Superlative Conspiracy Magazine No.5!

DE L MAR T HE E ARLY D AYS

NOVA R OC K A F EL L ER TH AT NEW ENER G Y

D E LTA S C H E M AT I C CHAOS

N YC T H E P LACE T O BE

SUPERLATIVE CONSPIRACY ELI ROT H SHOT BY GE OFF MOO RE

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WORDS FROM ABOVE

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Sometimes it feels like we have nothing to say. This despite the fact that we do things every day, all the time and all over the world, and we’re talking about good stuff. This feeling is damn strange, especially as we’re constantly active and out there. But that’s the thing: sometimes when you’re busy experiencing and creating things you’re so into it, so focused on it that you take it all for granted and don’t realize what kind of entertaining, great or terrible story it can actually turn into, one that people want to listen to. Waking up, eating, working, sleeping, playing. It actually all matters because it all happens - it’s all actions that provoke reactions and counteractivity. Welcome to our world, where we love the spirit of DIY. In this issue of the Superlative Conspiracy Magazine, the Winter Issue, we tell you stories. And you’ll realize that all the things you read and see come from nothing but have been created by people’s free will and talent. The Man With The Iron Fists, the movie written by RZA and Eli Roth, didn’t exist until they created it. The ATL hip hop scene wouldn’t be documented in here if it wasn’t for Matt McGinley. Jooking as a dance form wouldn’t be as exposed and amazing if it wasn’t for Lil Buck, our newest WeActivist. The Swedish music scene would be different if Chords didn’t record and perform. If it wasn’t for Grant Brittain, skateboarding wouldn’t be what it is today. This and a whole lot more is presented to you in an easy-to-digest-format here for you to read - 128 pages of goodness and creativity.

We can’t stress how much we appreciate this: the fact that people create and share it with us in this book. Without these people we’d have a whole lot less to tell you - but tell you we will and we hope you’ll listen. Enjoy it, people. [And take note and do it yourself too.]

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CONT RIBUT ORS

C OV ER EL I R OTH

CURRENT H U M A N J U K E B OX

S K AT E BRIGHT EUROPEAN S K AT E AWA R D S

M USI C N O VA RO CKAFE LLE R

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MUSIC CHO RDS

MU S IC TH E OPPOS ITES

A RT D E LTA

FA S H I O N SKY HIGH

WeACT I VI ST L I L BUCK

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LIFESTYLE J. G RAN T BRITTAIN

L IF ES TY L E MATT MC G INL EY

PHOTOS

VO I C E N o. 1 C LA I R E D A R R O W M O S I E R

V O I CE N o. 2 A D R I A N T O D D Z UN I GA

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VO ICE No.3 ERIN HO SIER

V OIC E No . 4 DEC IDA

I N S P I R AT I O N G A LLE R I K LE E R U P

CITY GUIDE N E W YO R K C I T Y

L O CAT I O N S M I DN I GHT M ASS

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LOCATION S SÖD ERSLAGE T

L OC ATIONS We S C MONTR ÉA L

R E LE A S E MAN WITH THE I R O N FI S T S

CONTRIBUTORS

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ERIN HOSIER - Erin Hosier is a literary agent with Dunow, Carlson & Lerner in NYC. Her memoir, Don’t Let Me Down (The Free Press) will be released in 2013. facebook.com/erin.hosier.1

Some women continue to do intriguing and interesting stuff - music, words, style and more. Since the VOICE section is an excellent forum to express ideas freely, we are happy to have Erin represented in this issue.

Read Erin’s VOICE on page 110

DECIDA - I’m a net-native stereotypophobe, a transnational 2FACED1 based in Stockholm! Like the Pop Culture nerd I am, I’m trying to understand as much as possible about it and how it affects the modern day identity. I’m interested in clothing as an identity cursor, as symbols, as a part of a context. I prefer to work in different media and I guess I’ve got a certain style and way of seeing things that is possible to communicate through these different avenues. Styling, Creative Direction and Choreography are just some of them.

2faced1.com Twitter- @decida Instagram- decida

Maria ‘Decida’ Wahlberg is one of the most opinionated and well read people WeSC knows - her work with 2FACED1 which explores and discusses cultures, transnational experiences, gender, race, sexuality and sociocultural happenings and events is always incredibly interesting to indulge in. With several projects created together with WeSC - including the WeSC x 2FACED1 collaborative project - Decida is a voice that we find interesting and like to listen to.

Read Decida’s VOICE on page 112

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CONTRIBUTORS

ADRIAN TODD ZUNIGA - Adrian Todd Zuniga is the host/creator/ CCO of Literary Death Match (a literary event now featured in 43 cities worldwide), and the founding editor of Opium Magazine. His fiction has recently been featured in Gopher Illustrated and Stymie, and online at Lost Magazine and McSweeney’s. He lives between Los Angeles and guest rooms all over Europe. He longs for a Chicago Cubs World Series and an EU passport. literarydeathmatch.com

We love literature and we love a good match. Hence, the perfect combination resulting in Adrian - who’s got a voice that should be heard to the people of the Superlative Conspiracy.

Read the VOICE on page 108

CLAIRE DARROW MOSIER - Claire Darrow Mosier lives in the Lower East Side of New York with her photographer husband, Chris, and baby girl, Scout. Day-job duties include long, emotional pep talks with disgruntled marketing directors, sensitive artists, grumpy food and beverage directors and her longtime friend and boss André Balazs, for whom she creatively directs a fledgling hotel empire. She escapes to her tree house in Costa Rica as often as she possibly can. standardculture.com Instagram- mdmemosier

Claire Darrow Mosier is the Creative Director of The Standard. We got to know Claire working with her during the WeSC x The Standard Collaboration in 2011. We’re happy to have her tell us her story as a VOICE in this issue.

Read Claire’s VOICE on page 106

CONTRIBUTORS

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BORIS TELLEGEN - My work is in collage, sculpture, drawings, videos and installations. It investigates the tension between planning and happenstance; the semblance of order undone by schematic chaos. Mankind is driven by an unshakable faith in progress, where modern technology and constant growth leads us to a better world. My work explores a different outcome, where the automated forces unleashed develop structures and minds of their own.

This fascination formed in the eighties, when the urban street became my canvas as I started writing graffiti under the alias of ‘Delta.’ As such I became revered worldwide among my peers for my three dimensional lettering. I grew from experiences to look at and deal with the streets to a more reflective kind of work. I always treated the two dimensional frame of the letter and the word as sculpture, bursting out or morphing into the wall, piercing its boundaries by adding a dimension.

My collages read as isometric industrial landscapes. By layering, cutting and chiseling I search for change in scale and perspective. Pieces of paper get torn, glued and then torn again, and replicated beyond control, forming city scapes resembling fuming wastelands. www.deltainc.nl

The immensely talented artist Delta, real name Boris Tellegen, is a long time friend and collaborator of WeSC. With previous projects including clothing, as well as a series of premium bed linen, it felt very natural to present Delta’s art in this issue of the Superlative Conspiracy Magazine.

Delta’s art on page 028 GEOFF MOORE - Los Angeles born photographer and director creates classic imagery with contemporary innovation. He has left his indelible cinematic mark on the pages of major magazines, hit MTV videos, print and TV ad campaigns, photography books, and on the walls of many galleries. He has shot everything from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Cardigans, Swedish Elle to British GQ, Dita Von Teese to Heidi Klum. His videos have been honored by the MTV and Billboard Awards, receiving two director of the year nominations by age 25. He began his visual career being the youngster director amongst such visionaries as Gore Verbinsky and Jean-Baptiste Mondino, followed by several years directing for Ridley Scott’s company RSA. Moore’s innovative artistry invites an even more exciting future as he continues his photographic and directorial journey. geoffmoorestudio.com Instagram- thegeoffmoore

LA based photographer Geoff Moore was introduced to WeSC via WeActivist The Lady Tigra and we immediately fell in love with his photography.

With a variety of amazing portraits and photo stories, Geoff’s style and way of telling stories in his photography immediately captured us - and we have for the past two issues of this publication had the chance of working with him.

See Geoff’s photo on the cover and in our cover story on page 008

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CONTRIBUTORS

YALE BRESLIN - Yale Breslin is a New York-based journalist who definitely has his finger on the pulse. He works with Jay Z’s Life+Times producing fashion related content and also works with MR PORTER. He’s interviewed everyone from Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci to director Judd Apatow to literary hero Graydon Carter. A former Digital Director of V Magazine and VMAN Magazine, Breslin has contributed internationally recognized publications and online endeavors including: ELLE.com, T: The New York Times Style Magazine Blog, Wonderland, Industrie Magazine, Cool Hunting, Ralph Lauren Magazine and Dazed and Confused’s Dazed Digital and more. yalebreslin.com Instagram- @yalebreslin Twitter- @yalebreslin

With the task to interview two great minds and experts in their own respective and now also combined field, Yale impressed us all with the interview with RZA and Eli Roth - a conversation put into writing that we hope you’ll like as much as we do.

Read the conversation/interview on page 008

FREDRIK ETOALL - Fredrik Etoall is the man behind the mask.

The camera is ‘Fredrik’s Penis Extension.’ Not only does every photo he take reflect who he is, it reminds him of the fortunate life he has created for himself.

For the past 16 years, Fredrik has dedicated his life to taking photos, which have appeared in Harpers Bazaar, Interview Magazine, Playboy and a variety of album covers. This year, directing videos has also become his passion.

At the moment he’s just flying around with his camera meeting beautiful, happy, crazy people worldwide... what he loves. www.etoall.se Instagram- etoall

We know a lot of crazy Swedes and Fredrik is definitely one of them, albeit one of the more gifted ones. Seeing him out and about in Stockholm for years and being presented with his work we have been wanting to work with this guy for a long time - and now we’re finally there with his story of our newest recruit to the WeActivist family, Lil Buck.

See Fredrik’s photo story of WeActivist Lil Buck on page 054

CONTRIBUTORS

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MATT MCGINLEY - Matt McGinley is a photographer who lives in Brooklyn. Raised in Northern California, his laid back candid style allows him capture eccentrics like A$AP Rocky, Dennis McNett and Rune Glifberg in their most authentic moments. mattmcginley.com mattmcginleyphoto.tumblr.com

Matt is friends with basically everyone in the Superlative Conspiracy, or at least so it feels like. Having worked with WeActivist Giovanni Reda on the Fall Campaign, the Superlative Spaces, and with a rich portfolio we thought this would be a great chance to show his very own, creative and personal work.

See Matt’s photostory “The New ATL” on page 084

ANTON RENBORG - I grew up in Örebro, a small town on the flatland of Sweden. My parents were both hard working people, but very different.

My mother was all about ballet and horses, talking about movement and grace, while my dad reached for his guitar, good times and a drink, whenever the chance was there. I guess I became a mix of all that.

My life has been a rollercoaster but with necessary stops for reflection and personal work: recordings and touring with bands, traveling with my boards, walking down runways to pay my bills, writing stories from various scenes of the world, being behind the camera, being in front of the camera, studies - always a little bit of “everything”.

For the past ten years, I’ve been able to title myself as a photographer.

And in the recent years I’ve had the opportunity to work with some really interesting characters and brands. Working with the WeActivists and their wide range of knowledge, understanding and each individual’s distinctive sense of the moment, has been a pleasure, one of a kind... antonrenborg.se bloodandco.com

Anton, a Stockholm based photographer, has over the past years been a great visual contributor to WeSC’s projects - shooting mini campaigns and lifestyle stories - including the story “Sky High” seen in this book his urban style photography is something we appreciate.

See Anton’s photo story “Sky High” on page 042

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CONTRIBUTORS

J. GRANT BRITTAIN - Little did Grant Brittain know that when he picked up a borrowed camera while working at the Del Mar Skateboard Ranch in 1979 that opportunities would arise in the coming years and that 33 years later he would still be shooting skateboarders and whatever interests him.

Grant honed his photographic skills at the Ranch through the early 1980s and helped found Transworld Skateboarding Magazine in 1983 where he remained as the Photo Editor for the next 20 years.

In 2003 Grant, Dave Swift, Mike Mihaly, Kevin Wilkins and Atiba Jefferson left TW and started another skate rag, The Skateboard Mag and that’s where Grant feeds his photo bug today.

Grant lives in Encinitas, California with his family and a Labrador Retriever named Stella. jgrantbrittain.com

One of the most legendary skate photographers in the game. Introduced to WeSC via WeActivist Chris Pastras, we’re more beyond proud to feature his work here: it’s the history of skateboarding through his lens.

See Grant’s story “DEL MAR” on page 068

WeSC CREW - This space is for the contributors of the Superlative Conspiracy Magazine but we wanted to dedicate it to the WeSC Crew in this issue. Thanks to EVERYONE who makes this publication possible - contributors, employees, WeActivists, volunteers, friends, printers, logistics and all the people distributing it. We love you. wesc.com

For more from this crew please read pages 001-128

THE MEN WITH THE IRON FISTS: ELI ROTH & RZA IN CONVERSATION

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WORDS BY YALE BRESLIN PHOTOS [COVER & OPPOSITE] BY GEOFF MOORE STYLED BY ELISE VELASCO GROOMED BY JOHNNY STUNTZ

This is how it goes. RZA and Eli Roth have joined forces on The Man With the Iron Fists, an action-adventure inspired by kung-fu classics. Presented by Quentin Tarantino (and written by both RZA and Roth), the film tells the story of warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero who all descend on one fabled village in China for a winner-takes-all battle for a fortune in gold. It’s intense, it’s raw, it’s entertaining and mesmerizing, and seeing one of rap’s legends collaborate with the mind of one of horror’s most complex and intense figures explodes with a charismatic and cinematic full-body master class. Throw in Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Pam Greer, Rick Yune and Jamie Chung into the mix and the experience, already at the pinnacle of extremism, is intensified. With killer martial arts sequences and a Shanghai landscape, these two dominant figures have created on of the most ambitions, stylizes and thrilling projects we’ve seen. And to think it all began over a bowl of mushroom soup.

YALE: Eli, what’s going on?

ELI: A lot of stuff is going on. Everything all at once to be honest.

Y: Where are you now?

E: I’m in Los Angeles right now but heading to Vegas soon. Wait, RZA just got in…

E: RZA, how are you buddy?

Y: How are you RZA? RZA: I’m all good. Where are you calling from?

Y: I’m in New York City. I’m actually at the SoHo House as we speak.

E: I’m in LA, at the Eli House as we speak. Where you at?

R: I’m at the RZA house.

Y: So Eli, question for you: Is that house near Cafe Select yours?

E: Right near where?

Y: You know that restaurant Café Select in New York?

E: No. Y: There are rumors that this abandoned building in SoHo belongs to you but I guess you just debunked that rumor. It’s this amazing property that has graffiti sprawled across the outside but is supposed to be a Manhattan gem inside…

E: No that’s a great rumor; let’s keep that one going.

Y: Should we keep it up?

E: Yeah, let’s keep that rumor going and I’ll figure out how I can get it to be mine. So that sounds good to me.

Y: It’s such a rad place from the outside. Eli, how did the two of you get connected on this project?

E: It’s a pretty long story but the end result was that RZA and I were on the same plane back to NYC. Due to weather constraints, we ended up getting stuck in Boston. My parents were living there so I gave my mother a call and said ‘Mom, I’m with RZA and we’re coming over for dinner’.

Y: Wait, the two of you? That’s amazing.

R: Yeah it was incredible.

E: So my mom made mushroom soup and pasta, and it was a complete surprise. We’re in this snowstorm; we drive to my parent’s house and my dad’s there. And it turned out that my father and RZA had all these connections from where they’d grown up and stayed near each other in Brooklyn. It was after that dinner that we had a crazy connection. It was like we were bonded for life. That was it.

Y: I guess he got the parents stamp of approval?

R: The approval and the mushroom soup too.

Y: How was the mushroom soup?

R: It was edible for me. I was happy.

Y: I know this film is presented by Quentin Tarantino. What exactly does that mean?

E: Well when someone presents a movie it’s more like a known individual or brand giving the film his or her stamp of approval. In many cases, they haven’t produced the movie but they are saying ‘I’m involved in this and I’m putting my name on it but I didn’t make it but these are the people that learned with me and studied with me”. Basically, it means that Quentin doesn’t have the responsibility of having to make the movie but he’s publicly endorsing the project and to be honest, we wouldn’t have done this without Quentin. He’s the one who introduced us after all.

R: We were up at his house watching movies together; kicking it so in a little bit, Quentin is the Godfather.

Y: Is he a mentor to the both of you?

R: Definitely, definitely, Eli wouldn’t you say so?

E: Yeah - I mean the directors that I learned the most from were David Lynch and Quentin. It’s so difficult to navigate the waters of Hollywood and know what to do next and what’s the right career move. You can

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ELI ROTH WEARS THE TURE JACKET

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RZA ON SET OF THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

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RUSSELL CROWE, RZA AND ELI ROTH ON SET OF THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

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really fall into serious pinholes and pitfalls and get off track very easily.

That’s where Quentin really stepped in and became like a brother. He mentored me not only as a close friend, but he really helped me follow my own creative instinct. One of the great things I love about RZA is that even though he’s a master in certain fields, he still considers himself a student and maintains a humble state. He’s always interested in acquiring knowledge and applying it. I knew I wanted to do this project and I knew I wanted to work on it with RZA and have Quentin’s blessing as well. And that’s exactly what happened. Quentin could not have been more supportive - and it wasn’t just a celebrity endorsement, he really got in there and he even came to China with us too.

“ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS I LOVE ABOUT RZA IS THAT EVEN THOUGH HE’S A MASTER IN CERTAIN FIELDS, HE STILL CONSIDERS HIMSELF A STUDENT.” -ELI ROTH Y: Really? That sounds awesome. Having Mr. Tarantino’s handshake is monumental.

R: Also, before Quentin put his name on the film, we had already sold it to Universal. At this point, he wasn’t involved just yet. But the studio wanted to know what was unique about our film. And the idea was like, we don’t know what separates it - it’s just RZA and Eli – but maybe if somebody like Quentin were also involved it would stand out. I was in Washington at the time and I called Eli and said “what do you think, maybe we should have Quentin present it for us and kind of separate it from the bunch” because he’s already godfathered it. But collectively we agreed that we didn’t want to utilize his strength for our own benefit. We felt our combination alone was very strong but Quentin gave the blessing and so we felt confident and I felt good. But to separate us from the regular martial arts brand and mostly on the international market was part of the equation, especially when the budget jumped up from what we agreed to. I figured I’d go talk to Quentin and see if whether he wanted to take it one step further and actually get involved and present it as we’ve collaborated in the past. And I’ll say this out loud - can I say this Eli? E: Yeah, sure.

R: He did it as a godfather and Quentin didn’t take one dollar out of our budget.

Y: Not a single dollar? Were you expecting that?

R: We had it in our budget to fly him to China and put him in a hotel and all this stuff. But Quentin paid for his own ticket - he didn’t take the money from the budget cause he knew we needed every dollar for this project.

Y: That’s admiration and dedication at its finest.

R: He’s special as a man but also that he believed in what we were doing and how he godfathered this project for us.

Y: What was Shanghai like? Was it insane?

E: Well I had never shot there before but it was an amazing experience.

I mean, there’s so much talk about China emerging in the world and it’s definitely different. But to be there at the forefront of one of the first movies to be shot there, it was just incredible. The crews were amazing too and everything worked out. People were surprised we weren’t shooting seven days a week. They were shocked that they got a day off because 6-day weeks don’t normally exist. They usually work a 7-day week. You could really feel the spirit though. It was beautiful to watch RZA connect with these people - knowing so much about their history, their culture and

COVER

their popular culture. Really, they loved him. It was really one of the most fun experiences.

R: There’s definitely a lot of fun out there - we did have those weekends, we definitely utilized them and we had a couple of great parties and great times but one thing for me about Eli was his presence there. He was a producer on the film, a co-writer on the film and I was really lonely because I had no buddies to hang out with. I was focused on my work but when Eli came over I finally had a brother. A few of the actors were also really cool and what Eli did also, more than anything was that he stayed.

You know what I mean? It’s usually like you come in and you go, but no, he came and he stayed.

E: It was fun going on this adventure with RZA. We stood there and said, “Can you believe this, it all started with a mushroom soup at my parents house”. We’d sit there in China and be like “man all these years ago, and we stuck with it”. And that’s what I’m most proud of - we both believed in it so strongly and you know when you’re making a movie, it’s like an abstract thing in your head that you just have to be 100% certain it’s going to work, no question. And we really spent a long time writing it and talking about it - so it wasn’t like we spent a week writing it, we spent years thinking about it. RZA spent years preparing for it and it was just great for me because I kind of wanted to take a break from directing actually so it was really nice to be there with him, supporting him as a producer, but it was really clear that he’s a natural and he had it in hand and was ready and you never know until you’re actually doing it. But I’ve never seen anyone handle pressure like that, the way RZA handles it - he never looses his cool, he never yells, he’s always got a solution figured out - he’s very diplomatic and he can handle so much pressure. The first day: you pay people on a monthly rate in China so people, they share their paycheck, and your crew multiplies. You hire one guy, he splits it with five guys and next thing you know there are 700 people working under RZA and he was like a general - it was perfectly mapped out, he had a plan and everything went great. It’s incredible what he’s accomplished.

“I REMEMBER RUSSELL CROWE LOOKING AROUND, LIKE QUENTIN WAS AND HE’S LIKE ‘HE PUT TOGETHER A SUPER GROUP, THIS IS SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL’. YOU JUST FELT IT WHEN YOU WERE THERE.” -ELI ROTH [ABOUT RZA] Y: Are you guys proud of this project, how proud are you, how do you feel?

R: I’m super proud, personally. I’ve said this to Eli: the idea comes from thought to reality - physical fruition - I’m proud as a man, as a creative force and of the film itself. I’ve watched it countless times and I still get a kick out of it.

E: I’m so proud of it and I also feel like you always want to make a movie that is in a tradition of your favorites but part of this was that we wanted to break new ground. Whatever happens, we just want to make the movie we’re proud of. And I couldn’t be more proud of what he did. I remember Russell Crowe looking around, like Quentin was and he’s like “he put together a super group, this is something really special” - you just felt it when you were there.

Y: It seems like a super group, that’s for sure.

E: And we did it our way, completely uncompromised and we made our

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thing that we really feel the fans are going to love - we made it, we just made a fun movie that all of us want to see.

“...WHAT ELI DID ALSO, MORE THAN ANYTHING WAS THAT HE STAYED.” -RZA Y: RZA, what did you eat on location?

R: Well on location I got lucky. For the 14 weeks of prepping I got so lonely and I was a fucking noodle eating, broccoli covered guy. I was food suffering. But I made a strong claim to the producers: when we start shooting we got to get fucking Western catering. And so, when we started shooting we actually brought a Western caterer in. It was lunchtime on set and we had three or four caterers. They walked around with the fucking fresh ground pepper and we had soup, steak, chicken, vegetarian - the breakfast was great every morning too.

E: Chinese actors, they don’t sit down for lunch, they usually have a box of food and chopsticks and they sit and they eat in 20 minutes, that’s how it works. And sitting down like this was something that the Chinese actors had never done before.

Y: That’s something special, for sure.

E: Yeah, it was pretty cool.

Y: So, Eli - what are you opening in Vegas next week, tell me a little bit about this.

E: Well, I love Haunted Houses and I’ve always wanted to do one. I’ve had some of the most incredible times going to these. The most intense experience you can have as a fan I’ve found are these live, walk through haunted houses. I’ve been dreaming of doing one for years and I’ve been trying to find a partner in Vegas. I’ve wanted to do it in a city that’s 24hours and I thought Vegas was the perfect place. I love horror movies year around, I don’t just love them in October, and these haunted attractions are only open in October so I wanted to build a place that’s basically Disney World for horror fans. I want Ground Zero for horror all the horror fans can meet there, it’s a scary haunted house, there’s a lounge, there’s a bar upstairs, there’s going to be a place really for the horror community and also for the Europeans that don’t have Halloween because they don’t celebrate it.

R: The Vegas strip will never be the same.

E: The Goretorium Y: That sounds super cool, I’m excited to read about it and here all about it. So where is it on the Strip?

E: It’s right at Haring and Las Vegas Boulevard.

Y: So it’s on it’s own and not associated with a hotel, but it’s own thing?

E: It’s completely it’s own thing - it’s right next to The Hard Rock,.

Y: Is it family friendly?

E: Well, it’s the Manson family friendly. If I were a kid I’d love it. It’s suggested admission - I mean, anyone, if you want to take a five-year-old kid you can - you will traumatize the child but you certainly can. We have a team that will clean up vomit and there’s also a chicken route if you’re terrified or on a date. I want to freak out the most hard-core horror fans.

And we’re going to continually update and change it so people can go back multiple times and still be scared.

Y: You guys seem like buddies, collaborators, and most importantly, close friends.

E: Yeah we are man. And it all started with mushroom soup.

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LUCY LIU AND RZA ON SET OF THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

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THE MAN THAT WAS THE HUMAN JUKEBOX

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WORDS BY DANIELLE KRASSE PHOTOS BY FILIP KARLBERG [AGENCY/ ÅKESTAM HOLST]

There’s a thin line between being crazy and being a genius.

This below really is a borderline case and we can’t really decide or make our minds up what side of that line this guy should stand on - but for now he seems happy to be running across it, cheering, throwing confetti in the air and being a joyful lunatic. By swallowing a big chunk of metal containing a receiver, transmitter and enough sound equipment to turn himself into a human jukebox, Fredrik Hjelmquist of Pause Sweden is just as “experimental” as we expect from the Swedes. The ingenious, bravehearted and idiotically brilliant vikings.

Let’s start from the beginning...

The industry of electronics, specifically home-electronics, including speakers, surround systems, TV’s, etc - which we actually appreciate as it means that we get the good stuff for less money. This specifically means that showing your skills and expertise in the increasing buzz that is the industry keeps getting harder. Pause started flexing and came up with the idea to actually create a human jukebox as part of the campaign titled “Sound - Custom Installations”. They customized a wireless sound system that connected an online music service to a human body, by developing the “gut pod” - containing a wireless receiver, amplifier, power source and speakers. This little Gut Pod was then, naturally, swallowed by Fredrik at a press conference and the fun could begin.

DANIELLE: How did this project come about?

FREDRIK HJELMQUIST: I uploaded a photo on Facebook: my sons had snapped a pic of me half-naked (had jeans on) with a chainsaw from our garden after I’d finished a day cleaning up - and when our ad agency saw that pic they came up with this idea - to transform me into something.

Which turned out to be The Human Jukebox.

It’s easy to make huge, impressive and technically advanced sound systems but it’s the small ones that are tricky and require expertise, which is what Pause specializes in. So this was a great way for us to show just how good we are at custom made systems.

vice. The only hitch was the size of it: it was meant to be 3x1.2cm which is alright - it ended up being 4.2x1.8cm. That’s huge. It took me three tries to actually swallow it and there’s footage of me throwing up three times in front of all the press that had gathered there to see me go through with it but I wanted to do it in front of people so they’d understand it wasn’t just a trick but actually happened for real.

“ I DON’T MIND MAKING FUN OF MYSELF IF IT’S FOR THE RIGHT PROJECT. HENCE, I AGREED TO DO THIS.” So at least you managed to get it into your body but how did it feel once it was in there?

I couldn’t even feel it, nothing at all. It did however take 11 days for it to come out, where normal digestion rate is maximum 3 days.

Have you heard of anyone who’s repeated this at home after you did it?

No, no one thankfully. Simon Cowell reached out though and asked me to be in one of his shows with this but I passed on that.

*

--So they said they wanted to transform you into the worlds largest jukebox and that was it?

After doing various tests, with for example putting an iPhone in a 20kg pile of minced meat and the sound still came out, we realized it would work. And making sure everything was safe and wouldn’t harm me in any way and then it was a done deal. If you can go to the moon you can definitely make a sound system small enough to put in a human.

Fredrik. Please do explain to us why you agreed to do this.

I honestly thought it was just so damn fun, it’s a hilarious idea and it was crazy and smart enough for me to go through with. Some of the other electronic companies on the market are just lame and I’d never agree to participate in anything that I didn’t personally find cool enough - and this was it. I don’t mind making fun of myself if it’s for the right project. Hence, I agreed to do this. We would be the first in the world to actually do a thing like this and just the amount of PR that it would potentially generate was enough to convince me.

And the device is what exactly?

The device contains a radio transmitter, a speaker and an amplifier. So people could play music via Spotify that was transmitted to the little de-

So that’s that. We love experiments and this one is actually on top of our list of random, crazy things we’ve heard of in a while. Google: “The Human Jukebox @Pause” and watch the film.

[Don’t try this at home. Don’t even think about it].

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CURRENT

FREDRIK HJELMQVIST, CEO AND FOUNDER OF PAUSE ONE OF SCANDINAVIA’S PREMIUM AUDIO STORES - AS THE HUMAN JUKEBOX IN THE AD FOR THE GUT POD

BRIGHT EUROPEAN SKATE AWARDS PUNKS, DRUNKS AND SKATEBOARDING A CONVERSATION WITH MATHIEU TOURNEUR, INTERNATIONAL MARKETING FOR BRIGHT EUROPEAN SKATE AWARDS AND ALEX IRVINE, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF KINGPIN MAGAZINE WORDS BY DANIELLE KRASSE PHOTOS BY BESA

Skateboarding is fucking great. It is and it deserves appreciation - not primarily in the fashion editorials where it’s recently been featured as the latest “it” thing, but it should be acknowledged and appreciated in general and to the core.

The “I don’t give a fuck”-mentality and the sense of humor and liberation that surrounds skateboarding is to be cherished. That’s why the European Skate Awards are so exceptionally welcome. Presented in 2011 for the first time, it’s the annual ceremony where skateboarding in Europe - skaters, brands, people, filmers and photographers - get some well earned attention and cred from the industry and the peers.

In January 2012 - at the premiere for the Bright European Skateboard Awards - 300 skateboarders and people in the industry gathered in the old Stasi headquarters in Berlin. It was a gala - it felt more like an explosively cheerful riot. We caught up with Mathieu Tourneur, one of the organizers of the Bright European Skateboard Awards - as well as with Alex, Editor in Chief of Kingpin, which is a great contributor to the well-being of EU skate and also one of the hosts for the event.

DANIELLE: Where did the idea to initiate the BESA’s come from?

MATHIEU: As far as I can remember, Alex and I were having a beer, and talking about a concept to celebrate the strength of the European scene.

Quickly, as the numbers of beers increased, the idea that such an event was possible seamed more and more realistic. Kingpin being the media that covers the entire scene, and Bright, the meeting points of that scene, the synergy seemed obvious. We woke up the next day, and the feeling was still there.

ALEX: The idea of a European Skate Awards was something I had discussed with Mathieu about probably about 12 months before the first one actually happened. Whilst the idea isn’t exactly an original one it seemed that it was the right time to get one going, with Europe’s industry becoming more established it gave us the opportunity to celebrate its successes and the people that make it what it is: the skaters, photographers, videographers and manufacturers alike. And have a party, which is always a good idea.

We were lagging a bit on the timescale of getting it sorted and Mathieu stepped in to light a fire and make sure it was all going to happen on time.

Last year’s show went amazingly well thanks to the hard work of him and the other Bright guys. Bright’s position as THE tradeshow for skateboarding in Europe made it a perfect collaboration and venue with most of the European scene being in attendance and Mathieu made sure the event was something bigger than we could have made happen on our own. I mean I did all the hard work really; he just kind of waltzed in at the end.

What would you say differentiate the European skate scene vs. the US one?

M: First of all, I would say that Europe is made of multiple scenes, which offers much more variety, whereas in the US 90% happens in the south of California, the East coast having a marginal influence on the whole spiel. It seems the US scene is a few steps ahead in terms of financial development, and mainstream recognition. Only a decade ago, if you wanted to be pro, you had to travel to California, wherever you came from. Nowadays, European brands are recruiting US skateboarders on their team. We’ve come full circle.

A: Well I suppose the disparity in level of progression and ability is always something that can’t be ignored, the US have always pipped the

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THE “I DON’T GIVE A FUCK”-MENTALITY AND THE SENSE OF HUMOR AND LIBERATION THAT SURROUNDS SKATEBOARDING IS TO BE CHERISHED

SKATE

EUROPEAN SKATE AWARDS STAGE

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SKATE

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rest of the world to the post in that regard, but I’d say the gap is always shrinking. And you can’t really sustain a career in European skateboarding based largely on personality, which is different from the US too. That said, there are guys in the European skate scene that don’t have their sights set on a high-paying US-based career and that’s quite a recent idea made more possible by the growing European industry. Professional skateboarding is never going to be able to pay the same in Europe as it does in the US, that’s just business fact, but there is a sense of pride for Europe these days which is nice to see and doing something different doesn’t now have to be seen as making a compromise. I don’t think we will ever lead progression in terms trick for trick – a concept that is kind of grotesque when you look at it too deeply – but skateboarding shouldn’t be about who’s ‘best’ anyway – unless you’re in the short list at the BESA, then it’s fucking serious. Ha.

Surviving on skateboarding is limited to a pretty exclusive number of skateboarders - more now than ever before right now - but how do you see this evolving?

M: I actually think that nowadays, it is easier to live from skateboarding than ever before! With the increase of local brands and the globalisation of skateboarding, the accessibility of being a Pro skater has increased greatly and the meaning of being sponsored has dropped. It is very deceiving for some skaters who are thinking they can make it, because a brand tells them so by giving a little bit of money to them, but in the end, never break through because they are iconised too early, or think they have made it too soon.

factors in this sport and lifestyle With the pretty recent popularization of this, do you think it’ll change? That the skateboarders will have to adapt?

M: Some of that creativity might be polished for the mainstream, but again, that’s only a portion of skateboarding’s variety. Leave it to them to perpetuate the tradition, or better, to take it to other levels.

A: Can you really sell ‘punk’? I thought it was dead? Real punks would be burning down the corporate headquarters, throwing half bricks and protesting against things like BESA, street league, energy drink money and skateboarding being used to sell chocolate bars. Skateboarding has matured; being ‘punk’ is fucking good fun isn’t it, not giving a fuck and all that noise, but once you get to a certain age you might find you like different things in life; skateboarding and skateboarders are the same I suppose. I’m pretty sure there are still actual punkers out there too, probably crying into their tear-soaked checkerboard vans at the bastardisation of their beloved sport. As for creativity, skateboarding will have that, corporate sponsorship deals or not; it’s what keeps it from dying. Adapt to survive, yes, but make sure you don’t lose sight of the reason why you want to survive.

What is it you want to highlight with these awards?

M: Exactly what you just pointed out: skateboarding is a creative environment, and behind it there is an industry. Each actor is pushing the boundaries everyday by doing what they do, and this needs to be celebrated once in a while.

A: Radical skateboarding and all that comes with it.

The entry of sports goods brands and energy drinks into the game has taken skateboarding into new realms, in a way similar to basketball or football. If the potential money available for endorsement is likely to increase even more greatly for the selected few with the greatest PR profile and marketing potential for those athletic brands, there will always be a handful of people skateboarding outside of these boundaries. Luckily, there are brands that are still open to support that fringe of skateboarding.

The future of skateboarding looks… (fill in the blank) M: Bright (no pun intended) A: The future of skateboarding looks #unexpected

CAN YOU REALLY SELL PUNK? I THOUGHT IT WAS DEAD...” -ALEX IRVINE

If you could have one request and/or wish regarding the future of skateboarding, with consideration for the past, what would it be?

M: It is a hard call, but I wish everyone would look at the bigger picture and take a minute to educate the new generation, instead of dwelling into negativism and short-sightness of trends and quick profit.

A: I can’t do only one so here’s a volley: Dear skateboarders please stop: doing double flips, wearing top hats, trying to be too cool/fashionable, faking your style out, acting like a dickhead to other people (unless they ride a scooter), focussing boards (give it to a kid who needs one instead), trying to reinvent the wheel (or deck), chatting shit on the internet instead of skating, shooting lifestyle ads, not smiling after you land a trick, wearing fucking headphones in skateparks, drinking energy drinks, taking it too seriously.

A: Evolving... Hmm. I fell like it’s kind of plateaued as the moment, the recession has seen to that. Hopefully there’s enough around to sustain the guys who are out there getting rad for the love of it. I don’t think anyone expects it to last forever in Europe but it must be nice to be able to pay your bills without working some shitty job. The involvement of larger corporations is always a divisive subject, and is understandably scary to an extent, but its cash has undeniably helped speed up pan-Euro scene building; first with the big shoes brands and now with the energy drink money. And the scene having more money put in to it means more creative, smaller brands can get a slice of the action too.

I suppose European skateboarding wins at the end of the day so that’s something to be stoked on but the back-of-the-mind threat that the rug might get pulled is ever present. [Obviously the positive answer here would be: I see the top guys in Europe making millions at the European Street League finals in 2013 but I really can’t see that happening. Anyway, fuck that shit: national anthems in skateboarding events. Dis-fucking-gusting.]

Creativity and punk mentality, doing what you like, is one of the key

Because…

M: It’s diverse, and survives through trends and crisis. It has and it will, thanks to the passion people put into it.

A: Because no one knows what’s coming next.

And continue to: respect those who came before you, embrace those that other sports deny, be stylish, be radical, take the money and run, remember what it is you like about skateboarding, invent hideous shoes, push like you’re going somewhere, push mongo if you want to, roast beef if you want to, double flip if you must and most of all have fun.

*

--The next Bright European Skateboard Awards: January 2013 in Berlin.

See you there punks.

NOVA ROCKAFELLER: THAT NEW ENERGY

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WORDS BY JULIA CHANDLER PHOTO BY GIOVANNI REDA

You know when you meet people that has that infectious energy that just rubs off? That’s L.A. based rapper/musician Nova Rockafeller to us. A bit unconventional, a whole lot of open-mindedness and seemingly a girl who doesn’t care about other people’s pre-conceived ideas or rules - Nova is the girl you’d like to party with and to have as a supportive friend. We sent her an email to hear more from the girl herself and what she likes.

JULIA: What have you been up to?

NOVA: I’ve been in the studio with Justin Warfield working on my EP. It’s alternative rock meets the best rapper ever.

What’s your story?

My story is long as fuck. Basically. I’m this cute little white girl who grew up a little in Jamaica. Then I grew up a little in group homes in Canada.

Then I thought “Fuck growing up” because it’s stupid and started just showing up on peoples couches for months. I threw mad shows. Organized solid street teams. Toured Europe, Canada, U.S. Put out my own albums. And basically busted my ass as an underground rapper for 8 years.

I slept in bathtubs. Made out with a bajillion boys. Threw up a lot. Then my manager Jensen got me a record deal and now I chill by the pool.

Labels,.. how does a young artist choose which label to sign to?

It’s all very abstract to those not in the industry - the stories about seductive vs controlling labels are widespread!

I was meeting with labels for fun. I didn’t care for a second. I would mostly just tune out what they were saying and just try to find the coolest thing to steal. Or take pictures. Or drink chocolate sauce out of the fridge.

I leave any important decision up to someone else. I’m usually too high to think about that shit.

“FUCK IT I’M READY”. IT’S ALSO JUST ME. BEING ME. TALKING SHIT. WITH ADHD. RAPPING IS SO EASY WHEN YOU HAVE ADHD.” What’s the music scene like in LA? The Odd Future elocution opened people’s eyes to the whole Fairfax movement and it really started a ´global trend that allowed some more raucous crowds and audiences to come to life again. How would you explain the LA music scene right now?

I try to stay out of loops. I did buy a Fairfax Legends high school sweatshirt from a thrift shop though. Does that count?

We got to know you through Dom Deluca, aka Brooklyn Dom of Brooklyn Projects on Melrose - how do you know Dom? He babysits me sometimes.

In terms of spreading music what do you prefer in terms of digital and social media channels? Are we pretty much done with Facebook? MySpace?

I love Facebook - it gives me the chance to interact with my fans every

day and really know who they are. I put up phone numbers for them to prank call (I have an epic assortment of rappers’ phone numbers I can’t wait to get out there), and they have MY phone number. We’re tight. I photoblog on tumblr. I talk shit on twitter. I like it all. What’s myspace?

Your songs are fucking dope - and you have the best energy we’ve seen in a long time. What do you write about?

My entire last album is about getting real stoned. Since then I’ve branched out. Now I talk more about mushrooms. I talk about my stupid ex boyfriends (There’s so many) and I talk about math, and my shitty hometown, video games, boxing. But there’s math in every song. I really like math. I try to apply math and numbers to most of my life.

If we want to get to know you better, where should we go/where to look?

Just call me.

Your song “Call me (bat man)” - what’s that one about? Talk us through it. One of our favorite quotes by the way is: The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.”

Batman is my song that says “Fuck it i’m ready”. It’s also just me. Being me. Talking shit. With ADHD. Rapping is so easy when you have ADHD. Sometimes I wear the mask from the video at home.

A perfect day in the life of Nova is…

I have maybe 3 friends and they’re scattered all over the world. If we could all just get together that would be cool. Eat some drugs. Hit a waterpark. Or the floor. Whatever. U kno.

Songs tend to be about things the musician is involved/interested in. So here’s two questions in one: What’s your favorite topic to write about? And what would you never, ever, write about?

As much as i joke and don’t give a fuck about things - shitty things happen in my life. It’s almost comical. Composition books have always been my outlet. I have to write about situations to deal with them. A lot of the time I don’t even know how I feel about something until the song is done.

Alternatively - sometimes I won’t write for a week because I’m not ready to deal with whatever is going on. So it’s not about “favorite” it’s more just me documenting myself. Organizing my thoughts. Figuring out who I am.

What will I NEVER write about though? Vaporizers.

*

--accidentallygangster.com / twitter.com/novarockafeller

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MUSIC

NOVA IS WEARING THE W HANDS MEN’S TEE

MAKING AN ALBUM WITH CHORDS

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WORDS BY DANIELLE KRASSE PHOTOS BY JENS NORDSTRÖM

Chords is one of Sweden’s best recognized and respected musicians - with albums, tours and hits created by and for himself as well as with and for others he’s a musical force to be reckoned with. Having spent the past years in New York but now [finally] back in Sweden with a new album about to drop, we wanted to catch up with Chords, real name Jens, to learn more about what it’s like to make an album. And yes, we definitely learned something.

DANIELLE: What’s it like making an album?

CHORDS: Well, it of course depends on the circumstances under which you make that album, if you’re broke or if you got money or if you’re hungry, who you’re working with and so forth. But in general I would say it’s a pretty gut wrenching experience - it can go from very positive and creative thoughts to despair almost, especially if you’re writing lyrics, you have to go into yourself and have to expose yourself and you have to make sure things come out the way you want them to come out so it can be pretty intense. Finishing up an album is a lot harder than starting one off.

The process of writing, recording and actually finding the format/ tone of an album is probably a lot different from what people believe it to be.

It starts off with experimenting - doing what you feel you love, what you do. I feel I always have to do music I like because of course, it makes it a lot easier. The beginning of the process is often finding the vibe so you might write a song or two and hook them up a little bit, then you do a third song and feel like “that’s the vibe”. Somewhere along the line you kind of catch the vibe and feel like that’s it, this is where I want to go.

And then you kind of just work towards that end and try to refine it along the way. But of course, you can never quite plan how something is going to sound cause it can sound like one thing in your head and then come out totally different. You can definitely feel that halfway into the album, or when you got your pillar… I usually work towards having a strong backbone so to speak - to have five to six songs that I feel like “whoa, this is a major part of the album, now I can start filling in blanks”. So it’s experimental up to a point. At least that’s how I work.

Your new album, out in November, has been created in various cities and studios - starting in NYC where you’ve been based for the past few years - has the city influenced you, made things different?

I would say absolutely because moving to New York sort of snatched me out of my element and put me in another one. Of course I made friends and I had my girlfriend there and all that stuff but still I was taken out of my element to a familiar world but somehow I was still a stranger in it. I had been to New York several times before but I’d never really lived there so I think it of course affected my sound. First of all it made me work by myself on everything: I produced it and I wrote some of the tracks on piano, I made the beats then I started writing it and then I recorded it and all that stuff, so the album definitely became more of a soliloquy than a cooperative piece. It wasn’t like I was back and forth in ideas with my musician friends here [Sweden] with my other producer friends or with other rappers or singers or whatever. I was mostly sitting by myself making most of the songs and also, NY was quite a hard place, it’s a lot harder than Sweden. It’s harder to survive, to get by and it has a lot more temptations flashing in your face. So of course it’s gonna affect your

mood, your life, your lifestyle and also your music that you’re making - it definitely did for me. It became a little more of a Swedish dude in the big city kind of album than I planned it to be, because I had a great time and a great life over there. But it could be frustrating you know, everything revolves around money and success and all of these things that aren’t quite as important in Sweden, but that really are in the forefront of the American adventure or the NY lifestyle. It definitely affected my music and it definitely affected my production ‘cause i actually had the time to sit and work with music because I wasn’t touring and I wasn’t at home. I worked more on these songs than I worked on the songs on any previous albums. I let them marinate much longer before I laid them down.

“IT CAN GO FROM VERY POSITIVE CREATIVE THOUGHTS TO DESPAIR.” What can we expect from the new album?

If you’ve listened to my previous albums I think you can expect a continuation of the sound and the themes - it’s about the same, whereas the last album, “Things We Do For Things” , was maybe a little more political and critical of the consumption society that we live in - this album is a little more personal and it’s more about finding yourself or finding out what you really mean, where you’re supposed to be and what you’re supposed to do and it’s more about.. I moved away from my comfort zone, I was in New York and tried to hustle, hustle just to get by and just trying to live and of course it kind of changed my perspective on things so I’d say as far as lyrical content it’s a bit more personal, a bit more introvert, a little more looking at myself and a less at what other people are doing. And musically I’ve produced the whole album and played most of the instruments myself so of course the sounds is a little bit different than it was before but I still feel that it’s basically a continuation of what I did last time but the sound is kind of evolved and I’m trying to do some new stuff, so I’m trying to get out of my comfort zone. I did it on my last album and I try to do it here now because I think that getting out of your comfort zone is really the only thing that can make you move forward, make you do new shit. If you constantly stay where you’re comfortable it gets boring. You have to test yourself and push yourself a little bit - you gotta put yourself out there, put yourself on a limb and see what happens.

*

--[Chords new album is out in November 2012] www.chords.se facebook.com/chordsonline / twitter- @sprinklechords

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MUSIC

OPPOSITES ATTRACT: THE DUTCH HIP HOP DUO THE OPPOSITES

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WORDS BY NIKE LUNDGREN PHOTO BY TIM PEN

What do you know about the Netherlands? Here are some interesting facts: 50% of its land lying less than one metre (metre is UK English. Meter is US English) above sea level, the Netherlands is one of the first countries with an elected parliament and last year Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked Netherlands as the “happiest” country in the world. Yes, the “happiest” country in the world.

The Opposites come from Amsterdam’s streets and have a lot to say about their reality and what’s up over there. We had to take the temperature on these boys and see what they had to say.

NIKE: Hi there. Tell us everything about yourselves.

THE OPPOSITES: We are Twan and Willem, both 27 years old and better known as The Opposites, we ran into each other during our first year in high school. Pretty soon we discovered that we both share a great passion for music. We both live in Amsterdam and we make HIP HOP.

Cypress Hill, Wu Tang Clan, Nas etc. Nowadays the supply is so big and expanding so fast, it’s hard to keep up. But some of the newer artists we like are: Kanye West, Drake, A$AP Rocky, Joey Badass, Jeremiah etc, etc. As to genres, we like stuff from hiphop to pop, disco to indie or techno to folk. As long as it’s good music.

Who came up with the dope name The Opposites, is it because of some urge of being different or some other secret reason?

At first we also started rapping in English, but we hadn’t really come up with a proper name yet. One day Willem came up with “The Opposite”.

To be honest, only because he thought it sounded dope and without any real meaning to it. Twan put the “s” behind “The Opposite” and from that day on, we became “The Opposites”. Later on we thought of the fact that Twan is really tall and white and Willem is pretty short and black(ish). So that made it even better.

How does your creativity work? Do you do other things than music?

We’ve only had a real professional studio for 2 years now. Before that we recorded all our songs and albums at Twan’s house a.k.a Crack House Studio’s (it was a complete mess and there would be mad people 24 hours a day). We make almost all our music in the studio, but sometimes we also write or compose at our own places. Right now, we only make music. Willem sometimes worked for a tv program. But we decided that we only want to do music right now. We’re also doing a lot of other projects, outside of hiphop. We’re hoping to expand our horizon and go across the borders of Holland and Belgium.

Ha ha, awesome. How did you get into rap?

We both grew up in two little villages on the countryside, not too far from Amsterdam, and we both didn’t really fit in with the rest. We were the typical misunderstood outcasts. The hiphop that was being made back then, was really controversial, revolutionary and straight forward. Something we could really identify with. Because we were treated different in our environment as well, we also felt the need to let our voices be heard and kick some shit. Apart from that, growing up in a small ass village is boring as hell. So making music was a perfect way to kill some time.

“...GROWING UP IN A SMALL ASS VILLAGE IS BORING AS HELL. SO MAKING MUSIC WAS A PERFECT WAY TO KILL SOME TIME.” You’re mostly rapping in Dutch so, for us who don’t speak Dutch, what are you rapping about?

We rap about pretty much everything. From personal highs and lows to crazy ass party tracks. We do always try to keep a certain energy in our music, so that when we play live, we can really tear the place down.

I like that, you like entertaining and involving people in your music.

So, what is your musical influences?

Our influences are incredibly wide, we would go from Nirvana to Bob Marley. Our parents listened to a lot of 60’s music and also all the classical stuff, something that of course also plays a role in your musical upbringing. Once we discovered hiphop, we listened to pretty much everything; 2Pac, Biggie(Notorious B.I.G), Dr. Dre, Eminem, Beastie Boys,

Great. For us not living in the Netherlands, how is the rap/hip hop scene nowadays?

Dutch rap/hip hop has been around for 25 years already, but has gotten an incredibly big boost over the last ten years. Nowadays every city, town, village, neighborhood or street has their own rappers. The radio has started to play a lot more hiphop. We even do a lot of shows in Belgium (the northern half of Belgium also speaks Dutch). The longest number 1 hit record in Dutch history is currently held by a rapper. The hip hop scene is probably the biggest one in our youth society right now, but we can still see it grow a lot further.

You guys are really big in Dutch speaking countries, right? And you’re dropping some new tunes really soon as well?

Last July we dropped our first single since our last album. It’s called ‘Slapeloze Nachten’ and it became a number 1 hit in the Top 40 charts.

Together with this release came an EP with 4 new songs on it. Soon we will drop a new single together with a new EP. Eventually we’re hoping to drop our new album in November 2012 with some songs of the EP’s and a lot of new material.

*

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MUSIC

THE OPPOSITES ARE WEARING THE ELDER JACKET, THE HOLGER SHIRT, EDDY DENIMS, THE SIXTEN JACKET, THE MORTEN SWEATER AND THE KELVIN DENIM

DELTA

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WORDS BY DANIELLE KRASSE PHOTO BY MICHAL BUTINK

Upon visiting an exhibition by Boris Tellegen, also known as Delta, you will find yourself gaping at the objects - standing and looking from afar at first, seeing the pattern and the colors and the artwork as simply a beautiful and intriguing piece. It’s impossible not to step closer and as you do so, the pieces will come to life in ways that you simply did not expect. With 3D and geometric shapes and layers, the work

by Boris is a schematic chaos, toying around with expectations of structure that have been deconstructed and re-built in ways that are a beautiful surprise. Working with installations, collages, sculptures, videos and drawings - with a heritage in the graffiti scene - Boris never ceases to surprise the viewers of his art.

DANIELLE: Where does your inspiration come from?

DELTA: Thank you for your introduction by the way. :) . I find it hard to say where my inspiration comes from. I was just looking up the erosion of the English Norfolk coast line. Houses crumbling in the sea. Or the dried up Aral lake; Ships in the desert. Ruins and forgotten unfinished buildings. I can fantasize on how long the Burj Kahlifa will last. When the last airplane will fly. Stuff like that.

Your pieces have a feeling of precise, yet still chaotic, construction where every detail contributes to making the whole piece extraordinary. What is the process when you create a piece of art?

Technically; I always start with sketches on paper. Elaborate drawings. I can either trace these, dissect them into layers. Or rearrange the parts to became more or less random. Material does a lot as well. Paper or wood works differently.

You layer, cut and chisel your art - something which feels unusual in this segment of the art world and has garnered you huge recognition worldwide; how do you see your future work looking? With a number of critically acclaimed exhibitions presented over the past years, what’s next for you?

This year had a lot going on. Hopefully the pressure will be off around the end of october. I am very much looking forward to some downtime in my studio. With no deadlines in the near future. If that happens I am sure it will scare me also.

*

JUST INSTALLED ARTWORK “WATCHMAN” 2012

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COLLAGE / STUDY PAPER A3 2010

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[OPPOSITE PAGE] SURFACE 1 - 4 COLLAGE PAPER, CHARCOAL, TAPE, SPRAYPAINT A4 2012

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BLUESTONE ACRYLIC PAINT ON SEVERAL LAYERS OF BIRCH WOOD 1,27 M 2012

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BLUESTONE ACRYLIC PAINT ON SEVERAL LAYERS OF BIRCH WOOD 1,27 M 2012

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ART

BUSTER DOG ACRYLIC PAINT ON SEVERAL LAYERS OF BIRCH WOOD 105 X 105 CM 2012

ART

40 YEARS SEAM COAL FIRE ACRYLIC PAINT ON SEVERAL LAYERS OF BIRCH WOOD 142 X 107 CM 2012

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ART

TKTKTK THREAD AND ACRYLIC PAINT ON SEVERAL LAYERS OF BIRCH WOOD 122 X 122 CM 2012

ART

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ART

TKTKTK THREAD AND ACRYLIC PAINT ON SEVERAL LAYERS OF BIRCH WOOD 122 X 122 CM 2012

ART

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ART

EXOTHERMIC INSTALLATION AT “DE FABRIEK” EINDHOVEN MIXED MEDIA 20 X 2,5 X 0,8 M 2010

SKY HIGH PHOTOS BY ANTON RENBORG STYLED BY BILLIE JOSEPHSON

[043]

FASHION

SIGNE IS WEARING THE LIZZY RED RIOT DENIM AND THE LOUI BLACK SHIRT

AYMAN IS WEARING 3 DUB SWEATSHIRT, THE SLIM GREYSTONE CHINO, SC VARSITY SNAPBACK GREY MELANGE, FINKEL PARISIAN NIGHTS BACKPACK AND CLOPTON INKA GOLD SNEAKER [OPPOSITE] SIGNE IS WEARING THE TOTIT KNITTED SWEATER, LIZZY BLUE RIOT JEANS AND THE CHAMBERS BY RZA STREET BLACK/RED

LINDA IS WEARING SHIVA SWEATSHIRT, CORA SWEATPANTS AND THE ANIMAL CONGA HEADPHONES

LINDA IS WEARING THE BEETLEJUICE DRESS [OPPOSITE] CHRIS IS WEARING TRON SWEATER, EDDY RAW GREY DENIM, FISHY SHIRT, CLOPTON ANDORRA RED SNEAKER AND THE FEDERICO SOCKS

CHRIS IS WEARING THE REUBEN CARDIGAN AND BANJAR BLANKET HEADPHONES [OPPOSITE] CHRIS IS WEARING THE MIRO KNITTED SWEATER, EDDY HF BLACK DENIM AND THE CLOPTON INKA GOLD SNEAKER

SIGNE IS WEARING THE LULU PONCHO, LOUI SHIRT, RAMLA KNITTED SHORTS, DOLI OVERKNEE SOCKS AND ALEISTER BOOTS [OPPOSITE] CHRIS IS WEARING THE ERIC SHIRT, EDDY RAISIN CHINO, CLOPTON INKA GOLD SNEAKER, FEDERICO SOCKS

[ FOR MORE INFO VISIT WWW.WeSC.COM ]

LIL’ BUCK WITH A UNIQUE STYLE OF DANCE NAMED “JOOKING” THE NEW WEACTIVIST LIL BUCK - DANCER, CHOREOGRAPHER AND IN GENERAL AWESOME PERSON - IS CURRENTLY BUSY TAKING OVER THE WORLD; TOURING WITH MADONNA, CHOREOGRAPHING FOR JANELLE MONAE, PERFORMED WITH YO YO MA AND MERYL STREEP AND KICKING IT WITH HIS CREW. IT’S A TAKEOVER. LIL BUCK’S TAKEOVER.

PHOTOS BY FREDRIK EOTALL

[055]

WeACTIVIST

TYRONE FLANNEL SHIRT, EDDY DENIM AND CLOPTON SNEAKER

ANWAR SWEATER [OPPOSITE] EDDY DENIM

EDDY DENIM, ERSSA JACKET AND HAGELIN SNEAKER

ERSSA JACKET, EDDY DENIM AND HAGELIN FOOTWEAR

EDDY DENIM, HAGELIN FOOTWEAR AND ERSSA JACKET

TRON SWEATER

TRON SWEATER

[ FOR MORE INFO VISIT WWW.WeSC.COM ]

DEL MAR A RETROSPECT OF THE DEL MAR SKATE RANCH AND THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BONES BRIGADE PHOTOS & WORDS BY J. GRANT BRITTAIN

[069]

LIFESTYLE

It’s strange how random events come together in life and affect one’s future. Where I am now in my life and career is the sum of a bunch of accidental moments that transpired back in the late 1970s and early 1980s on a large chunk of concrete next to Interstate 5 in Southern California.

I look at everything that happens to us as moments of perfect randomness—or maybe it’s random perfectness—I like that. Let me give you a list of those moments that I credit to “Me being in the right place at the right time”. Hey, it could have gone the other way—glad it didn’t.

1978—I lived next door to Wally Inouye and Ed Economy. They were both pro skateboarders. Wally came to my birthday party and handed me his pro deck and told me that a new skateboard park was opening up in Del Mar. Ed Economy was the pro shop manager, and they could get me a job there. I jumped at the chance. I started working at the Del Mar Skate Ranch the second day its doors were open. I was serving Cokes and Twinkies, checking out sweaty/stinky rental safety gear, sweeping out the cement bowls, and skating for free—I was in heaven!

1979—I was admiring the skate photos in the magazines and thought I might try my hand at shooting some photos of the local rippers. In February I borrowed my roommate’s Canon AE-1, and with his basic instructions, I shot a roll of Kodachrome 64 film. Once I saw the processed slides, I knew I had a new hobby.

1980—Skateboarding died and the skate magazines and their staff photographers went with it. Employees at the park were canned or they left and I ended up as the pro shop manager. I was in a perfect place to hone my photographic skills, shooting my friends, the talented locals, and the local and visiting pros. We didn’t care that skateboarding was dead; all we knew was that we had our own private skatepark and we were left alone.

1981—I was taking art classes off and on at Palomar College, when

photographer/skater Sonny Miller invited me one day to print some of my black and white negatives in the school darkroom. I had never seen any of my photos blown up before—how weird is that? I remember the first time I saw one of my images come up in the developing tray. That light went off in my head and I knew from that exact moment what I wanted to do as my life’s work.

1982—I was working at DMSR at night, taking every photo class I could enroll in during the day, and shooting the park and various ditches, pools, and ramps in the area. For an eight-month stint I even slept on the pool table in the pro shop/arcade. You could say I was eating and sleeping skateboarding.

1983—Larry Balma, the owner of Tracker Trucks, had seen my skate photos and wanted to know if I wanted to contribute to a “newsletter” that they were working on. I was called up to their office to check out their new project and discovered what appeared to be magazine layouts pinned to the wall. Evidently, “newsletter” was code for magazine. The first issue of Transworld Skateboarding Magazine was delivered to the park and we all laughed at it. It was pretty preachy against the seedier elements of the skateboarding world. I didn’t want to supply photos to the second issue but TWS was the only game in town and I thought I could contribute something of worth to the magazine. With each issue of the magazine I was drawn deeper into this new mag and after a few issues I became its photo editor and senior photographer for the next twenty years.

2012—Thirty-four years after I rode into the Del Mar Skate Ranch on my new Wally Inouye board I sit at my desk at a newer magazine, The Skateboard Mag, typing on my MacBook just two miles from where that beautiful slab of concrete that changed my life once stood.

Happenstance is a powerful force—may the Force be with you.

*

[OPENING SPREAD] NEIL BLENDER IS A BIG GUY AND HE COULD BOOST BIG OLLIES IN THE KEYHOLE ANY DAY. NEIL IS STILL BIG. [PREVIOUS SPREAD/LEFT] I ASKED TONY HAWK TO DON THESE WELDER’S GOGGLES FOR A PORTRAIT IN THE KIDNEY POOL. THIS WAS WHEN SKATING WAS DEAD AND I COULD GET ANY OF THE SKATERS TO DRESS UP IN COSTUMES. [PREVIOUS SPREAD/RIGHT] I WANTED TO GET A LITTLE DIFFERENT VIEW OF TONY DOING THIS CROSSBONE LIEN AIR IN THE KEYHOLE, YOU CAN SEE OUR SHADOWS ON THE OPPOSITE WALL, THAT SHOWS HOW HIGH HE IS IN THE AIR

[THIS PAGE] YOU DON’T SEE MANY PHOTOS OF THE IMPERFECT HALF-PIPE AT DEL MAR, IT DIDN’T GET USED A LOT. THAT DIDN’T STOP LESTER KASAI FROM HOISTING A BEAUTIFUL OLLIE UP AND OUT FOR ME TO CAPTURE. [OPPOSITE PAGE] MARK “GATOR” ROGOWSKI WAS ONE OF THE BEST ALL AROUND SKATEBOARDERS THAT EVER STOOD ON A BOARD. THIS IS AN EARLY RELEASED FRONTSIDE AIR, LOOK HOW HIGH HE IS! ELEVATOR DROP. [NEXT SPREAD] THIS PHOTO OF CHRISTIAN HOSOI WAS TAKEN OUT IN THE PARKING LOT AFTER A CONTEST. HE HAD HIS TROPHY ON THE HOOD OF THE CAR AND HE WAS SELLING PRODUCT TO HUNGRY SKATERS AND ADORING FANS. THAT’S HOW PROFESSIONAL SKATERS MADE ENDS MEET BACK THEN.

[THIS PAGE] I DIDN’T SHOOT SKATE PHOTOS UNTIL 1979, SO I MISSED SHOOTING THE DOGTOWN ERA. I WAS VERY STOKED THIS DAY WHEN JAY ADAMS SHOWED UP AND STARTED LAYING DOWN SOME SURFY LINES IN THE BANKED SLALOM RUN. [OPPOSITE PAGE] IT WAS ALWAYS DIFFICULT TO SHOOT FREESTYLE AND MAKE ITS SUBTLETIES TRANSLATE TO A STILL PHOTO. I SHOT THIS SILHOUETTE OF RODNEY MULLEN IN THE RESERVOIR, I DON’T KNOW THE NAME OF THE TRICK AND FRANKLY I DON’T CARE, I THINK THE PHOTO SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. [NEXT SPREAD] THIS IS THE PHOTO THAT STARTED MY INFACTUATION WITH PHOTOGRAPHY. THE DATE STAMPED ON THE KODACHROME SLIDE IS FEB 1979 AND THIS IS ONE FRAME ON THE FIRST ROLL OF FILM I EVER SHOT. DEL MAR LOCAL, KYLE JENSEN WAS SKATING THE KEYHOLE AND I JUST FOCUSED AND SHOT HIM WITH MY ROOMMATE’S CAMERA. KYLE JUST TURNED 50 AND IS STILL SKATING AND HE’S DOING IT WITH HIS SON, COOL.

[THIS PAGE] TOM “WALLY” INOUYE WAS A PRO SKATER AND MY NEIGHBOR, HE GOT ME THE JOB AT THE DEL MAR SKATE RANCH. CHECK OUT THIS BERTLEMAN ON THE WALL THAT BARELY GOT RIDDEN IN THE KEYHOLE POOL, THIS PHOTO SHOUTS “STYLE!” THANKS FOR THE JOB WALLY. [OPPOSITE PAGE] SIN EGELJA CAME OVER FROM AUSTRALIA AND RAPIDLY BECAME A DEL MAR LOCAL, OUR FRIEND AND MY ROOMMATE. HE WAS THE FUNNIEST GUY AND HAD A GOOD HEART, I REALLY MISS HIM, RIP. I CAN’T REMEMBER IF HE MADE THIS WHEELER ON THE HIP OF THE KIDNEY POOL, DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE IT’S GNARLY MATE! [LAST SPREAD] THIS IS THE BONES BRIGADE IN THE FIELD NEXT TO THE SKATE RANCH. STACY PERALTA AND CRAIG STECYK TOOK THE TEAM OUT TO SHOOT PHOTOS AND WHEN THEY GOT DONE I ASKED STECYK IF I COULD SHOOT A COUPLE OF FRAMES. THEY WERE ALL SO YOUNG THEN!

THE NEW ATL ATLANTA HAS A LONG MUSICAL HISTORY, BUT SINCE THE 90’S IT HAS EVOLVED INTO THE EPICENTER OF DIRTY SOUTH HIP HOP. THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S EASY FOR YOUNG ARTISTS IN THE ATL. THESE PHOTOS ARE FROM A RECENT TRIP THERE, WHERE I SHOT A BUNCH OF HARD WORKING, UP AND COMING ARTISTS IN THE LOCAL HIP HOP SCENE. I LIKE GOING TO A CITY, SEARCHING FOR NEW TALENT AND DOCUMENTING WHAT I SEE. THIS IS WHAT I FOUND...

PHOTOS & WORDS BY MATT MCGINLEY

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LIFESTYLE

DJ OSH KOSH

[CLOCKWISE] KEY & CURTIS WILLIAMS, JACE, DAVE FROM FATKIDSBROTHA [OPPOSITE/CLOCKWISE] KEY, DJ OSH KOSH, WAVY WALLACE, JOHNNY FROM FATKIDSBROTHA [PREVIOUS SPREAD/LEFT TO RIGHT] TWO-9 JOHNNY FROM FATKIDSBROTHA, CURTIS WILLIAMS, KEY, DAVE FROM FATKIDSBROTHA, FANI, WAVY WALLACE, DJ OSH KOSH, JACE

[TOP] DJ BURN ONE [BOTTOM] GRIP PLYAZ [OPPOSITE] TRINIDAD JAMES

GO DREAMER

SCOTTY ATL

PHOTOS

[096]

ROBIN ÅHLGREN TAKEN WHILE HANGING OUT THE CAR WINDOW ON A HIGHWAY IN LA

PHOTOS

[097]

ED LEIGH WHAT A DELICIOUS SIGN, IT SAYS EVERYTHING YOU WANT A TOURIST SEX SHOP SIGN TO SAY, IT’S FUNNY AND INVITING IN A NON THREATENING WAY. BUT I ALWAYS IMAGINE HARDCORE PERVERTS SCOFF AT THIS KIND OF SHOP THE SAME WAY GOOD SKATERS LAUGH AT MONGO PUSHERS. [SOHO]

PHOTOS

[098]

MR. KAVES / LORDZ OF BROOKLYN THE NEIGHBORHOOD DIDN’T CHANGE, YOU DID! 94 ST AND 5TH AVE, BAY RIDGE

PHOTOS

[099]

TONY ARCABASCIO GUERILLA MARKETING AT IT’S FINEST. I TEACH THEM YOUNG. [VIVA BOMBING THE STREETS OF NYC WITH STICKERS I HAD MADE FOR HER WHEN SHE WAS BORN]

PHOTOS

[100]

VANESSA PRAGER FLYING IN A NO-DOOR HELICOPTER OVER THE NA PALI COAST WAS ONE OF THE BEST DAYS MY FEET EVER HAD

PHOTOS

[101]

DANIEL JOSEPH I WAS WAY HUNG OVER AND PICKING SOME REGISTRATION THINGY UP AT A POLICE STATION RECEPTION DESK WHEN I SAW THIS. I MADE SOME JOKE ABOUT HAVING A “RIOTS OPTIONAL” SIGN. THAT WENT OVER LIKE A LEAD BALLOON. WHEN I LEFT I TORCHED THE NEAREST COP CAR. WITH MY MIND.

PHOTOS

[102]

DZINE VEGAS LOWRIDER SUPER SHOW FALL 2010

PHOTOS

[103]

SCOTT WINER THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN IN EARLY AUGUST OFF TAVARUA ISLAND IN SW FIJI. A BLOOD RED SUNRISE GREETS SOME HUNGRY SURFERS AT THIS WORLD CLASS SURF SPOT CALLED CLOUDBREAK. A GREAT WAY TO START YOUR DAY.

PHOTOS

[104]

JAKE SUMNER I TOOK THIS WALKING UP HELVELLYN ON A RAINY DAY IN THE LAKE DISTRICT IN NORTHERN ENGLAND. THIS SHEEP WAS STANDING AT THE TOP AND WE HAD A STARE OFF WHICH MADE IT REALLY EASY TO TAKE THE PHOTO.

PHOTOS

[105]

MEGA / STEED LORD KILLA KALI THIS IS MY WIFE, MY BLOOD, MY PARTNER IN CRIME, MY MUSE.... MY KALI. SHOT AT A RANDOM GAS STATION IN LOS ANGELES IN 2011

CLAIRE DARROW MOSIER

[106]

RETURNING PARADISE PHOTO BY CHERYL DUNN

M

y husband Chris and I met in a far corner of Costa Rica at a tiny little jungle bar about 8 years ago on New Year’s Eve. I was in Costa Rica with friends on a yoga retreat and he was there on a surf trip. We missed out on exchanging phone numbers that night, and life moved on. One year later, somehow we both happened to be in the same little jungle bar, and met again. Not only did we end up getting married there a few years later, but we fell in love with that jungle too and bought a little piece of it to build our dream home.

The Osa peninsula of Costa Rica is on the Pacific side of the southern most part of the Central American country, very close to Panama. Our little spot sits on the edge of the Corcovado national park, which is one of the most biologically diverse places in the world.

We get there by taking a tiny plane from the capital, to a tiny town that a few years ago had one main unpaved road. After a 45 minute drive from town down another dirt road, that includes several river-crossings, you end up at our little place on a river that spills into the ocean. It’s a trek, especially from the East VIllage of NYC where we live full-time, but the intensity of that incredible nature is something that helps our lives feel a little more balanced somehow.

With our dream in his heart, Chris spent several months working with a local builder to gently carve out a tiny piece of jungle around our new home, which a friend at our wedding described as a “camping mansion.” Our 6m x 9m wood and stone house has only halfwalls and is open to the jungle. It’s powered (we have 14 lightbulbs on the entire property) by 4 solar panels, and we cook on a propane stove. Over the years, friends have painted and carved pieces of art in and on the house. We’ve

“WE JUST STARTED TO REALIZE EVEN MORE THAT THE JUNGLE WAS BOSS AND ALWAYS WILL BE.”

planted food in the gardens, monkeys swing through the trees surrounding the house all day long and we wake up to iridescent blue butterflies as big as your hand floating through the house early each morning. The house is cantilevered slightly over the river where occasionally otters and cayman pop up and look up at us.

Hummingbirds flit in and feed on the ginger and birds of paradise flower arrangements we assemble in the house from our garden. Our garden now has pineapples, bananas, starfruit, lemons, mangos, avocados and coconuts to drink. We can walk 10 minutes through the jungle to empty point breaks where you can surf as many waves as you can catch. In other words, it’s Eden– paradise.

It’s been five years since we built our little house, and while we’re away we have a caretaker come once/week to keep the jungle at bay. Our neighbors check in on it and keep an eye on things for us. Friends use the house when we’re not there if we’re lucky. If someone doesn’t stay in the house and prune things back on a regular basis, the jungle begins to take over again, and will swallow the house-literally. I’m starting to slowly feel that the house isn’t ours and that at the end of the day, the ants, the termites, the sun, the vines and roots and rains will cover and consume the house as if we were never there.

This past trip, we brought our daughter Scout for the third time. Now that she’s one and a half, we were excited for her to see monkeys and frogs and toucans and flowers as big as her. She did and loved it, but she also saw huge spiders, stepped on a fire ant-hill, learned what a scorpion was and luckily didn’t need to use the word snake. She was safe the whole time– lots of babies grow up in the jungle, we just started to realize even more that the jungle was boss and always will be.

Part of the reason that I love this place so much is that it’s so huge and mind-blowing and terrifying and beautiful, that it makes me feel small and truly human– it puts life into perspective for me. Nature is god, nature is mighty and will always take over in the end. I’ve started to feel almost like we’ve managed to keep it at bay a tiny bit so that we can live this fantasy life, but at the end of the day, the challenge of even living harmoniously beside it and with it, is so formidable that it’s eventually made me feel like maybe we need to just let nature take it’s course as it’s been trying to.

One of our neighbors has asked to acquire our land and we’re thinking about letting it go.

They’re buying up land to preserve and it seems in my heart like maybe it’s time somehow.

We’ve loved our time there and I love Chris for building us this magical home, but i think maybe we’re on to the next chapter. We’d still visit once in a while, and I know that the animals we’ve loved communing with will continue to eat the fruit we’ve planted. There’s something really reassuring in knowing that the jungle will eventually, and probably quickly, erase the tiny footprint we left. That’s the reason I’ve always loved and admired it so much I guess.

*

[107]

VOICE No.1

A MORNING MEANDER

ADRIAN TODD ZUNIGA

[108]

YO, ADRIAN PHOTO BY ADRIAN TODD ZUNIGA

G

rowing up, everyone called me Todd.

Everyone, except my father. My father called me by first name, which is Adrian. I’ve always answered to both.

Then, last week, after being Todd for 36 of my 37 years (I went by the name Adrian when I was 19, as an aimless experiment), I changed — or, really, expanded — my name to Adrian Todd Zuniga.

I did this by adding Adrian to the front of my name on Facebook. And on Twitter. I expanded my name on LiteraryDeathMatch.com.

Switched my gmail from toddzuniga to adriantoddzuniga. I told no one directly, because I didn’t have to. To become a different person, or an expanded person, you just have to log in, and click edit.

In March of this year, I had come up with a plan to log in, click edit, and change my life to Adrian Zuniga. I estimated it would take me about nine hours to alter my entire identity, erase my middle name from the world, and confuse the shit out of people who knew me best, or the 4,219 Facebook friends that knew me just enough. My reason to do it was that I loved the conceptual ridiculousness of that kind of 90-degree life-switch. But in the end, I got over-busy, and couldn’t find the time. And looking back, I’d been busting my ass for twenty years trying to make a name, so why undo it in nine hours?

But then I did do it. Sort of. The newfangled way to pull off my name awakening hit me in Ljubljana ten days ago: Instead of killing off Todd, I just needed to add Adrian to the front of everything. No massive change. For those scant few that had heard of me, my full name would still have the recognizable ring of those final four syllables. But Adrian would steer this hustling ship.

“I ESTIMATED IT WOULD TAKE ME ABOUT NINE HOURS TO ALTERNATE MY ENTIRE IDENTITY.”

Which begs the question, why change/expand my name at all? I’m writing this to help me answer that question myself, because for the past ten days, I’ve bumbled through pisspoor explanations, while trying to hone in on a well-packaged answer. In part, it’s because I’ve never liked the name Todd. I’ve never felt like it suited me. Todd is the name of every asshole in 80s films. He’s the bullying dickhead in all kinds of 90s media. Plus, Todd isn’t fun to say (I lazily say it as Tahhd, so most people think I’ve said Ty; and in the UK I have to tighten up the pronunciation to a terse Tawd, which I’ve never liked doing). Adrian seems softer. A more thoughtful name, rife with humane reflection. I think it suits me. But at the same time, I don’t want to abandon the scaffolding of the person I’ve built as Todd.

The other, bigger part of the name change/ expansion comes down to this: no one knows me. And I don’t mean that faux-humbly. What I mean is: I’m no big shakes. At least not yet, but I won’t shy away from saying I want to be.

When I was 27, when I first wanted to seriously change my name to Adrian, I didn’t because I thought people knew me. I was editing Opium Magazine (a literary humor magazine) and was working hard to establish myself, and I thought that if I changed my name, all that free labor and sweat equity would be wasted. Of course, I didn’t have a clue, but when you’re small and young — Opium has a massive circulation of 2,000 — you protect whatever big you make of yourself, and use it for fuel to keep you moving forward.

But, now, I can make the change, because there’s still time. I’m trying to get my live show — Literary Death Match — on television.

Yesterday, I finished the final draft of my novel.

Those two things are name-defining gamechangers. If all goes well, and rapidly, I’ll look

back, and say: holy shit, I made the switch just in time!

Thing is, it hasn’t been easy. I used to occasionally drop the name Adrian at parties as a sure-fire flirt because girls would have a completely different reaction than when I’d intro myself as Todd. But, now, I feel exposed.

Like the women think, oh, I know why he’s using Adrian. Which makes it weird to introduce myself as Adrian to men, because somewhere in my brain I think they think I’m just using the name to steal their women. Excuse me while I overthink it. Plus, there’s the whole introducing myself as Adrian to people at parties, when the hosts know me as Todd. Or introducing myself as Todd to person one, then thinking: oops!, then introducing myself as Adrian to the person right next to them. That’s been a homerun of awkward every time. Plus, it’s tough to remember to sign my emails ATZ to the people who know me as Todd, and Adrian to those that don’t know me at all. But I’m getting there.

There’s still time.

*

[109]

VOICE No.2

NAME GAME

ERIN HOSIER

[110]

A WRITER RETURNS PHOTO BY SCOTT GARDNER

I

have left my life.

You know how they say that at age 27 Saturn returns? Something will happen to you at 27 that will force a change you couldn’t have anticipated. It’s the year you decide. Am I going to stick it out in this world or am I gonna do a bunch of drugs and die hard with a vengeance?

It’s the year a lot of people get married for the first time, or go on some exotic trip, or take a job that sucks them bloodless. Sometimes your dad dies and you end things with the college boyfriend and go on a tear across the 5 boroughs. You burn so bright people notice you from far away, they can feel you coming in their 26-year-old dreams.

That’s what happened when I was 27, but now it’s 10 years past. At 37, I got a book deal.

Someone wanted to pay me to write the song of myself, equal parts dream come true and death trap. I left the city I loved and moved 107 miles away to a cabin in the woods in a part of upstate New York known for its black bear population. If I told you the truth of how it’s been you would never believe me. First of all everybody thinks I must be bored out of my mind. A shrink once told me that boredom is just depression, so every time you’re bored maybe you just need your meds adjusted.

Bearsville ain’t Brooklyn, but I’ve got a lot going on. Yesterday I made a collage, wrote 4 good paragraphs of the book, helped a writer get a book deal, told another one to fuck off, listened to Heart in my living room and then I roasted some corn on the grille (with help) and mixed it with avocado and tomatoes for a tasty summer salad. Nobody gave me any money, but I didn’t have to use the hatchet either.

The book I’m writing reveals a lot of family secrets, it’s about growing up and getting out.

“AM I GOING TO STICK IT OUT IN THIS WORLD OR AM I GONNA DO A BUNCH OF DRUGS AND DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE?”

It’s very likely the kind of memoir that will make people uncomfortable, makes them lash out about narcissism in the culture. Maybe this is the reason I’ve always resisted thinking of myself as a writer. As a literary agent, it’s all about being the writer’s helpmate, the wife. I’ve liked being the wife so much. So now the realization that I am a writer coincides with the realization that I am an asshole. It feels strange, as a girl (or maybe as a person, too) to assert my ideas, to invite you to reject me on the grounds that it’s not attractive for me to be enraged. I know it’s not attractive that the writer is smarter than you, that the writer thinks so, and that the writer manipulates. It’s a powerful feeling, the idea that I might be responsible for someone else’s guilt.

Unlike in the city, I’m so manic or something.

There’s all these things I must accomplish in the country before the writing can commence: try on hats in the mirror, apply lipstick (MAC’s, usually one of the reds), walk the dog, stoke the fire, jump rope, check the progress of the ice cream machine. I have to have the right kind of pen - the Japanese fine point Le Pen - and I work on a laptop. I have to have the right playlist, usually a melancholy one.

The other day it was this one: - Thirteen / Big Star - Wave of Mutilation / The Pixies - Some Things Last a Long Time / Daniel Johnston - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? / Creedence Clearwater Revival - Where Did You Sleep Last Night / Nirvana - The Love You Save May Be Your Own / Joe Tex - The Drugs Don’t Work / The Verve - Africa / Toto - Meet Me Here at Dawn / Cass McCombs - Get Em High / Talib Kweli, Kanye West

Only once I do all these things can I write about that autumn day he and I walked around Brooklyn and the sun beat down on our shoulders as the wind tried to blow it away. That was my very best day. But that was then, and this is now.

What could possibly be next?

*

[111]

VOICE No.3

THE AUTHOR AT HOME

DECIDA

[112]

POP CULTURE AS A COUNTER CULTURE? PHOTO BY OSCAR STENBERG

C

ould pop culture serve as a counter culture? The punk scene did, so did the conscious reggae scene that has always functioned as an alternate way of looking at the post-colonial world, just like the American hip hop definitely did in it’s heyday. Chuck D of Public Enemy coined the classic term “hip hop is the CNN of the streets”, and many socially conscious rappers transmitted another important image of the American society compared to mainstream media during the late 80’s and 90’s. I’d would like to say Obama’s prosperity has a lot do with the huge amount of young hiphop fans during the 90’s, a simple schooling that laid the foundation for change.

But hip hop went global and also commercial - which meant losing a big amount of its original edge when it started to require the rate of return. On a note: keep in mind that a hip hop culture which only focuses on what’s cool isn’t particularly worse than a hip hop culture reproducing stereotypes of what hip hop used to be. And just as when hip hop for a while inherited the transforming force from the punk scene, that edginess moved further and took new forms.

What about globalization? American pop culture, irresistibly wrapped up for sale to whoever can afford to buy it? The criticism against cultural imperialism as in the cultural legacy of colonialism, or forms of social action contributing to the continuation of Western hegemony, exists for more than one reason.

Then it’s a question of whether or not the original reforming force of edgy sub-culture as a voice of something other than the majority went global too?

Let’s look at Sweden. A country with a tradition

“HIP HOP WENT GLOBAL AND COMMERCIAL - WHICH MEANT LOSING A BIG AMOUNT OF ITS ORIGINAL EDGE WHEN IT STARTED TO REQUIRE THE RATE OF RETURN.”

of tolerance concerning matters like asylum politics and the supporting of civil rights and democratic movements in other countries - but with a problem of really incorporating the result of this, immigrants, in what is described as the “Swedish identity”. A problem visible in the incomparably high demand for “proper Swedish”, just as in the naive mainstream debates about the use of racial slurs; whether it’s students at one of the major Universities organizing a slave auction costume party, or a Minister Of Culture, apparently unaffected, eating from a cake looking like a Blackface character. Does everyone living in Sweden have the same “right” to shape the country? Is there a risk for brain drain when people with a non-white or mixed background doesn’t see a natural future in Sweden, no matter how bright and talented they are? How many after an upbringing in Sweden choose to move abroad to start their future?

Part of the problem is the lack of ways to approach these issues. Swedish racism officially abrogated when the word race, in terms of describing humans, was removed from the national dictionary more than ten years ago probably with the best intentions. But how to talk about something that clearly does exist, of course in contexts with colonial, cultural, gender, class, sexuality structures, but without a word? And how to talk about issues in a country with a self image of the one most equal in the world?

So could pop culture serve as a counter culture? In this Swedish mindset of people seeing themselves as very tolerant there is a certain openness, there’s a curiosity that led to American jazz musicians being invited to visit in the early days, made Bob Marley live in Sweden for a little while and evolved into a really early DJ culture. This openness definitely has sections of Exoticism in it, but is it least an entrance to

another way of thinking?

Parallel with a so called “Swedish Training” in what used to be “Swedish” there has been something else. A popular culture that, at its best, has included free norm-critical thinking and then at its worst: cultural imperialism and a mash-up of stereotypes and capitalism that re-produce old norms. Regardless of what perspective one choose, pop culture is one of the fastest and most globally spread phenomena, even before the use of the Internet. Common references make us talk: could pop culture function as a common language, instead of just keeping us stuck in discussing whether it’s good or bad culture all the time? With the creation of the internet, the physical location lost its power as a deciding denominator and suddenly there is a new canon of things we have in common with people from all over the world. Could pop culture in it’s best moments encourage people to create their own identity, without basing it on an specific ethnicity, race, nationality, gender, sexuality and class?

This is where 2FACED1 comes in- the search of transnational identities! In the Swedish situation concerning racism where we don’t talk about certain issues - at all - can we form our transnational networks, based on popular culture, seek help and change an old norm? Think about the aforementioned Blackface Cake-gate where people all over the world were looking at Sweden with eyes that the official Sweden wasn’t used to being seen with. Can that help to wake people up from the current state of mind? Maybe the present pop culture contains important knowledge that just hasn’t hit the Universities yet? And do country borders really exist? Didn’t somebody just make them up?

*

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VOICE No.4

ALEX’S TWO FACES FROM THE 2FACED1.COM PROJECT 2011

GALLERI KLEERUP

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WORDS BY JONAS KLEERUP [OWNER] PHOTOS BY JONAS KLEERUP

“Art and music are the only two things I know anything about (maybe also horses, thank you very much father and girlfriend). It used to be music and architecture, but I think a lecture by artist Martin Creed when I studied architecture at Chelsea College of Art at the beginning of this century changed all that. He combines those two things very well. This is from a performance / gig he did at the beach at Art Basel Miami Beach the other year. But mainly, I don’t get inspired by people, mostly by atmosphere and tendencies. That moment in time, on a beach chair with a beer in my hand and Martin Creed on stage, I think captured all that.”

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INSPIRATION

NEW YORK CITY [USA] WORDS BY CHARLIE KREMMERER PHOTO BY FREDRIK ETOALL [PANORAMIC OPENER]

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CITY GUIDE

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NEW YORK CITY [USA] - I can ramble off some statistics. I can try to sell you on how great the scene is here. But if you don’t already know that New York City is the capital of the world, or haven’t been lucky enough to experience it’s coolness for yourself, you should stay home one friday night and rent some of these movies.

Maybe you’ll understand...

Fort Apache the Bronx, Requiem for a Dream,

Bad Lieutenant, Black Swan, Downtown 81, Death Wish, Super Fly, Ghost Dog, The Warriors (a gang has to fight their way from the Bronx to Coney Island), Kids, Godfather, King of New York, Shaft, Wild Style (Breakdancing, graffiti, and hip hop all converge) Midnight Cowboy, Mean Streets, Once Upon a Time In America, The Naked City, American Psycho (fun wearing suits and killing people with chainsaws... and axes... and other things), Goodfellas, Serpico,

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Wall Street, Ghostbusters, The French Connection (prior to Ronin this had the undisputed “greatest car chase” EVER filmed), Escape from New York (Manhattan becomes the world’s largest prison, and only Kurt Russell has the skills to save the President) Taxi Driver, Wolfen (werewolves in NYC... enough said), King Kong, The Hunger, Dog Day Afternoon, Rosemary’s Baby, Juice, New Jack City... you get the point.

CITY GUIDE

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RESTAURANTS

CULTURE [+ EVENTS]

La Esquina 114 Kenmare Street (646) 613-7100 esquinanyc.com

Rockefeller Center 30 Rockefeller Plaza (212) 332-6868 rockefellercenter.com

Cafe Habana 17 Prince Street (212) 625-2001 cafehabana.com

St Patrick’s Cathedral 460 Madison Avenue (212) 753-2261 saintpatrickscathedral.org

Asia Dog 66 Kenmare Street (212) 226-8861 asiadognyc.com

9/11 Memorial Albany Street (212) 312-8800 911memorial.org‎

The Smile 26 Bond Street (646) 329-5836 thesmilenyc.com

Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53rd Street (212) 708-9400 moma.org

Bareburger 535 Laguardia Place (212) 477-8125 bareburger.com

New Museum of Contemporary Art 235 Bowery (212) 343-0460 newmuseum.org

The Meatball Shop 84 Stanton Street (212) 982-8895

The High Line 519 West 23rd Street (212) 206-9922 thehighline.org

Calexico [street cart] On Wooster Street [bet. Houston & Prince] (347) 763-2129 calexicocart.com

The Hole 312 Bowery (212) 466-1100 theholenyc.com

NIGHTTIME SHOPS Max Fish 178 Ludlow Street (212) 529-3959 maxfish.com

Alife Rivington Club 158 Rivington Street (212) 432-7200

LA ESQUINA

MCNALLY JACKSON

WeSC NYC 282 Lafayette Street (212) 925-9372 wesc.com Supreme 274 Lafayette Street (212) 966-7799 supremenewyork.com Economy Candy 108 Rivington Street (212) 254-1531 economycandy.com Posteritati 239 Centre Street (212) 226-2207 posteritati.com McNally Jackson 52 Prince Street (212) 274-1160 mcnallyjackson.com Clic Bookstore & Gallery 255 Centre St, New York, NY (212) 966-2766 clicgallery.com Pearl River Mart 477 Broadway (212) 431-4770 pearlriver.com The New York Shaving Company 202B Elizabeth Street (212) 334-9495 nyshavingcompany.com

WESC NEW YORK CITY

CITY GUIDE

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TOP TO BOTTOM: 9/11 MEMORIAL, POSTERITATI, ECONOMY CANDY

TOP TO BOTTOM: MOMA, THE NEW YORK SHAVING COMPANY, ASIA DOG

TOP TO BOTTOM: CAFE HABANA, CLIC BOOKSTORE & GALLERY

LOCATIONS

[120]

WeSC along with our friends at OWSLA and Production Club held a secret after hours party aptly dubbed MIDNIGHT MASS at a 100-year-old church located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles on Skid Row. With no permits, no legal authorization, and a start time of 1 am, the party was a strictly word of mouth deal. If you didn’t have a friend of a friend that knew the exact details, hunting down the location took some work. But those who persevered were well rewarded. After getting past the armed security and into the Lord’s House, guests were greeted with a WeSC gifting area, open bar and of course best of all, A-Trak, Alvin Risk, Nero, and Skrillex all kept it going till the sun came up. [photos: RUKES (left page) & LE PANDA (right page)]

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LOCATIONS FOLLOW US: facebook.com/superlativeconspiracy twitter.com/WeSC1999

LOCATIONS

[122]

September 8, one of this summers last days, WeSC joined forces with SÖDERSLAGET for their third fightnight at Astoria, an old and beautiful cinema in the center of Stockholm. MMA and Thaiboxing was the name of the game and the main event was a MMA bout between rivals Abdi “Jackson” Liban (Stockholm Shoot) and Gabriel Mboge Nesje (Pancrase Gym). Friends and family showed up including UFC fighters Alexander Gustavsson and Resa Maddog Madadi, Abbe Joof, Lina Eklund, Mikaela Lauren, Nils Widlund and many more. [photos: RICHARD ORTEGA]

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LOCATIONS FOR MORE IMAGES & VIDEO: wesc.com

LOCATIONS

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When we were shooting visuals back and forth for our installation at WeSC MONTRÉAL, we kept finding ourselves tied to this idea of creating a sort of underwater narrative. The concept was based on our interpretation of the spring collection, and what sort of environment we thought pulled from the same visual library. One of the visuals we found to be the most inspiring was the collective movements of a school of fish, and how as a group they interacted as an individual. In our installation we tried to recreate this action in a static environment, and bring this feeling of interaction to the space we created. Once we had this feeling and visual library established, it was just a matter of translating it to print, video, installations, etc! [words & photos: UNE BANANE]

[125]

LOCATIONS FOLLOW US: facebook.com/superlativeconspiracy twitter.com/WeSC1999

RELEASE

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HHHHHH

COMING SOON HHHHHHHHHH ironfists.com rzaironfists.com facebook.com/ironfistsmovie twitter.com/ironfists

WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy symbolizes what we as a company represent: a group and family of good, creative minds working towards the same goals and ideals. The Superlative Conspiracy is the idea and philosophy behind our brand. We aim to address like-minded people, who are awake and aware, regardless of race, religion or financial background. People within the Superlative Conspiracy share the values and lifestyle of the WeSC founders who all have a background in skateboarding, snowboarding and street culture – which are the heritage and inspiration for the creation and making of WeSC. The people flying the flag of the Conspiracy are the people enjoying, wearing and representing the brand, and importantly also the WeActivists. Those great creatives, skateboarders, snowboarders, actors, musicians, chefs, models, artists and more who are all a part of the WeSC Family. Their representation of WeSC adds new and other dimensions; the things they do in their field of work and interest in the different genres of culture, sports, music and creativity.

It all comes together and contributes to make WeSC the brand for intellectual slackers, creatives and supporters of streetfashion.

© 2012 We International AB All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner in any media, or transmitted by any means whatsoever, electronic or mechanical (including photocopy, film or video recording, internet posting or any other information storage and retrieval system) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Made in Sweden by WeSC Karlavägen 108, Stockholm, Sweden tel. +46 8 46 50 50 00 www.wesc.com facebook.com/superlativeconspiracy twitter.com/WeSC1999 instagram: WeSC1999

CEO: GREGER HAGELIN GLOBAL BRAND DIRECTOR: THOMAS FLINN GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGER: HANNA LUNDGREN GLOBAL PR & WEB MANAGER: DANIELLE KRASSE EXECUTIVE ART DIRECTOR: TONY ARCABASCIO ART DIRECTOR: SIMON MÅRTELIUS WeSC, www.wesc.com, WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy AND ‘THE ICON’ ARE REGISTRATED TRADEMARKS OF WE INTERNATIONAL AB®

WE A R E T HE S U PE R L AT I V E C O N S PI R A C Y www. we s c. co m

2012