Author Archives: Catie Laffoon

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Featured Music fun. fun. fun.

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 23, 2012 - 12:08 pm

When you have a band called “fun.” at your disposal, an extraordinary photo shoot is in order. We can get a little goofy at times so fortunately for us Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, and Jack Antonoff were up for jumping on outdoor stationary bikes and pedaling away on some Astroturf.

We caught up with the band as they came through Los Angeles to perform a private rooftop gig at the Hollywood Tower Penthouse. fun. is in the midst of a North American tour to promote their new album, Some Nights, which just released on Tuesday. We sat down with the guys to discuss their hit single “We Are Young” blowing up the iTunes charts, being hypersensitive to the word “fun,” and their secret dollhouse building skills.

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Featured Gallery Music Get Your Hearts Up with Ariana Grande

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 23, 2012 - 10:27 am

Ariana Grande took the stage at The Roxy for her California debut dressed in a sparkly pink dress and flirty heels with her signature red locks slicked back in a ponytail. She pranced to the microphone as four backup dancers lined up behind her and kicked off the set with an energetic cover of Rhanna’s “Only Girl in The World.” Grande thanked her overzealous audience for showing up, joking that she “was scared nobody was going to come to her first show in LA.”

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Fashion Featured Punk Rock Pieces by Pnut Jewelry

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 17, 2012 - 5:19 am

When he’s not touring the world with H2O, punk rocker Rusty Pistachio is busy crafting jewelry. The talented guitarist owns Pnut Jewelry, a line that Pistachio jokes has been described as “tattoos meets Tiffany’s.” Everything you’ll find at Pnut is custom made and definitely one-of-a-kind. Pistachio’s jewelry encompasses everything – from chef’s knife and human brain charms to dice bracelets and lucky horseshoe rings.

We sat down with Pistachio to learn more about his cupcake rings, alphabet charms, and knuckle cufflinks and to hear his recipe for simultaneously juggling the jewelry biz and his music career.

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Music Here Comes Young The Giant

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 17, 2012 - 5:18 am

It’s safe to say that things are going well for Young The Giant. The Irvine-based quartet is in the midst of their first massive headlining tour and is selling out dates left and right. You can’t turn the radio on without hearing their hit singles “My Body” or “Cough Syrup” and the recent leak of the 2012 Bonnaroo line up shows them signed on to perform on one of the festival’s main stages.

Young The Giant recently played The Wiltern on consecutive nights last week in Los Angeles where venue’s two thousand and three hundred people chimed in and enthusiastically belted out lyrics to the alt rocker’s catchy rendition of “Cough Syrup:” It’s been a week since the show and we still can’t get: “Life’s too short to even care at all, oh. I’m losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control” out of our heads!

Prior to the set, we nabbed bassist Payam Doostzadeh for a quick Q&A. Check out our interview after the jump:

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Art Humans Go Wild in Shag’s “Animal Kingdom”

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 16, 2012 - 10:32 am

The Corey Helford Gallery was the definition of “packed” on Saturday as art fanatics flocked in to see the debut of “Animal Kingdom,” the new collection of paintings by Josh Agle, aka “Shag.” Walking into the show, the first thing we heard was a gentleman utter, “Everything’s sold!” A quick glance around confirmed that nearly every painting had a red “I’m sold” dot plastered to the right of it and those that didn’t were being swarmed by contemplating consumers.

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Featured Music The Evolution of Paul van Dyk

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 15, 2012 - 10:48 am

For being considered one of the world’s greatest DJ’s, Paul van Dyk is an extremely humble guy. The Berlin-based DJ is more concerned with his audience recognizing him for his passion for the electronic music genre than ranking him among the most elite DJs in the universe. PvD, as nicknamed by fans, has sold over 3.5 million albums in his career, toured the world, and remixed superstars like Madonna, U2, and Depeche Mode.

Prior to a recent set on his Evolution tour, Paul told us what it feels like to have achieved such a level of success. In an exclusive interview with ChinaShop, he jokes about the evolution of the DJ progressing from “the freak in the corner” to someone who stands on a podium and piques the curiosity of an audience. PvD also reveals his earliest influences and how he handles bathroom breaks during 11-hour DJ sets.

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Art Featured Gallery Happy Valentines Day… I Art You!

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 14, 2012 - 2:51 pm

Create Fixate is a fabulous organization that strives to “connect emerging artists with a new generation of art enthusiasts by producing curated site-specific art exhibits in Los Angeles.” As they’ve been around for a decade, they decided it was time to throw a 10th anniversary shindig. The event, “I Art You,” was just in time for Valentine’s Day, as it couldn’t have been more Cupid themed.

As “I Art You” festivities kicked off, guests made their way to the Valentine card making station where they used tools like markers, Little Mermaid stickers, and Elmer’s Glue to craft a love note for their special someone.

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Featured Music So You Wanna Interview A DJ? Dani Deahl Is Here To Help

by Rich Thomas and Catie Laffoon
February 13, 2012 - 10:48 am

Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. Just ask DJ and producer Dani Deahl. One night, while DJing at the Artisan Hotel’s afterhours, she was chatting with a friend in the booth between mixes when she heard her effects being tweaked out. Heavily. When she turned around, she noticed a familiar face manhandling her mixer: Diplo. They chatted for a bit, and true to form, Diplo snapped a pic of the two of them. The next day, Deahl received an email with the picture attached. The subject line: diplo hates you.

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Music If it Flows Like Water… H20

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 10, 2012 - 10:33 am

If you ask any band who their influences are, they’ll gladly seize an opportunity to rave about their musical idols. Legendary punk band H2O took things one step further and recorded an album of cover songs in tribute to their favorite bands. The new disc, “Don’t Forget Your Roots” features a variety of acts that the members of H2O credit for inspiring their career –Bad Brains, 7 Seconds, Rancid, Dag Nasty, The Clash, Sick of It All, Warzone, Verbal Assault and more…

ChinaShop recently caught up with H2O’s Toby Morse, Rusty Pistachio, Adam Blake, and Todd Friend to discuss their latest tribute endeavor, crazy Indonesian fans, and the band’s “beef” with Bob Dylan.

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Gallery Music All You Need is a “Little Spark” – Jessie Baylin

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
February 8, 2012 - 10:44 am

When Jessie Baylin takes the stage, she peers into the audience with a twinkle in her eye. It’s apparent there’s no place the Nashville-based singer-songwriter would rather be than pouring out her emotions on stage. It’s been four years since Baylin has performed in Los Angeles, the town that launched her career through residencies at The Mint and Hotel Cafe. Baylin returned to the Troubadour last week to play for an eager audience, which included Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Branch, Bette Midler, and her husband, (Kings of Leon drummer) Nathan Followill.

Prior to the show, we sat down with Baylin to discuss how she used her inheritance from her grandmother to record her recent independent release, Little Spark. She cheerfully greeted us and exclaimed that our interview location, the front bar of the Troubadour, was where “Joni Mitchell used to hang out.” Baylin explained that as a child she was notorious for making mixed tapes for her friends, which included tracks by her musical idols (Dusty Springfield, Barbara Streisand, Nina Simone…). She told us how she met her husband in line for the bathroom at Bonnaroo and explained that although she misses LA, the simpler life in Nashville is conducive to her artistic soul.

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