The Blackmail » Publishing

A Time And A Place

gabe — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:22:04 +0000

Did that TV show 24 ever end? Was it supposed to end or was it supposed to go on forever? Like days, consecutive 24-hour lots, over and over till the end of time. But when is the end of time? Where do we as humans fit into time? Right now, I guess. Moments come and then they are gone. Times change, people grow. What I am trying to say is that, after 24 issues of The Blackmail, we are moving on. Our plans are big and they include our friends and contributors, but most of all they include you, our loyal, discerning readers. We have felt every one of your clicks and scrolls in our analytics, and in our hearts, and look forward to the day when you can hold us in your hands.

This issue, we have the inimitable DJ Nozaki, the enigmatic Donny Benet, Note to Self’s Max Olijnyk, Sydney-based designer Georgia Perry and the man in the woods, Warwick Baker. As well as the solo flyers, we have those who prefer double-file: Pageant’s Kate Reynolds and Amanda Cumming, big men on art campus Vasili Kaliman and Jarrod Rawlins, Mitch Brown and Sarah Grieve of Gang Atelier and the modern romantics at Lover. Flying the flag for group love is Sweden’s Little Dragon.

Welcome to Issue 24 of The Blackmail, our final issue in this format. The future is bright, so put on a sun visor and stay current on our blog.

Gang Colours

tristan — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:42:38 +0000

Text: Fleur Mitchell Images: Gang Atelier

Gang Atelier is the creation of Mitch Brown and Sarah Grieve. And it’s dangerous. A few minutes of browsing their beautiful online store and you will want to own Every. Single. Thing. After recognising the lack of international specialist titles with a visual slant in the Australian retail space, they have stepped in to fill the gap. Now we have Gang Atelier, crisis averted.

The store is thoughtfully and tightly curated, with items sourced from around the globe. Bringing together a selection of books, magazines and prints from amazing independent publishers like Picturebox and Libraryman. It’s all killer and no filler.

Fleur Mitchell spoke to Mitch Brown about creative partnerships, the demise of the local bookstore and partaking in a little crystal ball gazing…

Fleur Mitchell: Tell me about Gang Atelier, how was the idea born?

Mitch Brown: Initially it was a reaction to the hole we felt existed in the offerings at local bookstores, but rather than complain to each other about what was missing, we decided it was just as easy to bring it here ourselves, and share all the things we love about international visual culture with a local audience.

FM: So aside from the store itself, Gang Atelier is also a creative studio? Tell me about that side of things.

MB: Having worked together for a brief time as designers and art directors at a prominent Sydney music label, it became clear then how essential good relationships are in the creative process… Sarah and I worked well together, and felt a creative partnership was a good idea, so G.A. became a way for us to create design projects with our favourite artists and not necessarily be dictated by commerciality – rather, focusing on successful collaborations with conceptual fulfillment.

FM: What are the kind of titles are you stocking and why?

MB: We have a huge admiration for independent publishers; Brooklyn’s Picturebox are always blowing us away, Libraryman make beautiful books with no detail spared, while we are very proud to introduce the cheerful and perfectly crafted titles of Sam de Groot’s imprint True True True, all the way from the Netherlands. Those projects are driven by individuals with absolute conviction in presenting beautiful work in a handsome package.

As much as we want to present books, we’re hardly limited to that. Artist edition photographs and prints, music and lifestyle products will all come into the store as we progress.

FM: Due to increasing competition online, we’ve recently seen the collapse of major bookstore chains like Borders and small, independent stores are finding it difficult too. What are your thoughts about this shift, having just launched an online store with a focus on books?

MB: Yeah, this is something we’ve been mindful of from the very conception of our project. We, as much as anyone, appreciate the local bookstores who offer specialty books, especially in art and design (speaking mostly about places like Melbourne’s Metropolis, and Sydney’s Published Art) — places we have spent a lot of time and money over the years…

Without ever wanting to take business away from these institutions, our goal was simply to offer things that (as far as we understand) nobody else has. Unique titles that we love, and other stores have no time for.

Being confined to an online presence (at least for the immediate future), we’re fortunate to be able to keep the operation modest, and focus on curating a broad selection of books and objects that are close to our hearts.

FM: It must be fun picking items that you love and sharing them with other people. Do you enjoy searching for new things for the store?

MB: Absolutely, discovering new projects and publishers is essential in presenting fresh material, and it’s the most rewarding part of the process. The main objective of the store is to give these titles a place to fit into whatever the amorphous state of bookstores is these days.

Like a lot of my friends, I’m a self confessed visual culture addict, so putting that research and interest into a new venture only validates my obsession.

FM: How did you and Sarah find the time to get it off the ground, were there many late nights? How long have you been working on this project?

MB: It has been a very long but rewarding process: curating the stock, designing the site, working with our developer, etcetera. Awesome to realise it, and planning upcoming G.A. projects — all while juggling full-time jobs — has been tricky. I guess if you want something bad enough you just make it happen though, right?

FM: The site design itself is beautiful, simple and clean. How important do you think the design of the online space is? Some online stores are really hard to navigate and it seems to take away from the whole experience, it’s just not as enjoyable. What were you thinking about when designing it?

MB: Thank you. As long as it’s functional and people receive their orders correctly, then we’re happy!

FM: Gazing into a crystal ball, where would you like to see Gang Atelier in a few years time?

MB: Much of the same. Hopefully still grateful for the experience. After being forced from Sydney due to extortionate real estate prices, G.A. settles into the Blue Mountains with a 360 degree mountain-view office and crystal cave in the backyard.

Download Dreamtime’s Love Song mix exclusive for Gang Atelier

Next story: Ten Inches – DJ Nozaki

Idiosyncratic

gabe — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 01:24:34 +0000

Have you ever considered that the idiosyncrasies we all have are, in fact, entirely subjective? The traits and characteristics that differentiate one from another are only in the eye of the beholder, quirks to one can be run-of-the-mill qualities to another. Whilst the cliched ‘quirky’ certainly isn’t something we’ve aspired to this month, we think there’s something a little different to be had for everyone.

Like Le Cercle or The Hong Song. Hunting and gathering cars in the outback or the debut album that doesn’t actually exist. There are people on the perimeter, those against the world, some in the void and one in Berlin. All the while staying in Total Control and the fa-ra-esh-ness.

Periphery Vision

tristan — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 11:04:26 +0000

Text: Neha Kale Images: Warwick Baker

There are some parts of Melbourne that remain untouched by the tyranny of cool. High Street, Thornbury, with its mix of kebab outlets, tyre shops and non-ironic bikie bars, is one of these places. Sure, the odd café and vintage store nods at what might come, but the area still feels like it sits on an edge. It would be safe to assume that Perimeter Books, a new venture by independent publishers Dan Rule and Justine Ellis, is inspired by the idea of periphery. This is, after all, a city that welcomes entrepreneurial endevours with the kind of enthusiasm reserved for late night whiskies or long summer days.

“I’m a bit weird, being a writer and coming from a background, technically of poetry, I’ve always been hung up on the phonetics of particular words. Perimeter just kept coming back into my head and I really liked its connotations. When we were coming up with a name for the store, I said ‘What about perimeter?’ and we had a bit of a chuckle because I hate place-space names, but at the same time we thought, it’s in Thornbury, it’s on the perimeter. I love the word periphery, but it felt a bit too exclusive,” laughs Rule.

Perimeter Books does seem like an oddly mathematical name for a space dedicated to small press and art, architecture, design and photography books. But the name evokes the finiteness of a perimeter precisely, the potential to keep books safe in a world of laptops and iPads.

The pair first came across the idea for Perimeter Books while visiting friends in Brooklyn. “There was a little store called By and By. I think it’s shut down since. It was about half the size of this space, and it was just a guy, a few books he really liked, and a few magazines, some T-shirts his friends had made and a gallery space. It was really simple, really small and manageable – it wasn’t trying to be a general bookstore or anything. Justine and I just walked in and we were in heaven. We thought it was amazing and said ‘Imagine doing something like this in Melbourne’,” Rule says.

Rule and Ellis returned to Melbourne and put the dream on the back burner, until earlier this year when art book distributor Modern Journal leased out the front of its Thornbury premises. The duo then proceeded with the store fit-out, inspired by elements of overseas bookstores and art spaces. “Justine and I had spent a lot of time in Japan. I don’t want to overstate the Japanese thing but we were influences by a kind of minimalism that’s still warm.” Minimalism and warmth may seem directly opposed, but Perimeter Books somehow manages both. The white walls and hardwood floors are punctuated by the odd plant, pieces from recent exhibitions and the books themselves – limited run and imaginatively jacketed. The store features modular, triangle-leg tables, in keeping with the geometry of its name.

The store stocks international small press and art titles from publishers such as Switzerland’s Nieves, London’s NoBrow Press and Post Editions, from Rotterdam. Citing Post Editions as a favourite imprint, Rule picks up Shelter, a hardback volume of photography by Henk Wildschut. Featuring different sized pages and a cover doubling as a poster, Shelter is the type of audacious publishing project completely at odds with a world drunk on Amazon. Rule lists Berlin magazine Mono Kultur among his most-loved publications. “It’s a big inspiration – it’s what I call gutsy publishing. Just the idea of a 32 page interview with one artist…”

On the front, Perimeter sells back catalogue and upcoming releases from ERM Books, the indie publishing company Rule started along with Ellis and illustrator Marc Martin. Known for championing Melbourne talent, ERM has produced artist’s books by Kat McLeod and photographers Louis Porter and Warwick Baker with a project by Beci Orpin in the works.

“We made a little rule that in our first year we wouldn’t be buying anything for any commercial imperative. Maybe down the track we might have to do that, but now we’re here to show books in a particular way. People often come in and say they haven’t seen this particular book before. Another bookstore might have a copy but its probably buried under a hundred tattered books,” he continues.

“In many ways, the subject and topic that a book covers is really important, but the publishing values are really important as well. We won’t really stock books that are poorly produced. We want to stock books that are beautiful and interesting.”

Commercial gain might not be a priority at Perimeter Books, but highlighting their tactility is high on the agenda. French-folded pages, heavy stitching and exposed glue ask to be picked up and touched, an urge we have yet to shrug off, according to Rule. “We haven’t quite got our head around hard drive crashes. So it’s crazy to me that people are giving away their entire record collections,” he ponders.

Instead of showing art books and small press as a relic of the past, Perimeter is engaged in “bringing them out of the art ghetto and into a vernacular people can understand.” The bookstore also doubles as an exhibition space for artists interested in the printed form – upcoming shows will feature New York photographer Josh Gurrie and Sydney typographer Mark Gowing.

Rule also wants to offer support to younger independent publishers such as Parts & Crafts, a risograph studio and printing press operating out of an old mechanics studio in North Carlton.

“It just comes back to issues with small press publishing and us knowing how hard it is to get distribution and representation in bookstores out here. But there’s quite a vibrant little community of people, especially younger kids, in the last six months to a year. We’re 31, 32 and while we don’t think of ourselves as senior citizens, we can support ourselves. So we thought we’d try and do something that could help nurture the scene and the stuff we like – not just the stuff we like, but the stuff that’s well published.”

Perimeter Books

Next story: Video Smith – Sam Smith

Inner Space

gabe — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:42:37 +0000

So little has happened since we spoke last time… or has it? It’s been a month. A good month, but a month like any other. It’s rained a lot, I guess it’s that time of the year. Rain washes away everything. It’s kind of amazing if you think about it for a really long time.

This month we are thinking about lots of things, including but not limited to: The Renaissance with David Capra, Brett Redman’s Icy Poles and Sausage Rolls and how the Sunshine Folds with Dark Bells. Brianna Lee Martin spins us a yarn while Serial Space and Provensen provide spaces for our souls. Tokyo Bike and Yimmy Yayo trace entirely different routes in amongst music lessons with Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys and placid images from James Nelson.

Relax

gabe — Sun, 01 May 2011 12:30:48 +0000

Do you find yourself wondering how it’s May already? How almost half the year has gone in the blink of an eye? It’s wild right? Time goes so fast, yet so much has already happened. Disasters (natural and unnatural), weddings (royal and other), parties (good and bad) and it still feels like we were on the cusp of 2011, returning to our jobs only moments ago. Will time ever slow down? Or is time slow and we just can’t find the time to relax and enjoy it?

This issue we zip down to 121BC for something to sip on, crossing genders with Billy Maynard en route. Boomgates teach us the art of the super (modest) group, we roll through George Egerton-Warburton’s Bongolia Haze, hanging with Tobias Rowles’ motley crew along the way.

We take a look at Inner City Living, shape up with Olivia Mai of POE and head out on a WIM. Jordan Askill shows us his white horse and we take a trip to Baldelli’s infamous Cosmic Disco.

This May, The Blackmail says Relax.

Phenomena

gabe — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:03:33 +0000

April Fool’s Day has passed, but things are still not what they seem this month.

Melissa Loughnan hears from Mark Rodda on Sleeping Giants, while Mikey Gilles unravels the mystery of The Killing Words. Gabriel Knowles sorts fact from farce with Arthaus and Mary MacDougall shows us some sorting of her own design.

Eddie Sharp encounters a transformed Brown Council, while Oliver Georgiou speaks with Martin Bell about the influx of orbs in his recent work. Millie Stein talks contradiction and curating with Tom Polo and Fleur Mitchell learns that Tristan Blair loves to fish. Digby Woods introduces us to Mitzi, but Mr Blanc wants to ask questions later.

Finally, we’d like to dedicate these tales of the unexpected, and this issue, to our Creative Director Tristan Ceddia and his beautiful bride, our Fashion Editor, Adriana Guiffrida.

Endless Summer

gabe — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:19:11 +0000

As we welcome Autumn below the equator, the anticipation of night creeping noticeably closer, here issue 19 of The Blackmail begins to un-scroll.

This month we find ourselves deep inside winter’s clutch with Anna Pogossova’s chilling Icelandic landscapes and discover the art of passing over with A Stock Exchange. Dave Brock of Hawkwind takes us on a trip down memory lane, Dane Lovett makes our mouths water with colour, Seekae express their passion for music, Small Black express their passion for music videos and Kasia Werstak overwhelms the crowd. Miguel and Luke invite us to the stage for some modern dance, Renee Jaeger takes us into the studio and Brenda Harvey of fashion label Benah explains why it’s always best to accessorise.

Scroll on…

New Directions

gabe — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:06:11 +0000

It’s our first issue of 2011 and, in the spirit of dispensing with the old, we’re thinking about new directions.

Duke’s Thomas Lim is pushing culinary boundaries to unprecedented heights. Photographer Christopher Day has revisited his own archive to deliver radically different collages. Mark Drew manages a completely original take on the centuries-old act of walking by a river, while Seamus Heidenreich has a lot to show for three months in a Berlin studio. The folks at bi-monthly Bamboo Musik pull off a mean trick by keeping things fresh each time. Likewise with Depeche Mode – and we’re not joking. South Carolina’s Toro Y Moi is about to hit Australia, while Cameron Smith was never sure he belonged here in the first place.

Mountain Fold Music Journal’s Douglas Lance Gibson gets a chance to reflect, and as for how Bababa International are planning to shift that voluntary $15,000 debt? Better get reading. Happy New Year!

Constant Document

tristan — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:02:50 +0000

Text: Millie Stein Images: Rene Vaile

What does it mean to say something is “good”? In a sense, it’s a subjective judgement: not everyone will agree on the gradations of merit. But in another sense, “good” implies a through-line – a set of qualities that will stand their ground. Universality in the everyday: it’s what makes you respond, along with the rest of the world, to a good thing.

Mountain Fold Music Journal is Douglas Lance Gibson’s version of an homage. As an artifact, the magazine represents a valuable independent contribution to a difficult dialogue. As a product, its superlative quality is a gesture of respect to the work of those exhibited in its pages.

Five issues of Mountain Fold have been released, with six acts interviewed in each. Featured artists range from semi-forgotten to objectively famous. Location is barely dwelt upon save for a mention of birthplace, alongside name and instrument of choice, on a profile page. The format is generous, allowing for long-form interviews of equal length and two pages of curated imagery per artist.

Print media will always be preoccupied with the limitations of time and space. Mountain Fold is still subject to these concerns, but deals with them in a manner that does not appear to require significant compromise. Somehow, the prevailing feeling is not one of concession, but quiet triumph.

It might feel strange to be asked to discuss three year’s work retrospectively, but this is what DLG will have to get used to – for now. Mountain Fold is taking an indefinite hiatus, so it’s as appropriate a time as any to talk about what has been achieved, and what has yet to be.

Perhaps Mountain Fold’s temporary absence will afford space to reflect on why ventures like this are tough, but worth it – and how one person’s effort to support and display the efforts of others has created something so meaningful. Douglas Lance Gibson: Good.

Millie Stein: Why music?

Douglas Lance Gibson: It’s something I’ve always been drawn to. I can remember as a kid just wanting to dance. I still like dancing, but it’s not all about that. I guess what I like about music is the full range of emotions that you get from it. You can find something for every mood. There was this stage when I was working as a builder’s labourer and I’d come home and have a shower and put on Swans, and just stomp around the house naked.

MS: Do you think music is hard to talk about?

DLG: It’s funny – I was looking at this book today, a catalogue of an exhibition by [Comme Des Garçons designer] Rei Kawakubo, and on the front cover there was a photo with a quote that said something like, “I hate trying to explain what I do. What is the point when I am just going to do it anyway?” I don’t feel so spitefully about it, but music is something that I don’t think needs explaining.

MS: The interviews in Mountain Fold seem to acknowledge that sentiment – that music should not be able to be pinned down – while making genuine attempts to approach this ephemeral thing, for the sake of the reader.

DLG: I like to use the music as a starting point in interviews. I love music, but it’s the stuff around it that I find interesting: the things that people do to complement their music making, what they’ve done to arrive at the point they’re at.

MS: Do you relate differently to the person or their music once you know that information?

DLG: You start to see patterns, how things fit together. For instance, you look at a band like Royal Headache. They have [frontman] Shogun, with this incredible soulful voice, but when you see him live, the way he moves, it makes sense that he played Hardcore for a long time. It’s that marriage where past experiences inform what someone’s doing now. I really enjoy talking to people about ‘why?’ It’s like a George Negus ad.

MS: Is the magazine what you thought it would be?

DLG: Yeah, pretty much. It’s actually funny how close it is to what I thought it would be. Well, actually, it’s better. The best thing about Mountain Fold is the friends I’ve made, not just in Australia, but also internationally.

Initially, I had the idea and within half an hour I’d structured it and it hasn’t changed at all. Rob and Sinisa must get annoyed sometimes with how set the format is, but I like it that way because it’s like a constant document. Everything’s treated the same; it’s unbiased. Well, it is biased in the sense that I’m picking bands that I like. There’s a lot of fan-boy stuff going on in there.

MS: That’s what’s cool about it, though. The interviewer often lets themselves be guided by their admiration for the person they’re interviewing.

DLG: I really wanted it to be a positive thing. We don’t have reviews because I don’t see the need to write negatively about an album or a band. It doesn’t make sense to me. It’s not what I’m trying to achieve.

MS: I guess people forget that reviews are supposed to be critical analysis, and tend to use them as an excuse to find fault. It’s possible to be critical without being negative.

DLG: What I try to do is pair people up – whether the interviewer knows or is a friend of the musician or band, or would just be really excited to interview that subject. Obviously there is room in other media for negative discourse because things are not right in the world, but with the state of independent music, especially in Australia, I think it’s better to champion the good than focus on the bad.

MS: Have you always had so much respect for other people’s creative endeavours?

DLG: I’ve always loved going to gigs and openings. I get excited to see people do stuff, especially when they’re friends. That’s one of the great things about Mountain Fold: after befriending the musicians and the artists, you go to one of their shows and you’re just like, “ fuck, this is sick”. When you see somebody doing something great, it makes you want to do the same. Mountain Fold was definitely inspired by seeing people do stuff and do it well.

MS: What was the point at which you realised you needed to take a break?

DLG: I was all geared up for the issue that was meant to come out in mid-January. I had bigger names, both interviewing and being interviewed, than before, and I believed I had sorted out all the advertising. I finally felt that things were starting to work, after a bit of a struggle. Within the space of a week I lost over half the issue in advertising. It’s hard enough finding advertising to start with, let alone the week before Christmas. After that, I realised that I was starting to burn out a bit. Whenever I’d get an email regarding somebody wanting a copy of an issue or something, I’d get anxious about having to go to the post office even though it’s only two hundred meters down the road. I wasn’t being fair to the readership because I was starting to resent the fact that they wanted to read my magazine. I saw straight away how ridiculous that was, and decided that it was best to take some time off.

I’ve recently done some interviews for another magazine and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy talking to people and finding stuff out. I really miss that. It was almost like six features per issue wasn’t enough because there was so much I wanted to cover, but more than six would have been way too much for me. I’d hate to say it’s over. It’s not over, but I need to have a break and then come back. The other thing is that this is not a career for me; it’s not my main job, it’s just an intensive hobby. As I get more serious about my career, I have to start allocating more time to that and less to Mountain Fold, which is a shame but it has to be done.

MS: Are projects like Mountain Fold always difficult to sustain?

DLG: I mean, yeah, they are difficult – but they’re so rewarding. It sounds cliché but I have got so much out of this. Although it is an intensive hobby, it’s also a small business. I’m not the best businessman but it’s given me an insight into that world: dealing with people, learning how to delegate and how to get the best out of everyone. The market that Mountain Fold appeals to is quite small, which does make it tricky to convince advertisers that it’s in their best interest to advertise in the magazine. I’ve developed a thicker skin, because you take it personally at first when people say no, but then you realize that there’s no reason why they should be giving you money so you can do your thing.

MS: The spirit of Mountain Fold is very collaborative, very inclusive. What do you think attracts people to it as a project?

DLG: I guess there’s the intention to do something good. It obviously helps if people are fans of the music or they appreciate the aesthetics of what we’re trying to do, but I’d think what would attract people would be the intention to do something good for someone else.

Next story: Carte Blanched – Tom Lim/ Duke Bistro