The Blackmail » 2009 » November

Science Of Movement

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:28:00 +0000

Text: Oliver Georgiou Images: Collider

At first glance it would be close to impossible to tell that any of Sydney based Collider’s work was made in Australia. From humble beginnings in co-founder Daniel Askill’s bedroom at his mother’s home in Sydney at the turn of the century, he and partners Andrew Van Der Westhuyzen and Sam Zalalns have built their very own design and film media empire. Catering to a huge spectrum of clients including BMW, Hummer, Cadbury, UNKLE, Placebo, Dior, Nike and Lexus – Collider are producing work with an authentic A-grade international edge. Oliver Georgiou caught up with Daniel Askill over the phone to get the inside word on how it’s all happened…

Oliver Georgiou: You have a background in musical composition and come from a really musical family. Do you draw a lot of parallels between the composition of music, design and film?

Daniel Askill: Definitely, I have always been really interested in music and I guess particularly kind of twentieth century art music and classical music as well as of course modern music and popular music. I guess a lot of that influence came from my dad – he was a percussionist so we were always around a lot of music growing up. I particularly like minimal music, Steve Reich and people like that, and I think those sort of repetitious, slowly evolving, stripped back rigorous musical compositions are something I am definitely interested in and certainly does influence me from time to time with things visually, whether it just be what I’m listening to when I am writing a treatment or something. I still dabble writing out bits and pieces of music now and then.

OG: While studying design at Central Saint Martins in London you landed your first agency work as a creative director for some pretty high profile clients. How did the opportunity come about?

DA: I was traveling in Europe like most people do when I finished school and I met this guy when I was at some hostel in Hungary, this was when I was 18 or 19, he was from London and when I first got to London later on to do the studying, I went to crash on his floor the first night. He was working in web, this was around the web, multimedia kind of boom that happened back in the late 90s early 2000s. He was like “you should go meet this guy”. I had just started my thing at Saint Martins and I went and saw him basically thinking I would get some hack Photoshop work or something to just give me some pocket money while I was studying. They were this new multimedia company like a lot of new multimedia companies at that stage just kind of taking whatever they could, some things they understood how to do and some things they didn’t.

They had just happened to land a few video jobs out of the blue and it wasn’t something they had really had a lot of experience in, they had seen a couple of short films that I had done when I was back in Sydney. They said look why don’t you try directing, I think a perfume thing for Dunhill was the first thing. The next thing I knew I was directing jobs for them. I think they probably knew as little about what they were doing as I did. One thing led to another and other coincidences like their offices happened to be below Alexander McQueen’s and I started working a bit upstairs doing some graphic design. It was definitely a one thing that led to another kind of situation that really just came out of trying to find some piecemeal work to get me through studying. It’s lucky for me that they were willing to take a risk on someone that didn’t really know what they were doing.

OG: Creating your own production studio is a very time and labour intensive adventure to embark on. How have you managed to save yourself from being spread too thin over all of the whole business idea as opposed to the creative work that you are doing?

DA: When we first started we were really just happy for any work we could get to be honest so at the beginning it never felt like we were spreading ourselves thin because we literally started out of my bedroom at my mum’s place. It was myself, a friend from university and another guy Sam, he never had any interest in being a creative in the business. Andrew is a designer and I come from a design background and then moved into film but Sam was always there to look after the business side of it and that how it was always set up, so Andrew and I could always just focus on the creative side while Sam dealt with the management, getting accountants and bookkeepers and all that sort of stuff. I think that kind of help to make sure it slowly evolved in an organic way, because those roles where decided from the start.

OG: Your 2004 film We Have Decided Not To Die was a huge commitment for you and for Collider and seems to have paid off very well in terms of broadening horizons and affirming your talent. At any stage during production did you ever feel that this risk could potentially blow up in your face?

DA: I always had some sort of weird faith in it for sure you know, sometimes those ideas that you get you just think, one way or another I’ve just got to make this thing and it seems impossible because none of us had done anything like that before but at the same time there was some feeling like it was meant to be in some little way. But absolutely through the day-to-day processes since it was the first serious bit of filmmaking I ever did. So yeah it was a stress all the way along. Working on things particularly something you are so close to personally every step along the way I felt like aaahh what’s going on. But bellow all of that there was definitely some sort of sense of it ‘it will work out one way or another and it was probably combined a bit with the excitement of the fact that we had only really just started Collider so it seemed like something for everyone to gather round a bit at that stage. More than anything we were lucky to have the support of the Australian Film Commission financially which certainly helped.

OG: During that production and also on many other projects I notice that you like to work with high-speed cameras, in a way, breaking movement down to an almost scientific level, where it can be studied by the viewer. Has working intensively with this kind of medium changed the way you look at day-to-day things?

DA: That’s a funny question, I was thinking yesterday I don’t know why it is I‘m so obsessed with slow motion footage. Recently over the last couple of years those sort of cameras and those sort of techniques have just proliferated so much that they have become almost common place. For me I really like that whatever mode that kind of speed takes you into, it’s like my interest in minimal music. I’ve done other stuff that is a bit more fun and poppy, but the slow motion stuff I love kind of does end up transferring to every day life. I find that when I look at slow motion footage now it doesn’t even feel that slow, it feels almost like normal speed in a funny way once you have been looking at it for so long. I do really like those minimal slow burning things what I love more than anything with the idea and it’s kind of where I come at film making from is the idea that film making is something that if you want it to really allows you to see the world and things in a way that you could never experience them with your naked eye or with your own ears, it is a bit scientific in that way. I know a lot of people make films that are about the everyday and about the small idiosyncrasies of humanity and that’s all relevant as well, but for me it’s much more interesting to use it in a way so as you can see things that you couldn’t see otherwise.

OG: Recently I was talking with a friend about how we have got to a point where creating something realistic with effects just doesn’t have the WOW factor anymore and how people are now once again showing interest in effects shot on camera. One image that tells a lot about your process is the picture of a huge rig in the desert with Hummer parts hanging off it after the car had exploded. Was it your decision to shoot instead of generating the image in CG?

DA: That was quite insane and I remember that trying to push that job over the line was really difficult because I had everyone telling me we should just do it CG or do a miniature or something, but there was just something about that job that just felt like if we could try and do it in camera that there would be something so much more visual about it and I’m really glad we did do it that way in the end. I knew it would be fun to watch on the day even if it didn’t work. We built this massive rig out in the desert and built two scale model Hummers out of fiberglass and ripped them apart with bungee cords. When it was finished, it’s so funny on those kinds of shoots, sometimes the most interesting stuff is the stuff that doesn’t actually end up in the spot, but one of the most beautiful images I have from that project it the moment after the explosion and out in the middle of this desert this massive scaffold rig with all these pieces of fiberglass just dangling in the air like children’s mobile, it was quite an interesting image. I’ve always thought I want to do something with all those bits of footage that you end up with in the rushes of jobs that are more about the process than the actual job but are often much more interesting than the job itself.

OG: What is your first move when a pitch comes knocking on Collider’s door. Do you choose a team? Do you all get involved? Is there a process that you follow? Or is it different every time?

DA: It absolutely changes from project to project, quite often a project will come in for a specific person, like it will be something for Andrew to design or something for me to direct or something for Joel to direct, but then often there will be project that naturally led to some sort of collaboration and we also do a lot of post work in-house as well so someone might direct something then Andrew might take over as a design director during post production phase or he will come up with some style frame for a project that I will then go onto direct. There will usually be some person leading the project but more often than not there will be some cross-pollination that happens along the way.

OG: I have been looking at so many of the clips and images on Collider’s website and they all have a running style and feel, you definitely have a personal identity as a production studio.

DA: That’s something we always wanted to have, but we never wanted to define what it was and hoped that it came out naturally. It just ends up being a result of the sensibilities of the people that work here and the people who are attracted to working with us.

OG: You have traveled to many places and I understand these days your time is kind of split between New York and Sydney?

DA: It has been over the last two years but I’ve been back here since about August. It’s been nice spending some time back here but I have been sort of in New York over the last couple of years, I have separate representation overseas, for instance, Hummer actually went through Radical Media in the states, so on that job for instance, Collider wasn’t so involved in but then there was another car commercial I did recently for Renault that happened the same way but then all the post production came back to Collider and Andrew was very involved. It’s really an organic and obviously whenever possible the idea is to have everyone at Collider involved with everything as much as possible.

OG: The Phoenix clip that you created with your brother Lorin for the track ‘Rally’ was a series of images in sequence shot on the road while you toured with them in Japan. Did you set out intending to make a clip or did it just happen?

DA: That was another one of those projects that evolved in a funny way. I had done another video for them earlier and they had this idea actually to do a documentary about their album of the time. There was quite a small budget so it just made sense for Lorin and I to basically grab a few cameras and go on tour with them for a little bit. That started in Japan along the way it became clear that maybe there wasn’t a documentary in it or there wasn’t money to finish the documentary but there was this ideas for this video. What had started as a low-fi documentary turned into the music video. A lot of that really sprung from the simple idea of using my brother’s, we have always played a lot with digital still animation, I’m sure a lot of people have but the idea was to just keep the finger down on the motor drive and film them with the stills cameras as if we were shooting them with a moving camera. It ended up a amount of massive data with a zillion stills, we would come back every day and it kind of just evolved very organically like that.

OG: One fairly recent project that Collider was involved in that had a pretty well rounded line up of Australian design, music and motion graphics was The Presets ‘Are You The One?’ remix clip. With Modular, BMW, The Presets, Jonathan Zawada and his Trust Fun partner Shane Sakkeus and Collider involved, was everyone giving input the whole way or were there points where the projects changed hands from group to the next?

DA: I was actually away for a large amount of time when that was getting done. That clip came out of being friends with Jonathan for a while, I really respect what he does. I think that came out of him and my partner Andrew who is good at the design kind of things chatting, there was this project and Jonathan has obviously got fabulous visual sensibility and design skill but probably need the support of a 3D department and understanding. We have got a bunch of guys that work in here in Maya in 3D, so I think and I hope I am telling the story right that it made sense that they just come into Collider and work with our 3D department. They came in with a whole bunch of style frames and ideas and probably chatted to Andrew for a bit, he set them up with our 3D department and they basically directed them, and yeah that’s how that one sort of happened.

OG: I assume that you are working on some projects that you either can’t or don’t want to talk about, what are some of the projects that you are working on at Collider right now?

DA: We are going through a bit of a stage where we are trying to get back a bit to our own projects, getting back to the We Have Decided Not To Die days. I’m always tentative to talk about this stuff because I will still be talking about it in another few years but Andrew finished a book recently called Cabal that he is in the process of preparing for an animated short film, I think It is something that he will try to get funding for shortly. I have just finished a treatment for a feature film with my little brother, that’s just at the very first stages of beginning to put that in front of people to see if we can round up funding for also. Beyond that there is all the day to day stuff, Andrew is working on an IBM project, I’m pitching on a BMW job and something for These New Puritans in the UK, that’s a music video. Joel, one of our other directors is directing an American job at the moment that has come out here that we’ll be doing the post on and yeah, so bits and pieces.

Collider

Next Article: Bridezilla – Save The Last Dance

Simply Red

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:26:07 +0000

Text: Phil Kemball Images: Daniel Boud

There are some bands who’ll do anything for a slice of the limelight, for better or worse. The Red Riders are the antithesis of those bands. For better or worse they’re happy to shy away from what people have got to say about them and go about their business making music. In fact they’re so keen not to know what other people are up to they’ve based their second album, Drown In Colour, around not knowing. Phil Kemball catches up with colleague, mate and frontman of the Red Riders, Alex Grigg to discuss what he’s been up to and why he hasn’t been blogging…

Phil Kemball: So tell me a story Al.

Alex Grigg: My friends ancestry goes all the way back to the convicts and his great-great-great-grandfather was brought out here for a buggering a sheep.

PK: Ha! Anyway, I know you’ve stopped reading music publications. Why do you hate reading them so much?

AG: I stopped reading them firstly because you can’t just read the good things people say and not listen to the bad things people say. You’ve got to take it all and it just fucked with my head too much. I just get too caught up in it basically.

PK: In what way?

AG: I get too tied to that shit emotionally, I don’t really need that shit from someone you don’t know. I just want to make music, I don’t want to have to worry about what other people think.

PK: So this album has been a long time coming. How does this album differ from Replica Replica?

AG: The last album came out into 2006, and it was when that whole indie-dance scene was just getting started. This one is way more introspective, we’ve tried to make something that we really like and forget about what’s going on elsewhere. It’s a way more confident album in that way.

PK: Are you guys maturing then?

AG: Maturing makes things sound boring immediately so I’d say it’s about being confident and comfortable. That’s enough and it doesn’t have to be endorsed by some scene or something. I’m a lot more relaxed about stuff now than I was back then. I just felt that this was better so people would like it and I didn’t get caught up in it.

PK: That’s what people should do when they write music. There are a few tracks on Drown In Colour that are noticeably different…

AG: There are some songs on the new album that I wrote and I loved but I couldn’t conceive how they could be Red Riders songs. We didn’t know how they fitted in to what we do. It took our label, manager and Woody, who produced the album to say these songs are really good and you have to do them. So even though we loved them we didn’t know how to make them work and we were just going to leave them off.

PK: Is it coming from a different place to where you were four years ago?

AG: Yeah. It’s coming from a place where I’m feeling bored and ordinary. I go through real highs and lows of when I feel like everything is great or when everything I do is terrible and I feel untalented and ordinary. It’s like when you’re a kid and you grow up in your little suburb and then you go to the city and there are heaps of kids just like you and you just feel ordinary.

PK: So the new album is an attempt to break away from that?

AG: It wasn’t as conscious as that, it wasn’t like lets not do this. It was more like this is what we want this to be like. I had an idea of what I wanted to do in my head – I wanted to do whimsical yet straight ahead rock music.

PK: Just before you guys recorded Drown In Colour Adrian (Deutsch) left and Brad (Heald) joined the band. How has that changed things for you guys?

AG: I think that having Brad join on the cusp of making that last album means that he’s only been involved in a transitional phase so I’m looking forward to making something with him as a full time member. I was talking to Angie from Circle Pit and she’s like “It’s just me and Jack and we want to have a new backing band the whole time because it keeps things interesting and you get psyched off new people.” I don’t want to have a revolving line up but I can totally understand her point of view because there’s this whole new unknown element in the band and things are exciting.

PK: Considering you’re not really into knowing what people have to say about you guys does it make having an online presence tough?

AG: The whole online thing has been cool in that it’s opened stuff up so much but at the other time it’s annoying having to write a blog and Twitter. I mean sometimes you really feel like writing a blog or something but other times you’re just like “ah I better do this because I’ve got to create some content”.

PK: Do you think some people get involved in bands just so they can do that stuff?

AG: I think that for the younger generations it’s quite natural for them to record and photograph everything they do and put it online. Sometimes our manager will be like “you haven’t done a blog for a while,” and I’ll be thinking that’s because I’ve got nothing to fucking say!

Don’t get me wrong I’m really pleased that people want to read my blog or follow my twitter but I play music. I wonder if there’ll be a backlash against it all one day?

PK: I think for a lot of people it’s all about the live performance and some of the newer bands aren’t doing that as well. When you guys were starting was it more about the live performance?

AG: Yeah I think that it’s funny because when you fast start writing songs it’s just you in your bedroom making music and then you’re really conscious that that’s the only way that the song exists because you haven’t recorded anything and you don’t have an album. So you playing live is the only way the song existed.

With this album, because we only replaced Adrian a month out from recording it hasn’t been honed live.

PK: They don’t have to correlate do they?

AG: Nah, no way. I like that shambolic and crap sound live, I like that it has this different in the moment energy live but on record it can sound a little nicer. I mean I’m a shit guitarist and Matt’s not a great bassist and we’ll happily admit we’re not technically a great band but it’s more about the spirit live I guess.

PK: If you hold the third album up to the first album will it be oceans apart?

AG: I hope so! I hope it’s a lot better! It’s funny though people will come up and say how much they like your first EP more than any of your new releases. It’s funny how people just love different stuff to you.

PK: Well what matters most is that you like it right?

AG: Yeah well it’s so hard to make money that at some point you come to the conclusion that you’re not going to make money so you just do something that you like. Even if you’re a successful band in Australia you’re not going to make that much money, so screw it and make what you love. So that’s where I’m at.

PK: You’re feeling good about that?

AG: Yeah.

PK: Honestly?

AG: Once you resign yourself to that fact, totally.

PK: How long did that take?

AG: About an album or so (laughs)! It’s not like there’s some amazing financial success so you may as well do what you want to. I don’t need a lot of money, it’s nice to make stuff and live a creative life.

We’re such a funny career based generation that we see ourselves as products. Whereas in the ’90s bands were like we’re not going to let the record companies tell us what to do. Nowadays bands are happy to do what they’re told.

But then I’ll probably be this 40-year-old dude talking about our twenty fifth album like it’s the one!

Red Riders

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Indelible Ink

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:24:30 +0000

Words: Gabriel Knowles Images: Tristan Ceddia

As time marches on the gap between small and large scale endeavours gets bigger and bigger. While we can now knock a zine up from our bedrooms or head down to the printers and get thousands of posters hot off the press at the drop of a hat you can’t get a short run of books printed without breaking bank. But now with stencil printing gathering pace in Australia again after a few decades under the radar the possibilities of print are opening up once more. Gabriel Knowles finds out how Sydney based group Blood & Thunder are pushing the limits.

Kernow Craig, Mickie Quick and Leigh Rigozzi have been at the forefront of stencil printing in Sydney and indeed Australia for some time having each played a large part in setting up the Rizzeria, a co-operative based around a stencil printer also affectionately known as the ‘RZA’. While the Rizzeria still does a fine job printing CD inserts, posters, flyers and even small books the chance to buy a new machine at a knockdown price of $14,000 and the chance to expand the medium saw the birth of Blood & Thunder. Rather aptly the three gave the new press a name reminiscent of a pulp fiction novel.

“Primarily we’re coming from the experience of setting up the Rizzeria, and running an open print studio. We also wanted to create books which takes up a lot of time which was difficult to do whilst running an open print studio. When you’re doing a book you really need a dedicated space so we’ve invested in a two colour machine.” Kernow explains. “What we’re interested in doing is creating a catalogue of publications that we’re making ourselves and little artifacts so we’re trying to establish relationships with specific people who can get to know the medium because there are specific constraints and possibilities. We’re trying to avoid that service based idea of a poster here and a poster there. The reason is that the medium is so specific it really needs a process led design.”

“Rather than just seeing what’s on your computer and then hoping that it works, you actually work from the other way know what’s it’s special abilities are.” Mickie adds. “We haven’t had a chance to do that yet but it’s a chance for us to see what kinds of stuff we want to push. The registration on our new machine is a lot better so we can print to a greater scale.”

The unique nature of the medium has proven to be quiet therapeutic as Leigh has discovered through his work with the Rizzeria where he is still involved. “Because that one (Rizzeria) is a portable operation I can pack it down into my car and take it out to different locations like Blacktown Arts Centre and work with different groups. It’s great engaging with a wide variety of people like mental patients and disaffected youth. The results are amazing”

“The Rizzeria is like the most ideal idea of a huge R&D project because there are so many new people coming in there everyday with completely different aesthetics and hopes of what they want to achieve and then putting the machine to work.” Kernow continues. “All of a sudden stencil printing is this aesthetic that’s being taken up in a couple of different places and it feels like it’s building momentum.”

With plans for an online shop to be rolled out in mid-November with the aid of strengthening Australian dollar and a concept store in the works for early next year Blood & Thunder are have got more than enough i the pipeline. “I’m also working on a comic anthology with a bunch of Australian and New Zealand comic artists.” Leigh adds to the list.

“We’ve also got this book coming up from Neil Harrack who’s an artist based in Sydney and he does a lot of stuff in Vanuatu. He’s doing a one on cargo cults, which are where they treat a visitor as a god. It’s usually someone who was involved in trade so it’s more common in colonial countries. So they’ve got this amazing one in Vanuatu where they believe this American GI is coming back one day, so it’s pretty loosely based on Christianity.” Mickie offers casually. “And we’ve got a vending machine that we’d like to leave in a pub somewhere stocked with books.”

Blood & Thunder

Next Article: Red Riders – Simply Red

Uniform

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:19:31 +0000

Words: Jill Greig Images: Harold David

It was the 1980s when designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, first sparked fashion and portrait photographer, Harold David’s interest in Japan. But it was not until 2006, when David toured his last portraiture exibition, Tracksuits of St Marys, through Matto and Fujieda, that the he was finally able to experience Japanese culture first-hand and find inspiration for his next portraiture series. Shot during 2008 and early 2009, Uniform by Harold David portrays rubbish collectors, policemen, gardeners, nurses, house cleaners, bus drivers and even archers, in a completely new aesthetic context.

“I guess as a fashion photographer they just struck me as almost like Comme Des Garcons or Yohji Yamamoto in sense of clothing; and then as a portraitist it’s just really interesting to see about these people and their lot in life and what they do.”

“I was interested in the silhouette, the shape, the way that the people wear their uniforms, they wear them with such pride and dignity.”

“It’s such a hierarchical society and that also struck me. Everyone pays such respect to the lot above them in life, and yet every lot in life they have incredible uniforms.”

“I said to the curator in passing, ‘Man these uniforms here are unbelievable. As a portrait photographer and as a fashion photographer, that is a subject I’d really love to do’.”

“And you know it was in passing, he was interested, we talked about it for around half an hour. Next thing I knew, I didn’t put in a curatorial rationale or anything, he called me and said ‘Well we got some funding for that Uniform show you were talking about,’ I’m like ‘Oh Right! You’re kidding?!’ so, man I was stoked.”

“I went back in 2008. I went through both towns. They took me to where the garbage workers were collecting, the hospitals, anywhere I wanted to see.”

“I went to these places and said ‘I want to shoot that person, that person, that person’, knowing that I was going to shoot in a studio the following year, which was April 2009.”

“And I got everyone I wanted a year later in 2009, on the dot, on time: It was insane.”

Harold David

Uniform: Japan Photos by Harold David will run from November 14, 2009 until January 31, 2010 at Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest as part of the City of Penrith’s Sister City program.

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Art Hole

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:18:03 +0000

Words: Melissa Loughnan Images: Misha Hollenbach

As one half of clothing label PAM and the driving force behind art/music super group The Changes, Misha Hollenbach has exhibited nationally and internationally, touring Italy during Milan Design Week and at such venues as Mu Gallery, Eindhoven and V1 Gallery, Copenhagen. After years of exhibiting collaboratively Misha has just launched his first solo show and is about to embark on two more. Melissa Loughnan catches up with Misha between installs…

Melissa Loughnan: You’ve currently got a show on at Y3K gallery in Melbourne and you’re about to launch another two shows in Japan and Sydney. Did you aim for these exhibitions to coincide or did it just happen that way?

Misha Hollenbach: Well, firstly with a baby imminent, Shauna asked me not to commit to any shows, but I accidentally committed to three. One in Y3K (Melbourne), Black & Blue (Sydney) and Tokyo. To make things even more hectic I planned them close together, with the one in Sydney I thought being in December. Last week I found out that the date was in November, meaning (unbeknownst to me!) I had double booked openings for November 4, one in Sydney, one in Tokyo. Luckily the “chilled out dudes” at Black & Blue were cool with cutting my show short a week, and opening a week later on Friday the thirteenth! Oh the horror! Hey when it hails, it hails!

ML: Your Y3K show is titled Indispensable Duties. Does this relate to the recent birth of your baby girl or is there more to this story?

MH: Everybody poos. Had to do this as my first show, clear my proverbial bowels, and ‘start’ the (art) day.

ML: So the (brown) poo references in Indispensable Duties are clear, but what does the pink signify?

MH: Bum. Two times pink ball.

ML: What about the fetishist objects, including the oversized dog butt plug, is it safe to say that the show is not just about poo, but primal urges?

MH: It’s about what goes in must come out, or on, or in… P.S. There’s a very fine line between the two: hence the pink/brown ‘whitelite’.

ML: So for your upcoming Japan and Sydney shows, can we expect an extension of your Y3K show or will the work be different?

MH: Japan will be completely different, mostly photographic work and a collab with Peter Sutherland. Sydney: Same shit, different gallery.

ML: You mentioned that Y3K is your first solo show, but you’ve been exhibiting for some time under various aliases (Roland Korg, Boy George Michael, Porkilucci) through your collaborative work with Shauna Toohey, Fergus Purcell and Sk8thng: The Changes. How does your solo work differ to the works produced through The Changes?

MH: The Changes is a free for all, easy to go nuts and spur each other on. It’s also very pop and of the moment. Going solo is asking questions from within, and trying to find the answers from the same place. Kind of a one stop shop for mild insanity and self-inflicted self-exploration. The Changes is a reaction to our surrounds, and the things we love and pay homage to: music, culture, etc… My personal work doesn’t neccessarily rely on these obvious outside forces, it is very internal and in saying that, eternal also, as in will be forever an exploration into my own ideas, observations and aesthetics.

ML: Getting back to your Tokyo show with Peter Sutherland, what is the show about? What is it inspired by? And what was the creative process of translating this inspiration into collaborative work?

MH: Peter sent me through a proposal for a book. Many of the photos were similar to what I had been shooting as part of my daily snaps… as in VERY similar. I proposed we do a book together, kind of a call and response, or even more like the card game Snap. When certain images ‘coincided’, they work as pair. The same but different. Hence the title… Basically each spread has an element or a page that comes from both of us. The show is basically representations of the book in a show form. Large and small scale prints in various mediums: xerox, risograph, screenprint, photographic print and some blankets (woven photos).

ML: So you’re having a solo show at Utopian Slumps’ new space in 2010, anything else lined up for next year?

MH: Fun and… 2010: more!!!

STOOL, Misha Hollenbach
Opening Friday November 13, 6pm-9pm
Black & Blue, 302/267-271 Cleveland St. Redfern, Sydney
Show runs until November 28

SNAP! Peter Sutherland & Misha Hollenbach
Opening Wednesday November 4, 6pm-9pm
Gallery Target, Tokyo
Show runs until November 18

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On Your Bike

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:57:10 +0000

Words: & Images: Kashi Mai Somers

Earlier this year Matthew Hurst started The Humble Vintage, Melbourne’s special vintage bike hire. Six months on he can use Creative Suite, dink two bikes at a time and can appreciate the natural benefits of biking around even more. Kashi Mai Somers rode his special café’s route and chatted with him along the way, finding out how these sweet bikes are better than their mountain cousins and which ‘culture’ is important to Matt.

Kashi Mai Somers: Hey Matt, you’re renting bikes now. Where did this all come from?

Matthew Hurst: About six months ago I finished working in my 9-5 and on a whim flew off to Buenos Aires. While I was there I rode around on this rad rickety old bike, came home and inspired by that, got my fleet together. I’ve got a fair few bikes now, and they all have their own special ways. They’re vintage, obviously, but have all been restored and sort of have the feel of your friend’s bike you borrowed for the afternoon.

That’s how I want it to be too. I want people to have a really personal connection to the bikes, and also for it to feel like there is a friend who has a bike just up the road, and you’re okay to borrow it whenever you like.

Well, for $25!

KMS: Is that how you do it? People just come over to your place and pick up their “friend’s” bike?

MH: Well it was like that in the beginning. I’d ride the bike to a meeting spot, swap them the lock keys for some dollars and jump on the tram home. Or they’d come to my place.

Now I have a couple of spots that house Humble Vintage bike racks. People can rent from 1000 Pound Bend in the city, Idaho Vintage Clothing in St Kilda and Seven Seeds in Carlton. There are a few more places popping up soon too.

I do still do it the old way for fun as well. I do want to keep that feel and I like having the chat and the interaction.

Plus I recently learnt how to “ghostie”, and even what that means [riding a bike, pulling along another], which definitely helps with the bike returns.

KMS: Do you think renting bikes out is anything new?

MH: Bike rental is obviously not new in Melbourne, but I think what’s out there is stale and the concept is really undeveloped… I mean there can be a lot more to it than racks of unappealing mountain bikes rented by the hour [as is practice in the CBD of Melbourne, and in most cities currently].

Melbourne’s a place with an amazing bike involvement, yet there wasn’t a service aimed at expressing and sharing this with people who didn’t have their own wheels, with people that seek culture and creative stuff too.

I guess I wanted to create something that allowed a traveler to walk into a cool café near their hotel, pick up a lovely vintage bike and blend in the with locals. Then be given a map of things to discover on special riding routes, a mini publication with some great bike-style editorial and for them to enjoy this city. Or a local with the same interest.

KMS: Where’s the map and publication coming from – are you doing that too?

MH: Yes! I’ve been working on the summer one for a little while, and appear to have taught myself Illustrator in the process.

The map is of Melbourne and has some special riding route’s I’ve discovered, plus I’ve made sure there are some secret cafe’s, shops, things I like doing in there. As a biking local you find things down little streets that others miss out on, and I thought it would be nice to include that kind of stuff.

The publication is on the other side of the map (the paper will come out seasonally) and has small features on biking history, cool cultural things on in the season, people’s stack stories, that sort of thing. I wanted it to be relevant to bikers that pick it up in cafe’s too, not just the people that rent from me.

KMS: So it’s more about culture on bikes, rather than “bike culture” specifically?

MH: Exactly. Lot’s of people ask me questions about my contributing to biking culture and how it feels to be part of Melbourne’s bike culture etc.

I think The Humble Vintage is not focused on “bike culture” – it’s not about fixies or lycra weekend power cyclists, it’s more about people getting around and having an explore of Melbourne and its culture on bikes.

So yes, it has lots more to do with people who like bikes getting involved with cultural things in Melbourne, rather than contributing to a club of sorts.

KMS: On the eco front, biking is obviously a “saving earth” tip we’ve all been told time and time again. What do you think about this?

MH: I think it’s important, but much like not being part of a bike “culture”, I don’t want to tote “eco” as my businesses pitch. I do ride a bike, but I don’t ride a bike because it’s eco, it’s a great secondary factor that I appreciate.

I guess I just hope that the people who rent bikes from me are aware of the environment in general. And that people who aren’t might be biking along on one of the Humble fleet one day, and think “this is fun – I’m going to buy myself a bike” and then that’s one less car out there.

Or a visitor to the city who is interested in biking from an eco stand point shouldn’t be forced to hire something that’s not as lovely looking as their wheels at home.

The Humble Vintage is an eco business whether people are educated, considered, knowing or not, just because bikes by nature are [eco friendly].

KMS: So it’s been six months now, what for the next six?

MH: I’m excited about the biking publication I will put out in a few weeks, that is the next really important thing for The Humble Vintage. It’ll extend what visitors can experience, and there are some funny anecdotes that I think readers will enjoy. Then there’ll be the next edition of that, and I’m over to New York for a little visit too.

There is bike enjoyment, bike culture, bike obsession, bike everything there, so it will be interesting to see what people think about what I’m doing, and even just to look at all the bikes over there.

I’m just focusing here with The Humble Vintage at this very moment, but am always interested in other places that love bikes…and it’ll be cool to see if I can rent one there like mine.

KMS: The final and most important question now Matt. Can you ride with no hands?

MH: Yes! My hot tip is to sit up straight and look far ahead. My friend says put your hands together on your chest with your elbows out to the side.

KMS: Like in prayer?

MH: Yeah, pray you don’t fall off.

The Humble Vintage

Next Article: Harold David – Uniform

Watch This Space

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:43:39 +0000

Words: Adriana Giuffrida Images: TV

For the past few years people have been watching TV develop their finely tuned approach to fashion design. With each season they capture us with their imaginative and wearable pieces, and their ability to create collections with a focus on different textiles that capture our attention. Ingrid Verner and Monika Tywanek have their formula on lock down, and compliment each others strengths within these areas, and together they make a formidable team. TV’s current collection Army Dreamers saw the inclusion of perforated textiles, a rich colour palette and moody prints, making their avante-garde clothing accessible to all who want to get their hands on clever maxi dresses, bike shorts and mustard denim jackets. Adriana Giuffrida speaks to one half of the team Ingrid Verner on the inspiration behind Army Dreamers and the importance of creating these ideas in Australia.

Adriana Giuffrida: How are you guys? What are you working on at the moment?

Ingrid Verner: We are working on a really small winter range, and working towards summer now in an attempt to feel ahead of time. We’ve also just finished setting up our on-line store – www.tvthelabel.com.

AG: You have been working together for seven seasons now. Do you find working so closely together that each of you focus on a different aspect? Or do you both contribute quite equally to the textiles and garment construction?

IV: Yeah, it’s been three years. I design and Monika puts the fabrics together and develops the textiles.

AG: You textiles seem to differentiate you from other labels each season, how do you find developing these techniques in Australia? I heard that you get your knitwear done by a pretty amazing guy in Melbourne. You must work with some pretty incredible characters.

IV: I think you have to develop your point of difference through your textiles as a designer in this country. The quality and variety of fabric available is very limited. The guy who did our knitwear has since closed down, obviously the future doesn’t look bright for manufacturing in this country.

AG: Do you think you will always aim to produce in Australia?

IV: Yes, we’re really committed to Australian made.

AG: TV has been recognised for its imaginative approach to design from quite early on. Your last collection Lucky gained some attention around the world on different blogs, how do feel about blogland? Do you pay much attention to those kind of things?

IV: No, not really. Monika and myself are not internet crazy kind of people if that makes any sense? It was really nice reading all the positive feedback from people all over the world on the Lucky collection though.

AG: Tell me about the inspiration for your current collection Army Dreamers.

IV: It’s inspired by nature with militaristic undertones. Again it’s all about the hand developed fabrics and textures. Garments mimic the lines and movement of the body, while referring to the landscape around it. Inside is blended with outside, elegance with the wild.

AG: I noticed in your RAFW show for Army Dreamers that you included your own footwear on the runway. Was this purely for the show or is this a new area you are expanding into?

IV: We are looking to expand into footwear but need to investigate further how we do it. But yeah, TV shoes are going to be rad!

AG: Are there any other areas you would want to explore?

IV: Bags! Our trash bag was really popular and it’s another area where I think we could do some good stuff.

TV

Next Article: Collider – Science Of Movement

Collecting Cool

Gabe Knowles — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:33:37 +0000

Words: & Images: Sarah Larnach

You don’t get much cooler than being hailed as a pop musician, and all the while not acting obviously ‘pop’. Wearing a dress made of balloons to an awards is acting pop, wearing jeans to an awards is not acting… case in point, see Ladyhawke wearing jeans to the New Zealand Music Awards, and not having a costume change for her live performance, and then scooping the pool.

When I was wee (that’s how we say it in NZ), I thought that Cindy Lauper was the shit, and Madonna was the bad kind of shit. In retrospect, I had a whole like/hate list of reasons why one of them qualified as cool, and the other was just so un-cool by my pre-pubescent standards. As we know, stuff you liked when you were a kid often becomes stuff you obsess over as an adult; for me it’s dinosaurs and The Labyrinth, for others it might be robots and computer games. For Pip Brown, the alter ego of Ladyhawke, it’s the games. And, when I apply my Cindy Lauper checklist to Pip, she totally scores at the top of the cool meter. Wore jeans to the New Zealand Music Awards. Check.

Between tours of the U.S. and Australasia, Pip was taking it easy and keeping below the radar. I didn’t have the heart to interrupt her well-earned exile into Liberty City, but finally I accosted her on the eve of her first New Zealand show with a few lighthearted questions…

Sarah Larnach: A few months ago I crashed your holiday in L.A and we spent a lot of time watching TV shows, playing arcade games, and searching out dairy-free food. With those interests in mind, which of these sidelines would you pick if given the option between: A) A celebrity reviewer for a gaming magazine, B) Playing yourself in concert, on The Simpsons, or C) Spokesperson for a dairy-free cheese?

Pip Brown: Playing myself on The Simpsons! You know you’ve made it when you get to cameo yourself on The Simpsons. You’re at your careers pinnacle.

SL: I would love to see you in a gaming mag too, being queen of the geeks or something. What are your favourite games of all time?

PB: That’s too hard! I hate this question, and being put on the spot to name my ‘All-Time Favourite’…

SL: Yeah sorry, I guess it’s an interviewer cop-out…

PB: Well probably Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle for the Sega Mega Drive would be my all time favourite game. But at the moment I’m really obsessed with Grand Theft Auto IV. It’s got all these features, like the morality choices where you choose to be good or bad; you can hire prostitutes; have sex; you can use mobile phones; play multiplayer… like turf wars….

SL: You have several great collections of stuff – cameras, records, Simpsons, games. What is your best collection, or the one you’re most obsessed with?

PB: Yeah it’s definitely my gaming consoles and games. I have some good classic ones from when I was a kid, Master systems and NES and Gameboys. I would like to have a room where I can just have them set up all the time, with several TV screens – era-appropriate TV’s! Like some old wood paneled ones…

SL: Oh yeah! That’s totally what my TV was like when we hired Nintendo when I was a kid. Now, you have some well-earned holiday time coming up, is that what you want to do with your time off? Hole up and play video games?

PB: I do… but where? I don’t know where I want to be. I’m just going to get a car and drive around and really explore a lot of places [in New Zealand] this summer. I would like to have a place to go to, but I just don’t know where. Probably somewhere near the beach? I want to have all my games set up, that would be cool. But I really want somewhere to set up a studio.

SL: I’ve known you for a while, but I can’t recall you ever mentioning another career you might have wanted, like when you were a kid. Was there one? I know you went to design school for photography, but is that what you wanted to do?

PB: I always wanted to make music but I was really into photography [at university] and that hasn’t changed. (Pip still takes heaps of photos- whenever I meet up with her I have to copy all the pictures she’s taken, ‘cause she documents like a maniac – Sarah)

I just want to make my studio and get in to it and just do a lot of songwriting. I would really like to compose, and maybe do score for a film. I have always wanted to work in film – I studied cinema at design school, so it’s not like this is a new thing. I guess I would really like to produce something, I’d like to make a documentary. That’s what I would really like to work on in the future.

SL: Well that takes care of my questions about what you want to do music wise next – but how about a retirement hobby? I’m fishing for you to mention a bar here…

PB: Ha. Nah, I’m always going to make music. I will have a studio… and yeah, I would like to have a bar, like a pub, one day for sure too. It will be a quiet little kind of set up. I’d like to have heaps of classic arcade games, all my favourites, and new ones too. And just heaps of cool stuff to look at, like my collections. And loads of photos on the walls, like one of those places you love to go to ‘cause it’s just so interesting. But hey! I don’t want to say too much… I am giving away all my good stuff here!

SL: I totally want to go to that pub! Thanks for letting me interview you Pip… I promise never to cross the line between friend and journalist again!

PB: Naw it was ok. It’s cool. just don’t miss-quote me!

Ladyhawke is touring nationally from November 5

Next Article: Misha Hollenbach – Art Hole

Save The Last Dance

Gabe Knowles — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:44:29 +0000

Words: Louise McClean Images: Bridezilla

When thinking of any name which includes the word ‘zilla’ in it, there’s an instant association with untamable, powerful forces, dealt to the world indiscriminately and ferociously; such is the power of the Sydney’s five piece band Bridezilla who have been certainly making themselves known in the last couple of years, and in no small way. Playing festivals like Australia’s Big Day Out, Homebake, Laneway, Splendour in the Grass, All Tomorrow’s Parties curated by Nick Cave and most recently, New York’s All Tomorrows Parties festival curated by the Flaming Lips, has put them next to some of the world’s most inspiring and prolific local and international artists like Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens, Wilco and Cold War Kids to name a small few.

Starting out in 2005 and still in school, four girls – Holiday Carmen Sparks, Daisey Tulley, Pia May Courtley and Millie Hall, formed Bridezilla’s beginnings, with the instrumental combination of guitar, saxophone, violin. Later on with the addition of the drums which are played by Josh Bush, the five have come together to make wonderfully unique, powerful but romantic melodies which are emotionally charged and laced with moody ambience.

Louise McClean: So you just got back from New York, playing the prestigious All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, curated by the Flaming Lips no less. How was that that experience?

Pia May Courtley: I’d have to say it was one of the best experiences imaginable. I still getting a little teary-eyed when I think back to the peach and pink country club with its grand lake and rolling grassy hills where the festival was held. It was like being in a surreal dreamland – watching bands like Suicide and Animal Collective, dancing in the lobby while an old man named Frankie played ‘I Go To Rio’ for us on his Casio keyboard, eating bagels and cream cheese every morning for breakfast. It was an honour to be there.

LM: You guys have been busy. You have also just released your first full-length album, The First Dance, produced in part by iconic music producer Mark Kramer and also by Chris Townend. What was it like working with such prolific figures in the industry?

PMC: They’re both artists we really respect in their own different ways, so working with them both was a pleasure. Our relationships with Chris and Kramer as producers were completely different and I think this factor influenced the unique qualities of the recordings by each. On the one hand Chris Townend is an old friend and recorded our first ever demos back when we were 15 and 16. It felt natural to work with him again and I think that sense of comfort gave the recording experience a fluidity and cohesiveness. On the other hand we’d never met Kramer prior to spending two weeks together recording in a country barn. Recording in a makeshift studio with someone who was essentially a stranger was more of a risk, but in the end made for an amusing, eye opening and inspiring two weeks.

LM: Prior to the Album you had recorded an EP. Do you feel like the experience of recording a full length album and an EP differs much in terms of challenges, enjoyment or satisfaction?

PMC: Recording an LP is a completely different story. For starters our album is more than double the length of our EP. There were far more logistics involved, both in terms of song writing and then recording. Our song writing style has changed so much since the EP and that natural progression to a more sophisticated platforms equals more hard work. An album’s such a vast playing field and there’s much more room for vulnerabilities, strengths and weaknesses to show themselves. I think the personality of a band really comes to the fore, much more in a LP than an EP, and that’s the most rewarding thing.

LM: A large part of your album was recorded at Colo River in rural NSW, a far cry from inner city life. What was it like hanging out there for a while?

PMC: It was entirely relaxing and enjoyable as well as being horrible and stressful. Initially no one had any complaints about hanging out in the wilderness while we swam in the river, ate great food and played music. Things took a turn when we ran out of food and then ran out of water due to a leaking tank. Holiday and I stepped on African Thorn Bush one night and spent the next few days hobbling around due to mild paralysis of the toe and Kramer claimed rats attacked him in the middle of the night. But in the end we overcame the various hurdles of the Australian outback, improved our culinary repertoire, practised our photo-taking skills, learnt how to drive a winnebago, played a few good games of monopoly and recorded an album!

LM: Your album is quite something, the songs have a beautiful haunting quality about them, and an incredible knack for painting rich atmospheres of one mood or another. What inspires your song writing?

PMC: Poetry and mood itself, landscapes and colours, range and love, paranoia and passion. The songs on the album are songs about life – life of the epic proportion and that of the everyday.

LM: When you think of a song which is the singular product of five different creative minds, it seems like an immense task to create any song. You have been together for five years and still going strong, how do you deal with different perspectives on the same piece you’re working on? Or are you all pretty like minded?

PMC: We started off with a similar musical bent in terms of what we listen to, but as the years progress our differences in taste have become more pronounced. I think this only enriches our own musical output. We have the best of both worlds, because on the one hand there’s a plethora of different ideas to draw from, yet at the same time we seem to have a similar vision for each piece of music we create together. It’s a miracle that five people with, all with their different tastes, quirks and fascinations all contribute to the production of a cohesive work.

LM: You’ve had such a busy, productive and successful year. Do you have any more exciting plans in the near future or are you going to take it easy for a while?

PMC: We’ve never really had any plans other than to keep playing music, advancing and progressing together. We enjoy it…we want to keep doing it. Hopefully things stay at a similar pace.

The First Dance will be released on November 7, 2011

Bridezilla

Next Article: Franks – In Short

In Short

Gabe Knowles — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:16:21 +0000

Words: Tristan Ceddia Images: Franks

Whilst visiting New York a few months back, my girlfriend stumbled across these great swim shorts called Franks. While she neglected to return with a pair, she directed me to the Opening Ceremony website, where I could view them online. Drawn in by the simple design of Franks shorts and their great yardages, I decided I needed a pair for summer. After Google failed to grant me any more information on the brand, I got a friend visiting the States to pick me up a pair. To my surprise, Franks ended up to be a local label from Melbourne and stocked all around Australia. Knocking on summers door, I visited Franks founder Tim Garbis and art director Patrick Crea to find out more about the brand.

Tristan Ceddia: Franks look like they would be found in a boutique in the south of France. When you started designing shorts did you see a calling in the Australian market for classic beach shorts?

Tim Garbis: I have been to the south of France recently, and they do have classic beach shorts in a lot of boutiques, although I didn’t come across a beach short that focused on the youth market like we do.

But yes, I saw a calling in the Australian market, I saw a need for a swim short as an alternative to the typical surfers board short. Not every guy is a surfer, so why should they have to wear surfers shorts. I wanted to provide a short for the type of guy who parties by a pool or on a boat or needs some light weight shorts to kick around in on a summers day.

TC: What is your background? Have you always had a keen eye for fashion?

TG: I come from a marketing background, though like most Australians I love the beach and I love the sun. I’m not really a fashion type person I just know what I like. My philosophy with fashion has always been about quality, something different and a good price point. I like designs to come from a creative place and love to see an art influence in designs.

TC: Your business model is straight forward – strong graphics on quality swimming shorts. Do you have plans to expand into other areas of clothing?

TG: Not really. I want to keep my offering pure. I want to be known for what I offer and be a leader in what I do. You can’t be good at everything. I think you need to do something well, be known for it and build trust in your consumer following. Too often brands confuse the consumer as they don’t make it clear to them what the brand stands for.

TC: What is the story behind the name Franks?

TG: My grandfathers name was Frank, he was English and lived in India. He spent a lot of his time on the beach there. I see a lot of myself in him, I love to travel, I love the tropics and I wanted to emulate what he was about with the brand. On the flip-side Franks is also very Australian, being frank is an attitude that resonates through the mindset of Australians.

TC: Along with stores across Australia, Franks are stocked in stocked in high end boutiques around the world including Opening Ceremony in New York, Wood Wood in Berlin and Boutique 1 in Dubai. How have you gained this international distinction?

TG: I launched into these markets this year. It has been an organic growth, although it’s always been part of my plan to expand into offshore markets.

TC: Franks cater to a northern market. In other words, your shorts are available overseas six months before they are available here in Australia. Does this help you keep ahead of Australian market?

TG: I actually see Australia as market leaders in swimwear. Overseas they get our shorts six months earlier though this is only due to their summer falling before ours.

TC: You work closely with your friend Patrick Crea who designs all of the graphics for Franks. What is his background?

TG: Patrick studied Fashion at RMIT. He has his own label called Rest In Peace and is a brilliantly talented person. He is a real asset to my company and is the backbone of the art direction. I focus more on sales and distribution. We work as a team, there is a good mix of skills between us that create a healthy balance. Running a fashion business is a lot more than design, it’s distribution, finance, marketing and a lot of mundane stuff that needs to be rock solid so you can deliver what you’re promising.

TC: Heavy emphasis is placed on your graphics to reinvent each range. The latest range comprises of hand drawn/painted yardages. What do you guys draw on for inspiration?

TG: We draw on lifestyle imagery, architecture, photography and graphic art. Our motivation is to create something new and different. I’m not a great fan of just recycling the past and writing it off as retro – design needs have elements of something completely new and relevant.

TC: Do you find that you are watching global trends or are your ideas emerging from elsewhere?

TG: Our seasons colour palate is partly derived from a global trend but also inspired locally. Our prints, however, are completely original, they derive from our own think tank and every print has been hand drawn. We do watch global trends even though our ideas are home grown.

TC: Where do you see Franks in the future?

TG: Last season we were heavily into geometric designs. Designs drawn in Illustrator. I saw a swing away from that kind of artwork and a swing back to hand drawn home grown art. We saw an opportunity to draw the whole collection by hand and in contrast to last year the progression has worked out brilliantly.

Franks

Next Article: Blood & Thunder – Indelible Ink