In the front room, Bone pays tribute to the pop and porn cultures that fed his imagination as a kid in the 80s. Combining his love of comics, movies, horror and naked ladies, “Paradise Lost” is more of an Elysium for the randy adolescent fanboy in all of us.

Sharing the space is Bonny Raid and her wunderkammer of skulls, strange insects, bunny heads, spider-ladies and spooky kids.

The back room is transformed into a dreamy lady-kingdom, with Soey Milk’s neoclassical tiny oils in ornate frames. Show-white-haired, regal versions of the artist’s friends hold skulls and apples – symbols of knowledge and death. Soey herself was at the reception, very much alive and cheerful at the success of her first-ever solo exhibition.

On the walls opposing Milk’s fairy tale domain is Christine Wu’s “Shhh…” collection. Layers upon layers of dripping paint become pale fingers in tangles of hair, almond eyes, blushing cheeks and bee-stung lips in these messy, sexy portrayals of girls in flux. They are at once tense and soft, ghostly and visceral. A recent Art Center graduate, Wu is definitely an artist to watch in the coming months.

All four shows are up until February 26th, so if you’re in La, be sure to check them out at 4633 Hollywood blvd. Go to http://www.laluzdejesus.com/ for more info.

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb (@Zoetica)

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.

You haven’t performed in LA in a while. What have you been up to?

I’ve been making a record and crafting these songs and just waiting for the right moment. I felt like when I came back, I would have to play here [Troubadour] so I wanted to have it be an event. The record’s out now and it’s a celebration!

And you put it out independently?

I did and it’s actually been the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my career. It’s just really freeing and it’s nice to know what’s going on and to have that control. I really needed that in myself and I invested in this album with my own finances – pretty much every little bit that I had left – so that was a good risk to take.

I read that you actually used some of your grandmother’s inheritance for the album…

Yeah, all of it. I think she wouldn’t have had it any other way. Every time I called her she would be like, “How are we gonna make this happen kid?” I would say, “We’re working on it.” She was a wonderful, sassy little woman so this is a really nice way to honor her. She appreciated art and music and loved watching me perform. Actually right before she got Leukemia, she came on the road with me and ended up seeing like four dates on this tour. I was opening up for someone and she came to Florida for two shows and she came to New York and Philly and Boston and just had a ball. She loved it. She’d drink her sherry backstage with me and tell stories to anyone that would listen.

Not many grandmas are going on the road with people. That’s pretty amazing!

She was a unique grandmother. Most grandma’s are up at like 5am; she went to bed around 2 or 3am and slept till at least 10 or 11 in the morning. I’d be like the little kid. I’d spend the night and be like, “Grandma. I’m hungry! I want eggs. Come on!” She was like the ultimate rock star.

You relocated to Nashville with your husband. Do you feel like you’re more at home in the music scene there or do you miss LA?

Nashville’s been really good to me – really really responsive and it’s been a really wonderful place for me to harvest who I want to be as an artist. That’s super exciting to me – just sort of having the time. Really, there’s nothing else to do in Nashville than sit and write and cook and do my thing. It’s really simple there. There’s not much to do. There’s not a lot of culture. There are beautiful parks and walks but for the most part it’s a simpler life that I can appreciate. I’m out in LA now for two weeks and everyday I’m like, “We’re going to the Getty. We’re doing all this stuff.” And I love that but in a way, it’s distracting all the time when that is accessible to you. In Nashville, it’s like my only job for today is to write a really good poem – maybe it will be mediocre and maybe it will be great and I’ll feel good that I tried. Then I’ll make lunch and then I’ll take a walk and that will be enough.

What made you decide to have Scarlett Johansson produce your video for “Hurry Hurry?”

We were old friends and we were drinking wine and I played her some new songs and she was like, “That’s it. This week we’re gonna cut a video. Adam Kimmel is going to do the cinematography. It’s done.” And I’m like, “Really? You wanna do this?” And she’s like, “Yes. We’re doing this.” I think she’s gonna be an amazing director and she already is and she’s going to continue to do some beautiful things from behind the lens. I’m excited for her and I’m happy to have been a part of her early directorial life.

Is it true that you did many of the songs on Little Spark in one take?

 Yeah. Pretty much every vocal is one take just because I feel like that initial moment – it’s so alive in you and I’m more in it. Then it becomes work and it shouldn’t. It should feel effortless and it should sound effortless. That’s the kind of records I want to make. Some records don’t have to sound that way but I want this to feel dreamy and intimate and it has to have that freshness and it can’t feel rehearsed so it was not at all.

Do you remember your earliest memory of falling in love with music?

As a kid, my parents always had music on in our home. My dad loved Frank Sinatra and my mom loved Zeppelin and Barbara Streisand and Bette Midler. We had everything; it was kind of all over the place, which was great for me as a kid. My mixed tapes that I made my friends, they were like, ”What the heck is going on here.” Then I remember being in sixth grade and hearing Fiona Apple Tidal and “Sleep to Dream” is the first song on that. My mom brought it home and was like, “I really think you’re going to like this record.” I put it in and my parents had just invested in this nice Bose sound system and I remember I turned both speakers towards my head and I just wanted to be inside that song. I’ve never had that type of experience where I literally wanted to know every layer. That was the first time I was really moved and I thought, “If I ever make music, I want something that feels this big and just surrounds someone like this.”

Have you seen her live before?

I haven’t. I had tickets to two of her shows. One she canceled a tour and the other, I had to go to my friends Bat Mitzvah and she told me that if I went to Fiona’s show that we would not be friends anymore and it turned out a month after that we were never friends and never spoke again. I went to that Bat Mitzvah and missed Fiona’s show. But you know, it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe one day.

Rumor has it that you met Nathan standing in line to use a porta-potty at Bonnaroo? Is that how it went down?

Yeah it was. He saw me from a distance and made his way to me. He was like, “Who’s the blonde?” Everyone was like, “Don’t even go near her man. She’s too good for you.” But he came near me and he hasn’t really left since so it’s a nice thing.

Are you enjoying married life?

I’m really enjoying married life. It’s great. It’s getting better. You know there are always the growing pains in any relationship; it’s complex. There’s moments when you think this is the pit of despair and then there’s others when it’s heaven on earth but I think that in anything there’s highs and lows. It’s good because for my work I can capture some of those moments and dig into that.

You’ve said that certain songs on this record were difficult to write. Is there anything in particular that you can elaborate on?

There’s just certain lines… There’s some pretty obvious songs that were just really tough times but at the same time if I was going to be honest with myself and the listener, I felt like I needed to write about it because it was a crucial moment in my process as a human. If I left that hole out, it wouldn’t feel honest in me. “Joy is Suspicion” is not a happy song but it’s about hope and loving what could be and all of that.

Did you write about your grandma on the album?

Not directly but in many different lines… There’s a few lines, like Little Spark – “I’ve been looking for you in the dark. Give me just a little spark” is about her. There are little moments of my grandmother and a few songs that didn’t make the album that I’d written about loss. It didn’t make any sense to me that you could love that deep and then it vanishes. That just confused the hell out of me for about six months. It’s pretty intense shit and then you dig into it but I realized energy doesn’t die. If I know anything, that is a fact.

Is it hard for you to sing some of your more emotional material live?

Oh no. I like it! I like sharing that part. It’s why I do it. It’s what moves me when I watch someone. I want to feel like they’re exposing themselves emotionally. When it’s genuine – you know… I think my songwriting is pretty simple. It comes off the page of my journal and it’s simple but it’s direct.

Do you and Nathan ever make any music together?

No we’re just supports systems for now. That’s the plan. He is incredibly supportive of this project and the direction and I’m headed in and could not be any more supportive honestly. It’s actually been a relief because you never know how your partner is going to react when you’re taken away from home by something else. It’s just really lovely that he’s grown into a good man and knows how to respect art and what I’m doing and is just now along for the ride.

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

Somehow, this downtown treasure managed to escape my attention. At least, until last weekend! As I headed uptown from Canal Street, taking side-streets in an effort to avoid Broadway, I walked right by it. Something was gleaming in my peripheral vision, so I turned, & came face-to-face with an enormous painting of Saturday Night Fever-era John Travolta in the window! I stopped & gawped for a minute, then realized that the painting was surrounded by incredible vintage clothing. As if pulled in by a tractor beam, I walked into the store… & gasped.

Allan & Suzi is a genius mix of truly unusual vintage pieces & new designers. The shop contains a fantastic menagerie of fashion history, & is merchandised in a relaxed, unpretentious manner. It’s sort of like stumbling into your mother’s closet, if your mother had been a regular at Studio 54. Allan & Suzi have dressed Madonna, Naomi Campbell & RuPaul; they have primped & preened the likes of Betsey Johnson, the cast of Sex & The City, & Boy George.

From wicked platform boots to golden Mickey Mouse ear hats, this shop has everything you could possibly want, & then some. I spotted seriously bizarre hats, severely bedazzled sunglasses, & a dress worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex & The City. You can only imagine the kind of woman they dress… or buy from!

Allan & Suzi — both the shop itself & the proprietors — are truly infamous among the vintage crowd in New York City. They’ve been in the business for 24 years, which is long for fashion, but even longer for New York! Their original store was on the Upper West Side, & they moved downtown about a year ago.

I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Suzi, but Allan is certainly an unusual character. Aged 70, sporting his large, trademark sunglasses, & with his blonde hair sticking up & out, he’s hard to miss. Allan is also a straight-shooter. If he likes you, he’ll chat to you for hours, frequently patting you on the arm & leading you all over his magnificent store. If he doesn’t like you, well, the Yelp reviews speak for themselves. In fact, the title of this post is taken from one of them!

Allan’s grumpiness verges on legendary. A regular customer of his even created a children’s book detailing the A-Z of things that annoy Allan!

He admitted to me, somewhat sheepishly, that their old location, on the Upper West Side, brought out the worst in him. “This is like a breath of fresh air,” he said of the new premises. “The people down here are so different — it’s just what I needed.”

Hopefully, he will continue collecting, consigning, & castigating careless customers for a long time to come!

Words by Gala Darling (@galadarling). Photos by Lydia Hudgens (@lydiahudgens).

Celebration of the Chinese New Year is a big deal in New York City. Thousands of people gather in downtown Manhattan, crammed along the skinny streets, clutching miniature fireworks. After the parade, families crowd into restaurants, to scoff dumplings & drink tea. It’s no surprise, though: Chinatown in Manhattan is the biggest enclave of Chinese people in the entire Western hemisphere!

On Sunday morning, I wriggled my way into the front of a crowd lining Mott Street to catch a glimpse of the dragon. The gathering was terrifically diverse, with teeny-tiny Chinese girls sitting on their fathers’ shoulders, solemn-looking senior citizens, & slightly confused tourists! As we waited for the festivities to begin, the quiet murmur of the crowd would be punctuated by a wicked snap-crackle-pop, & an explosion of glitter & confetti from a popper would fly up into the sky. A man carrying rainbow-hued cotton candy walked up & down the crowded pathways. Mickey Mouse, Cookie Monster, & a man in drag with a bright green beard walked the parade route, presumably to entertain us while we waited…

Suddenly, the drums started to play, & the dragons followed. Lurching towards us & soaring over the crowd, they fluttered their big eyes at us & darted from side to side. Everyone reached out to touch the dragons, tried to call them over & get closer. In Chinese culture, they believe that loud drums combined with dragons dancing can defeat evil spirits. It’s a way of cleansing before the new year!

Flocks of girls in traditional costume walked past, followed by a gathering of families with adopted Chinese children. There were balloons, Chinese & American flags, & Snoopy made an appearance, too.  Every new float or gaggle of people elicited excited cheers from the crowd, even when Chuck Schumer — New York Senator — came past. A Chinese woman walked beside him, talking into his ear, & he would repeat whatever she said into a bullhorn!

It was surreal & delightful. A lot of us in the crowd had no idea who most of the people were, or even what their signs said, but we cheered anyway. It just felt right, & so good to be there!  We all went home with happy hearts & confetti in our hair.

From New York City to wherever you are: 吉慶有餘 ! Or, may your happiness be without limit!

Words by Gala Darling (@galadarling). Photos by Lydia Hudgens (@lydiahudgens).

As guests arrived, they were greeted by a second story balcony performance of Free Jazz: Something Else! based on Something Else! The Calder Quartet was up next, playing the music of Arnold Schoenberg on violins, a viola, and cello.

The evening consisted of 8 motel rooms of various musical expression. Our favorites were as follows:

Room 16: The Los Angeles Free Music Society: Pyramid Headphones, 1976. People sat around on the hotel room bed and placed black cardboard pyramids on top of their heads. The pyramids were rigged up with speakers and each one produced a unique electronic racket. I tried to get away with merely observing but quickly changed my mind when a participant handed me a pyramid and insisted that I give it a whirl. With the cardboard on my head, I heard a mixture of beeps and twangs and the gentleman next to me yelling “Aren’t the colors beautiful?” I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about but it sure sounded cool.

Robert Wilhite: Bob Wilhite in Concert, 1975 occupied Room 9. Visitors were invited to pick up the motel phone and dial “106” to call another room and hear a performance. Every person who participated was treated to a different experience.

Room 8 featured Bruce Nauman, Violin Turned D.E.A.D., 1969. This was a replication of Nauman’s practice of incorporating boredom, exhaustion, and the superimposition of unlike systems into art and music. The room was occupied by an extremely focused violinist who played the D, E, A, D notes for an entire hour.

John Cage, Variations IV, 1963 took place in Room 25. Here, guests were encouraged to participate in making various musical sounds with a variety of ‘instruments.’ As Scott Benzel sat on a bed playing around with a laptop, people stood in the corner and ran a crystal over a cactus, which was hooked up to a speaker system. As the interactive exhibit continued. People changed the television channels to create new background noises.

Welcome Inn Time Machine gave Southern Californians the change to relive some of the most bizarre, unique, and cutting edge moments in experimental music history. It also made many reexamine the way that they look at household objects. I know I’m now tempted to add a cactus to my musical instrument collection. Those thorns make wicked sounds!

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon).

On the tail end of his Tour de Roses—a sort of reinvention procession that’s featured a host of new material from not one but two purported LPs due this year—the Trinidad-born and Brooklyn-raised rapper wasn’t just one of music’s biggest stories. He was a fashion icon as well. The aforementioned Cole Haan collabo was just the beginning. He’s been in bed with Bushmills, and those varsity jackets he and his crew are rocking on stage in these photos from their Detroit show come courtesy of a partnership with Nike. His age? He’ll turn 25 this month.

London is a mixed bag of emotion. Dizzyingly creative, an interview with him can run the gamut from esoteric to sociopolitical. Sometimes he speaks in hurried, disjointed fragments, other times he can wax philosophical about a specific designer’s fall collection in ways that are so focused you’d think he was renting space in the designer’s head. And don’t get him started on Michael. He’s got a special place in his heart for the King of Pop.

“You can see all different references on my Tumblr,” says London. “I might post a photo or a Marvin [Gaye] song. But you know, I have no problem if people can’t quantify my catalog when all is said and done. I want people to only think of Theophilus London when they think of me. I might wear a Michael Jackson shirt because I love that guy in spirit, but I’m not gonna compare myself to him. I’m not gonna copy those guys. They were the greatest to me, and I just want to take their spirit and their soul and learn off their whole career. There are too many fake Michael Jacksons out there.”

Very true, and if London keeps up his accelerated, high profile trajectory, there will be a surplus of Theophilus pretenders out there vying for his number one spot.

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill). Photos by Joe Gall (@JoeGallPhoto).

Describe the overall Mother of London aesthetic.

I reckon Mother of London is pretty easy to spot- I don’t think I’ve ever designed a collection in my entire life that hasn’t incorporated gloves and a high collar, for instance – largely consisting of tailored and fully encasing garments, with a very deliberate nod to alternative culture. We’re primarily known for our leather work.

You’ll be releasing a number of t-shirts, which is a big step away from your usual intricate construction and stiff materials. Can you talk about that process?

I wanted to have a few basic pieces, like T-shirts and daywear, that would be a bit more attainable and practical than the usual Mother of London contraptions, but I didn’t want to just screen print a bunch of T-shirts, either. The garments are a custom cut of our own designs and the knit we’re working with is custom custom dyed. I had to spend some time learning knitwear basics and sourcing the right people and products to make this happen, and I’m most chuffed with the results.

This line is several years in the making – what’s was the final push that motivated you to take the final steps and make it a reality?

It was always the intention to make a ready-to-wear line, but a lot of resources go into making an entirely new line and the usual Mother of London tailoring and costuming side of the business has consumed most of those resources. This is where my former assistant, Jessica Darwin, stepped in and made it happen. I couldn’t have done this without her.

Does moving to and living in Los Angeles influence your work?

Although I don’t think it’s influenced me creatively, in terms of motivation and support it’s been fantastic. Los Angeles is a city full of people who get stuff done, and that spirit is totally lacking in London. So far, LA has been encouragingly enthusiastic about the London bleakness that is Mother of London, which was a nice surprise.

What do you anticipate for the near future of MoL?

It’s difficult to say, but I’m happy for things to continue going in the direction they are. 2011 was a fantastic year.

And finally – do you have a dream client, living or otherwise?

Janet Jackson!

Keep your eyes glued to the official Mother of London Facebook page over the next few weeks and follow @mildredvon on Twitter for the launch announcement.

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb (@Zoetica)

ChinaShop caught up with Wallpaper. following their recent stop in LA. Check out the interview after the jump:

How do you describe your sound?

“Loud fun and weird. No genres, just happiness and power and freedom.”

Tell us what people can expect from a live Wallpaper show…

“All of the above. Plus Novena Carmel.”

What is the story behind you being called Wallpaper?

“Pop music is Wallpaper. Background noise with boring patterns and colors.”

How did you all get together?

“One by one, in different ways. Novena is actually my stepsister. Arjun I met in the war. Derek and I opened up a coffee shop together in the ’80s and Tom is my uncle.”

What is something about your music that makes you different from other artists out there today?

“It’s ‘music-al.’ I also say what I want to for real real. Too many artists are just forcing out hot garbage about cold garbage.”

What are your musical guilty pleasures?

“None are guilty. I like what I like and can back it all up!”

We came across a cool video of you performing at a pool part at The Standard in downtown LA. Are these typical Wallpaper gigs?

“Yeah I get down with a lot of those type of intimate situation gigs – house parties and what not. Never too good to not have a stage.”

What’s the coolest gig you’ve ever played?

“Wow. They get cooler and cooler so the more recent are always the best. Headlining Great American Music Hall San Francisco and The El Rey in LA were pretty special for me.”

I read something about you having a past crush on Al from Step by Step…was in the tomboy thing?

“Wow! Researchin’ me dog! I dunno she just had it goin’ on for me at that time. Something about a girl in denim overalls you know!”

Your albums have had some interesting titles. Can you explain the significance of Doodoo Face, #STUPiDFACEDD, etc…

“#STUPiDFACEDD is just a state of mind. It’s not a face. Doodoo Face is more of a face than a state of mind. But yeah I should prob not use the word ‘face’ in my next album. ‘ALBUMFACE.’”

What is your preshow drink of choice?

“Mix whiskey and champagne (The James Murphy) ain’t bad. The Hobo (Red Wine and Coke). The Angry Hobo (Four Loko).”

Worst decision you ever made prior to taking the stage to perform?

“Drinking all aforementioned drinks.”

What makes the best Wallpaper audience?

“People who are comfortable with themselves and do what they wanna do!”

Anything else we should know about Wallpaper?

“Yeah, but I can’t put it in writing.”

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

As part of the ongoing celebration of the birth of the L.A. art scene, LAXART transformed The Standard’s parking garage into a dynamic performance art gallery. The project was a collaborative effort by Warren Neidich and Elena Bajo and included a group of locally recognized artists who came together to create this “choreography on wheels.” To the artists, the parking garage represented a site of unlimited temporal potential “where multiple times and spaces collide.”

After entering The Standard, we were escorted to the back of the hotel and sent down an industrial flight of stairs. We walked through the door and into the parking garage to find over 20 artists in action. Every parking space had it’s own artistic twist. Here were some of our favorites:

Coolidge Night One: We caught up with Gracie DeVito (daughter of Danny DeVito who was spotted checking out her performance) who collaborated with 3 of her CalArts friends – Tyler Matthew Ower, Clay Gibson, and Tom Curitore to convert an SUV into a 21st century music box in which they used to act out a variety of scripted performances. Gracie gave us a basic rundown of the project:

“This is a reiteration of a performance we did in Chinatown which was very improvised. Now we’re kind of taking the key moments – it ended up as this sort of birthday party theme and we have a score that we put together that is about 15 minutes long. We go thru different acts and play them out. There is a Western theme, a bar – It’s a very Hollywood kind of movie theme. There’s a make out scene. There’s a Donna Summers song/birthday cake epic moment and a finale.”

Before we moved onto our next exhibit, “The Coolidge,” as the foursome calls themselves, grabbed their fish tacos and gave us their best gangster pose in front of the car.

Japanese Gardening in a Parking Space: In honor of her grandfather, artist Sydney Cooper filled her parking space up with sand and performed a raking ceremony in which she created replicas of Japanese gardens.

Sydney told us that she used her parking space as a tribute to her family and their artistic heritage. “This is a site specific show about Los Angeles and when I think about Los Angeles, I think about my family. This is in honor of my grandfather and also my father who was a contemporary artist. He worked with a lot of resins and glass and reflective surfaces so in a way this piece is sort of an integration of acknowledging that – an ‘impermanent performance’ as he would call it.

Sydney joked that this was her first time doing this, in a parking lot nonetheless. “One of the things that I did first was I got on my hands and knees and cleaned this space to prepare it.”

The Sub Standard: Tova Carlin, Ania Diakoff, and Katerina Llanes collaborated together to create a faux real hotel room with re-enacted social relations. Inside several parking spaces, these artists set up a replica of a posh hotel suit – a bed sat in the corner with plush bathrobes placed on top. A couple interacted on a futon while people filtered in and out of the suite.

Packing a Parking Space: Johanna Reed and Marc Horowitz invited as many friends as they could to cram into their parking space. The duo hoped to beat the record for the most people occupying one parking space throughout history. We’ll have to check the Guinness World Records to see if they passed but definitely seemed to have a blast trying!

A Sacred Space: Mathilde Rosier and Mathilde Ter Heyne turned their parking space into a sanctuary where visitors were invited to kneel upon a cushion, open up a letter, and read a secret message. In addition to reading undisclosed text, people who stopped by the space were treated to an unidentified atmospheric fragrance. We caught a glimpse of a gentleman sniffing the air and commenting to his friends that the smell “was just glorious.”

Thanks to Art in The Parking Spaces, we will never look at a parking garage as anything but a blank canvas from this point on…

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

KROQ is where I first heard Blink 182 back in the late ’90s, and then “The Adventure,” your first single with Angels & Airwaves, back in 2006. Why has this been such a special place for your music?

Tom DeLonge: Rock ‘n’ roll has had such a troubled history over the past decade or two. A lot of things were changing in the marketplace, so a lot of stations were changing their path. KROQ always stayed true to what it was doing; always playing hard rock music and cool alternative. [To have] someone that was supporting the kind of music that I loved and the kind of music that I was doing [and] to come back with another band so many years later and still be so relevant and important is really reassuring. It gives you comfort in the fact that rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t go away so easily.

It’s interesting to watch how your punk roots come through in this band’s format, especially with you not having a guitar in front of you the whole time. You can be a bit more of a showman. What’s it like to have that approach?

Tom DeLonge: It’s important for me and something I wanted to do with this band, but not specifically because I wanted to be out in front. Most bands do that where it’s like, “Dude, I wanna get rid of my guitar so I can get out there and be the frontman.” It’s nerve-wracking for me to have to do that because I’ve always been safe behind my guitar. In this band it allows me to concentrate a little bit more on singing and delivering that message. A lot of what we do in Angels & Airwaves has a message and a reason and a spirituality, so with me being able to come out without a guitar, I get to engage the audience a little bit more and I really enjoy it. When you’re always playing guitar, sometimes you can’t sing what you want; it’s the rubbing your stomach and patting your head thing. So it gives me a lot more freedom melodically.

With everyone’s schedules, how do you guys find a way to put out so many albums and work on so many projects?

Tom DeLonge: We’ve just hit our stride, and it’s really easy for us to do things and be ambitious. We’re all aligned, we delegate responsibilities really well, we communicate really well, and we support each other. I’m able to go off and try to get a movie in order while one guy is getting the show ready and another guy is working on fan club stuff. Everyone is always working, and we hang out every day at our headquarters. One guy could be sanding and spray-painting guitars, another guy could be building a drum riser. We take every minute we have to do something, and music is by far the easiest thing for us, especially now that we have a sound that we’ve identified.

It’s almost like an art project.

Tom DeLonge: It’s totally an art project.

And the albums are just the start. There are films and soundtracks and multimedia projects, but it seems like, given the subject matter of this band, it couldn’t have gone any other way.

Tom DeLonge: Yeah, and I knew it was going to take a long time for it to be digested. I think at first people were like, “What are you doing? What are you talking about? Love? Yeah, that’s cool.” But it’s love as a science fiction film, thematically paralleled with human consciousness and all these grand themes. I knew the investment it would take with a normal listener, but once they get it, they can spend so much time diving into it to understand the entire concept. We’re already working on two more films. The idea is every album with a film, plus the ability to have really interesting pieces of merchandise that are collectible and have a fan club that’s vibrant and engaged and have shows that communicate these themes with these properties we’ve created. Weird shit, man. We have so much stuff. It’s a very large collaboration. Angels & Airwaves is the band, but the company is called To The Stars. That’s our big art project.

It’s a slow burn, definitely.

Tom DeLonge: We’re trying to accomplish something a band would do in 34 years in 10 years time, but we’re also trying to have something that can pull in people from all different types of interests. We even have a conspiracy news site called StrangeTimes.com that’s all weird interesting alternative headlines from around the globe.

So what does that accelerated timeline mean for 2012?

Tom DeLonge: Now that we have our team in place and the film is being released regionally, the plan is to break apart the globe in regions and put the band on the mainstream map little by little and set up the next film, because that one is going to be way more ambitious. By that time we hope to dominate the world…not in a German way, but in a beautiful way. (Laughs)

The patches and iconography that you guys have on stage and are wearing for this album remind me a lot of what Zeppelin did on their fourth album.

Tom DeLonge: It’s funny. I wasn’t the biggest Zeppelin fan but I started really getting into them this year because Ilan, our drummer, is so into them. Zeppelin was never my thing. I wasn’t exposed to it. I was only into punk rock for so long. So when I saw that I was like, “They do that to? Fuck, I ripped them off and I didn’t mean to!” (Laughs) But there’s a lot of esoteric symbology with our band, and it’s all for a purpose. There’s a big world for fans to jump into, and different things resonate with different people.

They’re rooted in two different eras, but the tie that binds Blink and Angels is that they were—and are—both very DIY at their core.

Tom DeLonge: Super DIY. We did a video for a song called “Hallucinations” and I’m walking toward the camera and singing and it’s this beautiful shot, but if you look at the making of the video, David our guitar player and Matt our bass player are pushing the van, the engine is off, and I can hear the music coming out of a tiny computer. The director has this little handheld camera you can buy at Best Buy and he’s sitting on the back of the van with the doors open. It looks epic, but when you look at the scene, you see band members sweating and pushing this van by hand. We just go out the same way we did when we were kids with a skateboard and you say, “Let’s go off and film a skate video!” That’s how we do it, and it’s awesome and fun!

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon).