This past Thursday, December 22 was a sneak peak of “Art Show 2011,” the follow up by infamous street artist Thierry Guetta (AKA “Mr. Brainwash”) to his 2008 art show, “Life Is Beautiful.” Guetta is most known for his controversial role in the 2011 Oscar-nominated docudrama, “Exit Through The Gift Shop,” directed by renowned street artist, Banksy.
When I was fifteen years old, I stood in front of the Mona Lisa. I stood there— hands in the pockets of my jeans, my head cocked slightly to the side—and I looked; I looked and I waited. I wanted to be changed by it. I waited for some sort of enlightenment. But, for me, it remained empty. I waited for about five minutes; then I walked away.
What makes a piece of art worthy of consideration? What makes it of value? What draws us in? Often, it is a sense of resonance; resonance with elementary emotional images deeply ingrained within us.
This year’s Culture Collide was so packed that we resorted to conducting our interview with Mette Lindberg from The Asteroids Galaxy Tour in the corner of a parking lot. Lindberg didn’t mind. She plopped a squat in her shiny gold sequined leggings right on the asphalt and told us all about the inspiration behind The Asteroids Galaxy Tour lyrics and the magical world that she creates with her musical partner in crime, Lars Iversen.
When heads were quickly turned, we had Lindberg plop on top of a motorcycle in her fantastic glittery gold outfit for an impromptu parking lot photo shoot. She was a good sport, initially concerned about the bike falling over or getting beat up by its most likely musclebound owner, but happily played along. The best shot of all was when Lindberg asked if it was OK if we photographed her “listening to the motorcycle’s heartbeat.”
Check out our feature interview with Lindberg below:
With an array of critically acclaimed albums under their belt, The Sounds were ready for a new challenge. When the Swedish rock quartet stepped into the studio to undertake their fourth full-length album, “Something To Die For,” they decided to tackle things on their own. The disc, which is said to be the band’s best endeavor yet, was not only produced entirely by The Sounds, but also written and recorded in their personal studio.
Since it’s April 2011 release, catching The Sounds live has been on the top of everyone’s ‘To Do’ list. It’s been 2 years since the band’s last United States tour and Americans couldn’t be happier with the newest material.
Prior to The Sound’s recent show in Los Angeles, ChinaShop caught up with Felix Rodriguez to discuss taking the plunge and recording on their own, international surfing, and drinking crappy coffee in American diners.
Ximena Sariñana is no stranger to the spotlight. The twenty five year old daughter of a screenwriting mother and director/producer father became a household name in Mexico after appearing in prominent films and telenovelas. After a successful childhood acting career, Sariñana set off to pursue her true passion of writing and performing songs. Her Latin music career quickly catalyzed, earning her placement on the Billboard Latin Album Chart and three Latin Grammy Nominations for Best New Artist, Best Alternative Song, and Producer of the Year. She was also the only Latin artist to appear on the iTunes Best 10 Albums of 2008 Chart.
Sariñana’s latest endeavor is her self-titled English solo debut, a record that has earned her the title of VH1’s “Latest You Oughta Know Artist.” SPIN Magazine included her in their list of “Best Albums of 2011…So Far,” and she’s been nominated for MTV Iggy’s 2011 Best New “Bands in The World Award.”
ChinaShop sat down with Sariñana prior to her Culture Collide Festival performance to discuss how badly Americans have been butchering the pronunciation of her name (Her official bio provides a vowel by vowel description: hi-MEN-a sa-rin-YAH-na). We also talked about her first band being called “Happy Un Birthday” as well as how her latest adventures in cooking have left her with several battle wounds.
One of the most anticipated shows at this year’s Culture Collide Festival was the performance by Norway’s disco Viking, Lindstrom. A legend in his hometown, Peter Lindstrom had a unique rise to what many refer to as the founder of “space disco.” In an interview with ChinaShop, Lindstrom discusses how he went from a young lad who grew up listening to Johnny Cash and Hank Williams in the oil fields of Norway to a notorious dance music producer and record label owner. He also jokes about how his one Los Angeles mission was to try a sip of java from Intelligentsia Coffee, which was recommended to him by the staff of his favorite caffeine house in Oslo.
We’ve seen some dedicated fans arrive to venues early for concerts, but nothing like the scene outside The Wiltern for last week’s Anberlin show. It was two and a half hours prior to show time and the line wrapped around the venue twice! Sifting to the front of that to located the band’s tour manager was an adventure in itself and we were glad to be safely inside the venue and away from the masses come interview time.
When we finally caught up with Anberlin frontman Stephen Christian, he had just cooled off from being the brunt of a budding prank war between his touring mates in Atomic Tom. He had apparently done something to get on Atomic Tom’s bad side as the need for them to dump water all over his leather jacket and stage ready hair was a necessary measure. “I’m not sure how I’m planning to retaliate but rest assured, it’s going to happen,” says Christian.
During our sit down chat with Christian, he explains why you shouldn’t listen to Anberlin while lying on the beach with a bottle of wine, that he always loses when gambling, and that a tour in Singapore comes with a necessity for bodyguards.
Long revered (and reviled) as the most dysfunctional funk band that ever was, Fishbone recently celebrated 30+ years of kidnappings, mental illness, and alcoholism with a concert at Amoeba to pimp the release of their tell-all documentary Everyday Sunshine.
gToy designers, artists, and collectors kicked off the holiday season by heading to DesignerCon 2011. With over 100 booths and giveaways, attendees had everything from plushie toilet paper rolls to monster lollipops to drool over. Designers such as Baby Tattoo, Loyal Subjects, Frankenfactory, MIXO, Pretty in Plastic, SpankyStokes, Squid Kids, DKI, Super 7, Artransmitte, ESC Toys, iCovers4u, JazzyDan, Blacklist Studios, and Fugitive Toys manned tables full of unusual goodies. Fans lined up as doors to the public opened around 10am for the chance to nab one of the many 2011 DCon exclusives. Art enthusiasts tried their hand at sketching live anime models while raffle winners engaged in ferocious games of Rock-Paper-Scissors for a chance to walk away with a coveted souvenir.
Here were a few of the highlights:
Ronnie Radke has some very loyal fans. The former Escape The Fate frontman told KROQ DJs during this week’s Red Bull Sound Space performance that he was shocked that his fans waited patiently while he finished out a 2 ½ year prison sentence. While landing some time in the slammer isn’t exactly a preferred stop along the path of life, Ronnie made the best of it. As he finished up his sentence, he received hoards of letters from his many admirers, which prompted him to seriously reflect upon his life, past addictions, and goals for the future. Thoughts became lyrics and lyrics turned into songs and ultimately material for Ronnie’s novel musical endeavor, Falling in Reverse.