The Blackmail » 2009 » July

Garden Of Eden

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:20:34 +0000

Words: Tristan Ceddia Images: Martin Bell

I met Martin one night in a bush near North Melbourne around eight years ago. We became friends immediately and soon he showed me his caravan which was parked at a squat where he and another friend were living. They had a chicken coop and a kitchen sink with an ice cream bucket attached as a shower. Since then, Martin has shown work in Canberra with the National Gallery of Australia, been in numerous group shows around the country, and in 2007 released his first book, My Birthday Party.

Working on My Birthday Party with Mr. Bell was probably one of the loosest experiences I have ever had as a designer. We would lay the pages out on the computer, then he would go home, print them out and collage the images back together how he wanted them. The result is literally a snapshot of Martin as an erratically calculated human.

He has a one-off hand made wooden guitar in the shape of Australia and was once caught on camera kicking in the back panel of his car, only to reach inside the boot, pop out the dint and give the camera a thumbs up.

Martin’s installations form enlarged 3D collaged shrines blending nature and sculpture while paying homage to his favorite films and other elements of popular culture. His ink and pencil drawings drawings explore a fantasy world of dolls and He Man figurines while his collage work seems to be the result of a porno, a glossy magazine and a comic book thrown in the blender.

More info on Martins Bell’s book My Birthday Party here and at The Serps here.

The Blackmail is lucky enough to have two copies of My Birthday Party to give away. For your chance to win a copy just email prize@theblackmail.com.au

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Second Time Lucky

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:19:12 +0000

Words: Gabriel Knowles Images: SPR/PPLl

The sophomore album is a tough nut to crack. Play it too safe and you’re accused of not developing musically – but take a risk by branching out and all your old fans are up in arms. You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. Wolf & Cub know the feeling all too well having just released their second album Science & Sorcery nearly three years after their first, Vessels.

Their fuzzy guitars and genuinely psychedelic sound shone through on a debut number that did more than enough to vindicate the presence of a second drummer in the Adelaide based quartet. Those same elements are still ever present and obviously highly influential but they’ve added a few more layers – keys, saxophone and a sampler to name a few. Apparently it’s not for everyone with some reviews bemoaning the lack of wailing and feedback from their guitars this time around, while others applauded their new found depth.

Unsurprisingly frontman Joel Byrne tends to agree with the latter school of thought. “It has a lot of weight, you aren’t going to be able to listen to it once and decide what it sounds like. On repeated listen you’re going to hear stuff you didn’t on the first listen. That’s very intentional. There’s so much in there that you’re going to be able to sift through. My favourite records are the ones that do have little treasures that all throughout them, that you gradually discover. The unexpected things.”

The divided opinions probably have as much to do with the fact that the album was produced by Chris Colonna in his hometown of Braidwood, a tiny town in southern New South Wales that’s as famous for having a butler school as anything else. With the man behind the often divisive Bumblebeez at the helm it’s little wonder then that the four piece ended up with an album that sounds as if it was influenced as much by pop as it was psychedelica. The singer doesn’t regret the path they’ve taken. “He took us out of our comfort zone and told us things we didn’t want to hear. For us that was really important. Songs we had that were okay were only going to be good if we shed some of our ideas and thoughts.” Byrne admits. “We needed him to shake us up a little bit and show us that we had wasn’t the finished product. Maybe we thought we closer to being finished than what we really were.”

It might be a common trait for the creatively minded, but not everyone can come to terms with the fact that their idea is a long way short of the finished product. “I think I hold onto an idea far too long, I think in my head it’s finished before its actually finished, I think that can be quite constricting. It prevents you from seeing the possibility of anything else which isn’t a great way to be creative, you aren’t allowing yourself to see the possibilities.” Byrne concedes before explaining just how much working with Colonna has shaped his approach.

“I don’t think I’ll have that problem again. When it came to putting down this record when we started we had an idea of what we wanted it to be but I think that’s a little defeatist. If we hadn’t worked with Chris we would have followed it a little too closely.”

“I think from now on I’ll let it evolve more naturally.”

Wolf & Cub are touring nationally until July 12

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Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:17:57 +0000

Words:Adriana Giuffrida Images: Stephanie Downey & Saskia Wilson

I like clothes, and I mean I really like clothes, but nothing gets me more excited than seeing Dress Up by Stephanie Downey each season. It does make me sad that when collections come out and are shared with the public, you don’t often get to see the thought process behind what inspired the designer and it’s all left to interpretation. Stephanie’s latest collection is based on the concept of old horror films, the colour palette is strong to reflect upon this inspiration, she uses silver leather inserts to insinuate the gentle sheen of a knife on the garment, these ideas are what fascinate me about Stephanie’s thought process. Her clothes are so rich in concept and make you feel so special, that I felt it was necessary to ask her how she creates such beautiful garments. That and just how she manages to take you to another time and place and help you to remember what it truly is to dress up after all.

Adriana Giuffrida: Were you one of those kids that was always making things? Do you remember what the first thing you designed was? Was it a piece of clothing or something else?

Stephanie Downey: Yes, I was very creative from a young age – my parents really encouraged arts and crafts. I think most children are naturally imaginative and creative if given the means. I was always drawing and painting as a child, and I thought I would grow up to be an artist, actually I wanted to illustrate children’s books. I was very obsessive about my drawings. My mum sewed her own clothes and ours – I would sit beside her sewing table and help choose the fabrics and pictures on the patterns. Then I started borrowing her sewing machine to make my own clothes when I was a teenager.

AG: You’ve said that you’re interested in the human emotion, and that you like to create garments that are personal and unique. Do you feel connections with people that respond to your garments? If you see someone wearing something you created, do you feel connected to them, like they understand what you’re trying to express?

SD: Definitely. That’s the most rewarding and exciting thing – as I am so interested in the the way people dress to communicate their own personal image. I love seeing my clothing incorporated into somebody’s life. I feel a real connection to the wearer; after putting so much thought and love into a design and to see it being enjoyed and re-interpreted is wonderful. For me it becomes further inspiration and adds another layer to the story.

AG: I went to the Opera House recently, and I was so excited to have an excuse to dress up, and I mean really dressed up. I got there, and everyone was dressed in jeans and jackets. Why don’t people dress up anymore?

SD: I actually really like thinking about all those complex and private insecurities that are self consciousness – exactly like when you find yourself inappropriately dressed at an event – it’s funny how strongly our self perception or self image impacts on our mood and confidence. I’m always in admiration when I see somebody has put a lot of consideration and time into their outfit – even if it’s not to my taste, it makes me happy to notice that they feel beautiful. I remember being a teenager and freaking out because I felt overdressed and mum saying ‘don’t worry, you just look nicer than everybody else’… I always remember that!

AG: Your concepts are very strong, I remember you telling me that your last collection was based on the notion of friendship after you found an old photo of you and an old school friend? Is conception the hardest part of putting a collection together, or is it the easiest?

SD: I think that a concept usually just comes naturally – something I have been thinking about a lot or watching or reading or imagining. I do a lot of daydreaming! Once I have an idea it all seems to unfold naturally, the ideas mature and elaborate and become sculptural as I build a collection. My collections are small, and I guess in my mind I’m just creating a wardrobe for the girl in the story that I’m imagining.

AG: Your campaign shots are always so beautiful and moody, and seem to really reinforce your ideas for each range. Do you think as a designer, when you are in control of the garment and the execution, that it gets difficult to enlist the help of other people to help you fully express what you want to communicate through the photographs?

SD: It’s something that is very important to me and a process that feels extremely difficult to achieve as it is usually so rushed. I always have imagery in my mind at the beginning of the design process and set high hopes of capturing this with photography. Sometimes it takes a few tries! Usually the best results happen when everyone involved is relaxed, and the environment is comfortable, and then it’s fun and exciting. But I am not a very confident director, the shoot is usually the first time I’ve seen the collection in context, with the outfits styled accordingly, so that is very rewarding.

AG: What is the idea behind your latest collection? How do you manage to incorporate what you are inspired by into the garments themselves? Is the concept just a starting point for you, or something that you constantly refer back to?

SD: My latest collection was inspired by Italian director Dario Argento’s horror films of the 70s and 80s such as Tenebrae, Suspiria and Inferno with their elaborate cinematography, dynamic lighting and progressive musical scores. I was trying to reinterpret the beauty of Argento’s heroine – an ambiguous synthesis of vulnerability and power. I used quite a dramatic colour palette – I love the way he uses blood so dramatically and the vermillion red that I used was in reference to this. The clothing also needed to have a softness, and an innocence which I tried to impart through subtle drapery. Most of all I wanted to achieve elegance and composure yet at the same time a subversive feeling of suspense. I took photographs of the television to capture scenes from the films that I could refer back to – and these images became a template for the collection in a way.

AG: I always say I hate horror films, but when I watch them, I feel this weird sense of adrenaline and love it which I guess is the point. Have you always loved horror films, or do you have a love/hate relationship with them like I do?

SD: That’s funny – I think that is what I love about them too, without the hate part. I think I love horror because it is a safe way to experience an emotion or feeling that is in real life horrible and dangerous – to be scared. I have always just liked to scare myself – and I don’t get nightmares or anything. To be honest most of the horror films I love are older ones that are quite obvious and cinematic so I don’t really find them so scary.

AG: Which have been most influential to you do you think?

SD: Argento’s films – I can watch them over and over. Phenomena, Suspiria, Inferno, Tenebrae… I also love numerous others, from cheesy to classy. The Shining is a favourite. I recently saw Let The Right One In at the cinema, which I thought was incredible.

AG: Argento’s films are so rich in colour and visually beautiful to watch, despite the fact that they are so morbid and twisted. What do you find inspires you the most about these horror films? Is it the visual or is it more about the mood and feeling?

SD: It’s both. Argento’s films are stylistically intoxicating – so beautifully composed. All the elements really work together to create such suspense – Goblin’s music, the rich colour, the dynamic lighting and cinematography. But I also think terror, being such a powerful emotion brings the visual and aural components to life even more.

AG: Are you thinking about your next collection at the moment? Is it hard to distance yourself from the previous collection?

SD: Sometimes it’s hard – as there are always ideas that I don’t have time to explore. But I feel a need to move onto something new and refreshing each season, I think it makes a collection stronger and more concise in the end. I have some inklings of new ideas but nothing solid yet – time for some research!

View Stephanie Downey’s latest collection at Dress Up

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Free As A Bird

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:16:45 +0000

Words: Joseph Allen Shea Images: doingbird # fourteen, Alex Rose, Amy Troost, Danko Steiner, Owens Corp & Asha Mines

Biannual fashion and culture periodical doingbird is in a unique position. Independent, far from the fashion capitals and without a concrete staff, founders Malcolm Watt and Max Doyle make room within the pages of their book-like quality driven publication for this earth’s most forward thinking and renowned creators, fashionable iconoclasts such as Ann Demeulemeester, Hedi Slimane, Helmut Lang, Lee Ranaldo, Bruce Labruce and Nobuyoshi Araki. Between navigating technological advances to retain only the most important aspects of the printed format, avoiding the constraints of clocks and locating the cultural cartographers, editor Malcolm Watt gave The Blackmail an insight into creating from the clink.

Joseph Allen Shea: Your magazine’s title is Cockney slang for being in jail. Could you tell me the story behind your name?

Malcolm Watt: Max Doyle [co-founder] lived in Hackney in East London from 1990-1999 and before returning to Australia he felt as if he was about to embark on the equivalent of jail time. The phrase is interesting rhyming slang and when we started the magazine we liked the anti-establishment vibe the title evokes.

JAS: With the rapid changes to print and web publishing, are you fearful or excited by what is to come?

MW: I’m both. Initially I see a downgrading of creativity when publications are created specifically for the web because a lot of content doesn’t translate well. Images can feel too slick, cold and artificial. On the other hand a printed book, magazine, poster or an LP can convey something tangible with a clearly human touch. You can love the content of a website or blog for its immediacy but it’s untouchable and that can be its failing.

Of course the speed you can access online content is what makes the web so amazing. The things you can find (be it for entertainment or research) makes the internet completely necessary but it seems to stifle creativity that’s honest and elemental in that indelible: ‘this is a drawing’ or ‘this is a polaroid’ way that only print can achieve. It doesn’t worry me that over time there will be less printed magazines. What’s published will have to be justifiable or no one will be interested in what it’s saying.

As online content progresses you can only imagine how refined a form it could take. The potential of the interactive nature of the internet and how sight and sound could meld with moving imagery within the pages of a magazine is very interesting.

JAS: You are an independently published magazine. Can you tell us a little about the benefits and short-comings on doing things yourself?

MW: We publish whatever we feel works within the confines of the magazine. This is the most obvious benefit of doing things your own way! The lack of funds that is the result of being a small entity makes it difficult to commission content that requires a budget to be implemented successfully.

In the current economic climate independent magazines need to become braver and more eccentric rather than giving in and becoming more insipid and palatable.

JAS: I noticed your distributor Selectair categorise your idiosyncratic magazine as ‘Women’s Fashion’. How do niches and categories help or hinder doingbird?

MW: I think you have to be categorised to fit into most systems (even if they don’t explain what you actually do) as it helps people understand your title in the most simple, straightforward way. Words might misinterpret what you’re trying to do but if people see something unconventional or unexpected they’ll quite quickly come to their own conclusion as to what’s actually in front of them. You want a magazine to be as cross-generational, ambiguous, self-indulgent and as non conformist as possible so people really like or dislike what they see.

JAS: doingbird is not markedly anchored to a geographical location. Is this intentional?

MW: We don’t want to feel like the product of one particular place because we want to be a lot of things to different people. Some of our readership wouldn’t even be interested in what we have to say (in the written sense) as they don’t speak English (doingbird sells in Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Germany, Sweden, Italy as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States).

JAS: Do you believe there to be a responsibility to promote the fruits of the soil in your area or is that just nepotism?

MW: You’ll always be drawn to the ideas and output of certain people but it’s not based on geography – it’s just something that connects you to what these individuals say or do regardless of whether they are based in St Petersburg or LA or wherever. We don’t want to be too short-sighted in what we publish or appear too one-dimensional in our view of the world. Ideally you want to be here, there and everywhere.

JAS: As well as editor you are also the art director of doingbird. The look of the magazine is refined and direct. You use Quark Xpress, is there a reason for sticking with older, simpler software?

MW: What I choose to feature is not my work, it’s other peoples output so I need the magazine to be seen as functional and straightforward and that’s all. I want to present the content without needing to resort to overt design. If the design is seen as banal that’s fine by me.

JAS: With international time zones, seasonal availability and Australia’s distance from Europe and New York, is it difficult to produce a biannual magazine? How important is timing?

MW: Everyone who works on the magazine works full-time doing other things so it’s tricky finding the time to produce two editions each year. Fashion seasons and news content gives your pages an expiry date and this effects how we’re perceived but I think that when you publish infrequently you’ve decided to strive for a longevity in the work you show and hopefully this gives your readership a reason to archive the magazine and look forward to an upcoming issue. Difference in time zones forces you to work to European and US times a lot which means communicating at ALL hours of the night. The expense and ethics of air freighting the magazine overseas is a costly exercise and this also dictates how quickly people get to see an issue once it’s completed.

JAS: Without a regular staff you are in a unique position to pick and choose creative teams. Would it be accurate to liken your role to curating? How does not having a regular staff affect the content of your magazine?

MW: You’ll always rely on certain people to suggest content. It could be something self-created such as a photographer wanting to do a portrait series or it might be someone suggesting something that’s iconic and archival that they may have recently discovered or perhaps have always loved. If the work we reproduce is art to begin with then we are curating (in a sense) within the confines of a magazine just as someone does when selecting work to show within a gallery space. Work that I select personally has to be as considered as possible but at the same time I don’t want anyone to feel that what is being presented is particularly highbrow or vitally important – it’s only a magazine we’re talking about after all.

JAS: Run me through the process of putting together a doingbird fashion story abroad from your desk in Sydney.

MW: When I decide to pursue a story with a creative I’m interested in featuring I’ll contact them with our deadline and we’ll discuss the direction of the shoot and options for the stories model and the hair and makeup team. If it’s a cover I’m pursuing we may suggest labels that would work well but that’s usually the extent of my input. Some people have strong opinions in regards to the final edit and layout of their stories whilst others prefer to collaborate with me or will leave me to interpret the layout as I think it will work best.

JAS: ‘Good guys never die’ or ‘Here for a good time, not a long time’?

MW: I think plenty of things get better with age or maybe I just like looking back at things from the past so perhaps good guys never die?

doingbird is available now from the Curated Temporary Bookstore and will be in stores mid July

For your chance to win the latest issue of doingbird just email prize@theblackmail.com.au

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Everybody’s Talking

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:15:00 +0000

Words: Amanda Maxwell & Sarah Larnach Images: Sarah Lanarch & Milos Mali

Amanda Maxwell and Sarah Larnach met in Vancouver out the back of an art gallery in the early thousands. They bonded over skateboarding, riding ten speed bikes and drinking beer. Both hailing from New Zealand, the couldn’t understand how the hadn’t met earlier. Post Vancouver, Amanda and Sarah migrated to Melbourne and then to Sydney and whilst living in the same Kings Cross building they penned and inked Nobody Told Me There Would Be Days Like These. The Blackmail couldn’t think of anyone better to interview them, than themsleves.

Amanda Maxwell: You want to start this off?

Sarah Larnach: I wish I could recall that Italian term meaning ‘a story that sounds good enough to be true, might as well be true’, and then I’d mention how it’s often assumed that your stories are autobiographical because they sound good enough to be true. They’re not though, right?

AM: Nah, they’re made up for the most part. Usually they’ll start with some little true moment and then I’ll just think ‘What if this happened?’ or ‘What if he said this?’ and then it’s fiction. When the book came out someone said to me, “How have you had time to fit all this stuff into your life so far?” But I haven’t, I just make most of it up. I get too bored writing or retelling truthful accounts, so when I have to do that I end up leaving out the details that I think are insignificant and condensing bits until it’s a shorter, more interesting version of the truth. It really annoys my boyfriend when I do that, but I can’t help it. He calls it, ‘cut and paste reality’. That’s not what I do with my stories though. They’re fiction, so I have as much freedom as I want with them and that’s why I find writing stories so enjoyable.

AM: Anyway, you do the same with your paintings I’ve noticed. Like the one of Pip on her hands and knees. You gave her massive boobs! And the painting in the book for the story The Yard Next Door, it was based on a Todd Jordan photo, but I noticed that the girl in the painting looks suspiciously like you…

SL: Oh, she wasn’t intended to look like me, but it’s hard to paint brown hair, and the one shade I favour just so happens to be the colour of my own locks. Her hair was already a bit messy; I acknowledge the similarity there.

The best lies have elements of the truth in them: I guess the same principal applies to stories and paintings too. I was painting a self portrait yesterday and realised that my legs were looking particularly slender… I was looking really good! Admittedly, I put my best head on my best outfit. I have done a boob enlargement before, but that was meant to be a bit of a joke. It’s like cost-free, pain-free cosmetic surgery!

AM: You have quite a few boob paintings up around your apartment. Are boobs your favourite thing to paint?

SL: Ahh, busted!

Boobs are my favourite subject matter in photography. Truth is though, denim jeans are my favourite things to paint, followed by ghost costumes (Lazy! It’s a white sheet with eye holes!) and boobs running a close third.

SL: Hey Amanda, how do you write so nicely from a young males point of view? Were you a young boy growing up?

AM: No. I don’t know. I was into ballet and horses and long hair when I was growing up. Once I cried because I was riding my bike through the bush with the boy who lived across the road and he asked me if I was a tomboy.

I don’t do anything differently with boy characters as opposed to girls, I just try to imagine really honestly what it would feel like to be in whatever situation I’ve stuck that character in.

It’s weird that you brought that up though, because the other day I was talking to someone and they said you were a tomboy. And I said, “No she’s not a tomboy,” because I never thought of you like that before. When I think of you, I think of nail polish and mascara and all the different bottles of bubble bath you have in your bathroom, and your frilly bikini, and the way you cart your little nieces around on your hips so feminine-like when you’re in New Zealand.

AM: Do you think you’re a tomboy? Do you think I’m a tomboy?

SL: Ha ha, I have an ideal body for childbearing and carting those babies around on my hips!

Tomboy; I don’t know? It depends on the connotation. I have thought of myself as a bit of a tomboy most of my life, and I am very feminine according to me, and that’s really all that matters. I don’t need to wear a dress to feel feminine. That was a good anecdote from when you were a kid. I think I experienced the flip side: I remember being in primary school and saying to my friend that we were both tomboys and she was furious. I thought it was a compliment! I was anti-ballet and horses in particular, and pro- ‘experimental’ hair. Then again, I did ballroom dancing. I have this photo of myself at seven with a new-wave asymmetric do… and my first frilly bikini!

Do you want to be considered a tomboy? I think it’s a compliment still. But, I wouldn’t say you were a tomboy if you don’t identify as such…and yet, the skateboarding.

As for me… put me in a spectrum of chicks and I might look like a pretty dude; next to some heels-spraytan-and-lycra-dress out-on-the-town slapper (or trans-woman!); or I’d look like a booby female-fertility-figure next to some of my more androgynous friends. It’s subjective and relative.

I’m working on a series of paintings exploring this gender identity thing; documenting gender binary or gender queer youths (a very tricky area where semantics is concerned). But the project keeps getting put on the back burner while I ‘work’.

SL: What’s on your burner, or back burner? I think I know, but I’m asking for the viewers at home!

AM: I know that wasn’t supposed to be a hard question but I’m stuck. So many ways I could answer… Might just end up jinxing myself. The other day I found a Christmas parcel from last year that I still haven’t sent. Terrible. I should go and do that now.

It was nice talking to you in front of the people on the internet Sarah, Hope you’re having a nice day. Bye x

SL: Ta. hope you’re having a good one too. Bye x

Nobody Told Me There Would Be Days Like These is available at good bookstores across Australia and online at Serps Press

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Following Suit

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:12:57 +0000

Words: Caroline Clements Images: Tristan Ceddia

Now I am of the opinion that every man should, at some point, have a tailor-made suit. For it is not the man that makes the suit, but the fine suit that makes the man look devilishly handsome, especially one that fits him perfectly. It’s a bit like Cindarella – he will become a prince of course – only he won’t turn into a pumpkin if he’s not home by midnight wearing it.

There is something quite charming about a bespoke suit, and a tailor who will measure you up and down. The Blackmail speaks to a cavalier young chap who does just this, Patrick Johnson of Suit Shop.

Today he’s wearing a light grey cotton suit that is half lined with a very soft shoulder (pretty much no padding at all), with a crisp white fine twill cotton shirt. “I like this suit because I can wear it casually with plimsolls, or formally with dark brown suede brogues and a nice cashmere tie,” comments Johnson. “I wear a white fine twill shirt most days. I love this material because it doesn’t crease much, it’s soft, stays bright white and it really lasts.”

A man of refined taste, Johnson was originally trained as a wine maker, but soon turned to the rag trade to bear threads. A relatively young man in his endeavours, he made his first suit five years ago – a three-piece navy linen summer suit, he recalls. “I was living in London at the time, working just down the road from Savile Row (aka. The Golden Mile of Tailoring) on Jermyn St.” Savile Row is a community of tailors, shoe-smiths and accessory makers that stretches far beyond ‘The Row’ itself. In the area every day, he couldn’t help but be influenced by all that was going on, but his initial style influences came from his step-father – a man who colour coordinated his own tie collection.

At Suit Shop, the intention is to construct pieces that fit with the climate and lifestyle in Australia, which are functional but have character. Johnson likens the process to wine in that respect. “First dictated by the climate then by the consumer’s taste and lifestyle and finally you have the makers signature’s.” Suit Shop works predominantly with Australian merino wool. “Wool is great because it’s crease resistant, has natural stretch and is durable and comfortable.” Using old sartorial techniques, Johnson tends to go easy on the heavy padding and bulky lining, setting out to construct garments where their is synergy between the wearer and the suit. And with his main clientele being professionals – bankers and lawyers, architects, designers and advertising executives – he must allow for people who travel regularly and usually want something that creases less and is more durable.

What is typical of a Suit Shop suit is the particular detailing, and it is these such details that the tailor communicates to the public. “From a few details of a suit you can tell where it was made, and in most cases, who has made it.” He uses hand stitched padded lapels on his jackets, like those you see on Humphrey Bogart or in films like Casablanca, where the lapels have a rounded, natural appearance, rather than a sharp fold. This is achieved by a thin layer of cotton sewn into a gently rounded shape with thousands of tiny stitches. Then he finishes his sleeves with buttons sewn on by hand, kissing each other in the traditional Italian way. The options for trimmings are endless however. From linings to buttons, stitch colour, pocket types, vents, pleats, cuffs and belt loops. The goal is to use these options to create balance in the suits. By adding a bit of the client’s personality and a bit of the Suit Shop touch, you are creating something together.

Suit Shop is mostly a one-man operation on our home shores, but unlike his well-fitting ensembles, there is certainly room for growth. Johnson utilises the fantastic weaving skills of his European colleagues, buying the bulk of the materials from two Italian makers, Loro Piana and Zegna, also using some makers in the UK and Switzerland for casual cottons, linens and cashmeres. Whilst citing Italians as some of the most stylish people, Johnson prefers an English business look for his suits, but suggests that they use far too much padding and far too heavy a lining for the weather conditions here in Australia. He tends to strip down the bulkiness of the padding to use a lighter canvas in the chest and shoulder (as in southern Italy). “I cut my arms slim and shoulders close. The trousers flow on from the jacket to give an elegant drape.” As a result, a Suit Shop suit looks markedly sharper than any suit you might buy of the rack.

With this ever-so-well clad gentlemen to my side, I pose a final query on a dressing rule another gentlemen imparted to me recently – never button up a suit jacket that isn’t tailor made, for it accentuates the imperfect fit of the garment. Johnson sets me straight, the rule of thumb here stands true, most of the time. The main reason is that most people have one shoulder that is sloping lower than the other. This is usually a result of playing racquet sports, ball sports or rowing, and subsequently the button-hole on the jacket hangs lower than the button. A most vital rule to follow, however, is the ‘sometimes, always, never’ rule, that applies to buttons on a suit jacket in descending order.

With style icons to take note from that include the Duke of Windsor and the late Gianni Agnelli, its no wonder this man is so dapper. He doesn’t wear a handkerchief up his sleave because he cuts the sleeve in his shirts far too skinny to fit one, but prefers to wear a pochette (pocket hanky) in his breast pocket and another folder in his trouser pocket. If only top hats weren’t so tricky to travel with, you can bet he’d be wearing one too.

More from Suit Shop here

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Look Into The Fire Eyes

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:11:02 +0000

Words: Gabriel Knowles Images: Carine Thevenau

In Australia we don’t always like to admit it but sometimes we find out about things a little later than other parts of the world. Canyons are one of those such things, which is odd because while they were planting themselves on the radar in New York and London in 2007 they were still holed up in Perth with the local industry none the wiser. “It’s interesting how people in Australia picked up on our stuff, we had a whole lot of interest from overseas first.” Explains Ryan Sea-Mist. “That’s initially where we got positive feedback from.” Leo Holiday, the other half of Canyons chimes in. “We got a little bit of love New York first and then distributors picked it up in London.”

With no other way to release their own brand of cosmic/disco/pop/undefinable music the DJ/producers decided to start their own label, Hole In The Sky. Before long they’d also released tracks by good friends Tame Impala and The Delicate Genius.

“I guess when you do your own thing it gives you the freedom to realise your vision and ideas. The less processes between you making the music and someone buying it the better.” Leo begins. “You’ve got complete control over how you want it to sound and look and the avenues you want to take. If you get it right it’s really rewarding. You’re not worried about what people are thinking, you just do it because you want to.” Ryan continues. “We didn’t have distribution when we first started H.I.T.S. so we were just selling them through our website and the first person who bought one we wrote them a note saying ‘you’re the first to buy the record, thanks so much.”

“We were always going down to the post office and posting one or two at a time. Then a few big online stores like Turntable Lab in New York and Juno in the UK started ordering 30 at a time and their feedback was really good. But then when we went to the post office and the postage would be like $22 and we’d only charged $10!” Laughs Leo before admitting that an account at the post office was duly opened and postage got slightly more affordable. “We were only just breaking even at that stage.” Ryan adds – it’s hard to tell if he’s serious or not. In any case he explains just how important that operation has been for them.

“This DFA record (Fire Eyes) has come directly from one of those records. Justin Miller from DFA Records bought the record and started a mix with it, I emailed him to say thanks and we just started communicating, trading music and all that kind of thing and from there they asked us if we had anything we wanted to do with them. From one of those first twenty we sent to New York the DFA release has come about.”

As part of the DFA release they’re headed off to the United States to play the infamous People Don’t Dance No More boat party and Summer Stage, a festival in Central Park, which has got them a little nervous. “I guess going to DJ in a place like New York where they a lot more access to records than what we do so it’s a bit scary. You hope that they won’t say ‘not this song again’ and that they’re going to enjoy what we play.” Leo concedes humbly.

It’s hard to define just where Canyons fit in, which they play up to, but if their DJ sets are anything to go by they could hold the answer. “We play a lot of old house, disco, boogie, early 80s stuff, stuff that’s a little bit strange but still funky. It’s reflective of where we’re coming from musically.” Explains Ryan. “But at home all I’m listening too at the moment is The Beatles.”

Having signed with Modular earlier this year after moving to Sydney little over a year ago the boys are now just settling down to record their first full length album which has forced them to put a hold on their ever popular remix service.

“I guess because when we do a remix we aren’t just adding the signature sound to it so we’ll only take on a remix if we can bring something else to it or add something to the track. When you do that you’re using your ideas, there’s been a few instances when we’ve basically written an entirely new track as a remix using only little bits of vocals and we’ve realised we probably could have used that for our own song. That’s not a bad thing but if you’ve only got a certain amount of time to make an album you can’t keep doing that.” Leo points out. “We sort have to save it for ourselves at the moment,” confirms Ryan before giving his sidekick the final word.

“What we want to do is make an album that people want to own as a whole, not just tracks four and six or something. Not just ten tracks you could download separately.”

Download the latest Canyons track Blue Snakes by emailing download@theblackmail.com.au

The Canyons 12″ Fire Eyes is out on DFA from August 11 and their album will be out via Modular in the not too distant future. Before that they play Splendour In The Grass in Byron Bay on July 25-26.

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Return Of The Kings

blackmail — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:08:39 +0000

Words: Tristan Ceddia Images: Tristan Ceddia & Jesse Marlow

This July sees the release of Melbourne’s inaugural graffiti book Kings Way. Already causing a stir in the mainstream media, the book is set to be Australia’s equivalent to New York’s Subway Art (1982). Tristan Ceddia caught up with the books co-author Duro Cubrillo at his Melbourne home last week for a sneak preview of the book.

Tristan Ceddia: Kings Way covers the formative years of the Melbourne graffiti scene from 1983 to 1993? Why did you choose to cover this period and where are you and your co-authors situated within this timeline?

Duro Cubrillo: I came up in the middle of this ten year period and so did Martin Harvey and Karl Stamer who I put the book together with. It made sense for us to cover those years – we knew what had come before us and were involved in what came after. We got in touch with people and got their stories and photos. The book begins with photos of some of the earliest graffiti in Melbourne. At this time we were all like, ‘What the Fuck is that? That’s fucking unbelievable – Sylvester the Cat and Goofy characters!’ At this early point, break dancing was really influential. Most of the graffiti at this early point was done by breakdancing crews influenced by the New York film Beat Street. Graffiti at this time was about crews, not individuals. Crews were going out and working on pieces together. Things have changed a lot since then. Now it’s all about me, me, me – it’s all about individuals focussed on what they can do.

TC: Ten years is a big gap to research and document in any scene. Was it a daunting task making sure you covered all the angles, or is this book something you had each been preparing for a long time?

DC: I hooked up with my mate Karl in 2001 at our mate Junior’s funeral, and he mentioned that we had to do a book. I think the beauty of this book, is that so many writers were willing to entrust me with their stories. Since the early days, Marty and myself have been graffiti scholars, always analysing who was doing what and where things were being done. We made a point of documenting what was going on the whole time, so when it came to putting the book together, we knew most of what needed to go in and what didn’t. Kings Way is a testament to the Melbourne scene.

TC: Kings Way is the only definitive book ever released to accurately document the Melbourne graffiti scene. Structuring such a definitive and historical book with so many different elements and areas to cover must have been a big job?

DC: It begins with walls, ends with trains and in the middle there’s bombing, each section runs chronologically from 1983-1993. It’s Melbourne from day one – documenting how the scene started, who was involved and how it evolved. It includes all the corners of the city – from Hursty, where we were from, to Frankston, Sandringham and everywhere in between. The sections are tied together with individuals writers and crews, we covered it all. The way it is, it sits nicely on the shelves next to New York’s Subway Art.

TC: The book is mostly image based, with little text bar brief quotes spread throughout the pages and a foreword. Did you feel that there were too many stories to be told with this publication so you limited it to mainly images?

DC: We wanted Kings Way to be presented as an image heavy art book. We culled 6000 images down to 1220 for the final edit – that didn’t leave us with much room for text! Every writer we talked to had a zillion different stories to tell so we had to stop and ask ourselves how we were going to get all the best stories into the book without bulking it out with too much text. In the end we decided that the images were strong enough to speak for themselves, and reserved the text to minimal quotes detailing what we felt fitted in nicely.

TC: At the best of times, the graffiti scene is ripe with bad blood and inflated ego’s. Kings Way seems to avoid all of this and present a clean look at the Melbourne scene. Did you run into any ego problems?

DC: The book is so much bigger than the individual, that’s kind of the point. We’re passionate about graffiti and passionate about it being remembered. That said, this book isn’t about us. Without the contributors who gave us their memories, the book would have been nothing. It’s a community project. The look on peoples faces when they see the book is phenomenal, seeing that expression shows how much it means to people. For a lot of these writers, graffiti was the only time in their life when they were actually doing something they loved.

TC: There’s a small tribute to a character called Ron The Train Driver in the book. How many people and sources contributed images and stories to the book?

DC: In total there were 60 photo contributors but there were probably about seven who contributed the most. They are mostly really early graff writers who did a lot to document the scene back in the day. Ron the Train Driver is one of the main contributors to the book and was an important figure known in the scene. He was the Henry Chalfant or Martha Cooper of Melbourne. He used to stop trains to take photos and would then hand them out to writers at Richmond station at the bench. He was a train driver who had a fascination with graffiti so he started documenting if from day one. He took a lot of the people shots that are shown in the book. If you didn’t get a photo of your piece you would ring him up and chances were he would have it!

TC: Of late, Melbourne has come to be known as the street art capital of the world. This title has come along with an influx of books badly representing Melbourne’s crossover graffiti and street art scenes. Does Kings Way attempt to return Melbourne’s focus to proper graffiti or is this book more about documentation and presenting a culture?

DC: Lots of people think the two are the same thing, but they’re not. Graffiti has been a stand alone sub-culture within its own right here since 1983, though it was a New York thing long before that. People think that street art has been around that long, but in terms of a subculture, it really is a new age thing. The only common thread between them is the space and materials. Writing has to be acknowledged as a stand alone sub-culture and not be packaged up with street art. The scene needs to move forward and be documented and accepted like in New York. They have so much documentation and literature about their scene, so why can’t Melbourne have the same thing?

Kings Way is available at good bookstores Australia wide and online as of July 1 2009

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Cliff Hanger

gabe — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:07:02 +0000

Words: & Images: Tristan Ceddia

Jonathan Zawada would have to be of the most celebrated graphic designer/artists working in Australia right now. With an ARIA under his belt and a folio of work looking more like a back catalogue than that of one man, Tristan Ceddia caught up with him at his home for some words on design and a glass of water.

Tristan Ceddia: As a creative you bear a heavy skill set stretching from hard edge computer graphics to soft, intricate hand renderings. Do you find yourself forever exploring new ways of interpreting ideas?

Jonathan Zawada: Really I find I just get bored easily and that’s what normally prompts me to move on from one approach to another. It can get a bit dull solving the same sorts of problems, like say, designing a cover for an album, in the same way over and over again in the same way so I think switching it up keeps it interesting for me as well as helping to get me to refocus on the core of each job.

TC: Illustration clearly plays a large part in the way you work. Is drawing a skill that comes naturally or has it developed over time?

JZ: I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember, as a kid I used to love drawing fighter planes and basketball players. In high school I started drawing a lot more cartoons and gradually moved into digital illustration and 3d stuff. For a few years I stopped drawing entirely and mostly just did digital stuff or painted. Coming back to it I noticed how much better I got once I was drawing more regularly again but it’s definitely always been my most comfortable medium by far.

TC: Your personal work seems to draw parallels in cultural and popular reference often coupling opposing elements in order to express new ideas. How important are strong ideas to you?

JZ: I’ve always been a bit of a stickler for a concept behind an execution. I find it totally impossible to come up with anything from a completely blank slate, I just end up sitting there staring at the blank page thinking that it’s probably better off blank and then getting really irritated at myself for not having any ideas. I’m definitely far more interested in the ideas side of it all and in my personal work especially I probably spend just as much time, if not more, researching and developing the ideas as I do executing the work. I think that’s the thing I like about art, that it is something that can be enjoyed in layers and that a mass of ideas and thinking can be turned into something aesthetic and superficial that can be appreciated in both ways.

TC: Nature appears as a reoccurring theme and inspiring element in your work. Do you find yourself seeking out inspiration or does it come naturally (ha!)?

JZ: Nice one! For me most of the nature elements in my work represent some aspects of maths or science that connect to the whole piece. Nature seems to have already distilled almost everything you can think of into natural forms already and they often seem to me to be the most perfect summary of an idea. Its not normally something I would see and be initially inspired by though, usually I just end up there after a bit of thinking and then the inspiration from those elements kind of unfolds as I’m working with it – if that makes any sense…

TC: At a conference some time ago, you cited visual references along side your work. Currently on your website, you display references, or ‘Cliffnotes’ as they are referred to, with each project. Can you explain the role reference plays in your work?

JZ: Part of it is about identifying what visual cues can be used in aid of communication through a non verbal method – say an image of a cube has a meaning, but that meaning is only added to it through its repeated use, over many years, in a cultural environment. I think that by understanding those meanings you can then employ them, add to them or bend them to your needs when looking at a new work. For me at least, all things are infinitely more interesting when interpreted in the context of their surroundings, cultural or physical, and there is a tendency in design – rather than art – to ignore that or pretend that context doesn’t play a part.

TC: Do you believe it is important to recognise where ideas are coming from? Credit where credit is due?

JZ: Especially in the commercial arena there seems to be a sense of ownership over ideas and visuals and a lot of people seem to act as if they are creating in a kind of vacuum or a void which I never felt was entirely right. When I was younger I was always under the impression that good, original ideas just manifested themselves from the minds of geniuses but the more I’ve looked into my favourite designers, illustrators and artists over the years the more I’ve discovered that their work is just a small adjustment or a tiny idea placed on top of a stack of ideas from other people. There’s a real animosity and aggression that comes from thinking your work is unique or that you in some way ‘own’ what you have created – I think this is really at its height in graffiti/illustration culture – and I think that that sort of thinking in turn stifles you and prevents you from experimenting, exploring and expanding your horizons. For a while I used to try to keep my references a guarded secret and then I discovered that by being honest about them it forced me to move away from them and freed me up to think on my own more and be more objective about the whole process.

TC: As a man working for himself, you seem to maintain the delicate balance between working on personal projects and ‘real’ jobs as I like to refer to them. Do you find it hard to pull away from ‘real’ work to pursue your passions? Or is it the other way around?

JZ: It’s definitely a lot harder for me to find the time and prioritize my personal work over my real work, particularly when being self employed means never knowing when the next pay day will be. It’s pretty much impossible to work both things at the same time and I found I really need to delineate between the two quite strictly through my time allocation. Basically that means I need to work enough to buy my own time for 2 or 3 weeks so that I can totally stop real work, change my head a bit and focus on personal stuff for a while.

TC: Most personal projects for me derive from either dissatisfaction with ‘real’ jobs or a desire to create something new. You make silk scarfs and mineral jewels under the umbrella Trust Fun with your wife Annie Wright and fellow designer Shane Sakkeus. Where does Trust Fun emerge from?

JZ: Trust Fun totally comes from that sort of dissatisfaction you described. There are so many restrictions you get on real jobs and so many instances where I’ve felt like great opportunities were being missed by clients that sometimes you just need to do it yourself. It kind of sits somewhere between personal and professional work, it’s the part of me that enjoys my job as a designer (as opposed to artist) and is a sort of manifestation of what that role feels like it should be.

TC: How do you find the collaborative environment compared to working on your own? Do the two ever cross over?

JZ: Sometimes I find it refreshing and its nice to take the pressure off occasionally and work with other people on things but for me thats really more about diminishing my own scope and allowing me to focus more on a particular detail rather than the whole. I’ve worked on projects with the Ksubi art department, director Kris Moyes and obviously my Trust Fun work with Shane Sakkeus that have all been really successful things that I’m really proud of and in some cases the work that I would consider to be my best, but the process doesn’t come all that naturally to me. I’m really not the best collaborator most of the times and I’ve gotten so used to working by myself over the years that I now find it almost totally impossible to work in a space with other people around.

TC: So where to next? What’s on the horizon in the mysterious world of Jonathan Zawada?

JZ: At the moment I’m focusing on getting through the economic downturn without having to sell our apartment! I’ve been working on a bunch of new personal work that is all still in the research stage but is a bit of a departure from previous stuff and really I’m just waiting to be able to build up a bit of a cash supply to allow me to stop work for a few weeks to develop it. Trust Fun have just finished off our range of digital scarves which are all getting sent out to stores as we speak which is exciting to finally see come to fruition. We’ve also been working with Pop Magazine in London on a bunch of stuff, mostly online, which will be happening over the next six months or so. My real aim at the moment is just to keep paying the bills and maybe to move out of the city and into the country!

See more from Jonathan here and Trust Fun here

Jonathan’s latest publication through Izrock Pressings Unexpected Token Float is sold out online, but is still available at the Curated Temporary Bookstore

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Jack Of All Trades

gabe — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:02:55 +0000

Words: Gabriel Knowles Images: Amiel Courtin-Wilson

“It’s double jeopardy when you’re black and you’re homosexual mate – and you’re a bloody thief and a thespian too.”

Jack Charles is a junkie, cat burglar and a regular behind bars. Funnily enough he’s also an Aboriginal elder and one of Australia’s most critically acclaimed actors who’s work with the likes of Bill Hunter, Geoffrey Rush, Neil Armfield, Bruce Spence and David Field left a lasting impression according to Amiel Courtin-Wilson, the director of Bastardy.

Amiel should know, he spent seven years filming Jack for the feature length documentary. “They hadn’t seem him in years and they were fucking amazed he was alive. As soon as they found out he was alive he started getting roles again. He’s got three films in the Sydney Film Festival this year! It’s been quite a renaissance for him.” It’s little wonder seeing as Jack’s career has also seen him found the first Aboriginal theatre company, Nindethana, and star in seminal films such as The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.

Ameil’s own footage of is cut with footage of Jack in his heyday. “I could be anybody on stage,” Jack recounts. He isn’t bragging, he’s just right. It’s no meant feat to rise to the top of your game in just one field, let alone two, something Jack has kept up for over forty years.

“I think that the position of a criminal is the same as an artist as it’s outside a lot of social structures. If you choose to you’re privileged with a unique perspective because you’re transgressing and traversing different social groups. There’s a way that criminals see the world that’s quite heightened, there’s an immediacy that not to dissimilar to the way in which an artist can put a spin on an object.” Says Amiel.

In 2001 Amiel returned to Melbourne after premiering his first feature documentary, Chasing Buddha, at Sundance. Since childhood Amiel’s family had regaled him with stories of Jack’s outrageous exploits so he headed off to find the flowing white beard of the oldest homeless man in Fitzroy. Within minutes of their meeting Jack suggested Amiel start filming their meetings right then and there.

For the next eight months Jack gradually let Amiel in, showing him the places he lived and the well to do suburbs where he earned his money. “When I first started robbing people I put it under the classification of ’collecting the rent.” Jack admits at one point. “I justified myself as a hunter gatherer, going onto prime Aboriginal land.”

In return Amiel supported Jack’s habit and became the first phone call the wispy haired actor made when he got picked up for riding the bus on a schoolgirl’s pass. A broken parole saw him sent back to prison and Amiel reckons this is where the two men became real friends.

“That really accelerated things, suddenly I was driving out to Beechworth prison, liasing with his lawyers, getting him books and putting money in his account each week. Once he got out from that he realised I wasn’t just interested in him just because of the filming. It really cemented things between us.”

Despite the new found trust Jack fell straight back into his old ways as soon as he was released. “I tried to organise to pick him up that time but he got out early without telling meand he got back on the treadmill of using straight away and doing burgs the first night he got out. I don’t think I knew him well enough at that juncture to circumvent that cycle.” The award winning filmmaker confides.

For the next few years they continued filming together in between Amiel’s other projects and Jack’s now increasingly regular acting work. Jack continued to live in Amiel’s house off and on and eventually even the cops got wise that if they wanted to track down Jack all they had to do was call Amiel. “The intimacy finally culminated in becoming embroiled in Jack’s criminal activities to the point where I was unsure if what I was doing was legal anymore.” Amiel concedes.

It’s hard to say if it’s Amiel’s steadying influence or that Jack is simply wising up as the years go on as things start to turn his way. He gets his own place and things are looking up.

“It just became a real confession booth for him because my style of interview him was very gentle. For someone who hasn’t done therapy apart from in jail I suppose it was a strange kind of therapy for him in some sense.”

But then his old tricks catch up with him and there’s a very real chance he’ll spend his 60th birthday, just like his 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th, on the inside. His lawyer and Amiel do their best to convince Jack that whatever happens he has to finish the film. Amiel admits that Jack was suicidal during this period and that feeling their support is what got him through.

“That’s the thing with Jack, it always boils down to seemingly rudimentary but actually profound stuff.”

Bastardy – Showing for a limited 2 week season from June 25 at Palace Cinemas nationally.

For your chance to win a double pass to see Bastardy just email prize@theblackmail.com.au

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