NAKID MAGAZINE - ISSUE I - WINTER 2015 by Nakid Magazine

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay, and unless it wants to break faith, with its social function, art must show the world as changeable and help to change it.â&#x20AC;? -Ernst Fischer

We are Nakid. We are a collective of creative individuals. We are a differnt vision of art. We are an aesthetic. Nakid is a new way to discover aspiring and break-out artists with talents that are undeniable, and we showcase them to the world. Nakid was created to widen the gaze of the art world by discovering up-andcoming underground artists in every genre of art you can think of - ranging from photographers, writers, musicians, sculpturs, illustrators, fashion deisgners, culinary artists, product designers, and more. Exposing them to the masses by documenting their talent through their individual processes!

This is our first issue and with it we hope to start a journey with our readers

always growing, always searching for more!

Nakid // Pushing Limits, Not Your Oridinary Art Magazine. Sincerely, DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD Editor-In-Chief / Founder

DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD LOS ANGELES FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / ART DIRECTOR / PHOTOGRAPHER FROM: SAN FRANCISCO, CA INSTAGRAM: @DUSTINHOLLYWOODPHOTO

JAMES PAWLISH SAN FRANCISCO

EXECUTIVE EDITOR / WRITER / PHOTOGRAPHER FROM: SAN FRANCISCO, CA. INSTAGRAM: @JAMESPAWLISH WEBSITE: JAMESPAWLISH.COM

FIND US .

RAFFI KRIKORIAN LOS ANGELES

PUBLISHER / MARKETING MANAGER FROM: LOS ANGELES, CA, INSTAGRAM: @CULTURECOLLECTIVE

LANCE SKUNDRICH SAN FRANCISCO

EXECUTIVE EDITOR / WRITER / PHOTOGRAPHER FROM: SAN FRANCISCO. CA, INSTAGRAM: @SHUTTRSKUNK

WWW.NAKIDMAGAZINE.COM FACEBBOK.COM/NAKIDMAG TWIITER.COM/NAKID_MAGAZINE INSTAGRAM.COM/NAKID_MAGAZINE

EKATERINA KOUZNETSOVA DALLAS

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR / WRITER / PHOTOGRAPHER FROM: RUSSIA INSTAGRAM: @EKATPHOTO

SOPHIA RASMEA MINNEAPOLIS

COPY EDITOR / WRITER / PHOTOGRAPHER FROM: SAN FRANCISCO. CA, INSTAGRAM: @SOPHIARASMEA

SAM LURIA LOS ANGELES

MUSIC EDITOR FROM: SANTA BARBARA CA, INSTAGRAM: @CHARLIESIMUSIC

JAIMIE SIEGLE DALLAS

COPY EDITOR / WRITER FROM: DALLAS, TX INSTAGRAM: @JMEINDALLAS

Magazine

Nakid

LANCE

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SKUNDRICH

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2015

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DUSTIN

2015 HOLLYWOOD

HOLLYWOOD

MAGAZINE

DUSTIN

WINTER

design

EDITORIAL

PHOTOGRAPHERS:

DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD / LANCE SKUNDRICH / JAMES PAWLISH

FESTIVALS 2014 VOODOO FEST + CARPE NOCTIS + ART BASEL PARTIES / EVENTS CAT KING & ATRAK, RYAN MCGINNLEY “YEARBOOK” GALLERY EXHIBITION/INSTALLATION @ TEAM GALLERY, NY LIFE IN POLAROIDS

D U S T I N H O L LY W O O D / C H A R I S K I R C H H E I M E R B E ATA INTERVIEW M A R I O H U G O INTERVIEW T R I S TA N B E U K E R S / D A P P E R S H A B B Y INTERVIEW I S A B E L H E N D R I X INTERVIEW C I N D Y PA R A INTERVIEW J E S S E D R A X L E R INTERVIEW S E G O V I A A M I L POEM E VA N P O N T E R SHORT STORY R I TA L I N O INTERVIEW S T I N K F I N G E R C O M I C S FEATURE G A R R E T T P E R R Y INTERVIEW TA N YA & Z H E N YA P O S T E R N A K INTERVIEW N ATA L I E YA N G INTERVIEW S O H P H I A R A S M E A FEATURE L A N C E S K U N D R I C H EDITORIAL C AT K I N G SHORT STORY C A R Y FA G A N INTERVIEW M A M A D O U X / J O N AT H A N R O B E R T S EDITORIAL C H A R L E S I FEATURE N I C O L E S C Z E S N Y FEATURE C A C H E M O N E Y INTERVIEW J U S T I N C O R N WA L L INTERVIEW I C 3 P E A K INTERVIEW G E O R G E TAT E FEATURE T H E R E A S A B A X T E R FEATURE J AY R I G G I O FEATURE G O T TA D A N C E D I R T Y INTERVIEW R A C H E L LY N C H / I H AT E B L O N D E INTERVIEW C H A R I S K I R C H H E I M E R EDITORIAL E K AT E R I N A K O U Z N E T S O VA EDITORIAL

ISSUE I: WINTER 2014/15

NAKID is published quarterly by Nakid Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publiscation may be reproduced in whole part without written permission from the copyright holder. responsibility of the contributor. Nakid is not responsible or liable for the accuracy of the information contained herein nor for any consequences arising from its interpretation.

ISSUE

Los Angeles, CA Published by Nakid Publishing w w w . n

NAKID

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COVER:

Issue

Evan Ponter, Cat King, Juan Mendoza, Manuel Frayre, Marilyn Monroy, Linda Romero, Linda Romero, Sam Goodlin, Laura Via, Paige Nowrouzi, Charis Kirchheimer, Jonathan Roberts, Eliza Cro Day, Chouard Laurent, Lu Pang, Bella Farr

MAGAZINE

NAKID

All releases are the

WHERE WE ARE .

NEW YORK LOS ANGELES DALLAS AUSTIN MINNEAPOLIS MIAMI CHICAGO PARIS SHANGHAI MOSCOW

DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD / NAKID MAGAZINE

What made you get into comics? The world of comics is quite new to me. I used to read some serial comics in my youth but I never really get into it. About five or six years ago I was working on some animation music videos for an Italian indie-band, their singer Davide Toffolo is also a cartoonist. He introduced me to graphic novels. I discovered a completely new language opened to a wide range of creative possibilities, larger than the ones I ever thought a comic book could have. I decided to read some authors I found stylistically attractive. Then, about three years ago I decided to start drawing my own book. Why do you choose to paint your panels instead of follow the classic black and white template? When I started working on my comic book I had to chose which technique was the right one for achieving the results and language I had in mind. I experimented various approaches. Thanks to my art studies I earned some experience in painting and I felt confortable with this technique. So, painting panels was the natural choice for me. Said this, in every chapter I experiment different techniques and approaches.

I think the whole story has been created as a pretext for drawing a lot of fictional violence. At a certain point in my life I felt the need to reflect on why I get pleasure in representing scenes of violence... even if I truly deprecate violence in real life.

Trying to resume the main facts: Aminoacid Boy is a creature from outer space sent on Earth from his Lord. The Lord is a bio-architectural-metal-meat-machine living in a dark cave and generating the whole things in a chaotic way. The Lord discovers that on planet Earth there are species whose individuals can find their own reasons for living, they have desires and will. To Lord’s eyes this is something extraordinary and illogical. Amino is sent on Earth to understand how some creatures have motivational drives other than biological survival and evolution. To accomplish his mission, he has the power to assimilate the DNA from human and animal species he gets in contact with. His DNA evolves and becomes more and more similar to the one of those sentient creatures. This way Amino should understand them better. Amino lives many situations in order to complete his mission. At one point in the story he joins a rock band, gets drug and alcohol addiction problems and decides to quit his mission. The task is confusing him so much that he never wants to deal again with his Lord... I won’t say what’s happening next!!!

Tell us about the story of Amino Acid Boy The story of “Aminoacid Boy and the Chaos Order” has been in my mind for a long time. I never wrote it, everything was just in my head. While working on the panels I frequently changed parts of the original story. Think I can say the actual story is completely different from the original one, and I won’t know the exact plot till the book will be finished.

COMIC ARTIST

AMINOACIDBOY

21 INTERVIEWED BY SOPHIA RASMEA

INTERVIEWED BY SOPHIA RASMEA How has the human form inspired you as an artist and your current work? The human form inspires me in every way possible. Not limited to the physicality of the form, or the visual, but also the emotional charge that comes with simply being human and furthermore I filter that on canvas. The human form represents the most direct form of life that I can relate to. The body is an unlimited blank canvas that let’s me wander off and further my thinking and understanding of people and the world around me. More specifically, I focus on sexuality and self-awareness, and with the human form, I can achieve that.

2.When did you first start to dissect the human body into shapes and why? I started dissecting the body during my last year in college. In my figure drawing classes I was becoming more specific with what I enjoyed about the body, and it changed from pose to pose, so I decided to just focus on those specific parts. I wanted to create a larger than life illusion with the drawings. Now it is more symbolic of nature and the stillness and meditative state of geometry. The shapes in my painting assist the human form to become alive, modest, strong, and sexy. And that definitely inspires me. What thoughts are in your head while painting? I actually think about anything and everything. My head tends to drift off in all kinds of directions. Sometimes I just zone out and admire what the paint does on canvas. I like listening to music and podcasts or late night talk shows and comedy shows. Music really is my best friend, it definitely sets the mood to my day and work. Recently i’ve been listening to Lauryn Hill and Drake.

When did you know you wanted to be an artist? After graduation I just dived right into the art world, had my first show 4 months after I got out of school and just kept going from there. I didn’t really know what to expect when I first applied to art school in Milwaukee. I have always had a passion for art and have been doing it forever, opportunities have really been guiding my career. When I moved to New York two years after graduation from art school I knew that the move was driven by the arts. Milwaukee is so small and I wanted more and my ideas were too big for a small town. So I have been living in Queens for three years now and it’s all about the art, it’s my career, it’s my love, my pain, my challenge, my nutrition, my therapy, my motivation, and my dream is that it eventually will become a resurrection to a life I hope for. So to briefly answer your question, the thirst to be an artist has always been there. Time and experience has definitely polished that need. Alot of artists are mixing several different types of mediums and expirementing across physical and digital mediums, do you hae a favorite medium of the moment? Well i’m known for my painting, but currently i’m sticking to the basics and saying pencil. I miss the immediacy of a simple pencil drawing. I used to glorify it because it was the blueprint to all my larger works and so i’m rekindling that experience right now, and not necessarily to plan for larger works. Favorite galleries/places to hang out in Milwaukee and NYC? In Milwaukee, I will definitely mention Jackpot Gallery, they hosted my first show and the work from there reminds me of today’s Bushwick, very experimental and weird. I also like this small grungy gay bar over there called This Is It (TITS). Cheap drinks and Cher songs, i’m all about it. For a good dance I go right around the corner from TITS to a place called Bad Genie, never disappoints, great music, hyper crowd, smoking deck, you might even score a kiss from a cute Wisconsin gal. In New York, there is a gallery called The Hole that has that grungy Bushwick influence but on a more upscale Manhattan feel. Best of both worlds. This time i’m representing the ladies and calling out this cute oldest-running lesbian tiki bar called Cubby Hole. I used to sell my vagina postcards right outside that place, always left happy. Now for a great dance party there is a club called Monster Bar, Fridays they have major get downs with a stage, drag queens, dancing queens, endless glitter shorts and anything else you want to throw in the mix. Never fails.

“IWANTEDTOCREATEALARG ERTHANLIFEILLUSIONWITHTH EDRAWINGS.”

BEATA CHRZONOW SKA Mixed Media Ar tist, Milwauke e, WI

Tell us some of the artists that inspire you and your work: I have endlessly mentioned Winston Chmielinski, a color magitian and figurative painter. My inspiration is shifting right now as I discover more. An artist whose full name I don’t know, goes by Lucjan 6133, a drawer, dark subjects with minimal bursts of color, very calming on my eye and digestion. Beyonce is also on my list, her energy, her charisma, I want that to permeate in my work, I also respect an artist who works their ass off. When you’re not painting and working on new pieces what do you do on your free time? I’m cooking, dancing, riding my bike, networking – emails, emails, emails, drinking/playing pool at a grungy bar. Music is usually a pretty big inspiration or influence to artists, what would you say your favorite record of all time is? Tough, but I’m sticking with my girl Lauryn. The record The Mis-education of Lauryn Hill has endlessly crept into my life. Who do you wanna throw a shout out to who has helped you get to where you are today in life and your art career? Family first, without you there is no me. Secondly my Blonde’s, Ehren Clodfelter and Kelsey Shwetz from our collective, BLONDE. Marina Ross, for jumping in and sticking in the New York Pool with me. Shout out to my NY and MKE friends, for supporting and believing in my art and my insanity. Peace out. xo

BEATA / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY LINDA ROMERO What was your professional background like prior to transitioning into the design world? I don’t have a professional background that doesn’t include design. I spent my childhood head-down in a notebook, drawing weird stuff on lined paper. I started designing with a Mickey Mouse paint program, though the name escapes me, on an old 486. I spent high school watching movies, tinkering with html, and playing with questionable copies of design software. Honestly, and it is a privilege to be able to work creatively today and to be able to work with my wife — design is an intrinsic part of my life. Do you come from a long line of creative people in your family or did venture into the creative realm on your own? My parents, and their parents, didn’t work in creative professions, but I think they are all very creative people. They’ve each had a tremendous influence on my work — the things they exposed me to as a kid, the opportunities they presented me with, their persona’s. That said, two of my siblings work in creative professions, and my youngest brother looks likely to do so as well. I know that most artists and designers have something that inspires and motivates them. Who or what is your main inspiration? From where do you derive your creative influences? I’m motivated by a lot of things, so this is impossible to answer, really. I had a death in my family when I was young, and I think that had a lot to do with the way I think about things. I really like humanism. I like movies, stories, music — things that people make, and when communication is about conversation and interpretation and hidden somewhere between the lines. I like when objects aren’t simply objects, but they are anthropmorphized and elevated. I like when people are treated as symbols — when they are kind of mythologized. This answer is a bit floaty, but its the best I can describe it right now.

How important is it to your process to work with a creative team? There was a time when I’d have said that it was most important to work solitarily — and depending on the project, a hand drawing for instance, a really personal project — I might still feel that way. I used to want to do everything by myself, but I’ve come to really love bigger projects, things that would have previously been impossible, and working with an amazing team of people to make things here at Hugo & Marie. There is still something very special to the intimacy of working on a project by myself, so I try and maintain a balance when possible. As a former Pratt student, is there any advice you would give to current design students? I think students should make stuff they love and develop sensibilities as opposed to define styles. Style and trend go hand in hand, and I think it is dangerous to try and master just one thing, one style — those trends quickly become irrelevant. A professor in my graduating portfolio class told me on my review day that I “shoot like a shot gun and not like a sniper rifle.” Do you work on one project at a time or do you have your hands in many different projects at one time? It really depends — I work on a number of projects at one time, but I still like to seriously drill in on something I feel intimate about. I like to lose myself in projects when I can, but I like a lot of variety and newness as well.

MARIO HUGO / NAKID MAGAZINE

You have worked some amazing clients — Rhianna, Stella McCartney. Which client(s) have you gained insight and perspective from, and what did you learn? I mean, I’ve learned things from every client. This sounds diplomatic and the lessons vary, clearly, but every client has taught me something. Stella McCartney is among the most important clients of my career. This was back in 2010, and we were a small studio. We were punching above our weight, we spent months pitching, it was a tremendous amount of work and when it was awarded, it was transformative for me, and it was a landmark for the agency. I learned most at that time about brand, about putting someone else’s shoes on, understanding a message, and the importance of maintaining that language.

How do you feel about current design trends within the industry? Do you feel that some integrity gets lost due to social programs such as Behance? I was studying design about a decade ago and I was looking at everything, absorbing as much as I could — the Wiener Werkstatte, Modernism, but also Baroque painters, Pre-Raphaelites, everything really. I was in love with contemporary design work too — Mike Young at Designgraphik, Jemma Gura at Prate, James Patterson at Presstube. At that time, there were those classic ethos to learn from and a few new, key voices in the world of design. It was interesting, competitive, and you knew who the players were and where ideas originated, etc. I think over the course of this last decade, the Internet has been this incredible thing — it’s exposed people to lesser-known design, beautiful new ways of thinking, and those things might not otherwise have been seen. It has certainly removed boundaries to entry for creative professions. This is clearly just opinion, but I think general cultural aesthetic has improved dramatically in that same time. I feel like good design is kind of the zeitgeist. But there is a downside here as well, because the Internet homogenizes culture a bit and I think accessibility has come at the cost of vernacular. That design language, those beautiful accents and dialects that defined design by place and circumstance are disappearing really quickly. I spend all day on the Internet, but it still worries me a bit. That is really my major issue with the Internet - it is amazing, but it can be a bit poisonous too. I don’t really take any issue with designers and creative professionals using social platforms to get their work out there.

MARIO HUGO / NAKID MAGAZINE

The goal of Nakid is to widen the scope of the creative world by featuring innovative artists and “underground” talent. Which artist(s) would you share with Nakid readers? I like old stuff — I’ve been looking at a lot of Czech Cubism, and I recently had the pleasure of visiting the absolutely incredible Gustav Vigeland sculpture park in Oslo, which is certainly now one of my favorite places. Totally incredible. What is your favorite medium to work in? Why? I really don’t know that anything I’ve done has really felt as gratifying as finishing a personal drawing, so I guess I really like graphite and found paper. Graphite because it is probably the most familiar tool I can think to use, and found paper because I’m just kind of romantic about old books. I’m usually drawings friends, or relatives, so there is that additional layer that keeps them very personal. I’m thinking of working on a series of large scale drawings for an exhibition in 2015, because its been years since I’ve focused on drawings. What kind of music are you listening to right now? Do you play anything specific while you work? I like to listen to everything and the designers here play a lot of new stuff I like. In terms of favorites, I’ve been super into King Krule/Zoo Kid these last couple years, and I’m into the new FKA Twigs stuff, the latest Deerhoof. Again, I like old stuff, so I’ve also been listening to a lot of Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, Freddy Cole, Sam Cooke. My daughter August is super into Elmo’s Greatest Hits, so I hear a bunch of that one. When working with clients, what is it that you hope to always achieve? I like to work with clients — I like deadlines, I like to solve problems. I’ve always felt creative work needs a muse, and the best clients can be those muses for me. I’ve been lucky to work with clients that are more lyrical than literal. What I mean to say is, I think creatives live in this really interesting period where traditional communication isn’t working as well as it used to — people don’t buy things because they are told to, or because of a cheeky tagline. I work with a lot of fashion clients, music, beauty — clients with kind of more esoteric aesthetics and goals. I hope to continue working with brands that are like really great patrons — I want to work on projects that I find experiential, or emotional, and to feel that the project speaks for me as well as the client.

MARIO HUGO / NAKID MAGAZINE

Tristan simple, can get us, and

Beukers is the mind behind Dapper Shabby. A cartoonist with a satirical edge, his work might look but it’s also meaningful. Making his sketches on scraps of paper, napkins, and anything else he his hands on, Tristan shares with us the beauty in the mundane, the humor in the strangers around the irony of our lives. He describes his work:

“I try not to take myself or life too seriously. I think it’s about finding humor in every part of life. Especially the dark and hard parts. I’ve had it so bad it was almost over, before, and I’m one of the lucky people, imagine how hard it must be for people with real problems. People have it really rough, and we’re all in this together whether we like it or not. So my art is about acknowledging the tough things, having a laugh at our own folly. I look a lot at the contrast between this ultimate togetherness we have– nobody makes it alone– versus that really profound alienation we can bring onto ourselves. We’re all special and unique and that’s what makes us admire each other so much and want to be like each other. That sounds a bit silly. It might be a bit of a paradox because I tend to sort of harp on the very same issues that I’ve struggled with, but that’s why they’re important. Being a gentleman, being selfless, patience, surviving loneliness, unconditional love, not becoming jaded, not giving up.”

DAPPER SHABBY / NAKID MAGAZINE

SAM GOODLIN / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY SOPHIA RASMEA

PHOTOGRAPHER SOPHIA RASMEA

WWW.SHUTTRSKUNK.COM INSTAGRAM: @SHUTTRSKUNK As a model/stylist we of course have to ask, who/what influences your style? I haven’t always dressed colorfully or how I do now. I used to not really care at all about fashion. I began to like fashion when I moved away from home and off to college. I had a hard time making friends and one of my best friends from high school, Sonja (http://blackthornxxx.blogspot.de/), had a lookbook.nuaccount and I thought it seemed fun! I started posting looks on both lookbook.nu and my own personal blog (iflyastarship.blogspot.com). I eventually found some really awesome bloggers who inspired me to step outside of the box and hone in on my own personal fashion. I am drawn to colorful, flowy clothes I think because of a mother-figure in my early childhood (Bessy). Bessy always dressed in blues, purples, greens, and yellows, she always had teal eye liner on, and sparkles in her eyelids. Her house was painted similarly to the way she dressed, and I remember there was purple paint and glitter on her floor throughout the house. Bessy tie dyed her husband’s underwear because she didn’t like it to be boring and white! I think that Bessy is where I got my colorful side. It always seemed comforting to me, like a little reminder of my childhood. How did you get started modeling? Ok, so let me see.. How did I get started with modeling.. I guess I was like *in Isabel brain* “hey! It would be fun to model I bet”. Then after I’d been thinking that for a while I voiced my inner desires to my best friend Madeline (do you know who she is? she is perfect. Madeline Pendleton.) **Mad talking about how she wants larger models on Tunnel Vision*** Me “I WANNA MODEL THO” Madeline: “ YES?! What? ok!” So that pretty much is how it started?? haha! But I asked her “idk how to start modeling though!!” and she was like.. I dont know either, but I think you should just start telling people you are a model and then you will be one! So that’s what I did! I am lucky to have lots of fashion-y creative-y friends in LA so it wasn’t hard for me to find people to shoot with, and since I work with Tunnel Vision already it was a quick change or quick addition or something to my life. That’s probably a weird way to get started, but you asked! So there ya have it. Who has been your favorite photographer to work with so far? I think Marina Fini, she is super talented - not only great at photography but she always has amazing visions. Every shoot she does, just for fun or professionally, is unbelievably creative. What’s your favorite hangout in LA/Minneapolis? In Los Angeles it’s my friend’s houses!? I don’t know, I’m not much of a going-out person. I love Shojin - it’s a vegan sushi restaurant in Little Tokyo. In Minneapolis it’s my bedroom, more specifically my bed - but if I had to choose a place not in my house, I would say the Stone Arch Bridge. It’s so beautiful and I always feel happy when I am around there. Describe your role at Tunnel Vision and how the company has changed since you’ve become a part of it? I started working for Tunnel Vision as an intern in the summer of 2012. When I began working for Tunnel Vision the company was only an online vintage shop. I have worked remotely from the Twin Cities as Tunnel Vision has evolved into what it is now - an online shop for weirdos who like both new and vintage clothes. Tunnel Vision is now a much more diverse shop; selling handmade items, vintage pieces, renewed vintage, accessories, and tons of other good schtuff! I help out with social media, am a vintage vendor, and I help with the Hottie With a Body (plus size) section! I also model when I visit the Tunnel Vision studio in LA!

ISABEL HENDRIX / NAKID MAGAZINE

What would you say to other girls who want to start modeling but don’t fit the stereotypical size 0-4 standards of high fashion? It sucks that there is such a huge emphasis on a really small size for fashion. It sucks for everyone - people who fit that, people who don’t, people in between. It just plain sucks. Try to remember that beauty doesn’t have a size or a weight. Surround yourself with people who love YOU not your size - I have friends of all sizes and my skinny friends think I look fab in short shorts and a bustier - you should surround yourself with people who love you, and who think you rock, cuz you do! Go look up beautiful plus size models and get inspired. Follow a bunch of body positive blogs & tumblrs. If someone is giving you crap about your body, or about fat bodies in general just leave. There is no reason why you have to give them your time. Some people are stuck in their weirdo beliefs, and there is no reason that YOU should have to be the one to explain that all people are beautiful and unique and wonderful. It’s not YOUR job to educate them or to share your opinion, if you want to - that’s great! Super great! But don’t feel like you need to give someone the time of day if you don’t wanna! Oh! And always remember that rich white men are profiting off of people hating their bodies. Which Spice Girl are you? People always told me I looked like Baby Spice when I was little, I think it was the blonde hair and roundish face? I guess I’ve always connected with her because of that. :) Fav record of all time? This is hard! I think Die Antwoord’s debut album from 2009, $O$. This album gave me a new understanding of music. Something some one would not know about you by your online persona: I have studied traditional Middle Eastern dance (bellydance) since I was 12 Fav hangout in LA/Minneapolis? LA - my friend’s houses? IDK I’m not much of a going- out person. I love Shojin - it’s a vegan sushi restaurant in Little Tokyo . MPLS - my bedroom, more specifically: my bed. BUT if I had to choose a place not in my house, I would say the Stone Arch Bridge, it’s so beautiful and I always feel happy when I am around there.

ISABEL HENDRIX / NAKID MAGAZINE

CINDY PARA / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY SOPHIA RASMEA

How do you go about choosing a photograph to manipulate? What makes it stand out as Draxler worthy? A lot of the imagery I work with these days is specifically shot for me so in that case I’m not just browsing imagery I am picking out what shots to use from a bunch of similar shots. Many times I get to art direct the shoots as well so I have a say of what I want from the inception. As far as when using found imagery its like an instinct or a reflex. Also minimalism. The less shit getting in the way of the body the better. I want the human aspect of the images, not the clothing or fashion for the most part. When did you first know you were going to be an artist? Straight out the womb - idfk Tell us a little bit about your new adventure: blxcklist? Blxcklist is a small clothing brand I teamed up with about year ago and since have developed a series of designs now available on custom washed and hand treated tee shirts through blxcklist.com/shop - We also throw semi-regular sample sales slash shady art exhibitions in the studio where all the shirts are made and printed in LA among other creative endeavors. Blxcklist.com Do you prefer your artwork on clothing or canvas? The artwork exists outside of either realm, wherever it manifests itself is irrelevant, as long as it is seen. I know you spend a lot of time between LA and Minneapolis, what are your favorite things to do in each city? In Minneapolis I barely leave my studio. In LA I’m mostly working on photo shoots and Blxcklist events, as well some studio practice and studio visits with brands and clients. I like to take in the local culture in LA as well, more so than in MPLS. MPLS is like my fortress of solitude where I can be alone, unbothered, and work nonstop until I come back to LA or travel again. Favorite record of all time? Roy Cleveland Sullivan was a United States park ranger in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Between 1942 and 1977, Sullivan was hit by lightning on seven different occasions and survived all of them. Sullivan is recognized by Guinness World Records as the person struck by lightning more recorded times than any other human being. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 71 over an unrequited love. Favorite medium of the moment? This one mirror someone left here. What artists inspire you? I’m not hugely inspired by any particular artist anymore but Richard Prince played a big role when deciding how I wanted to handle my career and develop my artistic processes not really aesthetically though. Really liked Jim Hodge’s exhibit at the Walker last year as well.

JESSE DRAXLER / NAKID MAGAZINE

“WINTER COMES”

Written by Segovia Amil Photography by Charis Kirchheimer

“Summertide, it’s true I have no thirst for your coming  by you, I am made unwell — and although you pulse with the life of kings (perhaps, ensnare all man like the batting eye of the gypsy) still, The dark cave of February presses to me like skin wholly, I have loved her when she comes to me as she is, With her white bone which comes through — revealed, naked before us all… the cruelty of her structure — an open wound, A kind of testimony to the brutality of her nature Winter comes like innocence lost, like the retelling of dangerous myths her frost consumes us — pulls us to our shroud, to our solitude and all at once, she brings us to completion l ike old age, Like the end of ones reign, like burning goodbyes — we are finished, we are transfixed —  held, Between the world which  nourishes us and the world which  dismantles us — winter comes, Like life and death,   beneath it all, Interwoven — like buried truth”

INTERVIEWED BY SAM LURIA

When did GDD start? How did it come about? How has group of people involved changed and developed over the course of the years? GDD originally started when Jonah was in college at UCSB in 2008. We were all very much caught up in the emerging blog scene (Missing Toof, You Can Call Me Pelski, Ohh Crap, etc) and decided we wanted a place where we could share all of our favorite new tunes with our friends. The initial members were Jonah Berry, David La Melza, Trevor Moffitt, and Troy Kurtz, and over the years we brought in new friends into the family, with each individual writer bringing their own unique tastes to the table. New members have come and gone over the years, but we consider everyone who has ever been involved with GDD as a family member. Who are the current team members? The great thing about GDD is that it evolved into a sort of expansive, artistic collective, with many of our current members working in other areas of the dance music industry. Jonah Berry — Editor at Nest HQ, Label Manager at Nest Trevor Moffitt — Creative Director at Lineage Interactive, DJs as BONES Troy Kurtz — Content Manager at Insomniac, DJs as Troy Kurtz David La Melza — Founder/CEO of Vazaar, DJs as Tropicool Steven Ewald — Founder of Social Source Design Andrew Rodriguez — DJs as aRod, resident vibemaster Colby Reis — Marketing Coordinator at HARD, DJs as 1/2 of The Interns Sean Tokuyama — Publicist at The Darkroom, DJs as 1/2 of The Interns Laura Dambuleff — Label Manager at Play It Down Olyvia Salyer — Platform Manager at Thump/Noisey How do you feel 2014 was as a year in electronic music? What are your projections for 2015?

Los Angeles has always staked a large claim on the music industry in general, but most recently the US electronic-music scene. Wait, scratch that, more like dominated it! EDM music has thrived there - from underground warehouse parties to large 10, 20, and 30,000+ capacity electornic festivals such as HARD. Amongst the masses and ever-growing EDM culture in there has been one name standing out above the rest and single-handedly influencing the scene by evolving how we are exposed to the dance music industry - we’re of course talking about GOTTA DANCE DIRTY. A collective of artists, music enthusiasts, and industry leaders pushing and expanding our definition of good music. If there was ever a place to experience, explore, and fall in love with new artists and one of the largest databases of Los Angeles free music trade, this is it! Started as blog it has evolved into something that can only be defined as a movement - encompassing nearly every genre of dance music out there. Nothing is off limits to this brand that seems to be unstoppable, often throwing some of the best music events and showcasing the next breakout artists, Gotta Dance Dirty is a godsend to the industry - a breathe of fresh air, yes, hot sweaty, rhythmic air. Our music editor Sam Luria got the chance to catch up with the two front men of GDD, Jonah Berry and Trevor Moffit for a few minutes to get the low-down on their amazing team, how GDD was born, future 2015 plans, and how King Tut is an animal spirit! Here’s our chat…

2014 was definitely solid for dance music. All ships are seeming to rise with the tide as they say. More people producing dance music has led to a multitude of new sub genres and sounds which progresses the scene as a whole. The line between the underground and mainstream has become more blurry and the further democratization of production through platforms like Soundcloud has opened the door to hundreds of new musicians getting their music heard quickly. 2015 should be a defining year. The rapid growth of the scene has been fully realized by big corporations, brands, etc at this point, so it will be interesting to see where (or if) we pivot. I think the emergence of more and more online producer collectives is an interesting topic to keep an eye on this year. How many versus events have you thrown? What are some of your favorite events that GDD has been a part of Versus or otherwise?

We did Versus with our friends Vivek and Corey from Production Club (DANCEiSM) every Thursday for two years. We had so many great nights at The Central in Santa Monica (RIP), but I think all of us would agree that our last Versus ever with Skrillex, 12th Planet, Crookers, and Congorock going b2b2b2b along with an opening set from Doorly was definitely the most memorable. What other events have you been involved with outside of LA? Aside from everything in LA.... One of our GDD members Troy Kurtz co-founded a weekly party in Miami called Slap & Tickle... we also have done quarterly takeovers @ Harlot in San Francisco plus events in Santa Barbara, New York, San Diego and a number of showcases over the years in Miami during WMC. What’s your rave name and spirit animal? Ugh I got a rave name back in I think 2008 and it was Orange Licorice, lmao. Not sure about spirit animal but I think I can say for GDD it’s probably King Tut! Whats the funniest spelling error or mistake you’ve ever posted on GDD? I’ve been known to misspell artist names here and there while cranking out editorials, but I’m notorious for the headline “FREE DOWLNOAD” What’s your favorite track so far that’s been released in 2015? WOW this year has already hit the ground running with phenomenal track releases, but I will say that the new Dirtybird “10” compilation is stacked. Also be on the lookout for Chris Lake’s forthcoming single “Chest” - its gonna be rinsed far and wide. In addition to GDD, you’re also an active DJ/producer as well. What do you have coming us as an artist that you’re excited about? I have a track I did with Thee Cool Cats coming out next month on Amine Edge & Dance’s label CUFF called ‘G Stack.’ Really excited about this one as I’ve been an avid fan of their music and the label itself. I teamed up with TCC as they’ve been long time friends and we’ve been sitting on this for a year. So excited its gonna drop right before WMC! I also have been working on a side project with my buddy (Viceroy) called LOS GHOSTS. We had our first 2 releases last year on PartyLikeUs and Fool’s Gold, and are getting back on it to have some new music out soon! What do you guys have on the horizon that you’re excited about? Every year is more and more fun in terms of the new music, events, and ways we can help grow the scene and its popularity. For 2015, we have a new party starting up that we can’t yet announce but can say it’s something we used to do and it was time to bring it back. Also be on the lookout for some new GDD apparel this year too!

WWW.GOTTADANCEDIRTY.COM

GOTTA DANCE DIRTY / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

Have you lived in Portugal your entire life? Do you plan on staying there or do you want to move to another city one day, possibly the U.S. like NYC or Los Angeles to pursue your photography? I was born in the south of Portugal. Than, when I was 17, I moved to the north to study design. After 4 years, I moved to Barcelona, There, I finished my studies and then I moved to Berlin to live and work, I’m always traveling because of work, I traveled in Europe the last year and went to Japan 3 times. The U.S. is always in my plans... Your work ranges from vulgar to youthful splendor, there seems to be very deep thought but a randomness to it. Do you have a specific aesthetic you are trying to achieve with your work? Initially, it was completely coming out of my heart almost like vomit. Fortunately, now I can control this need, I can structure, analyze and go further. I’m growing up and becoming a woman! It gives me pleasure to see the changes in my work, However, my work is indeed my personal album. What kind of photography would you say you most gravitate towards and why? Anything is related with intimacy, The true and the body, How long have you been shooting for? I mean how did you get into it, is it something you think you wanna do as a career or for fun? Whats the future of photography for you guys? I’ve been shooting for 10 years. I don’t feel it’s only for fun, It’s my way of living emotional and financially. So it’s pretty much a big deal for me right now, I don’t know about the future but i hope it’s full of new exiting projects Are you self-taught or school taught? Hmmm, I don’t know how to answer this question. I think a bit of both. I never studied a career in photography, but I studied multimedia design. I think everything is kind of related; composition of the imagine, the concept the creativity....So yes I’m a bit of both, How do you choose the themes surrounding the stories you shoot? My own life, experience, imagination.... Self-conscious.... My work often refers to a physical and staged “who is who?”game, an intimate and public visual diary that obsessively reveals a fictional and/or non-fictional life journey but perhaps explaining too much things makes them a little bit less interesting... no? Do you prefer to shoot film or digital and what types of film do you like shooting with? Depends for what or who I’m shooting. Analog, is just beautiful and I love it. But sometimes, the world needs to be fast and without surprises. For this kind of work, I don’t mind to use digital. What are your favorite cameras you use and what’s your setup as far as equipment goes? I use the Contax and Nikon for analog and Canon for digital, What’s your favorite book right now / music-album(s) you are listening to? Book: Fire, From the Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin. The Redeemer: Dean Blunt Do you prefer natural or studio lighting and why? Morning and afternoon light are the best times of day for the sun, which do you like best, morning or afternoon light? Any light I get in my window is very welcome! photography.

Writing with light (and shadows) is my

RITA LINO / NAKID MAGAZINE

Who are your influences you use for inspiration in your work?

Is there anything you would not want to ever shoot and why?

I have a lot of influences and the list is constantly growing, My own life and the people around me are a pretty good inspiration.

something related with murders - human or animal....

What’s your favorite spot in your city to go hangout, eat, drink, party?

I hope I can go to all places is this world.... I have a lot of dream places to be honest. I don’t want to set one particular dream place because once I achieved it, then what’s left. I think it is very important to dream continously.

Berlin in sumer is a dream come true and any park near to the canal is amazing. In the winter, any dark club with deep dark techno is the place to be, If you could spend a day with and collaborate with any artist alive or dead who would it be and why? My Love Pedro Maia (filmaker), I love when we worked together and I can’t wait to have a new project together again Helmut Newton for sure! I would love spend hours

Where is one place in the world you hope to be able to shoot at one day and why, what would you shoot there?

Are you working on any projects right now, and if so what are they? I’m always working on a few different ideas… some publications and exhibitions are coming, but is too soon to talk about it. How do you choose the subjects you use in your work? 99% i shoot myself the other 1% it’s girls i love their stories or because we have a good connection. Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers? Stop scrolling down in your tumblr of news feed take your camera go out and be yourself.

seeing him working with an amazing woman, or maybe Sophie Calle. I would love to be part of any project of of hers. Creating whatever together. What is the significance of your work you hope viewers take away from it? What do you hope to accomplish with your work overall? Sharing my own intimacy is sort of an obsession, an addiction. I need to see, observe and study myself and also let people do it too. I cannot part my work from my life, it only makes sense this way and even if it sounds fatalistic then that´s the pure truth. At the the end of the day, making these photos gives my life a sort of sense. A purpose.

RITA LINO / NAKID MAGAZINE

STINK FINGER COMICS / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY SAM LURIA

Describe the moment you knew you wanted to be a comic artist. Back in like middle school I was convinced I was gonna be musician when I grew up. Then my band broke up and I slowly came to realize that I was a pretty bad musician, but I could draw pretty good without having to try as hard. I think around sophomore/junior year of high school I found out you could go to college for comics and that sealed the deal for me. Where do you draw inspiration from for your characters? Personal experience mostly. I try to take some aspect of someone I know, or myself and isolate that full aspect into a single character. I think lately I’ve been writing more plot driven stuff vs. character driven stories so I haven’t been working with that as much. Who are your favorite comic artists? It’s always changing. I read a lot of the old 70’s undergrounds. Robert Williams and Kim Deitch are a couple guys from that era I just sort of rediscovered. Jesse Jacobs, Cole Closser, Chris Wright, Eamon Espey, Anya Davidson, and Lale Westvind are all contemporary artists making really inspiring work right now. I don’t know, if you asked me again next week you’d prolly get a whole other set of names. These guys all stick with me though. Do you prefer to work in color or classic black & white, why? I usually work black and white. I think a lot of it has to do with the turn around for school assignments where I just don’t have time to color. But I do really love old school black and white comics and I want to master that old-fashioned page composition. To me, high contrast just LOOKS like comics, and I really want my comics to look like comics (that might sound like a weird thing to say but not every comic book looks like the traditional idea of a comic book these days.) Favorite utensils/mediums to work with: I draw with a nib because I don’t have steady enough hands to ink with a brush. I use these Japanese spoon nibs, I can’t remember the brand name but I love em. They hold the ink really well and have a nice flex to em so you can get pretty good line variety. I’m kind of trained to expect the resistance of paper and nib right now so working digitally doesn’t feel quite right. And watching the ink flow off the end of your tool as you draw is just way more satisfying than watching pixels form on a computer screen. SHOUT OUT: Shout out to Rachel Topka and Nose bleed Comics for putting together our first group zine. Shout out to my friends and family who have stuck by me through the years, even when I’m workin too hard and I turn into an ornery bastard. And shouts out to everyone workin their ass off on comics and getting like six fuckin notes on their art tumblr.

STINK FINGER COMICS / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY SOPHIA RASMEA

When did you first know you were going to be an artist? I started drawing when I was very young. I never really planned on being an artist, I just never stopped. What was the first medium you fell in love with? Drawing will always be my first love. How do you keep your studio? (messy/organized…) The studio always starts clean and organized, but as the project evolves it turns into a chaotic mess. Artists that inspire you: In no particular order: Max Beckmann, George Condo, Picasso, Balthus Matisse, Rembrandt, Tal R, Eric Yahnker, Chantal Joffe, Allison Schulnik, Dana Schutz, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Brad Phillips, and Cindy Sherman. They have all been very influential over the last ten years, at one point or another. First piece of artwork you made that you thought wow this is awesome: A pirate ship when I was four or five, I still have it. It seems that you stray away from dark hues, explain your choice in palette. My colors are usually planned ahead of time. I mix paint in cups instead of using a palette and tend to re-fill cups as they run low. I add white so that most the colors are within a similar value range. If the paintings were greyscale they’d all be a similar grey. Fav music to listen to while painting? Music is very important to my process. I need to have headphones on to distract me from the real world. Lately I’ve been listening to: Interpol, Black Angels, Rolling Stones, Schoolboy Q, Daft Punk, & whatever comes on shuffle on the ipod, usually shitty gangsta rap. Fav local spot? BLB is cool, anywhere with cheap beer I suppose. Who’s better- cats or humans? Some cats are better than some humans, some humans are better than some cats. If you could own any painting in the world, which would it be? “The Mountain” by Balthus. SHOUT OUT: (This is where you give a shout out to any contemporary artists you enjoy, any one in your family whose helped you get to where you are or a professor or a song or any pet that cuddles you each night.) My girlfriend Crystal. And, anyone who has ever supported me over the years.

GARRETT PERRY / NAKID MAGAZINE

“WEWANTOURIMAGESTOTELLSTORIES.THAT’SIT.” TANYA & ZHENYA POSTERNAK, Photographers New York City, NY

INTERVIEWED BY DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

So you guys are from Ukraine but now live in New York? I’m sure the two places are tremendously different, what do you guys like and hate about both places? Love the whimsical minds and low voices in Ukraine, its awkward locations. Hate grumpy faces and corruption. NYC is handful of constant surprises and deep dialogues at the deli. Here we get annoyed by high (mostly female) voices and the question “what do you do”? Your work is very fashion-contemporary to us, we love the simplistic but strong imagery, do you guys have a specific aesthetic you are trying to achieve with your work? We want our images to tell stories. That’s it. So Fashion Week just happened, did you guys go or shoot anything for or during it? If you did what did you guys do, anything specific? We weren’t really participating in NYFW. Parties? Well, Another magazine party really stood out: amazing location, poetry and great guests. How long have you been shooting for? I mean how did you get into it, is it something you think you wanna do as a career or for fun? Whats the future of photography for you guys?

What is the significance of your work you hope viewers take away from it? What do you hope to accomplish with your work overall? Stories should be told. Is there anything you would not want to ever shoot and why? Weddings. Too much drama. Where is one place in the world you hope to be able to shoot at one day and why, what would you shoot there? Iceland. Awkward nudes. Are you working on any projects right now, and if so what are they? Shooting for a couple of fashion brands and putting together a concept for our second exhibit. How do you choose the subjects you use in your work? We get inspired by the people we meet. Sometimes it is very random: an accident eye contact often leads to a beautiful collaboration.

We picked up a camera a few years ago and since then photography served as great source of inspiration/expression. Future will bring more projects and more ideas.

How do you choose your mediums and materials for your work?

Are you self-taught or school taught?

Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers?

Self taught. Possibly it’s all grandpa’s magic with film that influenced us.

Read between lines.

Instincts, mostly

How do you choose the themes surrounding the stories you shoot?

What’s your favorite book right now / music-album(s) you are listening to?

We are hunting for stories and New York City is generous for visual sparks.

Bobos in Paradise by Dav Brooks, America by Jean Baudrillard / Nico the Jaar

Do you prefer to shoot film or digital and what types of film do you like shooting with?

Do you prefer natural or studio lighting and why? Morning and afternoon light are the best times of day for the sun, which do you like best, morning or afternoon light?

Film for intrigue. 35 mm. What are your favorite cameras you use and what’s your setup as far as equipment goes? No addiction to particular gear, really. 50 mm never fails, pardon our pathos. Do you prefer natural or studio lighting and why? Natural light mostly. Keeping things natural Who are your influences you use for inspiration in your work?

It depends on a story. Gentle morning light and hard afternoon light have their owns benefits. Who are your influences you use for inspiration in your work? Edward Weston, Lina Sheynus, Marton Perlaki. What’s your favorite spot in your city to go hangout, eat, drink, party? BDDW for jaw dropping, Kelley and Ping for pad thai, Select for a drink, Noguchi museum for inspiration and Paul’s Baby Grand for the tunes and dance moves.

Grandparents, writers and friends If you could spend a day with and collaborate with any artist alive or dead who would it be and why? Weston, Brodsky Do you have any special process in how you create your work from start to finish? Ideas born, a little brainstorm and action, viola! Sometimes a little chaos like dropped camera, broken body parts is involved.

INSTAGRAM:

TANYA & ZHENYA POSTERNAK / NAKID MAGAZINE

WWW.POSTERNAKS.COM @TANYAPOSTERNAK / @ ZPOSTERNAK

TANYA & ZHENYA POSTERNAK / NAKID MAGAZINE

“THEYREPRESENTWINTERASANENTITYA , FAMILY” NATALIE YANG, Photographer San Francisco, CA

MODELS: ELENA , GITA , HANNAH, NIKKI, ANNABELLE, KEILA MAKE-UP: KIANA LADYBUG STYLING: NATALIE YANG CLOTHING: VINTAGE / NATALIE YANG NATLAIE YANG grew up on Mt. Tamalpais, just north of San Francisco, CA. as most kids did, She spent her entire youth exploring the trails, hills, roads and hidden nooks in the area. For her debut feature in ISSUE I she decided to shoot on the very mountain she shared her childhood with, Mt. Tamalpais. The mountain doesn’t get snowy very often, except during the Winter when it’s always foggy and dew ridden up at the peak. Her muses for the editorial are all girls who she’s grown up

with. Some she’s known since she was a young girl, and some she’s known for only a couple of years. “They represent Winter as an entity and family”, Natalie says, “We woke up at 5:00 am to shoot before the tourists and hikers got up. Mt Tam is an incredibly special place to me, it is my first home, and I’m so excited I got to shoot this project there.

WWW.LITTLESUNLADY.COM INSTAGRAM: @LITTLESUNLADY

INTERVIEWED BY DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

So Natalie, tell us a little bit about yourself.. Right now I’m living and studying in Santa Cruz, California. My favorite color is pink. I’ve spent the entirety of my youth running around and exploring over the coast the California. My original muse is the mountain I grew up on, she’s known for her resemblance to a sleeping lady… the happiest and saddest experiences of my childhood revolve around her in some way. She has influenced my life completely, she’s shaped me as a human being and I hold an infinite amount of gratitude in my heart for having had the privilege of growing up surrounded by her beauty. Have you lived in San Francisco your entire life? If not where are you originally from? Do you plan on staying there or do you want to move to another city one day? And if so where and why? I was born in Hong Kong and I moved to northern California when I was five years old. I moved to Santa Cruz when I was eighteen and I’ve been here for almost three years now. It’s difficult for me to picture my life anywhere far from the ocean; the Pacific has played such a huge role in my life so far. I think about New York a lot, but cities kind of freak me out. I think I’ll definitely live in other places in the future, but I’m not really sure where or when.

Do you prefer to shoot film or digital and what types of film do you like shooting with? I shoot in film with just standard color film. Sometimes I’ll use expired film rolls to play around with. What are your favorite cameras you use and what’s your setup as far as equipment goes? I have a Canon that shoots underwater and I’ve been using that a lot. It’s just a little point and shoot but it has a really wonderful flash and it’s smaller so I use it when I’m traveling or going on an adventure. I also have a Minolta and and old polaroid. My grandfather recently gave me a huge box full of his old equipment so I’m going to start playing around with all of that soon. What’s your favorite book right now / music-album(s) you are listening to? What’s inspiring you right now? My favorite book is Island by Aldous Huxley. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Flo Morrissey, she’s amazing. I love Lauryn Hill. Also Little Joy, Bright Eyes, Mason Jennings, CocoRosie, XXYYXX, Chet Faker, Future Islands, The Shivers. Lately, I’ve been feeling really influenced and inspired by Petra Collins and the clothing brand Me and You.

What kinds of photography would you say you most gravitate towards and why?

Do you prefer shooting in certain settings? How do you choose the landscapes or framing for your photo shoots?

I’m really drawn to photographing people, specifically my friends and loved ones, but not necessarily in just a portrait sense. I try to tell stories with my photographs; I want my audience to wonder about things when they look at my pictures… who is in the photo? Why are they in that space? etc. I also do a lot of work with how the figure fits into its landscape, and how the figure resembles the landscape, so I guess that could be called bodyscapes.

I like to shoot in places that I am somewhat familiar with. Places that have a sense of home, I shoot along the coast a lot. I’ve been shooting a lot in indoor spaces recently, in my house, in my room, friends’ rooms. I go exploring around the coast a lot, whenever I find a new beach I like I’ll shoot there. I have a few beaches that I often visit to shoot at. I just found this perfect little beach nook off Highway 1 that I’ve been shooting at whenever I can find time to get up there. I also like shooting in places with bright colors, there’s this boardwalk with a bunch of rides and stuff that’s really fun.

What is your current state of mind before we continue? I feel hungry and my eyes feel a little bit tired. My mind feels good, at ease.

Do you prefer natural or studio lighting and why? Morning and afternoon light are the best times of day for the sun, which do you like best, morning or afternoon light?

How long have you been a photographer? I mean how did you get into it, is it something you think you wanna do as a career or for fun? Whats the future of photography for you guys?

I prefer natural light; right before the sun sets is always really beautiful and special. I like to shoot really early in the morning as well, often if I have a planned shoot I’ll make it at like six in the morning or something.

I’ve been photographing since high school, so maybe four or five years. I didn’t really start developing myself as an artist until maybe a year or two ago. I can’t imagine myself doing anything but this for a living and as a career. I don’t know what the future holds for my art and me but I just want to keep working hard at it until something happens. Are you self-taught or school taught? I’ve taken photography classes in school, however, I’m not entirely sure how much those classes have benefit me. I think how, what, why I choose to photograph is all coming from an internal place, but the accessibility of photography itself and the technical stuff came originally into my life from school. Do you have any tricks you use that are unconventional to produce your work like methods, materials, or equipment? If you do how did you come up with that and why do you do it or use it to create your work? I’ve been playing around with filters lately, finding things around my house like origami paper to distort the image. It’s been really fun to experiment with filters because I never know how my photo will turn out and it’s extra exciting when it turns out really interesting. How do you choose the themes surrounding the stories you shoot? Are you trying to say something with your work or just create great images? I work with themes that are really relevant to my life, ideas surrounding feminism, being a woman, growing up, and being young. I always try to tell stories with my photographs.

Who are your influences you use for inspiration in your work? If you had one question you could ask one of them, who would it be and would the question be? My heaviest influences right now are Petra Collins, Me and You and Brigette Bloom. I’m not sure what I would ask them. Maybe I would ask Brigette about her process, like the ratio of ruined negatives to ones that turn out amazingly. I would ask Petra about how her work has influenced her life and how her life has influenced her work. I would ask Me and You about what their first steps were toward creating their brand. I also love the work of Ren Hang, Shae Detar, Egon Schiele, Gustave Klimt, Olivia Bee, and Kate Bellm. Do you have any special process in how you create your work from start to finish? Not really, I don’t think so. If you could collaborate with any artist alive or dead who would it be and why? What would you hope to create together? Maybe Shae Detar. She paints on her photographs and they turn out so ethereal and magical. It would be interesting to see how some of my photographs would look with paint. Or Egon Schiele. He died a long time ago but he is an absolutely incredible painter and I love his work so so much. It would be crazy to see him paint something based off one of my photographs.

NATALIE YANG / NAKID MAGAZINE

What is the significance of your work you hope viewers take away from it? What do you hope to accomplish with your work overall? I want my viewers to understand that a nude female body is just a nude female body and it’s not a big deal. I really just want to keep pushing myself in my art and see what I can come up with. Is there anything you would not want to ever shoot and why? I don’t ever want to shoot in a hostile or uncomfortable environment.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know? I’m left-handed and left-footed and I can’t really do anything successfully with my right hand or right foot. Do you have any other hidden talents? I can do really sweet hair wraps and I am kind of talented at wrapping small crystals with wire. How many images do you usually create in a single set or photo shoot?

How important is digital processing in your work, what programs do you use? If you shoot film not digital do you use a dark room or have a lab process them? If you use a dark room how did you learn and what are the advantages and disadvantages to using a dark room over a lab?

I’ll typically take about 2-4 rolls during a shoot but I’m trying to teach myself how to conserve film so now I’m trying to only take 1-2 rolls during a shoot. I usually only publish about ¼ of what I shoot anyways so now I’m trying to be more particular about what I shoot.

I have a lab process my film for me and I don’t do much as far as digital processing goes. I’ll up the contrast and enhance the color sometimes but that’s all. I used to play around in the darkroom a little bit when I was in high school but I never had enough patience to do all the chemicals right and my photos always turned out either too dark or too bright.

What would you say is the most difficult part of your art or business?

How do you choose your shots or poses for your subjects? It depends on whom I’m shooting and where we’re shooting. If we’re somewhere outdoors I’ll pose them however I feel their curves and placement and posture would best fit into the landscape. How do you learn and grow as an artist and become better? I’ve learned how to push myself in a way that benefits me and doesn’t make me feel bad about my work. I’ve also learned so much about myself and my own work by looking at the work of artists I admire. I think the only way one can grow as an artist is to do art as much as possible. I’ve grown more in the past six months than I could have imagined, mostly by throwing myself completely into my photography and shooting as much as I can find time for. Growing as an artist has caused me to grow as a person too, I feel so much more fulfilled in every part of my life because I know I’m working hard at something that means so much to me, which feels really good. Do you use assistants? What’s your team look look like when you do shoots? Is there a lot of people covering every aspect like hair, make-up, styling, etc., or is it you, the model, and maybe an assistant? I do not use assistants and I’ve only had makeup done for a shoot once, by a good friend of mine. Usually, it’s just my subject/s and me. How do you feel about social media? How important is it to you and your business or craft? I didn’t really realize this at first, but social media is honestly such a good way to get your art into the world. I was having coffee with a friend the other day and we were talking about how Instagram is such a sweet platform to showcase your art. She said something about how Instagram is like a gift, a free and completely helpful tool for artists to use. And it really is, I’ve met so many other photographers through social media and I’ve met some of my muses through social media and more than anything, I’ve actually been mildly successful at putting my art into the world for people to see. What’s the craziest dream you ever remember having? This one time a couple years ago I had a dream that I was a crab. It’s the only dream I’ve ever had where I wasn’t myself, and I was this crab just walking around under the sea over these big rocks. The ocean was dark and scary, and then suddenly I walked down into sunlight, there were seahorses dancing around me in a circle. Then I turned into a seahorse. And that’s how I figured out what my spirit animal is, a seahorse.

It’s easy for me to start second guessing my art and myself. There are so many incredible people making incredible art that sometimes it just seems impossible to become successful. But then I remember that I’m doing this because it’s my passion and I really don’t need any more reason than that. What new piece of equipment are you looking to get next? What is your dream setup? I kinda want to get a full size Polaroid, right now mini half frame one. My dream setup would include a room so I could set up little spaces to shoot in. I up little spaces in my own room but its hard because my stuff so there’s only so much I can do.

I have the huge empty try to set I have all

What’s your favorite image ever that you have shot and why? I don’t have a favorite single image, but the project I’m working on right now is already my favorite body of work I’ve done so far… it’s called Growing Up. What is your favorite photo or piece of art ever created in history? There’s a painting by Egon Schiele of a girl. Its called Schwarzhaariger Mädchenakt. She’s posed standing up, nude, with her arms placed very delicately. It’s my favorite painting in the whole world. What do you think of the photography industry currently? I think it’s competitive and can be extremely overwhelming. I think there are certain pressures that aren’t necessarily healthy to be constantly surrounded by. But I also think there are a lot of amazing people who get to work with other amazing people and create amazing art. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done for your work? For the perfect shot? I’ve submerged into a freezing cold rock pool at seven in the morning, I’ve hiked up a crater in the middle of the desert, woken up at the crack of dawn to adventure down the coast before all the tourists took over the spot… one time I cut down a bunch of palm leaves in my front lawn and made a skirt out of them. That doesn’t sound very crazy but it was really difficult to cut the leaves! I’ve trespassed into a dam. Actually yesterday I was trying to shoot on a completely empty beautiful beach and a disgusting man crept around the corner of the cliff to watch us while making really inappropriate gestures. So we escaped. If you could be invisible for one day with your camera? I think I would follow my boyfriend around and take photos of him just going through his normal day. He hates it when I try to take photos of him but I always want to so badly.

What’s your favorite body part and why? Probably lips because they’re just always really cute on pretty much everyone. And a lot of lips look like little hearts if you turn your head to the side. What is your greatest fear?

Where is one place in the world you hope to be able to shoot at one day and why, what would you shoot there? I really want to shoot at Salvation Mountain, this big colorful installation in the middle of the desert. I think I’ll make it down there soon, this summer maybe. There are so many places I want to shoot, I can’t even think of them right now.

Feeling unfulfilled with my life when I’m old and grey.

Are you working on any projects right now, and if so what are they?

Finish this sentence.... “I’ve learned the most from...”

I always think about how fun it would be if I could breathe underwater and explore the sea. Or if I could teleport that would be really sweet.

I’m working on a longer more cohesive project right now called Growing Up. It has more to do with me documenting my loved ones in familiar spaces. The idea is based around the collective experience of my friends and I transitioning between leaving teenage hood and entering adult hood. I feel like we’re at this weird middle stage between being a baby and being a young adult that I feel very compelled to document. We’ve come out of our teenage angst but there’s still a lot of confusion and anxiety that I know we’re all experiencing just trying to figure out how to be a person. I hope to have it completed by summer, I’ve already put so much work toward it.

Something that is overrated? Why?

How do you choose the subjects you use in your work?

Music festivals are overrated. They are absurdly expensive and there are just too many people being ridiculous in one space.

My best friends are my muses, sometimes I’ll shoot other people but for the most part my subjects are my friends.

If money didn’t matter, what would be your dream project and why?

How do you choose your mediums and materials for your work?

My mama. What talent would you most like to have in the world? If you could have a super power what would it be and what?

Take bodyscapes in every beautiful landscape I can find throughout the whole world. Or find all the cute little hotels and motels with bright colors in the whole world and shoot at all of them. Where do you hope to be in the next year or to accomplish? How about the next 5 years? I hope to continue working hard and I’d like to intern with a magazine so I can keep learning about the industry. I hope to keep pushing myself and to work with other artists. My goal is that I’m able to make a life for myself doing what I love. I hope someday I’ll be shooting for Rookie and Nylon and i-D and other big magazines, having my work up in a gallery… that’s my dream goal.

I make making flowers shoots

a lot of things for my shoots, little craft things like a skirt out of palm leaves. I like to somehow include in a lot of my shoots. I collect a lot of clothing for from thrift stores.

Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers? I still consider myself an aspiring photographer, but I guess I would say just work hard and create as many platforms for yourself and your work as you can. The more you put yourself out there the more people are going to see your work, even if its just on a small scale. Talk to and meet other artists, work with other artists and find ways to surround yourself with positive influences that keep you inspired and hungry to make more beautiful work.

NATALIE YANG / NAKID MAGAZINE

Sophia Rasmea is a third generation artist whose roots go back to Cairo, Egypt where her grandmother designed dresses for movie stars and her father was a highly acclaimed sculptor. Artistry runs thick in her veins and comes out in numerous mediums such as her dreamy paintings, striking photo compositions and writing. Inspired by surrealism, high fashion and her graduate studies of Integrative Healings her art focuses on mixing all her passions into a whimsical and bold aesthetic. Talented both in front of and behind the camera, Sophia has been featured in music videos, commercials, and print ads since a child. Whether Sophia is in her studio painting, on location shooting or singing, one thing you cannot question is the vivid charisma that beams out of her always. Her adventurous soul is a perfect match for NAKID as she curates and scouts up and coming artists that are making waves in the contemporary art world. Sophia takes her role as Midwest/East Coast Art Director with pride and nothing makes her happier than giving talented artists the exposure they need to make it to stardom! Check out Sophiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s editorial with Isabel Hendrix

WWW.SOPHIARASMEA.COM INSTAGRAM: @SOPHIARASMEA

SOPHIA RASMEA / NAKID MAGAZINE

MODEL ELLA

WWW.SHUTTRSKUNK.COM INSTAGRAM: @SHUTTRSKUNK

CATKING LOS ANGELES, CA

INTRO In the winter of 2010 I met some random kids at a party in Philly who told me they were about to head out to Colorado to work at an illegal marijuana grow house operation in Colorado. I had just recently moved back home after selling my 1985 Porsche 944 for $600 to run away from a bizarre life I had started in Miami. I naturally offered these strangers gas money if they would let me come along for the journey.

STORY I’m so happy to be out of that shit hole shack that I’ve been stuck in for days. I swear I was forced to watch Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men about six times each at this point. That and every episode of Arrested Development. Now I’m here, standing two feet deep in snow and wearing moon boots. I don’t know if I could have possibly picked a more impractical pair of boots to wear. I don’t have time to worry about this though because I am about a mile away from the 1995 Honda Accord death ship that brought me here and God knows how far from civilization. I barely know the guys that brought me here. I met them at a party in Philly a few weeks ago and just offered them some gas money to take me along to Colorado. I am not sleeping with either of them which makes the current situation a bit uneasy, considering there is a gun involved. I watch them set up a swing target in a snow bank and carefully unload the .357 I should probably be nervous at this point but I was too miserably cold to care. They took turns shooting at the target. Neither of them could hit the damn thing, but they were high on the smell of gunpowder. After amusing themselves for a sufficient amount of time, they decided to playfully offer a turn to me. I know they believed that I was a giant pussy because I was always so nervous in the car. Here was my chance for redemption. The truth is that I hadn’t held or shot a gun since I was five years old. I know how terrible that sounds but one of my dad’s best friends owned a gun shop in New Hampshire and that’s where I shot a can as an adolescent. I can still remember how the gun kicked back into my chest nearly knocking me down, but I refuse to let these boys believe that I am some nervous broad. I accept my turn. The gun feels cold and heavier than I expected in my hands. I was given a quick tutorial on how to hold it before my companions stepped away to watch and laugh at me. I stared down to the center of the target and studied it like my life depended on it. The gun only had a four inch barrel and the sun was beginning to go down. Right before I pulled the trigger I remember how one of my “new friends” had called me a princess in the car, and how much that really pissed me off. I didn’t know the amount of tension needed to make a precise shot but I am feeling powerful for some reason. I feel like as soon as I pulled the trigger, time stopped. The thing that brought me back to reality was the realization that I had actually hit the target on my first shot. My shooting buddies are in shock am promptly insist that we head back to the car. On the drive home, I no longer felt fear. The white vortex off snow that I watched through the windshield no longer reminded me of a gateway to the afterlife, it had now become a gateway to a new beginning. I was high on my newfound confidence. The lack of which had lead me here in the first place. I was proud which was a feeling that for so long had only existed within me as a distant memory. That was the feeling I was searching for on this seemingly suicidal trip. All of my stupidity was validated. You’ve got to love when that happens.

INTERVIEWED BY DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

I know you live in originally? How was caught your eye for bread and butter and

Houston, but is that where you are from New York Fashion Week, has New York City your next move, or is Houston kinda your you wanna keep it that way?

I am originally from Phoenix, Arizona. A small portion of my childhood was spent there, I’ve always been tempted to go back. I experienced New York Fashion week for the first time this year and it defiantly helped open my eyes to another world as a photographer. I plan on leaving Housto and traveling to seek new opportunities How long have you been shooting for? I mean how did you get into it, is it something you think you wanna do as a career or for fun? What’s the future of photography for you? Been shooting for about three years now, my father was (still is) a photographer and I learned most the basics through his teachings. I think now that I’ve taken photography very serious now, its defiantly something I want to pursue and make a living off of just one step at a time. I have things planned out for next year that I hope to show you all. How do you choose the themes surrounding the stories you shoot? I draw inspiration through watching foreign films on YouTube, that or reading movie scripts to my favorite movies (HER, Science of Sleep). Seeing the way humans interact to certain words in certain scenarios is appealing to me, I listen to movie scores as well to sum up a theme contributing to my shoots. Why do you prefer to shoot film over digital and what types of film do you like shooting with? Shooting with film is fun because it’s trial and error, once you understand the techniques of film then you can be creative with it. from damaging film to exposing it, you’re pretty much limitless as to what you can create with it. don’t get me wrong digital is cool too, I usually carry a digital camera with me to every shoot its convenient. What are your favorite cameras to use and what’s your setup as far as equipment goes? I love love love shooting with my Yashica T3 (point n shoot). Typically I show up to any shoot with a point and shoot and a dslr (Nikon F3) to capture different perspectives If you could spend a day with and collaborate with any artist alive or dead who would it be and why? Gordan Parks(Dead) ever since my Uncle told me about him when I first started ive always had an interest in his work. Do you have any special process in how you create your work from start to finish? No special kind of process, I typically rarely process my work im comfortable with my manually fixing my settings depending on what kind of natural light I’m working with What is the significance of your work you hope viewers take away from it? What do you hope to accomplish with your work overall? I just want people to understand that with art or anything you do in life, you should never quit, I want to portray the years of hard work I’ve put into my work from start to finish. There is a journey to every success story and hopefully one day I make it one day to tell that story and create positivity for the world. Is there anything you would not want to ever shoot and why? Cars, I know nothing about them Where is one place in the world you hope to be able to shoot at one day and why? France, I love French culture would love to experience it as a photographer

MODEL VICTORIA STROHMAN

WWW.CARY-FAGAN.COM INSTAGRAM: @CARY.FAGAN

Are you working on any projects right now, and if so what are they? I have built a kind of bank where I keep all material and information I need for future work. That feels good. I can see more clearly because of this. If everything goes as planned I will travel to Miami pretty soon for a project about capturing colors in contrast to the modern people How do you choose the subjects you use in your work? I think it’s imperative to choose the subjects that fit the scenario you want to portray. For me, facial features and expressions portray a great amount when it comes to my selection process – that’s what I look for the most. Also, location helps breakdown my choice. Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers? Always want more from where you are at, and no matter how bad you fuck up or make mistakes you’re always allowed to be better. How long have you been shooting for? school taught?

Are you self-taught or

All in all I’ve been shooting for about five+ years but took photography serious in the last two years. I am self-taught, although I did attend an art institute for a semester. Is art school needed to push you further in an art career choice? No…I think that if you have the discipline and interest, you don’t need to go to school to pursue photography or art. Maybe going to school could be a hindrance to you creatively – I am not sure. At the Art Institute of Houston, I skipped so many classes, and chose which assignments I wanted to do, that’s probably the best thing I could have done there. There were other variables; there would be teachers there who genuinely didn’t care about teaching some spent weeks talking about how to crop an images or how to add a layer on photo shop, which is why I dropped out. It was painful to witness professors’ talk about something they once loved, and now forcing themselves to teach. The one thing I can say definitively is that the most valuable resource I got from school was a friend circle of like-minded people. We pushed each other creatively, and formed a community of genuine talent.

How do you choose your mediums and materials for your work? Just depends on the model I’m working with and the concept/ theme of the shoot What’s your favorite book right now / music-album(s) you are listening to? TOP FIVE ALBUMS I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO CURRENTLY: 1. Childish Gambino - …Because of the internet 2. Nite Jewel – Good Evening 3. Thundercat – Apocalypse 4. Jon Brion - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (The Score) 5. N.E.R.D. – In Search Of… Do you prefer natural or studio lighting and why? Morning and afternoon light are the best times of day for the sun, which do you like best, morning or afternoon light? I prefer natural lighting more than studio lighting because it gives you more freedom to think with no boundaries, yes studio lighting today is more convenient for clients and companies but natural lighting to me is nostalgia. For me mornings have always been a time of productivity whether it be meditation or yoga. But I can’t be choosy both scenarios as a natural light photographer are golden. Who are your influences you use for inspiration in your work? At the moment….. Tamara Litchenstein and Matthew Tammaro What’s your favorite spot in your city to go hangout, eat, drink, party? I don’t really enjoy the city much, I like hanging out at my job, I’m also a home body. Occasionally I’ll go to the movie theatres alone.

MAMMADOUX / JONATHAN ROBERTS / NAKID MAGAZINE

WWW.SAMKGOODLIN.COM INSTAGRAM: @COMINGSOONCREATIVE

SAM GOODLIN / NAKID MAGAZINE

CHARIS KIRCHHEIMER / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

So tell us a little bit about yourself: I’m Justin Cornwall. 23, Sourthern California native. I’ve lived in Orange County, all over Utah, Santa Clarita and am currently right in LA. I’ve been DJ’ing for 6+ years, the last few professionally. I come from a background of tour management, event production and a musical family. Living in Los Angeles is probably a huge benefit to you and working on music, collaborating with other artists, and gigs.. do you think you will always stay there or are there are markets you see yourself wanting to move towards and grow in? What do you think the biggest benefit to living in LA is for you? Los Angeles is the world hub for dance music right now. It’s pretty amazing to be right in the middle of it. If you know how to network, you can cover a lot of ground in a very short amount of time. I’ve been to every state except Hawaii and Alaska, during different touring gigs, and I definitely want to move out LA to try out new places for more than just a night or two. I’ve had my eye on Austin or Portland – very ‘hip’ of me, but they’re equally artistic cities. I’d love to build a new base in either. The biggest benefit of being here has to be the people: the transplants, the natives, those just passing through.. You do encounter all sides of the industry here, that’s for sure. I’ve made some amazing partnerships and friendships, but I’ve also had to ignore a lot of negativity. For every 1 supportive friend you make, there are 20 on the side who are only looking out for themselves. You just work around/past it. We’ve seen you grow as a Dj from opening house parties and bardot to mainlining the Standard, Inception with Insomniac in LA, and The Roosevelt in Hollywood to name a few, it’s been great! Where do you have your eye on next? I’ve always loved touring. Either as a tour manager, artist, merch guy or just tagging along – I’m a natural for the road. I have some DJ fly dates, for myself, in this first part of 2015 lined up; I’d love to support someone on another tour for a month or two. I’ve got a bit going on behind the scenes that could definitely carry me into one of those positions. Get into a tour cycle and be relentless, till people can’t help but recall your name when they scroll by it. A man of many talents, what do you think your favorite line of work is - producing, DJing, promoting parties, what? Being a DJ in 2015 – you’ve got to wear many hats. I know MANY other DJ’s who also throw their own events, run their own collectives and pretty much manage their own careers (social media, booking, PR). I always had DJ’ing as a hobby, but fell into a few lucky gigs through working on events that helped shape where I’m at now. However, although I’m happy with where I’m at as a DJ, I’ll always be partial to being on a crew either at a festival, tour, or a gig right here at home. Did you play around with a lot of different styles and sounds before settling on how and what you play now, tell us a little about how you gravitated towards the style you are trying to encompass as your own? My first main gig was a resident DJ at The Standard hotel in downtown LA. There are niche DJ’s there who would spit on you for playing anything other than their native genre, but there are a few who can play 4 hour open format set like it’s nothing. I followed that example and started playing EVERYTHING – pop, disco, house, whatever remix was hot on HypeMachine, rock.. I like to cater to it all. Over the last few years, I’ve been coming to my own as a house DJ. I’ve always liked dance music, but really starting breaking apart house and it’s subgenres into my sets after going to a number of events where house was prevalent. I throw a night called Full House and am always up to date on what the house label staples are putting out. It’s also what I enjoy producing most.

WWW.DANIMEIGELPHOTOGRAPHY.TUMBLR.COM

PHOTOGRAPHER: DANI MEIGEL - INSTAGRAM: @DANIMEIGEL

Your Coachella 2015 mixes seem to be catching peoples ears lately, what do you think it is about those mixes that people are loving so much? I initially made those mixes for myself. I’m a 5 year attendee of the festival, I even got to DJ on the Polo Fields once via KROQ, so it’s got a great spot in my heart. There are plenty of Coachella Spotify playlists, but no continuous mixes. I also really wanted to see if I could do it – take every artist and each day and make a continuous, transitioning mix of them. It worked out! Coachella is the buzziest festival of them all.

people are responding well. I’m happy with how they turned out. A lot of DJ’s are not even playing their music fully live these days, many have even been caught not playing or mixing at all on stage with pre-recorded sets, whats your thoughts on the growing trend and the fact people are paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars to see these artists? I just got flak on Twitter for a topic like this the other day. I posted that I’d never put out a mix other than something I’d recorded completely live. People argued that consumers only tune in to mixes to hear new music – I disagree. I use them to showcase new things but also as an artistic extension alongside a showcase of talent/skill. A lot of DJ’s preset everything and then go back and edit it. I like to construct sets on the fly and transition totally live. Use whatever gear you want, I’ve never criticized anyone for their software/equipment/ whatever.. but please, if you’re taking the time to DJ, USE the gear. I understand the DJ’s getting 100k a night need to have a A+ set 100% of the time – which calls for some pre-programming to sync up with lighting, vistuals, etc.. but DJ’s who play the same set at every date fade fast. People notice, especially if you’re on the festival circuit, then you’re just filed into the ‘pass’ category. What do you think of the EDM scene right now and where it’s headed? It’s definitely plateauing on it’s peak. The bubble is going to pop soon, but I don’t think that’ll take away much momentum from what is already going on. The raves will continue to thrive, fans will stay devoted to artists, but I think it won’t be as mainstream as it currently is. Lots of places in LA are doing away with DJ’s in lieu of playlists. Simon Cowell is coming out with a DJ competition show – people are going to start getting bored of it. There are so many festivals popping up yearly now strictly playing EDM artists, are you afraid this may burn the scene out at all with the scene becoming so mainstream like past genres such as grunge rock, disco, pop-punk, 80’s rock, etc? It’s hard to say WHEN this will all stop being ‘the thing’, but I believe it’s totally generational. Dance music is always evolving. People used to be totally into big room, then moombahton, then trap, now it’s deep house and this ‘future’ bass music like Flume. It’s just going to change shape – but I think people are going to start wanting more out of a set than a pair of CDJ’s and a mixer. Live dance acts like Robert DeLong have the right idea and are going to stick, rather than the interchangeable flash in the pan one genre DJ’s. How long have you been playing music and did you get into it, is it something you think you wanna do as a career or are you just having fun? Whats the future of msuic for you? Are you self-taught, how did you get into playing music? This year, as early as we are into it, has been good to me as a DJ. I’ll always have this skill set and I will always enjoy playing out live – but I also love putting events together and working behind the scenes. I think I’ll always have a good balance of the two. I started DJ’ing with a mouse and keyboard, hauling my Mac Mini and monitor to gigs. I’ve been very fortunate to have access to friends and equipment to further my skill. I had to teach myself much of the tech aspect of it, which has benefitted me in the long run. I can’t tell you how many DJ’s I’ve encountered that have ZERO technical skill aside from the knobs on the mixer and play buttons. It’s surprising. I’d love to get into radio at some point, a Jason Bentley, Chris Douridas or Pete Tong type roll. What kinda process do you go through when mixing and producing new music, anything that’s a ritual you do before or while you’recreating? Where do you find your inspiration? Some of my best ideas come when I just open my software and start messing around. Or an idea I’ll record into my phone and revisit later. I have a horrible work ethic when it comes to producing – I’m hard to get in the studio with because I’m always distracted. Lately, though, I’ve been sitting down for some live sessions with friends and they’re turning out very nicely. I need to discipline myself more. No strange rituals – but I have come victim to the caffeine beast and usually need an energy drink or two when getting started.

JUSTIN CORNWALL / NAKID MAGAZINE

What’s been your favorite place you have played so far and why? New York has always been crazy. It’s a different pace than LA and I always feel like an alien. I once did a trap night at the Teder Trap in Brooklyn. There were strippers dancing on the bar and they made me stop the music for a bit because some dudes got too amped/pulled knives on each other. Another trip, I got to DJ out in the Hamptons at the Solé East resort once. It happened by chance and was totally surreal – rich hipster NYC kids love house music, though. What are your favorite piece of equipment and what’s your current setup as far as equipment goes? With all the different residencies and venue setups, I really don’t have a regular set of gear I play on. I’m always partial to staple Pioneer CDJ’s, but more often than not are getting down on Technic’s with Serato. As for favorite equipment in general, any kind of analog synthesizer is always a treat to mess around with. What’s your favorite book right now / music-album(s) you are listening to? I’m more of a comic book man myself and have been following DC’s Injustice: God’s Among Us arc. It all the DC superheroes messing around with paranormal shit and John Constantine is the focal character. It’s a good mix. And as for albums, not super new but Trouble Will Find Me by The National has been on repeat since it came out. The entire DIY scene has taken to the masses as it seems much easier and less expensive for artists to get their music out to fans now a days, do you find it better or something you’d rather do than sign to a major label and be dishing out tons of money to them? It seems the trade of is DIY takes much much longer to get known but you could end up making much much more money and connecting with fans better than on a major label dishing out your royalties for distribution costs etc. The internet has changed everything. Bedroom producers now can get heard all over the world, as long as they get a good blog or collective to support their release. You find direct lines of communication to almost anyone – you can get your music almost anywhere. You don’t even need much to start a ‘label’ anymore – and with that it’s becoming more of a loose term. Glass ceilings are vanishing as you can now get your music around the world on your own. You don’t need a major label to get noticed or connected to a booking agent anymore – and that’s where the real money is: in shows. The lines of what major labels are have blurred, too. It’s not just Atlantic or Capitol anymore.. there are several dance music labels, which are mostly strictly digital releases, who could be considered major labels. My take on it is do your own thing till you get noticed or a good response and go with the opportunity that feels right. DIY to a certain point; take it to the level you want to be at. With the amount of music out there to pick from now, labels aren’t really trying to rip DJ’s off, rather than support them. Live acts and bands however, that’s a different story. if you could tour with anyone who would it be? Whats the craziest story you have from playing with another larger artist? DJ’ing and opening for a live act would be a trip. Especially with one of these hybrid live dance acts. It’d be awesome because the show could have to totally different vibes under the same umbrella genre. Goldroom, Robert DeLong, Simian Mobile Disco.. It’d be a good chance to flex as a DJ, then have people enjoy the live set, being able to take in each set as a separate thing. Sometimes with all DJ’s or all bands on a night, they all blend together. I was once DJ’ing School Night at Bardot, on the same bill as Yuksek. I’m already a pretty big fan of Yuksek so I was stoked. But during my set Brodinski AND Gesaffelstein (who at the time were my all time favorite producers/DJ’s) walk in and kick it in the back of the room. They’re all friends and were in town for Coachella that year. I sort of choked up for a bit, but then did my best to put out an A+ set. Probably the most nervous I’ve ever been, but got to talk to each of them afterwards with a good response. What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you while playing a gig?

Whats one of the best perks to being a musician or DJ? Once you get people dancing, there’s nothing like the electric energy you feel between yourself and the crowd. You begin to read them effortlessly, like you’re in each other’s head. Some nights are better than others, but once it clicks in your head that you’ve all connected – it just gets better and better. It’s a sensation I’ve never experienced outside of playing music.

PHOTOGRAPHER: DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD WWW.DUSTINHOLLYWOOD.COM - INSTAGRAM: @DUSTINHOLLYWOODPHOTO

What’s your favorite spot in your city to go hangout, eat, drink, party? It’s a little south, but when I get a day or two off, I’ll head down to Disneyland to clear my head. I invested in a season pass and it’s been great to have – this year it seems to be ‘the thing’ for lots of artists that I’m friends with to take some steam off. Grand Central Market in DTLA is such an overlooked spot for lunch/dinner – it’s become a staple for me. As for going out, I really enjoy all of LA’s venues equally – and it’s always nice to wind down (or up) at The Overpass when it’s a slower night there. It’s the place to go ‘after work’ for DJ’s and bands out here. If you could spend a day with and collaborate with any artist alive or dead who would it be and why? What would you hope to create together? I’d love a day in the studio with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. He creates such beautiful soundscapes and unusual hooks, I’d love to see what would come out if he tried his hand at some dance music. Also just to see a totally different side of production and writing processes. I’d love to pick up some live techniques to bring into sets of my own. Where is one place in the world you hope to be able to play at one day and why? who would you wanna play with there? I’ve been lucky enough to DJ out on the green grassy heaven that is Coachella, but it was via KROQ in their own area. I’d love to return for a set on one of the festivals official stages. It’s something that would probably happen at a time when my friends would be doing well, too, so I would want to play alongside them. I feel like that happens every year – bands/artists who are friends and come up together get to hang out at a culmination of their success. Are you working on any projects right now, and if so what are they? Yes! A live DJ duo called NiteFolk. Not a lot to reveal at this time, but I’m very excited about it and who I’m working with. I’ve also been recording as part of a darker electronic band. We have a great energy live and in the studio. You’ll see soon! What does 2015 hold for Justin Cornwall, what are you hoping to accomplish this year? I’m looking to really establish myself in 2015 and a solid direction of where I’m headed. The last few years have been awesome, but they’ve been so fluid and constantly changing. I feel like these projects I’m working on now are really going to grow into something I maintain long-term. As always, I hope to find success in my endeavors and strive to support my friends however I can. Do you have any advice for aspiring artists ? Don’t be discouraged by being turned away, or looked down on, or ignored by other people in your ‘scene’. Don’t compare yourself to others, they’re completely different people. Do your own thing and focus on that. Put out good energy and you’ll attract the right people.

When I first got started DJ’ing and had a janky setup of multiple controllers and a MacBook in less than desirable condition – it was not unusual for it to just completely shut off in the middle of a gig.

JUSTIN CORNWALL / NAKID MAGAZINE

I recently discovered the captivating art work of Theresa Baxter. Her delicate lines, splattered water colors, and golden highlights create gorgeous works of art that Theresa calls “Ego Schiele meets graphic novel”. Theresa’s inspiration is rooted from her past. She grew up in a very supportive family, consisting of just her and her mother who really let Theresa’s imagination thrive. Theresa would spend hours in her room drawing anything her mind could think of from made-up desert tribes to cats in Victorian costumes. Theresa explains her childhood art as, “So many god damn fancy cats… I wasn’t a cool kid.” It didn’t help that her and her mother moved often leading to her feelings of loneliness and self-scrutiny. Theresa explains, “The human female body does whatever the fuck it wants; it grows, it shifts, it hardens, it softens, it hangs, it shrivels. I remember standing in front of the bathroom mirror at thirteen and watching my ribs and hipbones poke out as I turned around and around. I remember waking up to stretch marks snaking across those hipbones; and following them with my fingers across hills and valleys that I had no idea how to cover in fabric. It felt like there was so much more of me than I could fill.” These uncomfortable feelings of body image lead to fighting an eating disorder in her teen years. However Theresa was able to find herself within her own art and the expressive way all body types can be beautiful. She wanted to continue this self-discovery and see what other women thought of themselves. Theresa started a project called Museology in which she asked woman to send her tasteful nude photos with a summary about themself. Theresa then draws the model or adds to their image with her art. She feels that this project has the potential to help the woman see themselves in a new light, if only for a minute, so that they can see the beauty within them. “I guess I make art because I have to, because I am interested in the person that I am by default.” Theresa says. It is still a process and a journey for her but since recently moving to LA Theresa feels like she found where she belongs and is making a difference.

View more of her work at: WWW.THERESABAXTER.ME INSTAGRAM: @REESABOBEESA

WWW.THERESABAXTER.ME

THEREASA BAXTER / NAKID MAGAZINE

INSTAGRAM: @REESABOBEESA

So tell us a little bit about yourselves: How old are you guys, where are you from, stuff like that:

What do you think sets you guys apart from so many others in the EDM scene trying to make it?

Andrew: I’m from Dallas, been living here my whole life. I’m 20 years old and have been writing music for the past few years, and DJing for nearly 6 years.

Adam: Neither of us are exactly enthused by EDM culture so I think our sound and vibe will naturally be a little different.

Adam: I was also born and raised in Dallas. I’m 22 and started teaching myself guitar about 12 years ago. I saw that Andrew had started DJing and it looked tight so I followed suit. You both live in Dallas right now, Dallas isn’t really known for it’s music scene, especially with Austin being only 3 hours away but as of late it has been growing! Do you think it’s a benefit or a hinderance that you are in a large city who’s music scene is blowing up or do you think that you guys will eventually grow out of that scene and move on to a larger one? Any particular reason you haven’t moved to Austin seeing as it is so close and the music scene is one of the best in the world there? Andrew: Our goal has always been to not really focus on any particular “scene” we’re around with what we write. With it being so easy to share our music online, anyone has access, and we don’t have to try and just appeal to the people directly around us. That being said, Dallas is certainly growing as a music destination as a whole, but also the diversity among it growing has allowed us to have an outlet to play more of the experimental stuff we’ve been going for. Adam: While we both love Austin, we’ve always believed that if we create music without any concerns as to location or scene that we’ll end up wherever we need to be. Essentially letting the music dictate our scene, rather than the scene dictate the music. We’d definitely love to play in Austin more though, haven’t been down there in too long. We’ve seen you grow as Dj/producers, Adam you were actually on the rise with your other Dj moniker AHAB, are you still doing that or are you moving towards putting all your time and energy into this new project, Cache Money? It’s hard not to notice the unique spelling of your name too, what’s the story behind that? Adam: Yeah I’ve got another 5 track EP under Ahab. Release dates and everything will be set once we get artwork sorted. I try to keep everything balanced as best I can but the Cache Money stuff has just come together so well that I’ve put more time into that than anything recently. There’s no particular story behind the name sadly, we just both like technology and puns. As a new DJ/Producer duo, and recently signing a 4 song EP deal, how do you guys plan to launch yourselves to the world? Where and what do you have your eyes set on as new artists playing together? Is there going to be a large release date and red carpet roll out of your music and live shows or do you plan to take it one step at a time? Andrew: We’re still working on how to roll everything out, but I guess the goal is to really just let the music speak for itself. We do have a forthcoming EP on Audiophile Live coming, and lots of other material we’ve been working on to hopefully release through various online outlets. Adam: We’ve got plenty of stuff we’ve been sitting on for a while, and now that it’s all finished and mastered we’ve been trying to make sure we get it all to the people who want to hear it most. Did you play around with a lot of different styles and sounds before settling on how and what you play now, tell us a little about how you gravitated towards the style you are trying to encompass as your own now after having playing seperately for so long? Adam: Yeah we used to write really shitty trap music and that was fun. The stuff we do now is way different (and less obnoxious, hopefully). I still love a bunch of heavier glitch hop/drum and bass stuff while Andrew is a huge techno purist, so we generally just find a middle ground between those two realms and run with it. Andrew: Yeah, while we really just screwed around getting started, as we both became better producers our style definitely developed in an interested direction given our personal tastes in music. You can definitely hear the influences from both of our tastes in our music, with clear nods to techno and glitch, as well as hints to metal and industrial. Its an interesting mix, but I feel it comes together well into something fresh and new.

Andrew: I think we’re a little different based on what we’re aiming for as well. While playing big festivals and the like is cool and all, we’d be just as happy playing at a warehouse rave, or a dark underground club. We sort of tend to poke a bit of fun at mainstream EDM culture a bit, I think. I’d also say we have pretty high quality standards that help set us apart. What do you think of the EDM scene right now and where it’s headed? Adam: I feel like it’s past it’s awkward adolescent stage and the fact that artists can blow up practically overnight simply by doing something unique is encouraging. There will always be a corporate predictable side to any huge industry like that, but as long as there’s growth elsewhere then it’s fine by me. Andrew: Yeah, it’s definitely cool to see how widely accepted electronic music in general has become over the past few years. This has kind of allowed the US audience to start opening up to the sides of dance music that have been much more popular in Europe for so long like techno and tech-house. Although there is still a large portion of the scene focussed on trap music and big-room, overall the scene seems to be headed in a positive direction. It’s never been cooler to like techno. How it, you you

long have you been playing music and how did you get into is it something you think you wanna do as a career or are just having fun? Whats the future of music for you? Are self-taught or school taught?

Adam: I started teaching myself guitar a long time ago and was in and out of bands when I was younger. I eventually gravitated towards electronic music because I could just make it by myself whenever, and it ended up being much more interesting that I anticipated. I found out Andrew was doing a bunch of similar stuff (we’d met when we we’re twelve or some shit) and we just started making shitty music together. I’m about 90% self taught. Still can’t read sheet music. Andrew: I can read sheet music. I’ve been taking music classes in college.. I decided I couldn’t keep going to school unless it was bettering my music career. I’m planning on transferring somewhere to get an audio engineering degree in the future. Right now I’m learning to play piano and drums, but hadn’t really had much formal training on any instrument until last year. I’ve been messing around with various DAWs since I was 12, and about 3 years ago started taking it seriously learning to write full tracks. My goal is to eventually take my DJing and producing and turn it into a live PA set where I’m able to improvise and compose on the fly. What kinda process do you go through when mixing and producing new music, anything that’s a ritual you do before or while creating? Where do you find your inspiration? Being a duo has to be hard, especially since you have to mesh with one another on a constant level, is it ever difficult trusting each others musical tastes and creative processes, how do you guys make it happen, is it a long process creating together? Andrew: There’s no set method to our process, but it generally starts with either a project one of us had started alone, or a key sample we want to work around, and then we just build on it and bounce ideas off each other. I tend to do better with composition and percussive arrangement, while Adam has a pretty big leg up on synthesis and sound design, so we’re able to be pretty effective with that type of dynamic going on. Adam: More or less what Andrew said. One of us will usually get an idea down on our own and whenever we both have a chance sit down with it together we’ll play off each others strengths to finish it as quickly as possible. Mixing the creative taste of two different people is always a little awkward but we’ve been doing this together for so long we’re generally on the same page. What’s been your favorite place you have played so far and why? Adam: Two or three years ago we played an underground Halloween party at a rented office space. It was packed, a lot of whiskey was involved, and a guy barrel rolled through a window during our set. Still trying to top that one.

CACHE MONEY / NAKID MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHER: DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD WWW.DUSTINHOLLYWOOD.COM - INSTAGRAM.COM/DUSTINHOLLYWOODPHOTO

Andrew: Yeah that Halloween party was definitely epic. One strobe light was all we had in the room, packed wall to wall. It was great. Also, more recently, opening for Space Laces and Figure at The Lizard Lounge was pretty fun. Got to play a lot of our new music to a really positive response. That was another really good one for sure.

Andrew: I’m currently reading Pyramid by David Gibbins, which is kind of like a modern-day Indiana Jones story. Music wise I’ve been listening to a lot of techno, as usual. I listen to Adam Beyer’s Drumcode Radio every week, and I’ve also been digging a lot of Maceo Plex’s new work, as well as some darker, heavier stuff as well. Octopus Records is also releasing a lot of cool stuff lately.

What are your favorite pieces of equipment and what’s your current setup as far as equipment goes?

Growing up was there anything that pushed you towards music more than anything else? We all grow up wanting to be a bunch of different things and slowly find ourselves as we grow and figure out what were good at and most importantly makes us happy, how did that happen for you guys?

Adam: We try to play on CDJ 2000s whenever they’re available. Neither of us can afford em so we always have to go annoy our buddy Ren until he lets us practice on his. We’re planning on getting a cowbell soon to fully complete our live setup. Andrew: My favorite gear recently I’ve gotten to play with is all the new Roland Aira gear, although it’s not really anything we incorporate in our set right now. Definitely something to be considered for the future though. But yeah, we generally just run Traktor HID through 2 2000s, with a DJM 900, as well as a Kontrol X1 to control Traktor FX, cues, loops, etc. What’s your favorite book right now / music-album(s) you are listening to? Adam: I’ve been reading Ask the Dust by John Fante and The Trial by Franz Kafka recently. It would take a full page to list all the music I’m listening to right now but it’s been mostly drum and bass, idm, generally weird stuff. There’s some punk and metal stuff in there too. The new Icicle and Mefjus albums are rad.

Adam: I was a Physics major during the time I was actually in college but couldn’t picture myself with any career that required that degree. I’m back taking a few college courses now just in case I’d want to go down that path at some point, but the majority of my time just gets spent on music since I’m far more passionate about that than anything else. Andrew: I was always much more gravitated to writing electronic music once I had gotten a taste of the scene in my early teens. I finally decided last year I’d rather devote all my time to doing what I love doing rather than spend time in school for a “backup plan,” so now I’m studying music. It really just took confidence for me to decide this is what I wanted to do. The entire DIY scene as taken to the masses as it seems much easier and less expensive for artists to get their music out to fans now a days, do you find it better or something you’d rather do than sign to a major label and be dishing out tons of money to them? It seems the trade off is DIY takes

CACHE MONEY / NAKID MAGAZINE

much, much longer to get known but you could end up making much much more money and connecting with fans better than on a major label dishing out your royalties for distribution costs etc. Adam: I think the fact that an artist can create just about everything on their own now has just shifted the purpose of labels. They act more as media outlets, scenes and brands that interact with their audience more than a major label would if it we’re acting as a faceless investor. I definitely think it keeps things interesting and creates microcultures within the industry that encourages creative content. Most artists aren’t making their money in record sales right now anyway so I don’t think the DIY approach becoming more common has affected their income that much. Andrew: Yeah, kind of expecting not to make money off music sales has made it an easier thing to deal with, but I think artists who already have the exposure and following, the DIY method of just putting it up on a site for whatever you want to charge and getting 100% profits back is also a great change in the industry. Thom Yorke’s “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes” was the first time I saw this, and doubt it would be very successful for artists who aren’t established to begin with, but would love to see more of it. If an artists gets all of their profits, I think even fans might be more willing to pay for it at that point. if you could tour with anyone who would it be? Whats the craziest story you have from playing with another larger artist? Adam: I’d love to tour with Dog Blood. Sonny and Alex both seem like cool dudes and I love what they both make individually as well as under the DB moniker. We played with Figure and Space Laces last November on the same night Minnesota, G Jones and Jackal were in town. We all ended up back at the same house party and people we’re playing tag team sets until way too late that next morning. Andrew: Yeah I’d second Dog Blood, as well as Proxy- that dude makes some crazy-ridiculous music. As far as crazy stories, the afterparty Adam mentioned was definitely up there. Another afterparty with Nadastrom after we had played with them at Trees also got pretty out of hand. I think some dudes Mom came and partied too hard - it was hilarious. What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you while playing a gig? Adam: The drunk-dude-jumping-through-a-glass-window incident was pretty cool, but generally just having people respond to music we made is cool. Can’t really pick out any other single moment. Andrew: Having the best response we got at the Figure/Space Laces show to be for our original tracks was probably the most notable experience that comes to mind. Other than that, that first show we played together with the one strobe light and the packed office-building would be a runner up. What’s one of the best perks to being a musician or DJ? Andrew: Getting to basically control the AUX cord at a big club with super load speakers is really cool.

today, as well as produced some of the best techno records of all time, in my opinion. I’d love to learn from someone who’s been around sine the beginning and has managed to stay relevant and write compelling music the whole time. I’m not sure I’d hope so much to create anything in particular so much as learn from someone so accomplished and knowledgable. Adam: My pick would definitely be Noisia. They have yet to put out a track I haven’t loved and are versatile enough to write scores for games and videos which is another goal of mine as well. Where is one place in the world you hope to be able to play at one day and why? who would you wanna play with there? Andrew: I want to play at Berghain, in Berlin. It’s kind of the proverbial techno club in a sense, and is a venue I’ve always wanted to go to and experience. I’d also love to play Fabric, in London. It’s an amazing venue that you can really just get lost in, with top-notch sound and always great bookings. At either of these venues I’d love to play with any big-name techno act like Adam Beyer, Gesaffelstein, or even someone like Proxy. Adam: I’d love to play Fabric. Ideally with any of the UK drum and bass dudes that are making moves right now (Emperor, Joe Ford, etc). Gesaffelstein or Proxy would be awesome too. Are you working on any projects right now, and if so what are they? Andrew: We’ve always got new music in the works. We never really stop writing new material; its really just a matter of figuring out what to do with it all, and how to most effectively release it. Can’t give away many details, but we have lots of crazy new tunes finished and in progress we can’t wait to get out there. Adam and I both also have our solo projects, but Cache Money definitely takes up most of our time. Adam: Yeah, mostly just a bunch of assorted Cache Money tracks at the moment. I’ve been spending as much time as I can find over the last year or so to learn more about the engineering and sound design aspects of creating electronic music since I never had any proper education in the field. If you guys had a sprit animal what would it be? Adam: Cthulu Andrew: I was probably gonna pick something with tentacles anyway, so lets just go with Cthulu. Can you tell us anything about your debut 4-song EP coming out this year? Who did you sign with? Do you plan to release any other EP’s this year or a full length album? Adam: We signed it with Audiophile Live, who’s based out of Dallas and has been killing it on the Beatport charts for a while now. We wrote two of those four tracks with our buddy dBa Ren. We don’t have another EP together yet but have plenty of singles and remixes to release until then.

Adam: Gonna have to second the AUX cord statement. Shit’s fire, fam.

Andrew: Yeah, its basically a showcase of our new sound since the last time we really released anything was like 2 years ago when we were writing trap tunes. It’s definitely some of the best music we’ve ever written so we’re pretty excited about it.

What’s your favorite spot in your city to go hangout, eat, drink, party?

What does 2015 hold for Cache Money, what are you hoping to accomplish this year?

Andrew: I like to hang out at my house, or other producer friends’ places. As far as food goes, there’s a million great spots in Dallas, but I definitely frequent Vietnam Bar & Grill a lot. Beauty Bar is also a great spot to hangout and have a drink around here, and then It’ll Do and warehouse raves are generally my favorite parties to go to.

Adam: We plan on playing every festival in Eastern Europe and crashing Hardwell’s girlfriends birthday party so it should be a busy and exciting year.

Adam: Definitely Beauty Bar and It’ll Do as far as venues. Vietnam is great. Given that this is Texas there’s plenty of BBQ and burger places around too. Hard to pick anything specific, I’ve just been eating Chipotle way too much since there’s one just down the street from me. If you could spend a day with and collaborate with any artist alive or dead who would it be and why? What would you hope to create together?

Andrew: Yeah also spending lots of time collaborating with kandi kids we meet at shows who say they produce. But actually just continue to write new original stuff and get more of our music out there, and play as many shows as we can. Do you have any advice for aspiring artists ? Adam: Drugs are bad. Andrew: Finish your tracks.

Andrew: I’d really want to work with Richie Hawtin, just because he has pioneered a lot of the technology many DJs rely on

CACHE MONEY / NAKID MAGAZINE

Find more info on Cache Money at: FACEBOOK.COM/CACHEMONEYBEATS SOUNDCLOUD.COM/CACHEMONEYBEATS

DOWNLOAD THE EXCLUSIVE MIX BY CACHE MONEY FOR NAKID MAGAZINE BY CLICKING HERE!!

Nicky Sczesny is an illustrator and pattern designer living in Grand Rapids, MI. A recent graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design she is already putting her degree in fashion and illustration to good use. She began developing patterns when she was in an artistic rut. Once she started creating patterns though she found out she could still tell the same stories as her illustrations , just in a different and new way. The aim for her patterns is to break the stereotype: Patterns donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to only be used commercially for fabric, wrapping paper, wallpaper, etc. They can be used for book covers, editorial or gallery work just as well as typical illustrations.

WWW.NICKYSCZESNY.COM

The lonely goddamned travles of Freddy, the son of a bitch fisherman.

If this life doesn’t work, at least we’ll have Wisconsin.

Jay Riggio was born in Long Island, New York in 1978. A self-taught visual artist, he was strongly influenced by his studies at Hofstra University, where he received a BA in Film and Creative Writing in 2000. In addition to showing work in galleries around the world, he has done commercial work for brands like Gather Journal, T Magazine, Cake Wines, Alice McCall and more. Jay lives and works in Brooklyn.

On this killing floor.

Jay Riggio created his first collage over 15 years ago. His inspiration came from the overwhelming desire to tell a visual story without the classic ability to illustrate. Drawing on influences from a background in writing and film cinematography, Jay uses images from magazines and books to create imagery that explores his interpretations on life, love, humanity, humor and dreams. Using an X-acto knife, scissors, and glue, Jay’s pieces bring together images that create a world of unique visual perspectives. His collages have been featured in galleries around the world.

WWW.JAYRIGGIOART.COM INSTAGRAM: @JAYRIGGIOART

JAY RIGGIO / NAKID MAGAZINE

The unlikely claims of Larry, the village idiot.

A place where things are not.

JAY RIGGIO / NAKID MAGAZINE

J AY

RIGGIO

To be born again. What a terrible thing to be.

The unreasonable weight of the wind.

Even Satan disliked his day job.

When you get to heaven, God will be waiting to dismantle everything you thought you knew.

JAY RIGGIO / NAKID MAGAZINE

Tell us NYC but term or move on

a little bit about yourself, we know you are based in are you from there, do you plan to stay in NYC long do you think you will spread your creative wings and one day?

As a stylist and model, you work with many publications and companies like Nasty Gal and others. Can you tell us a little about your upcoming projects with them and others you have on your plate for 2015?

I used to say I will never leave New York, but I spent 10 days in LA this month and I’m flying back after fashion week.. I feel like the sunshine is calling my name, ya feel me?

For sure! Currently, I’m working on projects with Nylon, Glamour, Galore and Nasty Gal. With Nasty Gal I’m doing a feature interview/ some twitter stuff and possibly some stuff out in LA. With Glamour, I’m heading to a casting today for a new web-series they are doing about young entrepreneur women. I just did an interview with Galore and Nylon I’m working on some videos.

What is beauty to you and how do you define beauty? Beauty is being connect to one’s true self. It is truth, it is the light that lives inside everyone. How did you get get started as a model/stylist? I started when I was sixteen, I was flying to LA and doing photo shoots with big name photographers and meeting a ton of creative and cool people. I used myspace to my social and artistic advantage, as well as started a blog at that age as a place to keep all my photos and writing. Tell us about the evolution of your style; we’re fascinated! Hmmm, well in high school, I was REALLY into vintage. Like, I wore vintage heels with my plaid catholic school uniform and oversized vintage men’s sweaters over my button ups. I was thrifting all the time and an expect at finding cool boots and dresses on ebay. Slowly my style became a little more LA/a little more funky. I started wearing huge shoes and printing leggings and motorcycle jackets. From there it’s developed with the brands I love, like UNIF, Wildfox, For Love & Lemons, Jeffrey Campbell and Nasty Gal. I like the biggest shoes, the biggest furs, and the biggest sunglasses. Ihateblonde has grown into an amazing style inspiration site, can you tell us a little bit about how you came up with it, when you started it, and what your plans are for he future of Ihateblonde? I’m actually launching a whole new website very soon. But it started as “Velvet Cigarette” a teenager’s blog/a parents worst nightmare, where I kept all the photos of my cool art school friends drinking and smoking. I took so many polaroids of our hangouts, and then did photo shoots with my edgy styling. I maintained my blog through college, traveling and shooting and wearing furs and big shoes. Then around my junior year, I started receiving a ton of free clothing because my instagram/blog were blowing up. I soon started charging for features, and now my blog is the business that it is today. For the future, I’m just excited about getting this new website up and running, then focusing on traveling more and shooting internationally in Asia and Europe. You shoot a new look almost daily, you must have thousands or at least hundreds of outfits, how long have you been growing your closet, it must be expensive.. How does someone collect that many amazing pieces of clothing? Yes, I usually do have a new post everyday. To be honest, I get rid of my stuff pretty quickly. Sure, I have a grand number of furs, shoes and bodysuits, but my mom raised me as a big of a taoist. We don’t really believe in the accumulation of material possessions. We believe in letting go, that attachment to material things is a form of weakness that creates a lower quality of existence. I view my clothing as a painter would view his selection of colors, or brushes, they are just tools I use to create my art. If you had to pick one outfit to wear above all others to showcase your style to the world what would it be, what pieces of clothing and by who?

What would you say is your favorite thing about your job and what do you think is the worst? My favorite thing is posting everyday and sharing my art with everyone. The worst is perhaps trying to shoot and make things look good in the cold New York winter. What are some of your favorite publications – be it globallyrenowned or independent – that you love to pick up? Are you worried at all about the decline of print publications with technology growing as rapidly as it is digitally? C-heads. Such good shit. Yeah, I’ve been in love with fashion magazines since I was a child. I’d hate to see print ever die, there is something so magical about holding tangible images in your hands. Day to day, what jewelry do you personally wear? 6 rings on my fingers and a cross on my neck. What are your favorite stores to shop in, do you have any hidden jewels in New York you shop at to get your amazing clothes? Not really, I do all my shopping online. Dolls Kill, Nasty Gal, Revolve and Wildfox. Its Friday night and the weather is perfect, what’s your ideal night look like? Drinking champagne and running around the East Village snapping pictures. What color defines you and your style? Pink because I’m a princess. What’s your favorite time of year and why? Summer because it’s hot, hot, hot. What’s your spirit animal? Unicorn/ Barbie/ Jesus What are some unchecked items on your bucket list? Living in Paris, visiting Bali What’s he most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you? Peeing my pants in second grade catholic school while we were all standing in a prayer circle doing the rosary. What songs are on your personal playlist right now? thunder love - little dragon calm down - lolawolf

It would probably be the human alien shoe by Jeffrey Campbell in neon pink. They are shaped like alien feet and are neon pink lace ups.

silverline - lykee li

Have you ever thought about designing your own clothing, if you do one day can you tell us a little about what it might look like?

soon it will be cold enough to build fires - emancipator

I’ve thought about it, I used to want to be a fashion designer. If I had a clothing line, it would probably colored faux fur jackets, bodysuits and thigh-high boots.

paradise circus - massive attack

left hand free - Alt-J What are three things most people don’t know about you? I’m a runner, training for a marathon. My dad is my best friend. And that I’m very spiritual.

RACHEL LYNCH - IHATEBLONDE / NAKID MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHER: DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD WWW.DUSTINHOLLYWOOD.COM - INSTAGRAM.COM/DUSTINHOLLYWOODPHOTO

WWW.IHATEBLONDE.COM INSTAGRAM: @IHATEBLONDE

INTERVIEWED BY DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

So, where are you guys from? Do you plan on staying there or do you want to move to another city one day, possibly the U.S. like NYC or Los Angeles to pursue your music in a bigger market? Nick: We are in Moscow, Sometimes we stay in Riga (LV) and in Asia during the Winter. Sure thing we consider moving to CA or FL (mostly because of the climate) but visas are always an issue. We are not gonna stay in Moscow for one more year though, cuz it’s getting tougher and tougher here with every month - it’s more like a real life Mordor nowadays. People’s minds are poisoned with Putin’s facist media, which went easy, cause most of them are absolutely uneducated and intollerant. Nastya: The 90s were tough. Thats why my family immigrated from Riga to Moscow where I was raised up. That fact made me addicted to travelling somewhere else. To be honest, I never felt right here and always wanted to go away but there is no special place for me, I’m sure I can live anywhere with my laptop by my side and internet access - thats my window to the world and I wish to explore the real one too. Your music is very eclectic but rhythmic, did you guys play around with a lot of different styles and sounds before settling on how and what you play now? Nick: As far as I remember, I’ve always tried to stay away from genres, especially from trying to define my own music. One could say that I’ve played with a lot of genres at once, which is the same thing. Nastya: I started singing and experimenting with sound only few years ago, specially i was interested in the nature of noise and building up noise producing devices. This was the direction i shifted to from producing various visual stuff, though I still do it and pose myself as an audiovisual artist. How did you guys come up with your name? IC3PEAK is definitely unique. Nick: It name for piece of PEAK, so

was a really punk thing. We’d been thinking about a a week or two when we decided fuck that, took some cloth, read the label and there was a firm called ICEwe changed one letter and here we are.

Nastya: Haha that’s not a long story and that’s not a secret that some sport brand “icepeak” already exists. We are living in a messed up postmodernism period when evrth is repeated several times. No need to invent. Its like taking abibas or n1ke instead: beautiful looking and sounding word, it has really diverse reading too. What do you hope people take away from listening and seeing you live, are you trying to connect to your audience on some deeper level? Nastya: I feel like we are naturally terrorising people with our show. I mean we step into theie comfort zone in a really rude way, step too close so they can’t avoid our sound, texts and images. We affect. Many of our listeners turn different after our perfomance. It’s like taking drugs without taking them. We blow up minds. Nick: We are trying to give the listeners a full audiovisual experience - with self-made vj-ing and cool performance. As for higher on-stage goals - I’ve always thought that an art should be traumatic. Not in stupid everyday-life sense - I mean trauma in its psychoanalytical meaning. So the more people after our gig go home traumatised - the happier we are. How long have you been together as a group? I mean how did you get into it, is it something you think you wanna do as a career or for fun? Whats the future of msuic for you guys? Nick: I’ve been making music as Oceania (https://www.facebook. com/Iamoceania) for a while, when I understood that I need a vocalist. We started working on some tunes with Nastya - and the result was two EP’s on french-japanese label 7even records. Then the music started to get crazier and we started IC3PEAK. It has always been for fun and we are trying hard to keep it this way. Nastya: Yeah, we were working together earlier on another project which was very differnet from IC3PEAK. However just IC3PEAK is our way of thinking and communicating with the world and with each other. It’s not about romance at all, btw. It’s a true art project and smth more then just career - a way of life.

Are you guys self-taught, how did you get into playing music? Conservatory Ph.D. and my dad was a conductor in the orchestra, so I guess it could hardly go another way with me - I was always into the music. Nastya: Well, my fam is very musical too: my aunt is the first violinist in the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and my mother is an experienced opera singer who travelled a lot with different troupes. So for all of my childhood, I was submerged into academic music world but I never studied music. So yeah, I’m self-taught but with some passive background haha. I’ve been doing visual art for quite a long time and just started studying multimedia and photography. This very free education - more like laboratory - opens my mind in many ways and involves me into some lively disscusions and provocative thoughts. When listening to your music it’s hard not to hear and compare it to Crystal Castles, Digitalism, Hot Chip and the like. Are these some of your influences or who would you say you draw a lot of inspiration from in the music industry? Nastya: Its funny but I never listened to crystal castles before people started compare us to them. There are some other musicians which I find outstanding: in noise and experimental scene mainly: pharmakon, emptyset, death grips, the knife and others. Nick: I think that it’s a bit lazy comparison. I’ve actually never listened to any of these names. I’m much more into industrial, noise, ambient and techno music. What kinda process do you guys have to your writing, anything that’s a ritual you do before writing or while writing? Nastya: We live in a rough country where woman are not consedered to be equal to man and gays and artists are beaten because of their difference. I can extend this list. U don’t have to get into any rituals or to gain inspiration: evrth around attacs you. Just get out and absorb. or browse the internet. Nick: No rituals. I used to meditate before making music , but now i think that making music is the same shit as meditation so why bother? What’s been your favorite place you have played so far and why? Nastya: I guess for both of us it was cool playing in a fake Ziggurat/big pyramid tower/ on Souvenir fest in Moscow(https:// vk.com/souvenirfest). It was a rainy night and our performance was close to collapse when with the help of the audience we moved all the technical stuff into this construction. There was some special collective energy in all that action: we felt like a single whole with all that people. Nick: I really loved it in france, especially in Bourdeaux crazy and cool crowd. Moscow VV17CHØU7 parries are different but also great - its more like illegal rave, with 1500 people wearing all black. What are your favorite piece of equipment and what’s your current setup as far as equipment goes? Nick: My favourite piece is DIY analog synth. I also love my old shitty casio synth - there are sounds in it, that I use almost in every tune. For live I use akai apc40, casio synth, midi clav and drum pad - I love to play drums live. Nastya: Mine exept my mic, with which i can do plenty of things, is this noise machine which always is a total mistery. I wish to get some video sequencer too to level up our video perfomance from simple vj-ing to some real life glitches. What’s your favorite book right now / music-album(s) you are listening to? Nastya: I’m very into PC music stuff rn. I think these guys extend pop music idea. FLAKO’s last release also is great. As for books i started reading fiction literature after a huge period of philosophy books like delez virno zizek and etc. and it feels like getting out on nature after urban environment. Nick: I’m now reading soviet writer Andrey Platonov, book called Chavengur - the book is about communism and it is really dark and really funny. As for favourite books - I read more philosophy then literature. I love Zizek, Baudrillard, Badju, Delez. My favourite album rn is “Shaking The Habitual” by The Knife.

IC3PEAK / NAKID MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY/VISUAL ART: NASTYA & NICK WWW.IC3PEAK.TUMBLR.COM - SOUNDCLOUD.COM/IC3PEAK

INSTAGRAM: @NDLESS INSTAGRAM: @OCEANIAVISUAL

soundcloud, and facebook for you guys? The entire DIY scene as taken to the masses as it seems much easier and less expensive for artists to get their music out to fans now a days, do you find it better or something you’d rather do than sign to a major label and be dishing out tons of money to them? It seems the trade of is DIY takes much much longer to get known but you could end up making much much more money and connecting with fans better than on a major label dishing out your royalties for distribution costs etc. Nick: Yea, social media is the thing today. Not sure about twitter and fb though, these are getting worse with every year. FB puritan politics about body (u can’t upload your naked pictures, or u can, but none could see them) about religious stuff (you now can’t upload pictures of Muhammad Prophet which can be found insulting) e.t.s - is a total shit. Let alone that you

we play in moscow, saint petersburg and kazan regulary and have some plans for going to latin america also. What’s your favorite spot in your city to go hangout, eat, drink, party? Nastya: I love cafe “Парос” (https://vk.com/paros_tal) for its cultural contrast and homemade armenian food in russian pack. Place of total decadence & very few people know about it. As for parties Moscow flourishes with different events. All the DIY things are cool: unique fest “Структурность”( http://structure. com.ru ) - a hodgepodge of different very undeground artists and “Пика-пика”( https://www.facebook.com/pikapikaparty ) named by Pikachu devoted to new pop music are among them.

have to pay for your post so that followers cold see it. As for label vs DIY - I think that all belongs on how really cool you do it yourself or how really cool the label is.

If you could spend a day with and collaborate with any artist alive or dead who would it be and why? What would you hope to create together?

Nastya: I love all that DIY thing. First of all, it’s interesting to deal with evrth by yourself. We not only produce all the music and visual stuff but do all that promoting work also. We do evrth together without any agents or smth and smt we feel super exhausted just because of spreading info on the Internet, contacting people & etc. These moments you feel like damn I wish to be signed on a label - let them do all that dirty work. but when you finally get feedback and it goes directly to you - then wow, it’s worth it.

Nastya: I wish Freddie Mercury could give me few vocal lessons. I really love his style and he impacted me hugely.

Have you guys toured before, if so where and when and whats the craziest story you have from touring? We had a small tour in europe last aurtumn: paris bordo riga and are going to tallin in few days and to helsinki very soon. we play in moscow, saint petersburg and kazan regulary and have

IC3PEAK / NAKID MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWED BY: JAMES PAWLISH Recently, I decided to take a break from the snobbery of San Francisco. All the tech bros and sorority girls was crushing my soul. That, and the sheer lack of artistic happenings. Yep, sorry folks. The idealistic San Francisco you dreamed of is now a gated community filled with Google, Facebook, and Apple Employees who want to squeeze out every last drop of life. What happen to all the weirdos, freaks, and artists? Oh, that’s right... everyone went over to Oakland or fled to Los Angeles

So last time we talked, Sanjay and Craig was just coming out on Nickelodeon. Since then, you’ve had a few gallery shows at Fecal Face Dot Gallery and Slow Culture. More recently though, you took up tattooing. How the fuck did that happen?

With that being said, I hoped in the car and headed south to LA. Now, don’t let that Nor-Cal vs. So-Cal bullshit trip you up. I was doing a down and back trip to meet up with former San Franciscan Jay Howell. He was giving Tattoos at Slow Culture Gallery in Highland Park and I just at the opportunity to get one. With his trusty companion, Street Dog in hand, Jay and I tossed back some beers while I got some new ink.

So did you have friends that were tattoo artists and showed you the basics, or did you research it yourself and just figure out what works?

-James Pawlish

I’ve got a couple and was always really into the Russian prison tattoos. Just simple hand done lines with little to no color. The simplicity and shitiness was what I liked.

So a lot of shops and stuff like that want you to apprentice and it takes a lot of time. The tattooing world is a close knit community. They just won’t teach anyone. I had some friends who showed me a few things and the rest I just figured out. Travis Millard is my neighbor and would come over to my house and we would just tattoo each other after having a few beers. Then more of my friends wanted me to tattoo them. At this point, I’ve tattooed a bunch of folks. Do you have a favorite tattoo you’ve given? Nope. I think there all silly. Ha. So whats next for you? I’m taking some time off from Nickelodeon and the show and doing a little traveling.

PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMES PAWLISH INSTAGRAM: @jamespawlish

JAY HOWELL / NAKID MAGAZINE

ART BASEL Nakid Magazine invaded the hottest art festival in the US in December 2014, Art Basel. From the streets to the galleries, the installations, to the street art, we got it all. Here are some of our favorites moments from Miami! WWW.ARTBASEL.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHARIS KIRCHHEIMER

VOODOO FEST The Nakid team invaded the Voodoo Arts & Music Festival this past weekend in New Orleans and it was nothing short of amazing! The festival’s slogan “Worship The Music” was fitting considering the prominence of voodoo in New Orleans, not to mention the history and fact it was Halloween … on a Friday. Everything seemed to fit together in a perfect combination of events. This being our first time at the veteran 15-year running festival, we wanted to do it big! Decked out with Nakid Mag stickers, costumes, and a hefty supply of alcohol we ventured into possibly the best city to be in during Halloween weekend in the U.S. – overwhelmed with ghost tours, haunted houses, and of course historic Voodoo stories and history galore! Outkast headlined on Halloween, and they played everything from the hits to the throwbacks. Day two’s lineup included Death From Above 1979, the Arctic Monkeys, 30 Seconds to Mars and City and Colour at the Ritual Stage; at the mainly EDM Le Plur stage, BBC radio host Pete Tong warmed up the decks before Claude Von Stroke’s deep house dance party. The grimy bass appeared in the evening, with Flux Pavilion followed by Skrillex. WWW.WORSHIPTHEMUSIC.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY: DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

CARPE NOC TUS Carpe Noctis (Seize the Night), is a “dark and seedy vaudeville” show that will fulfill your craziest night-owl shenanigan dreams. Open from 10pm-3am, you’ll see acts ranging from the thrilling, to the demented, to the just plain weird. Anything goes - really. This show is not for the faint of heart or the closed of mind. The lineup remains a mystery until you sit down in the theatre and the show starts. The vibe was definitely rowdy, and many people were sipping on BYOB bottles while the fabulous emcee warmed up the crowd. Audience participation is key, and truly makes the experience - where else will you be called up on stage to have knifes thrown at your crotch, or to play a round of Cards Against Humanity? A few highlights from the night we attended included a strip-tease ending in sushi, a nun beating up a fetishist, a dancer making crutches look oh-so-sensual, and a performer who made entire balloons disappear down her throat. It was art, seriously. Definitely stay until the end of the show - the showstopper act was the drunk magician who managed to pull beers out of basically everything… and then drink them. No where else will the show end with confetti blasting in your face from a bare ass. We left with huge grins on our faces, not quite knowing what just happened but still loving it. If you’re looking for something more than a little different, Carpe Noctis is it - a truly unique experience of raucous glee and terrifying wonder. Carpe Noctis strikes again on January 30th, at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. To buy tickets and learn more, WWW.CARPENOCTIS.COM

WORDS: LAURA VIA PHOTOGRAPHY: BRITTANY BELZ

CAT KING & AT R A K Launch party for Frank’s Chop Shop, with Dj’s Cat King & A-Trak spinning. A barber shop for the modern gentleman of leisure. “With barber chairs and a focus on creating an environment where colleagues, and business associates will feel relaxed and comfortable, Frank’s Chop Shop offers haircuts, shapeups, and old-fashioned straight edge razor shaves.” FCS

WWW.FRANKSCHOPSHOP.COM PHOTOGRAPHY: JONATHAN ROBERTS

R YA N MCGI N E LY YEAR BOOK

Over the past 4 years Ryan McGinley has been slowly creating a masterpiece. During S/S15 New York Fashion Week the American photographer unveiled his exhibition entitled “Yearbook”, at the Team Gallery located in the heart of Manhattan. He was welcomed by a massive crowd filled with eager eyes to see the photographer’s most recent collection. The staple of McGinley’s work, a youthful focus on sexuality and the taboos of nudity as an art form, were presented in what has become a style that is synonymous with his work and truly inspiring. Simplistic yet emotional, his subjects were all shot on several variations of vibrant color backgrounds all presenting their own unique form and personality in their poses. The opening garnered long lines and media all scouring the walls of the double roomed studio gallery with all the photographs presented as if they were painted straight onto the walls and ceiling of the gallery itself. Each rooms photos literally surrounded its viewer in 360 degrees of a yearbook structured collage. WWW.RYANMCGINLEY.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY: DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

LIFE IN POLA ROIDS CONTRIBUTORS: DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD JAMES PAWLISH LANCE SKUNDRUCH

PHOTOGRAPHY:

DUSTIN HOLLYWOOD

PHOTOGRAPHY:

JAMES PAWLISH

NAKID