N E R V O U S B R E A K D O W N
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Monday, 29 November 2010
SONNENZIMMER
There's a whole culture within the culture of independent music that doesn't get given nearly as much press as it should do. The marriage of art and music has always been there (ill-advised or not) and often manifests itself in paper, ink and wall paste radness. We're talking about gig posters, obviously.
Perhaps once the approach to gig flyering was little more than a crayola and fag packet type of affair, but people now take this shit really seriously even in the case of some of the smaller shows - Maybe they try harder because they know how difficult it is to pack out a place if your headline act's fashion line isn't quite ready for general circulation - Whatever the reason, this niche subculture, occassionally, bursts your eyes as well as your ear drums.
In recent times, East side of the pond, showcases such as the Wallfly Exhibition in East London have given artists who work on these type of projects a bit more exposure. When gifted the kind of space in which they can be allowed to speak for themselves as an individual piece of work, not just an after-thought, you can find some truly incredible stuff.
Setting our iris alight with every new project and creation in this area are Chicago based company Sonnenzimmer, who produce some of the most abstract works of this kind, to highest most exceptional quality. The company was set up by Nadine Nakanishi and Nick Butcher, who met and became buddies whilst working in Jay Ryan's space in the city. The space was constantly full of interesting people, and so the couple started collaborating on work for their specific tastes and set up their own print shop in the summer of 2006.
Juke managed to get hold of Nick the other day to ask him a bunch of questions about their amazing projects. This is that.
Why did you decide to set up this particular project?
Sonnenzimmer came about through a series of lucky events. Nadine and I were looking to combine our efforts. She had since moved to Chicago and was working out of her own painting studio. I had moved into my own painting studio too. We were both still printing at The Bird Machine. Jay's career was really taking off and he was getting busier and busier. He was very generous with his resources but it became obvious that we were getting in the way. We had played with the idea of setting up our own print shop and finally jumped at the opportunity when we met a real nice fellow who was selling his industrial screen printing equipment for next to nothing. We bought the equipment and found a space. It took us about 6 months to get everything up and running. At first, we were using the space for more of a "fine art" space, taking on the occasional poster jobs to help cover rent. We were both working other jobs at the time. Things slowly picked up with more poster jobs and about two years ago we decided to really try to turn Sonnenzimmer into a real business. During all this time we were both working at various places. We were both laid off a few times and eventually we just decided to go for it.
What is the creative process behind producing the artwork for different artists?
Our process is always different. In general we start by listening to the band, to get an idea of the kind of atmosphere we want to create. It's also extremely important for us to be excited about what we are making. So, even if the music is not exactly our cup of tea, we try to bring in formal concepts or techniques that are new and exciting to us. Most of all we try to surprise ourselves. Once we've decided on the basic ambient, we then bounce ideas off of one another through sketching, mock ups on the computer, word games, etc. There's no real formula. But it is always important for us to agree on a direction ahead of time, or else it can be to much of an internal battle. Once we are on the same page we work pretty fast. Thats the great thing about a team, double idea power. We usually start by taking drawings or painted elements, photocopying them, and collaging them together to create our film positives.
Why did you decide to set up this particular project?
Sonnenzimmer came about through a series of lucky events. Nadine and I were looking to combine our efforts. She had since moved to Chicago and was working out of her own painting studio. I had moved into my own painting studio too. We were both still printing at The Bird Machine. Jay's career was really taking off and he was getting busier and busier. He was very generous with his resources but it became obvious that we were getting in the way. We had played with the idea of setting up our own print shop and finally jumped at the opportunity when we met a real nice fellow who was selling his industrial screen printing equipment for next to nothing. We bought the equipment and found a space. It took us about 6 months to get everything up and running. At first, we were using the space for more of a "fine art" space, taking on the occasional poster jobs to help cover rent. We were both working other jobs at the time. Things slowly picked up with more poster jobs and about two years ago we decided to really try to turn Sonnenzimmer into a real business. During all this time we were both working at various places. We were both laid off a few times and eventually we just decided to go for it.
What is the creative process behind producing the artwork for different artists?
Our process is always different. In general we start by listening to the band, to get an idea of the kind of atmosphere we want to create. It's also extremely important for us to be excited about what we are making. So, even if the music is not exactly our cup of tea, we try to bring in formal concepts or techniques that are new and exciting to us. Most of all we try to surprise ourselves. Once we've decided on the basic ambient, we then bounce ideas off of one another through sketching, mock ups on the computer, word games, etc. There's no real formula. But it is always important for us to agree on a direction ahead of time, or else it can be to much of an internal battle. Once we are on the same page we work pretty fast. Thats the great thing about a team, double idea power. We usually start by taking drawings or painted elements, photocopying them, and collaging them together to create our film positives.
Most people attach an image to everything, whether they are conscious of it or not. It helps us file things in our minds. For most of our lives, music has existed as an object. So that object, many times came the image we referred to in our brain library. Now that music is once again immaterial, people need an image more than ever to attach to it, in order to file it properly. That can be video, graphic art, anything really.
How do you feel about the artwork that is produced en masse for musicians nowadays?
In general, I feel that art, music, and culture in general is at a stand sill. There's more of it than ever, which is great. But its also very monochromatic, not literally, but there is certain look to everything. We are just as guilty as anyone else. But, I feel a real fear of the future, so everyone is looking backwards. You see it in art, music, everywhere. In general though, I think musicians care more than ever about the art that's on their albums and posters. We live in an image based culture now. In many ways, image is just as important as the content. Its a strange time. A cross roads, I guess.
Are there any particular musicians who you feels artwork is really on point?
I've always loved Four Tet's album covers, especially Rounds. It really hit the nail on the head for the aesthetic of record. I love the covers and labels that Stefan Marx has done for Smallville Records, and of course Kim Hiorthoy's work for Rune Grammophon. I love the simplicity of jazz classics like The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman or Giant Steps by John Coltrane. Utilitarian with a touch of style and class.
What creative collaborations have most excited you recently?
We've had a good run lately of really fun collaborations. We recently worked on a poster for an experimental animation festival called Eyeworks. The organizers, Alexander Stewart and Lilli Carre, are fantastic animators themselves, came in with tons of great ideas. Together we came up a crazy plan. An animated poster, using the screen printing process to make incremental changes in placement and color over the print run. So the stack of finished prints worked as a flip book. Alexander Stewart and Lilli Carre then photographed each of the posters and created the actual animated poster. Which they used as a web trailer for the event. That project really opened up our minds to new possibilities with screen printing.
We also just produced a collaborative art print with local vibraphonist, Jason Adasiewicz. For the project we covered his vibraphones with paper and inked up his mallets. He then proceeded to beat the shit out of them, making some amazing marks, definitely recalling abstract expressionism and all the action painters. We took that imagery as source material to create a print. The final product is part of a project called 10x10 (not the Insound thing, a different 10x10), which was put together by local print shop Spudnik Press and event organizers, Homeroom. For the project 10 printmakers choose a local musician. The musicians created a song and then the printmakers make a print based on that song. The finished product is packaged together as a set. 10 prints with a coupon code for the 10 songs. This project was great, because we got to work with one of our favorite musicians in a very very direct way.
Could you tell us a little more about the thinking behind your recent 10x10 project and how you felt it panned out?
The Insound 10 for 10 project was a huge endeavor for us, also a huge opportunity. The idea behind it was to create something bigger than the individual posters, to add a second layer of interest and concept. Our solution was to make all the posters fit together as large abstracted landscape. Insound's goal was to highlight 10 bands that were shaping the future of music. We wanted to make that shape!
Who would you like to work with in the future?
In many ways I think there is a lot more freedom in dance music. While the structures are extremely rigid the things put in the structures can vary widely. Its a strange duality. I'd love to make images for more dance oriented music. We would also like to work with larger institutions for event posters and prints. Working with museums, galleries, etc would be great. Especially if were able to collaborate with featured artists at such places. We are also looking to do more publishing. We've released one book, Formal Additive Programs, and have another, Field Integration, in the works. Rather than portfolios of our work, both books offer insight into different processes and working methods. We would eventually like to work with a larger publisher for producing similar publications.
How do you feel about the artwork that is produced en masse for musicians nowadays?
In general, I feel that art, music, and culture in general is at a stand sill. There's more of it than ever, which is great. But its also very monochromatic, not literally, but there is certain look to everything. We are just as guilty as anyone else. But, I feel a real fear of the future, so everyone is looking backwards. You see it in art, music, everywhere. In general though, I think musicians care more than ever about the art that's on their albums and posters. We live in an image based culture now. In many ways, image is just as important as the content. Its a strange time. A cross roads, I guess.
Are there any particular musicians who you feels artwork is really on point?
I've always loved Four Tet's album covers, especially Rounds. It really hit the nail on the head for the aesthetic of record. I love the covers and labels that Stefan Marx has done for Smallville Records, and of course Kim Hiorthoy's work for Rune Grammophon. I love the simplicity of jazz classics like The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman or Giant Steps by John Coltrane. Utilitarian with a touch of style and class.
What creative collaborations have most excited you recently?
We've had a good run lately of really fun collaborations. We recently worked on a poster for an experimental animation festival called Eyeworks. The organizers, Alexander Stewart and Lilli Carre, are fantastic animators themselves, came in with tons of great ideas. Together we came up a crazy plan. An animated poster, using the screen printing process to make incremental changes in placement and color over the print run. So the stack of finished prints worked as a flip book. Alexander Stewart and Lilli Carre then photographed each of the posters and created the actual animated poster. Which they used as a web trailer for the event. That project really opened up our minds to new possibilities with screen printing.
We also just produced a collaborative art print with local vibraphonist, Jason Adasiewicz. For the project we covered his vibraphones with paper and inked up his mallets. He then proceeded to beat the shit out of them, making some amazing marks, definitely recalling abstract expressionism and all the action painters. We took that imagery as source material to create a print. The final product is part of a project called 10x10 (not the Insound thing, a different 10x10), which was put together by local print shop Spudnik Press and event organizers, Homeroom. For the project 10 printmakers choose a local musician. The musicians created a song and then the printmakers make a print based on that song. The finished product is packaged together as a set. 10 prints with a coupon code for the 10 songs. This project was great, because we got to work with one of our favorite musicians in a very very direct way.
Could you tell us a little more about the thinking behind your recent 10x10 project and how you felt it panned out?
The Insound 10 for 10 project was a huge endeavor for us, also a huge opportunity. The idea behind it was to create something bigger than the individual posters, to add a second layer of interest and concept. Our solution was to make all the posters fit together as large abstracted landscape. Insound's goal was to highlight 10 bands that were shaping the future of music. We wanted to make that shape!
Who would you like to work with in the future?
In many ways I think there is a lot more freedom in dance music. While the structures are extremely rigid the things put in the structures can vary widely. Its a strange duality. I'd love to make images for more dance oriented music. We would also like to work with larger institutions for event posters and prints. Working with museums, galleries, etc would be great. Especially if were able to collaborate with featured artists at such places. We are also looking to do more publishing. We've released one book, Formal Additive Programs, and have another, Field Integration, in the works. Rather than portfolios of our work, both books offer insight into different processes and working methods. We would eventually like to work with a larger publisher for producing similar publications.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
SELECTION OF FAVES
This is just a selection of some of our favourite record covers from 2010 (the music inside wasn't bad either).
I M A G E H E A V Y
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
WE HEART COCHRAN
Eddie Cochran was IT. He was a radder version of Elvis (in some ways) who had the sense to kick the bucket before things got embarrassing, and burger-like. Ever since we saw the picture above, we've been racking our brains to think of a reason to post it up here, but then it just got to the point where we didn't care any more. As such, we've just compiled a simple (but essential) top 5.
Juke's Top 5 Cochran classics:
1. Sittin' In The Balcony
2. Completely Sweet
3. Teenage Heaven
4. Undying Love
5. Stockin's N Shoes
As an added extra, below is a short audio documentary about Edward which serves as a perfect introduction to a largely underrated all-American hero.
R O C K N R O L L N E V E R D I E S
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
DECODING JIGGA
Vigilant Citizen - Symbols Rule The World, Not Words Not Laws - is a semiotic conspiracy site for people who want to prove to their mate that all that time they've spent Googling "The Devil is in the slurpy" and staring at their pubic hair looking for crop circles has been justified because there are others out there just like them. You know, the rational folk.A couple of days ago, they took the liberty of offering up Jay - Z's book cover as an inkblot test for their avid viewers. Below are some of the comments that we feel best encapsulate what Jiggaman was going for:
Zero says:
November 20, 2010 at 10:52 am
Yup. It also looks like the female genitalia which also has an esoteric meaning but I just forgot. Did you read VC’s article about Pan’s Labyrinth?
bosniqe hercegivne says:
November 21, 2010 at 1:16 am
on bottom left and right you can see human beings being slashed with a knife blood dripping and on top thos are heads hanging .look carefully.sacrefice
mariaa says:
November 21, 2010 at 12:58 am
maybe we’re all just biased because right from the get-go we know it has to do with Jay-Z and he’s linked to all these themes (evil, control, etc) so we already know what to expect.
Thinus says:
November 22, 2010 at 7:46 am
Why would you wanna buy this book? You know there’s an evil message behind it. Why waste your time on reading it?
Try reading the bible instead!!
GAbrielle says:
November 20, 2010 at 9:54 am
Are you people blind?? No one sees the eyes smack dead in the middle and the horns?
felix says:
November 23, 2010 at 6:06 am
kabbalah tree
Monday, 22 November 2010
WHO ISLET?
We first read about Welsh group, Islet, ages ago and became instantly fascinated by this mysterious gang. Given the tag line (as we remember) "So LO - FI that they don't even have a Myspace", Islet didn't seem like a regular band of wannabes. They're not.
They've now got a website and a blog (still no Myspace) and are farming out creative wonders faster than you can say "Rebecca Riots". The odd thing about the band, and something that made us even more interested in them, is that they don't appear to be a band at all. Looking at their website, there's zines, collages, GIFs and free downloads...everything you could every possibly want to become an Islet superfan.
The intrigue continued even after we found a way of getting hold of them - this interview was conducted via their (real nice) press lady with Emma from the band. Who the eff are these guys?
Hey (sort of), you seem to be more of an art collective than a regular band, what with not going down the Myspace route, was it a conscious decision to not go down the regular path to be heard?
We do what we do for fun, love and good intentions. We’re not interested in doing anything at all simply because it is expected of us. As far as being heard goes, we release records, play gigs, make a zine, have a website and a blog- and do interviews!
I’ve always been inspired by artists’ collectives, and I wanted Islet to me more of a group than a band. That means being looser in structure, people being able to take on different roles, being part of it or not as time goes on.
What was you intention when you started Islet?
Mark and JT are brothers, and when Mark became my boyfriend it seemed natural that we should make music together. We all love the excitement and release of playing, it is a passion. We wanted to make a group where anything is possible, isolated in that it’s a place where we can do what we like. We record ourselves, do all the artwork, do as much of the fun bits as we can.
Art - Music or Music - Art?
I’m not sure where being an artist or musician begins or ends, in many ways it’s the same thing. But in Islet, everything starts and goes back to the sounds we are making.
Who are your artist influences?
At the moment I’m into an art bookshop in Edinburgh called Analogue books, Czech photographer Vojtech Frohlich, London collective LuckyPDF, the Salford Zine Library, Wolfgang Tillmans, London collective LuckyPDF, supersaturated secondhand books of mountains, papercuts, people who make things happen.
You guys are a bit GIF crazy (so are we), what do you like about GIFs?
What’s there not to like? Mark is a proper geek for lo-fi html coding. Check out the Shape Records website that he does with his brother Lee (http://www.shaperecords.co.uk) if you ever have a yearning to see Courier New sliding back and forth. He’s been obsessed with gifs for a while. Ewan Jones-Morris came up with the idea of gif motion for our ‘Ringerz’ video. My favourites are the really dull bits, like a gate blowing in the wind… We probably really annoyed Ewan by phoning him up with ‘Make it more boring! Cut that interesting bit! Can you make it look more shit?!’ Rubbish is good, a drizzly afternoon on a farm is where it’s at. To me, anyway.
Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?
We’ve recently started a blog, which is a place for ideas, doodles, photos and works in progress. It’s a high speed, RGB accompaniment to our zine, The Isness, which we’ll be doing more of. And our next big project is writing and recording an LP!
WERE YOU THERE?
As you should already know, we put out our second issue, The Secrets Issue, not so long ago. As a way of celebrating/showing off, we put on a killer party at The Joiners in London to show everyone what we've all been working so hard on since the first one.
If you made the mistake of not coming along, here is a taste of what you missed. There's plenty more where this came from, though, so keep your beady eye (god, that band are unnecessary) on this space.
A G W A
Thursday, 18 November 2010
ELECTRONEG
Forward thinking from Welsh producer, Geraint Ffrancon, with the video accompaniment to his EP, which you can download totally free of charge from here. Perhaps not brand new(S), but good? It's good.
W E L S H ?
CELESTIAL/VISUAL
Ferry Gouw raises the jealousy level in our office to an unfathomable level. Creative to the power of rad, he draws stuff, he plays stuff, he films stuff and he edits stuff. Above is his latest video for his band, Celestial Bodies, which he has just put out.
You might remember we covered him in Vol. 1 in our piece about bedroom projects? Well, we're doing it again.
Hey man, we're really into your video, could you tell us a little about the inspiration behind it?
I think the emptiness of the landscapes originated from ideas about being the only person in the world left, etc, but that sucks. I think it morphed into something else, a lot of it was instinctive. I've been playing with the idea of a simple action elevated to a metaphorical level. There's something about a person walking that fascinates me, being the only moving element in a still world, but also in an environment that overwhelms you, either natural or manmade. Ultimately, there's something deeply moving about the mirroring of the two lives. I felt there was something in there, n I wanted to just pursue it.
What other video directors do you rate at the moment?
There are great video directors, like Michel Gondry, Chris Cunningham, Spike Jonze, all the usual, and newer people like Patrick Daughters, or Marcus Soderlund. But I don't watch music videos, really. I love watching films. and the kinda films I like don't translate well to videos, generally. I dig Ozu, Cassavetes, Victor Erice, and Jacques Tourneur.
Celestial Bodies has a really strong aesthetic to it, is that your input?
How we operate as a band just reflect the kind of people in the band, we all do other things, and have concerns beyond music. We've decided to make Celestial Bodies a viable environment to explore them. On my side of things, Celestial Bodies is where I make stuff that I wouldnt be able to get away with if I proposed it for other people. Hopefully we can expand on this aspect, make more things, start more projects.
What other projects would you like the opportunity to explore?
It'll be interesting to extend the music into tangible forms.
C E L E S T I A L B O D I E S
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
A MOVIE ABOUT SILVER JEWS
So, Silver Jews went to the promised land to play some shows and make a movie for us all to enjoy. Above is the trailer for said movie, and HERE is said movie...but for one week only.
24HOUR VIDEO TURNAROUND
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Monday, 15 November 2010
Sunday, 14 November 2010
SOLAR BEARS
Solar Bears new album is fucking great. But you knew that. Juke got in touch with one half of the spacial land dwellers, John McElheron, to discuss what it was that we thought we should be talking about. Never let it be said that a lack of plan should hinder a music journalist from having a friendly chat about nothing at all in particular. Well, that's what happened anyway. Over the course of 3 days, emails about tape machines, the lack of creative inspiration in Ireland, new tours, David Lynch, good reviews, favourite records and Scorpio Rising were fired across the water. We finally settled on him giving us a top 5 Death In Vegas tunes. So, here they are. Thanks man.
Top 5 Death In Vegas songs
Neptune City:
This was an influence on our song Neon Colony. I adore the guitar sound and the use of drone throughout. The layering is really tastefully done and when the horns come in at the end it is a truly joyous moment. Perfect album closer.
Help Yourself:
Complete genius. It helps to have a virtuouso musician doing a solo and scoring the strings when you are making a composition. Everything from the bass, to the drums, to the sitar, strikes an emotional chord. The vocals from Hope Sandoval are supremely narcotic and intoxicating. I think Help Yourself set the bar since it was released.
Blood Yawning:
Not many people know about this gem. It is a live favourite and was on the Aisha single. The use of repetition is masterful, each layer revealing itself fluidly in an organic manner. One of the things that mark Death in Vegas and this number apart in particular is the sound design itself, the timbre is all important.
Scorpio:
Again a rarity. The song is really broken down and streamlined which makes it ultra direct. They really know how to write a riff, puts other groups to shame. Highly cinematic and widescreen at the same time.
Head:
One of the final tracks off their last album Satan's Circus. It is psychedelic and then some with glorious melodies and atmospherics. Slightly envious I did not make the arrangement myself.
Top 5 Death In Vegas songs
Neptune City:
This was an influence on our song Neon Colony. I adore the guitar sound and the use of drone throughout. The layering is really tastefully done and when the horns come in at the end it is a truly joyous moment. Perfect album closer.
Help Yourself:
Complete genius. It helps to have a virtuouso musician doing a solo and scoring the strings when you are making a composition. Everything from the bass, to the drums, to the sitar, strikes an emotional chord. The vocals from Hope Sandoval are supremely narcotic and intoxicating. I think Help Yourself set the bar since it was released.
Blood Yawning:
Not many people know about this gem. It is a live favourite and was on the Aisha single. The use of repetition is masterful, each layer revealing itself fluidly in an organic manner. One of the things that mark Death in Vegas and this number apart in particular is the sound design itself, the timbre is all important.
Scorpio:
Again a rarity. The song is really broken down and streamlined which makes it ultra direct. They really know how to write a riff, puts other groups to shame. Highly cinematic and widescreen at the same time.
Head:
One of the final tracks off their last album Satan's Circus. It is psychedelic and then some with glorious melodies and atmospherics. Slightly envious I did not make the arrangement myself.
Friday, 12 November 2010
DEEP SOUTH?
>
We thought one highlight of our USA roadtrip would be the fabled Mississippi Crossroads: the x of tumbleweed ghetto highways that marks the spot where Robert Johnson swapped his soul for sick guitar skills and rock ‘n roll’s pact with the devil began. And maybe if this music mecca had been somewhere you could stand and soak up Zuul’s blackrays without getting mown down by a bunch of trucks blaring Ne-Yo, it would’ve been.
But as with most pilgrimages, our drive from the fatted calflands of country music to the dirty blues delta via Nashville, Memphis, Graceland, the Smokies, Dollywood and a much-needed sippy-cup final in New York City for Halloween, some box-ticks were disappointingly lame - and the best experiences came from out of nowhere.
Drinking moonshine with middle-aged hippies from the bayou in a Pigeon Forge motel with cubbyholes for cowboy hats and crepey Southern Belles talking trash in rockers outside.
Smoking freely in every honkytonk and dive bar while musicians did impossible things with harmonicas.
Hitting the so-called roadside “blood buckets” with a local to find meth-tweakers line-dancing to Justin Timberlake and old bikers crying over sad songs.
A friendly stranger in Clarksdale strongarming a very stoned old cat into opening up his music museum for us, where we had his insane collection of vintage psych blacklight posters, an emporium of collectors’ wet dreams and some rude John Lennon sketches hidden behind a curtain to ourselves for a drunken hour.
Or actually enjoying country music.
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