling generous...

And do check out the amazing independent vendors of the Brooklyn Flea!

Biria single-speed bike that is somehow small enough for me.

(a 5-foot-1 girl can hope --- the last Biria I tried out was the smallest frame and it was still too big)

Really, any bicycle I can ride will do. But isn't this one nice?

Joan Didion's latest memoir, hitting shelves November 1st

The ultimate Carl Sagan collection! The box-set of his show Cosmos.
Seems perfect for nights when you no longer feel like being outside.

Giant safety-pin necklace by none other than MF Jewelery

Small Oval Tree Trunk Earrings by Jessica DeCarlo

Recycled Record Skinny Bracelets from Wrecords by Monkey

Stretchy red and navy headband by Mercato

Red suede blazer by Dashfield Vintage

Screen-printed NYC Subway Tee from Live Poultry

Doc Marten shoes! Or, I gotta find some good Oxfords...suggestions?

Genuine ballerina leg-warmers from NY Dance Store.
I love leg-warmers and will definitely be needing these bad boys as soon as it gets cold.

um...yeah. The new Macbook Pro!

A cute little kitty...of the hairless variety. I happen to live with an allergic boy ;)

-a.d.

The Slow Walk.

2011-08-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

The slow walk is pretty classic. If a movie involves any sort of "gang" and that gang is on any sort of mission, the slow walk may come into play. Typically, it evokes a sense of cool intimidation, as well as unity among characters by way of style, attitude, expressions, and simply the way they move. Three films I love that all showcase a very cool and purposeful slow walk (and all seem inspired by their predecessor) are A Clockwork Orange, Suburbia, and This Is England. These subcultural homages feature screwed up characters doing screwed up things within groups/gangs that are anti-society. The world needs more films like these.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Suburbia (1983)

This Is England (2006)

note! I couldn't find a picture of the slow walk for This Is England, but it does occur! trust me!

-a.d.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo....wait a minute.

2011-08-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

Confession: I have not read Stieg Larsson's ridiculously popular Millennium Trilogy (probably for that reason), though I've seen people reading it on subways galore and I've watched all three Swedish films. Since I have not devoured the actual pages, I suppose I can't be too much of a purist, but whenever Hollywood decides to puts its flashy stamp on a foreign film I enjoy, I can't help but feel defensive. I mean, is it that difficult to read subtitles and to expose yr ears to another language? Tisk tisk, America.

Anyway, the three Swedish films are absolutely killer (ha!), particularly The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (as the trilogy continues, the storylines get more and more far-fetched). Noomi Rapace was perfect as Lisbeth Salander --- the antisocial, bisexual, goth-punk-tattooed computer hacker with a devastating past and fearless, icy demeanor. In David Fincher's version of the trilogy, the role of Lisbeth goes to Rooney Mara who, incidentally, is the first cousin of my sister's first boyfriend. New York is a small world.

Now, I respect David Fincher as a director, and of course I am thrilled that Trent Reznor is doing the score, but I really doubt that the American makeover is a) necessary or b) in any way better than what Sweden already successfully offered. Nor am I thrilled about Mara as Lisbeth. Nothing against her, but if I had been directing said film, I would have gone for a girl who was more...hardcore. Reportedly, Mara's "long brown hair was cut short and dyed black, in a style reminiscent of 1970s punk and 1980s goth fashion. She also had each of her ears pierced four times, and had her lip, brow, nose, and nipple pierced for the role. Her eyebrows were bleached, and she wears a temporary dragon tattoo." She also had to learn how to skateboard and ride a motorcycle.

Here's my feeling about all this...isn't it possible to find a chick who already has piercings and is legitimately involved in the sort of underground subculture of the character? I get that this is a movie and that Mara Rooney is (method) acting, and maybe I'm just sensitive about alternative cultures becoming exceedingly mainstream and watered down to suit the masses, but I just don't buy it...and buying into the character is pretty fuckin' important. Granted, I have not seen the film. Granted, Noomi Rapace may not have been a genuine cybergoth either. And at least the role didn't go to Kristen Stewart! But the fact remains that reading about Mara's "transformation" just makes me groan.

Hollywood's Lisbeth.

Sweden's Lisbeth.

You make the choice.

-a.d.

Mix Tape: Vibes.

2011-08-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Another quick and dirty 8tracks.com mix from yrs truly. This one here is inspired by bare feet, rainy summer days, torn pages, long hair, seaweed, tire tracks, and blowing bubbles. In other words, it's my folksy, hippie side! I snapped that photo too, at the Gathering of the Vibes last summer...it seemed fitting.

"The Wild Hunt" -- Tallest Man on Earth / "My Eyes Won't Shut" -- Port O'Brien / "We Are the People" -- Empire of the Sun / "Eugene" -- Spencer Bell / "Colours" -- Group Love / "Bury Me" -- The Kissing Club / "The Pusher" -- Blind Melon / "Smoke Like Ribbons" -- Ugly Casanova

lv,

amydee.

What do you do with two cellos?

2011-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Aaron for sharing 2CELLOS' rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with me, I am now sucked into this Croatian duo, who creatively cover classic songs by way of kicking major ass on the cello. I just love the way they're so into it, rocking out as if they were shredding on guitars rather than orchestral instruments. Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser have been perfecting their musical craft for years, and together they take on Nirvana, Guns N Roses, Michael Jackson, and more --- dueling it out in perfect time, performing o so endearing head bangs, and putting their own spin on these classic songs. Love it!

Frances Bean will have her revenge...

2011-08-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

Frances Bean Cobain...we can only imagine her life, right? I have followed photographs of her since she was a newborn baby (well okay, by the time I started listening to Nirvana around 1996, she was no longer a newborn). For most of her childhood, there were only a few photos around. Then, Courtney lost custody of Frances when she was 11, which prompted some slightly disturbing photos of Frances looking like a serious and concerned Kurt, while Courtney played the part of trainwreck.

In the years following, Frances attended some Hollywood events with the ever more plasticized version of Ms. Love, until she posed in Bazaar a couple years ago and looked all retro glamour with dyed black hair. Now she is approaching age 19, while I am the age of her father when he died (r.i.p.). Studying visual art and working on some music project, FBC's all goth-grunge-glam. She's tatted up (so many for her age!), rough around the edges, and channeling her parents, icons, and most likely teenage angst (has paid off well...). I am in love with these photos, taken by Heidi Slimane and posted on her blog (more found there). Though I have to say...I think Frances Bean had plastic surgery. At the very least, lip injections. Ouch! There's no plastic surgery in rock n' roll.

(photos by Heidi Slimane)

Interview Series #6: Meghan Farrell

2011-08-02T17:20:00.002-07:00

Meghan Farrell has pursued many projects in her nearly 27 years --- from studying theater and psychology at Sarah Lawrence College (where we met); to creating her own jewelry line; to contributing to music blogs and DJ-ing; to acting in films and plays; to working as a buyer and store manager in Soho; to helping challenged teens and kids.

Meghan has interned at Teen Vogue and Miramax, and worked for companies like Touchstone/Bad Robot, Miu Miu, and American Apparel. Most recently, she was an assistant buyer at Opening Ceremony --- "a multifaceted environment comprised of retail spaces, showroom, and gallery that establishes a new international creative forum in downtown Manhattan... and brings together emerging American talent with both young and established designers and artists from abroad."

Meghan created and launched her jewelry line, MF, which has been featured in such publications as Harpers Bazaar, Lurve, Stylecaster, Elle.com, and Vogue.com. She's already been interviewed in Lucky for the line, and profiled in Paper Mag for her role at Opening Ceremony. The jewelry is sold exclusively in New York at Opening Ceremony, at Tenoversix in LA, and now also in Denmark. She maintains a blog called Evidence of Existence, which not only showcases the jewelry, but also her photography, music mixes, and bits of this and that --- the blog is nearing 2000 hits a month! Below, Meghan provides some very in-depth answers to my questions.

Quick Look
Birthdate: August 7, 1984
Living in: Manhattan, New York
Originally from: Brookville, New York

Website: http://meghanfarrell.com/jewelry/

How and when do you first get into jewelry design, and has this always been a passion?

Growing up, I would have never imagined I would be working on a project like this at all. Even in college, I don't think I could have ever pictured myself carving or sawing --- the idea would have probably seemed way too crazy, and I am always one to think that I'm not good at anything. Sometimes I feel like I can barely sketch! Despite this, I definitely was always crafty and artistic, and most certainly loved any accessories. Growing up, I loved to perform and make videos --- so I inevitably found the theatre, which was my focus at Sarah Lawrence College. Drama is still definitely a love of mine.

But Sarah Lawrence was the beginning in the discovery of the fashion and art worlds. I had come from a private Quaker school on Long Island, where everyone dressed the same and there were a lot of trends...so you can imagine the shock in being exposed to a student body where everyone had an individual and unique sense of style. The friends I met there took me shopping in the city often, and I discovered new small boutiques and brands, along with vintage stores.

I was always drawn to jewelry; I loved how it could change the look of a garment, and how some pieces could be worn multiple ways. On a whim my sophomore summer, I applied to the accessories department at Teen Vogue, which opened the door to this whole new world, it seemed. I learned so much during that period, as I was always seeing new brands and pieces of jewelry before they were in stores, and the people there in the accessories department were just so crafty! That was also inspiring to me. If a stylist had a vision for a certain accessory, it was up to the team to make it. The editors I worked for were really good at that, and so working in that environment really got me thinking. I stayed at Teen Vogue through my junior year, and then until I graduated.

During this period, I had been getting compliments on my jewelry a lot...my collection of accessories ridiculously grew, and people kept telling me: "Take a class!" "Learn!" "Start a line!" The idea seemed daunting and intimidating. I was also working for a television director at the time and was on the set of Rescue Me sometimes 12 hours a day in between my internship, and so it just seemed improbable.

So I worked various places, found myself at Opening Ceremony as their assistant store manager, and used my free time wisely. I started taking a Jewelry Design 101 class during my nights, made friends with my teacher, and just kept taking the same course and used the studio there. I did that for about two years. My teacher was wonderful, and really helped me bring my visions to life, and helped connect me to people in the jewelry district. The rest is sort of history. Most of my line I actually developed in my class there. Now I have a workbench at home!

How does your jewelry line, MF, represent you as a person?

All of the pieces, without a doubt, are a reflection of my upbringing. When you look at the line, you'll see that it's primarily heavy and has a very clinical feel. You'll also undoubtedly note medical references. That said, I think that the biggest influence on the line was the fact that so many of my family members are in the medical field. My dad is a surgeon, my mom is a registered nurse, and there are so many of my aunts and cousins who are nurses or dentists or something! Growing up, I spent a lot of time in that environment --- there were a lot of wall diagrams and reports, stainless steel and crazy magazines. I remember being drawn to the equipment --- you know, the X-ray machines and such!

Having studied psych in college, and having always loved the brain, my first collection was about psychology and neurology. As a whole my jewelry is a collection of literal representations of things, and then also symbolic representations of things. So, the neurology was seen in literal representations of the brain, and psychology, since it is more theoretical based, manifested itself into symbolic representations of these theories and ideas.

The other thing is that I really don't always know what I am going to make. Also, I always have a certain vision in mind, but my model never ends up looking how I intended. I guess that the same holds true for most people who create anything. I feel like my jewelry is sort of like my handwriting.

What sort of art, fashion, architecture, photography, or even literature, inspires your design aesthetic?

Art: Rothko, Modernist stuff, Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois

Fashion: Believe it or not, a lot of very very old vintage jewelry form the late 19th century: filigree pieces from Italy and Edwardian rings are in mind when I create my pieces. I think it's ironic because most of the jewelry from that period is extremely delicate, and the pieces I usually create are very heavy. Looking at Edwardian and Victorian jewelry makes it feel so personal, as though it has a story. I find that really cool.

Architecture: Art Deco buildings and the Chrysler Building come to mind. And nearly ever bridge I see. I don't know much about architecture.

Literature: Gray's Anatomy, Tom Stoppard plays, 1984, The Metamorphosis

Films: Star Wars

Other things: Chaos Theory, Fractals, Math

What's currently in the works for MF and how would you like to see this brand grow, change and evolve? Are you currently working on a new collection?

Though it is my business, I treat everything surrounding the company very delicately and never rush through anything. There is nothing that annoys me more than being forced to produce or create a piece under constraints or limits in time or ideas. For me, the most exciting part of creating a piece is WHEN I feel so excited to make it. It feels like an itch, and after that point, I will spend a lot of my time on it, for days and days!

Then sometimes, I just sit down without an idea in mind, and cut a piece of wax and carve and carve. This is perhaps more rare --- but I have created some of my favorite pieces just sitting down and not knowing what is going to come out of what I am doing.

Sometimes pieces come slower than others...and sometimes I hit a dry spot. No matter what, I never finalize it until it feels right.

This summer I spent a lot of time working with the pieces I have. The collection has always been very ring heavy, and so this summer I really started to look at the pieces I created and think about how to work them into different types of jewelry. For instance, I made my cross ring into a necklace, and it is currently being worked into a bracelet.

I am also learning Rhino, which is a 3-D Rendering program for your computer. I can't wait, as a lot of the new ideas I have require this program, as it is all based on measurements and being as exact and accurate as possible. I also think I want to start delving into new sciences, theories, and medical areas. Lately I've been reading a lot about astronomy, cardiology, and marine biology...and I've also been thinking a lot about religion and astrology.

You've mentioned sketching and taking photos as prep work for your designs. Can you talk about how you go about doing this, and how it leads to designing the actual jewelry?

I am terrible at sketching! But I do always keep a notebook with me. When I do have an idea I do tend to sketch it out. When I had the idea to make the brain ring, I was so intimidated by the whole idea of carving the creases and such. So I found a few images of a real human brain that felt appropriate, got some tracing paper, and just started tracing all the images to see which folds felt right. When I think back on that it sounds kind of gross.

Then, if I'm out in the city, if I see anything that I find really interesting or inspiring, I always take a picture of it. There is this star that someone carved into wet pavement on Howard Street that I noticed every day when I walked to work. So I took a picture of it. When I did this little sub-collection of pieces inspired by the city, I used that image to create my star ring.

Let's talk about acting, since you've spent many years studying theater. What have been some of your most memorable projects, on stage or on film? And do acting and design ever cross paths for you?

I did this film in Williamsburg with this interesting Swedish film production company called Governess Films...it was shot on all Super 8 and Björn Dixgård from Mando Diao did the soundtrack. I sort of just stepped into that project very randomly! It had a very low budget but a great crew, and a crazy fun cast.

The other most memorable project was probably The Good Person in Szechwan by Brecht when I was a freshman in high school. I played Shen-Te/Shui-Ta, and so it was like playing two roles at once, and the dialogue was heavy and tough. I don't know how I managed to get through that, but it was a very intense learning experience, very physically and mentally demanding --- and performing the show was draining but also sort of like getting on a ride. So in the end it was a really huge learning curve for me in acting, as I learned how to develop a character and sustain energy throughout a show. It's always cool when you're in a class or performance and feel like you lose yourself in the role. That feeling is what I really like, and just the overall energy of performing --- particularly in the theatre world. Design and acting never really cross paths for me, though --- I consider them to be two entirely separate interests and areas.

What have been some of your biggest challenges as both an actress and a designer? And how have you overcome, or currently handle, such challenges?

I think that the biggest challenge is that I do still consider myself a novice at jewelry design! As I mentioned before, the whole process at first seemed really daunting to me, and so stepping into it, I really had to learn techniques and the process from square one. It's the same with anything you learn...you do it over and over until you do it well, but then you realize that the piece would be perfect "only if" it had this feature, or connected to the chain like such, or was a little more angled --- it could be any feature! And that tiny thing that seems too easy to learn opens this whole new can of worms --- an entirely new class, technique, or area of jewelry design you still have to learn!

At this point in time, since I am not in school, I rely heavily on the people in the jewelry district. I have learned at this point how to navigate that world, who to trust, and who I work with best. It's like a fine recipe or something, and someone either gets your visions and really wants to help you, or just doesn't get it at all! No matter what, when it comes to art and design coupled with something so heavily driven by equipment and technique, there is always something new to learn. So it's super frustrating, but it's all a process! Like building a vocabulary. You need to learn or at least have knowledge of the techniques in order to make your visions come to life.

In regards to acting, I always find comedy super super hard! I take things very seriously in life, so most of the roles I have played or gravitate towards have been drama heavy, or dark and mysterious. Which is funny because my whole life I have been that silly, funny kid or teen that ends up wearing a bucket or lampshade on my head. So I'm currently finding roles to explore to develop this side of me.

Your blog often showcases your photography, which offers a glimpse into your family and personal life, as well as your interests in fashion. Can you talk about your desire to share your experiences through photography, and why this has been important to you?

My blog and photography are so very important to me, as I really do enjoy putting all of my posts together. Some people look at my blog and really like it, and some don't understand it at all. Some people just follow the mixes, and some the photos, and some fashion or jewelry posts. People have started to write me about it, about how much they like it or follow it, which is a new thing for me, and I find it really interesting.

I guess the majority of blogs out there are really more focused on appropriation of images or writing about something like celebrities, fashion, or music. With my blog, anything goes in terms of subject. The posts are photo heavy, and the throughline is telling a story through evidence --- bits of paper, letters, old photos, favorite passages from books, and scans of lost objects from my life. And then current photos, mixes I make, and things that inspire me. I also like to showcase my friends who are involved in the arts as much as possible.

In the end, it's all about the personal stuff. So I call it Evidence of Existence, because ionce we are gone, all we have are these physical objects, scraps of papers and notes left behind as proof we were here. I kind of feel like it is a museum, as most of what I put together or choose to post is curated in some way.

And it's all because of this, I guess: In an age that is dominated by computers and the media, I find that a lot is getting lost or being phased out, particularly physical objects (like CDs, books, etc.) and also a sense of a direct personal connection. So now that I've had my blog for two years, I guess it's like me saying: don't forget about these things in life!

In terms of my photos and how most are family driven, I am most inspired by my grandmother and father, but also my nieces and nephews. My nieces and nephews are the coolest little people and it has been the most insane thing to watch four of them grow up and discover the world.

In terms of the process, I'll be with my family or in a moment and just have this feeling that I have to capture it in some way. It can be something happy or sad or uncomfortable, but I'll be looking at something from some angle, and it's just a sharp feeling. It's sort of like another sense. So I'll take like 30 pictures of that one moment from that angle. In the end, there's usually one image that just sums it up. I think it's important to document things always in our family, and especially kids. Children really grow and change so incredbly quickly, so I don't want to forget the small details along the way.

As if all of this weren't enough, you're also DJ-ing in the East Village every Monday night. What kind of music do you play, and what role does this particular music --- and this gig --- play in your life?

My parents have always been into music of all forms. At dinner, when I was very young until I was in high school, my parents always played music while we ate our dinner in the dining room. On heavy rotation were a ton of classical composers, The Beatles, Carol King, Frank Sinatra, Gershwin musicals, Elton John, among others. My mom was also a huge music fan in the '60s --- she has this whole scrapbook of Beatles memorabilia and pictures as a 12-year-old sitting with The Searchers and stuff. All of my sisters and I studied classical piano from an early age, and were taken to a ton of musicals and ballets, then I studied musical theatre in high school, so it was always around, and I've always loved it.

I DJ for fun, and only because I like it. Sundays are my days to just listen to music all day, and I really love re-discovering music for myself and others, and also just discovering music (old or new) in general. In terms of what I play, it's really '50s and '60s heavy, doo-wop through your '60s girl groups and garage stuff. But then I mix it with new music as well --- my favorite mixer is Beck. But anything goes, and it heavily depends on the crowd and energy that night, which is always hit or miss. The bar I DJ at is very homey and feels like the TV room where I grew up!

You also spend some of your free time volunteering --- can you talk about what you do, and how you got started?

When I was in high school were all required to do some sort of independent service project of our choice in order to gradate. AHRC of Long Island had a school right down the road from me (AHRC for those who don't know is an organization and school for children who are mentally challenged, their diseases or disorders ranging in severity), so I decided to volunteer there. I really work well with children, and I volunteered there for about 2 months. It was overall a really big experience for me. You have to have a lot of patience and be really strong. I learned a lot about strength of the body and overall being.

Now that I am focusing on jobs that are independently driven, I decided to get back into volunteering. There's this organization called New York Cares, which is member driven and gives the people of New York the chance to lead and begin service projects and recruit volunteers all through an online database. All it takes is to sign up and attend a one-hour orientation.

I recently started volunteering in Chelsea at VISIONS, which I found through NY Cares. VISIONS is an organization that leads programs for the visually impaired. So on Wednesdays, I go and teach visually impaired teens how to cook.

The other day one of the kids wanted to play the piano during a mini break, so I led him to it. I kind of wasn't prepared for what I heard --- the boy could really, really play. It was mainly jazz and gospel, and he explained how he was learning classical from a friend. I asked what classical composers he liked and he sung the graduation march. So he asked if he could play another song, and he started to play a cool version of the bottom part of "Heart and Soul." And so I started to play the top part and he just started getting excited and was like "Is that you?" It made him so happy. That little moment clearly had nothing to do with cooking, but that's a perfect example of why I volunteer. The other volunteers are also really kind people of all ages, and I've already started to make new friends.

(all photos provided by Meghan Farrell, all jewelry by MF)