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DESATURATED - NEW WORKS BY RETNA @ NEW IMAGE ART
Showing posts with label RVCA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RVCA. Show all posts
Casual Hopelessness
The new Tomorrows Tulips music video is up and it has little kids looking like Kurt Cobain. So smart. On another note, its Spring Breaky, go find your Spring Break Lover. Thats all for now. lubs.
New Cobra Snake
Today I had some free pizza, twice. For lunch and for dinner. Prolly one of the better free food days I've had in a long time. Then I get home and find out that the Cobra Snake's line is about to launch with RVCA. Awez. So, therefore I have a reason to throw up this beauty of a picture of the Cobra Snake and all his glory with some other inspiring pictures of black/white.
RVCA in SLC
RVCA finally connects to Utah/SLC. This are a few photos of a piece titled Ave Maria - RVCA artists Mac and Retna created at Fice in Salt Lake City.
Tomorrows Tulips Feature
The OC Weekly interviewed Alex Knost about Tomorrows Tulips and the hiatus of the Japanese Motors. Keep on reading.
Costa Mesa garage rockers Japanese Motors shocked the local scene when they informed OC Weekly last Tuesday that they were ditching their Jan. 20 gig with Vice label mates the Black Lips at Detroit Bar, canceling all upcoming shows including SXSW dates and going on "indefinite hiatus."
After playing a bit of phone tag, I got a hold of front man Alex Knost (he's also a pro surfer) this morning at his Costa Mesa home to discuss Tomorrows Tulips, the new duo he formed with girlfriend Christina Kee. I also asked him why Japanese Motors came to a screeching halt and if the band had a future. Knost offered fresh news concerning both projects.
OC Weekly (Wade Tatangelo): So, what prompted the formation of Tomorrows Tulips?
Alex Knost: Well, I really don't remember, exactly. I think Christina said something about hating to go to Paul Mitchell hair school and I asked her what she always wanted to do. She said she wanted to learn drums but thought that was ridiculous. We have similar taste in music and I showed her great songs that don't have complex drumming, played her Son of a Gun by the Vaselines, one of our favorite groups ... as soon a she put her ear to it and just concentrated on the beat, one hand on the snare drum, it gave her the confidence to just start whacking stuff.
Q: How long between when Christina started "whacking" the drums and the formation of Tomorrows Tulips?
A: By the next day we had three or four ideas for songs. Obviously, practice makes things a little perfect. I'd say maybe two or three months later we started playing around
Q: What's the story behind the name, Tomorrows Tulips?
A: It's kind of an inside joke. That's something for ourselves. We don't want to give it all away, y'know?
Q: Fair enough. The sound of Tomorrows Tulips is a lot dreamier and experimental leaning than Japanese Motors's. Would led you down this new musical path?
A: I still consider myself juvenile. I can barely play compared to most bands. You listen to 1960s music, it's not complicated, it's rock & roll. When you don't know how to do something very well it forces you to be creative and use trickery. The best thing about Christina being new on drums as she stumbles on all this creative stuff because it's first instinct. We're really trying to embody DIY aesthetic.
Q: Japanese Motors toured nationally and were signed to Vice. How serious are you about Tomorrows Tulips?
A: We're just gonan take it day by day. Obviously, we're passionate about it. We have this feeling of absolute fearlessness. We just recorded eight songs over at the Distillery [studio] on analog tape just like bands did in the 1960s and 70s. The [as-yet-untitled] EP will come out on the Papermade label that did the Dirt Dress series.
Q: Do you have a release date?
A: It will Take a little bit of time. We're only putting it out on cassette and vinyl. CDs are great to burn for friends but the lifespan is short. Tapes and vinyl last for a long time. We're doing that and writing new songs and talking to labels about a full-length we want to get done by the summer so we can hit road and start touring.
Q: Sound like between Tomorrows Tulips and surfing you have your hands full. Is Japanese Motors done?
A: Yeah, for the time being we all have decided to put in on shelf., we have full-length we never put out who knows what will happen in future after talking to [guitarist/bassist Nolan Hall] and hes' going to focus on photography. [Drummer Andrew Atkinson went back to his job. Nolan is working closely with Vans shoes and several magazines and looking to do showings of photographs and I'm excited for him. [Putting Japanese Motors on hiatus] was a mutual thing ... I'm really looking forward to Tomorrows Tulips. When you watch some like Christina make a song it really lights a fire in me creatively. It's been just the two of us but have been having people playing bass like Nolan and Matt McCluer of the Sweet Sweet Things. He's a very inspiring person to be around very with a profound work ethic.
Q: Do you plan to eventually grow Tomorrows Tulips from a twosome to a band?
A: We'll keep it as a two-piece as far as writing but it would be great to also play with talented musicians.
Q: Not to belabor this but Japanese Motors had a bunch of high profile dates coming up, opening for Black Lips playing SXSW, etc. Why stop now?
A: I think when you're passionate about something, obviously we worked hard to get where we were at, you don't want to sacrifice emotions. Having to keep playing due to pressure [to fulfill commitments] feels like a gimmick. We don't wanna do something we don't feel passionate about. We feel bad to the venues we left dry and fans but don't want be somewhere if our head is somewhere else. The future is unwritten, but as of right now, all feel strongly {about going on hiatus].
New Yearz - Pt. II
Its a new decade, yet I feel as if yesterdays tomorrow is here. To go over the top high lights of the past decade would be cliche and typical. So I will briefly do something along those lines. The fact that 10 years ago I was only in 6th grade and just learning how to work the internetz and a computer for that fact, I have learned to love certain things. So these certain things can be related to music and what type of music I was into at the time. I swear, every year I changed what type of music I listened to, which makes me appreciate what music I listen to these days. To start off with the early years of the past decade; I would always watch the box growing up, so the fake MTV wannabe sold out and left me music less. I started out by loving the Californication album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So great, made me love alternative music. Then insert my best friend, Hema, he brought something in my life that made my junior high years so weird. He brought rap music into my life, along with the hip hop lifestyle and break dancing. Yes, confession, I took break dancing lessons for 2 years and listened to rap. wow. Along with junior high came, wait for it, sports. Yes I liked sports, wow times two. I played basketball for the junior high team and thought I was on top of the world. Now to high school where I thought I knew who I was. Trying to find myself, I again turned to Hema as he introduced me to one of my saving graces, Taking Back Sunday. I went from listening to Nelly and 2Pac to the emo/punk scene of TBS. Along with this new outlook on music/life I grew my hair out and tried to become the rockstar I've always wanted to be while trying to continue what I started by playing all 3 years of high school football. Gross. The next stage/music scene in my life I came to appreciate the acoustic surf scene with acts like Jack Johnson, Tristan Prettyman and such. I dreamed about being in an alternate life of dealing with the ocean everyday. Obviously, didn't happen. Whatevs. But I'm over it, So on to the next stage of my life, after high school, I worked one of my most favorite jobs for Anderson Tile. I learned a lot about myself that year and a half of being away from my family and friends and just working. My iPod was prolly my bestest friend with out a doubt. After that ended I called up my favorite immigrant, mi amigo, Benjamin Lopez and we took on Salt Lake Community College and conquered what was ours for the taking. Community college education will always have a place in my heart foreverz. Now insert Delta Spirit, the indie music scene was what I needed. So great. During my appreciation for the folk music and SLCC I took the best class of my life, Decade of the 60s. The more I went to school trying to figure out what interested me, I kept falling back on one thing, Design. Art. Freedom. Which leads me to where I am right now, sitting here trying to blog and say something interesting to read. Along with these 10 years of life and music under my belt, I look to the next 10 years of whatever. Who knows, maybe I'll try to grow up or something.
Other things, worth knowing about me: Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, Slash, skateboarding, LA, college, biographies, surf, Andy Irons, pirates, RVCA, Japanese Motors, Alex Knost, design, art, Bob Dylan, twitter, blackberry, blogging, blonde hair, flannel shirts, Chuck Bass, Ata, the office, tv, internetz, DJ Skeet Skeet, Shwayze, Whitestarr, Cisco Adler, rock n roll, stupid facebook, Gossip GIrl, the OC, helvetica, Sarah Morrison, Katie, Justin, Jake, Kirk, Cindy, Kyl, Kyle, Annie, Jodi, Stu, cousins, Hema, Purdie's, Delta Spirit, 2pac, Run DMC, Anthony Kiedis, PR, mandration, kelzone, Mason, Ben, RedBull, whoppsycakes....blah, blah, blah, lubs.
kbye.
Tomorrows Tulips
Tomorrows Tulips formed on August 15th when Alex Knost bought a piccalo snare drum at the thrift store and handed it to Christina. The two spent 3 nights at Mike McQ’s distillery studio organizing some sort of an idea on how to play together. While socializing with Mike and discussing what to call the group it became vaguely clear what to do. The duo consists of stripped down pop that often disregards professionalism in anyway shape and form. Absolute Fearlessness prevails in creating songs that revolve around subject matter that consists of flowers, happiness, love, haircuts, friends, and un-macho-ism. TT will continue to make songs on cassette tape and post them on the internet until the release of the full length album that will be recorded at the distillery in late September and released on vinyl, cassette and cd in October 2009. Then with a VW bug tour across America to follow.
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Noodles
There's always more than meets the eyes with Nathan - he's pretty crafty and you need to watch him. A lot of people think he's brash but he just responds by saying " I don’t give a ****" - It's all part of his style.
He's traveled the world on the WCT circuit, come close to winning gold, spent time building his own mini empire and recently launched RVCA Australia, not a small feat by any means.
Education Time // Matt Costa
Matt Costa, who is of Portuguese ancestry, states his father "worked in airlines" and his mother "was around the house a lot". While young, his family moved to Florida where he "pursued skateboarding and high school on the side". Later the family moved back to Huntington Beach and at age 12, Costa received his first guitar but it was quickly shelved and replaced with a more "thrilling" gift: a skateboard. Costa compensated for his late start skateboarding with intense dedication to the sport and in a matter of years nearly turned pro. In 2003, that path shifted drastically when Matt shattered his leg in a skateboarding accident. The injury required eighteen months of recovery and rehabilitation. During that downtime, Matt directed his energy, passion and talent toward the guitar, writing and recording simple tunes. Initially, a mini tape recorder served as his crude studio. Matt's songwriting later flourished when he invested in a 4-track recorder.
In early 2003, Matt's homemade demo began circulating amongst friends and acquaintances in and around his hometown of Huntington Beach, California. One copy found its way into the hands of No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont. Costa made such an impression that Dumont offered to record more demos for him in his home studio. Those first recordings led to a self-titled 5 song EP that Costa and Dumont distributed themselves. As interest in the EP grew, the two were already deep into the sessions that led to Songs We Sing. Considering Dumont's experience as a songwriter, one might expect him to have taken a more active role in the songwriting process. This however, was no usual mentorship, as Dumont remained behind the control board, offering encouragement, more interested in capturing Matt's talent than in shaping the songs himself. Phil Ek (Modest Mouse, The Shins) applied the finishing touches, mixing the twelve tracks that have become Songs We Sing.
Matt Costa spent the summer of 2005 opening on Jack Johnson's summer tour, playing in amphitheaters and baseball stadiums across North America. He has also supported diverse artists such as Modest Mouse, Pinback, Built to Spill, Gomez, The Vandals, My Morning Jacket, and Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard. Matt joined Jack Johnson for his 2006 European tour. He has also contributed to the Jack Johnson and Friends Curious George soundtrack; The track is entitled "Lullaby" and it features Matt Costa with Jack Johnson. This song was taken from his The Elasmosaurus EP. The soundtrack was released Tuesday, February 7, 2006. Matt toured in South America in November 2007 along with G. Love, Donavon Frankenreiter, Animal Liberation Orchestra, and artist/photographer Jay Alders. Cities they visited and performed include São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Florianópolis.
The video for Matt's first single, "Cold December" can be viewed at his website. It was directed by the Malloys and shot in Ely, Nevada. It was released February 2, 2006. On the 31st of July 2007 Matt released an exclusive new song entitled "If You Took To Me" as part of the environmentally minded polar bear documentary Arctic Tale and its soundtrack. On the 7th of October, Matt released the first single, "Mr. Pitiful", from his new record Unfamiliar Faces. was released January 22, 2008. Originally it was to be released for October 2, 2007, but was postponed. Costa played as a supporting act for the English band Oasis' Canadian tour in August 2008, and again on their Winter 2008 U.S. tour, along with Ryan Adams and The Cardinals.
Japanese Motors x Alex Kopps
BETTER TRENDS
This video was made for the song “Better Trends” by The Japanese Motors. The video follows the band into the streets of San Francisco on their hopeless, tongue and cheek search for a “better trend.” As the video progresses you travel through a variety of trend and fad graveyards, such as thrift stores and the now omnipresent vintage clothing boutique. The video eventually leads their search back to themselves and into a world of layered sun bleached video tape. You should be warned, this video was made in traditional no budget music video style with a baby stroller, boom box, skateboard and other antiquated tools of deception.
Old School
Some old photos of the Japanese Motors back in 2007. The band has changed their line up too many times. The only constant is change?Enjoy.
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