For the past few months, if you tried to dig up any information on Crosses — Chino Moreno’s latest project with Far guitarist Shaun Lopez and a mysterious Clint Eastwood-type guitar-slinger named Chuck –  you’d find next to nothing. There might be a reason for that: Crosses isn’t Deftones-ish at all. And it ain’t really even remotely Far-esque. It’s an unorthodox but heady mix of trip-hop, jazz, and some touches of that Northern California brand of hard rock they helped pioneer.

But days ago Chino dropped five free downloads of the Crosses project onto his Facebook page. Here’s an interview we got with the guys last month, when the album was still being mixed in Red Bull Studios.

This project only sprung up a few months ago. How did you guys all meet?

Chino Moreno: I remember I mentioned to (Shaun) one day when we were hanging out, y’know, “we should make a record together,”it just so happened that when I move to LA I ended up living a few blocks away from him. I was down here working on recording some vocals with Shaun. We just clicked. We listened to a lot of the same music. We’ve always worked well together. With this project  in particular, I met chuck (pro) over at Shaun’s house. Chuck was working on some of his solo stuff. I don’t know when they started working together, but they said they were working on a project together and asked if I was interested in contributing vocals. Whenever they were working, Id just ride my bike over there. A couple different times, I was just like “Let me try singing on this,” and they were like, “Ok, cool.” I’d just go in and throw in a bunch of ideas. Pretty soon they got rid of the idea of getting a bunch of different singers together. We just started working on the record together. And any time I had a break, I’d just head on over there to see what was going on and stuff. This started maybe 9 months ago, and I’d been on tour for a year and a half. I’d just spend some time over at his studio when I could.

Is there somebody who’s a sort of designated songwriter?

Chino: You’d have to ask these guys about that. Most of the songs were written before I came in. I just talked to them and said, y’know, “I really like this, can I sing on it?” I know Chuck will come in with a bunch of chord progressions. He’ll send me a couple chord progressions, with w really lo-fi beat going on, and you can pretty much hear the beat in there, and send it to me, sort of like “See what you can come up with for this.” And him and Shaun will work on laying out the rest of the music. When he gives you a copy of the music, do you pretty much get an idea of what to sing. Shaun says that when he’s writing a lot of the time, he already has in mind what I’m going to sing, and will sometimes plan it around that.  It almost seems like, I’m right there with it. I’m never overwhelmed, like, “wow, what am I going to do with this?” It just seems pretty natural. I”ll just go in and throw out melodies.

Shaun Lopez: When we knew we were writing these songs for him, then it became a lot easier. We would put down a couple of tracks and not. Sometimes Chuck would come in with a crazy bassline and the original idea was just to have it be a little segue to the next song. We chopped it all up, put a beat on it, and chopped sections out of the bass, and we started thinking, hey, we have another MIA record kind of thing. And Chino would say, “Oh, I got this,” and throw it into the mix of things.

Chuck : Basically what happened was that I moved to LA a couple years ago from the East coast, and pretty much just be accident ran into these guys. It was just lucky that I met him — I was a session player sitting in for some dude who was a friend of his and Shaun came in.

Chuck, no offense, but you’re the only one involved in this who’s not a ‘name player’, for lack of a better term. What and how did you contribute?

Chuck: Well I was mostly an instrumental musician, sort of like a dub/jazz/rock guy. I’ve always lived on the East Coast, and getting back to the process, I’ll start with something that’s almost like a sample, and it’s a piece of music that never makes it onto (the album). It’s just like a spark of creativity that sets things going. I The sketch of the whole thing gets laid out, and everybody jumps in. That’s pretty much the process — it’s pretty organic. It just happens

Is there a certain East Coast scene, a vibe you feel you brought with you?

Chuck: I guess the Florida one, definitely. I guess just because we all shared certain influences, and the influences we had in common — and the ones we didn’t share, we wanted to know about.

Chino: Chuck definitely got me into a bunch of stuff I’d never really had the chance to listen to before. I started really digging it. And now, I totally hear that influence, and it kind of just happens. A lot of the time people will make a conscious effort, y’know I want it to sound like this band and this band and that band.” When we started out, the only thing I remember saying is that “maybe we should make a couple of uptempo joints, so the whole album isn’t quite so sad.”We didn’t want to make it all one dimensional. Music wise, influence wise, it all just sort of happened. With Deftones and me, the best stuff we make is the stuff that isn’t formulated, — the stuff is better when it naturally comes out.

I always figured that with The Deftones, it was all you guys strictly composing. I don’t know why, it just gave me that vibe…

Chino: We never started out that way, but we never allowed ourselves to get that way either. We kinda would just hit a spot we didn’t like, and we’d work to figure it out. The best songs kind of make themselves. Those are when the best songs are made, when everything’s free-form.

How is the tour going to work? You guys are known for pretty much being T-shirts and jeans and playing shows like Warped, but are you going to have to sport certain outfits more suited to the sound? Or do you care?

Shaun: We have yet to think about playing live. But even beyond hyping the music up, we want it to come out and see how different people react to it. As far as press, this is the first interview we’ve done. Explaining your music, and this especially is very difficult. We  could name influences, but even then people get the wrong idea. I think we just kind of want to release it and see what happens. If there’s a demand for us to play a show, we’ll play a show.

Chino: I don’t have any plans to change. I’ve been wearing pretty much the same shoes and shirts for the past 15 years, and I have no plans to change.

What are the bands you guys did have in common? As far as influences?

Chino: Well, if we talk about influences, people get the wrong idea…

Chuck: There’s nothing that we really don’t like, I dunno. Chino can really just get down with some cheesy Top 40 pop songs…

Chino: And again, Chuck got me into all sorts of different music. He really has a vast library of stuff. Miles Davis, Coltrane…he got me into a lot of stuff I’d always wanted to hear…

As far as release date, can you give us a clue as to when it’s going to be out in its entirety, and what’s gonna be on it?

Chino: We pretty much got about 16 songs that we’re working on, and that we’ve committed to the record. That’s a lot for me. When The Deftones write a record, we write 12 songs, and we put 12 songs on the record. But a lot of the stuff we write will never get used. But it will spark the idea for a song and  we can go from there. We’re talking about doing maybe like 4 EPs, 4 songs each, and just putting them out in parts.

Words by Jeff Nau. Photos by Sidney Bensimon.

Two years ago, Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor were commiserating over burritos about the sorry state of the global economy, when they decided it would probably be best to shift the topic to something a bit less depressing. As fate would have it, their respective roommates had both come home with snippets of prose from Mark Twain, William Faulkner and Herman Melville tattooed on their bodies. One year later, Talmadge and Taylor are the proud parents of a beautiful, 192-page book full of literary tattoos and the equally colorful stories behind how they came about. Entitled The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos From Bookworms Worldwide, the book documents what they viewed as a growing trend in body art: a natural progression from text on the page to text on the body. (Check out a trailer for the book here, then pick up your own copy at Amazon.) We had a digital sit-down with Eva to talk about some of her favorite pieces, as well as get the inside scoop on her next book, which you could very well be a part of.

What was your first tattoo? Can you tell me the story behind it?

Eva Talmadge: Oh man, I was hoping not to have to answer this question, but okay! My first tattoo was a Fred Perry wreath, right on the back of my neck. I was 17 when I got it, madly obsessed with traditional ska, old punk, and old reggae. You can guess what sort of trouble that was leading me into. At the same time, weirdo punk kid that I was, I was also into Russian literature—to whatever extent I could understand Russian novels at the time—and decided it would be a good idea to escape my hometown punk scene (in Miami) for a couple months as a foreign exchange student in Moscow. That was an insane idea, but the highlight of the trip was meeting Yura, a 16-year-old from Moldovia who was as crazy about Janet Jackson as I was about ska. Maybe even more so. He was progressively getting copies of all her tattoos on various parts of his body, corresponding to their locations on her body. The “shop” itself was in a storeroom at the back of a clothing store that catered to the rave scene—platform boots, spiked collars and everything rubber—which we had to roll our eyes at. The tattoo artist didn’t blink when Yura explained what he wanted, but he laughed at me when I explained, in crappy Russian, what I wanted him to do. “An advertisement?” he asked. “Yes,” I said. A little stupid, looking back, to tattoo a logo on oneself, but I can’t say I regret it.

When your book, The Word Made Flesh, started to really come to fruition and you were getting lots of submissions, did you have any revelations about the subject matter? Obviously you go into something like this expecting a certain response or level of engagement, but what were the surprises?

Eva Talmadge: Justin might answer this question differently, being a literary person and not a tattooed person, but as someone who’s spent years in and out of tattoo shops and hanging out with similarly tattooed friends, I have to say nothing surprised me. A Harry Potter logo on someone’s neck? Sure. A full back piece featuring Jack Kerouac or Adorno? Hell, yes. I’ll admit I was surprised to see not one but two John Berryman tattoos come in—a stanza from The Dream Songs on one person and his portrait on another. Beyond that, perhaps the only thing that surprised me was the sheer number of literary tattoos out there. And they’re still coming in! There’s so many we can post a new one on our blog just about every day.

Of all the people you collaborated with for the book, which piece stands out the most?

Eva Talmadge: I’d be breaking hearts if I picked favorites, but Jamie “Scapegoat” Garvey of Gainesville, Florida definitely has one of the best stories to go with his tattoo. It’s a line from e. e. cummings—“How do you like your blue-eyed boy, Mr. Death?”—that he copied off of Harry Crews. As for how Jamie came to become friends with Crews, and how the man—famous writer and notorious recluse—reacted to the copied tattoo. Well, you’ll have to read his story in “The Word Made Flesh” to find out.

Can you tell me a little about Justin and the role he’s played in this process?

Eva Talmadge: Justin Taylor is a super talented fiction writer—his first novel, “The Gospel Of Anarchy,” comes out February 8th—and a pretty serious nonfiction writer as well. We met as undergrads in a writing workshop at the University of Florida, taught by none other than David Leavitt. Justin ran a creative writing group out of his house back then, but all I seem to remember is that there was a lot of drinking going on. We became friends a few years later when we both came to New York. The tattoo book got started by accident. We were in Williamsburg eating burritos and griping about the crappy economy back in 2009 when we decided to change the subject to the new tattoos our roommates were coming home with. Faulkner on one of mine, Twain and Melville on one of his. And so the book was born.

Tell me a bit about the new book project you’re working on.

Eva Talmadge: Right now I’m putting together a sequel to “The Word Made Flesh,” tentatively called “The Words to Every Song,” about music and band tattoos, especially song lyric tattoos. I’m actively looking for tattoos at the moment, with an eye toward finishing the book late this year and seeing it published in 2012. The format will be very similar; a gorgeous, full-color catalog of some of the best, most awesome, and most shocking music tattoos I can find, with statements from the tattoo collectors themselves about their ink. Why they fell in love with a particular band, what music means to them.

Obviously this new book isn’t just about showing off music-related tattoos. What makes the subject matter equally intriguing are the stories behind those tattoos, right?

Eva Talmadge: Absolutely. Both books are photo-driven, to be sure, and the first reason anyone picks up “The Word Made Flesh” is for the eye candy inside. But Justin and I are writers, and these books wouldn’t happen without a lot of good storytelling, too. The stories may be presented as captions to the photos, but they’re no less important. So yes, as with the first book, I’m looking for stories to go with all the pictures in “The Words to Every Song.”

How can people get in touch with you if they’ve got a story to share?

Eva Talmadge: Drop me an e-mail at tattoolit@gmail.com and attach as many photos as you want. I love attachments. The bigger the better. High-resolution, like 2000 pixels across, is ideal.

Interview by Rich Thomas. Photos courtesy of Eva Talmadge.

The two gentlemen you see before you are Graham Funke and StoneRokk. Like Mixmaster and Long Haul (of the infamous Constructicons posse), they are strong and capable individuals known to shake the floor and break ground. And like their transforming robot counterparts, they form a devastating mix of talent and dexterity when joined together. They are The Captains of Industry, silver-tongued mixologists whose reverence for party rocking and true school DJ skills may only be matched by their love of irony, eyewear and well groomed facial hair. In 2010, they brought you some of the illest DJ mixes on the planet: Ditch Fridays and Trabajo, both of which can be downloaded here. In 2011, they will bless you with a whole lot more.

The venerable Captains took some time out of their busy yule-logging and egg-nogging schedules to chat with us about Money Shots, $6,000 coats, and what it takes to put fickle Vegas and LA crowds in the palm of your hand. Read on, my friends. Read on.

I seem to notice a distinct nautical theme on the Captains of Industry website. When was the last time you guys were “on a boat?”

The Captains: We spend more time on “aeroplanes” than any watercraft, a circumstance rife with downsides, the most unfortunate being that we have no influence over who flies with us. So we choose to let that which we strive to more readily attain—an abundance of leisure, for instance—dictate that which defines us. We are not the first to do so, though the way in which we present ourselves falls perfectly into step with those who have done it best. A simple answer to your question would be “We are on a boat as much as possible,” but given our obligations, we must compensate with aged scotch, a fine briar, and a good book in many cases. It’s the projection of the “captain” that captures the imagination. And everybody loves seamen.

Graham, I read somewhere that Sting dug your set so much at Forty Deuce in Vegas that he asked you to make him a mix? How did all that go down? Did you make it, and did you toss any Police tunes on there?

Graham Funke: If Kanye West ever said anything pertinent, it’s that he speaks in colors and the journalist repeats it in black & white; the news item you are referring to is a bit queered. Sting did indeed ask if I would make him a mix, though I simply supplied him with our current mix CD, which was laden with rock anyway. I have DJed a few of Sting’s soirees over the years, and I tend to always avoid playing songs by the Police. We find that the more legendary the artist, the less they enjoy hearing their own jams in that kind of environment. Prince, for instance, has informed us before that he will leave if any of his music is played while present. Meanwhile, you have some rappers and many new rock bands asking the DJ for their singles the second they step in the club. But you take someone like Mick Jagger—who has been in Forty Deuce—and if I drop “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” while he’s there, every eye in the joint goes directly to him to see what his reaction  to hearing his own song is. As someone who is getting a lot of attention already, I’m sure it’s the last thing he wants. And I try to be sensitive to that. This isn’t “Vanilla Sky.” It’s not “Inception.”

I know it’s kinda a played out argument, but every year I rap out with a DJ friend of mine about how “awesome” these new tools and programs are for mixing records. (I think the last thing he tried to push on me was the new deejay iPad app.) I know I’m kinda in the minority, but having an algorithm mix my tunes is like having some other dude do all my “heavy petting” when I’m getting down with a chick. Seriously, though, do you subscribe to the argument that you can never really (really) be a true DJ until/unless you can mix records and have that rhythmical connection with two pieces of music playing in synergy? Maybe Mike can answer this one?

The Captains: It doesn’t matter what technology yields. The primary goal of a DJ is to create a cohesion among songs to maximize the manipulation of your audience. Every night we must find a way to get these people in the palm of our hand. It involves a philosophy that requires years of field work, in addition to multiple investments of emotion. There will never be any machine, no series of 1′s and 0′s, that can replicate that. At least not before 2012 when the world ends, which we are counting on.

What does it take to really have a good, solid, credible career in the Hollywood DJ world? Is overexposure ever a bad thing?

The Captains: Things are different now than when we were cutting our teeth in Hollywood. The very style that defined us is what drove the importation of LA-based DJs into the other markets. At a certain point, sometime just after the turn of the century, there was a void of these DJs in Hollywood, most of whom had taken to the road, which forced the next wave of DJs to rely less on our influence and more on the resources at their disposal—for better or worse; there is no formula for taste. Hollywood is a unique market in that you could be the hottest DJ in town—doing all the most popular clubs and high profile events—but since the crowd that has access to these functions is so small, you can easily continue working without any real exposure at all.

As kind of a follow-up to that, how does the Vegas scene differ, and how do you survive in that? I kinda look at Vegas and LA as two hot-but-totally-mental chicks; one blonde one brunette. Each needs a little unique finessing. Help me understand how you do it.

Graham Funke: In my experience—and this may not ring true for everybody—there are markets that cultivate programming that their crowds respond to and markets that import programming that their crowds respond to. In cities like Miami and Chicago and Vegas, for example, the crowd is expecting a specific product and a DJ must be versatile enough to deliver that, which is why you hear so many horror stories of DJs being pulled: they failed to tame the beast. If you come to Vegas to DJ, unless you are on the level of Jazzy Jeff or Swedish House Mafia—acts who have a distinct sound that may outweigh the draw of the venue’s reputation—then it does not suffice to simply come here and “do you.”

StoneRokk: Because of the constant consumer turnaround in Vegas, you are playing to the widest spectrum of tastes on Earth, and it is never the same. DJs need to be able to switch gears at a moments notice, keeping in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake. We go to the mattresses every night; and Graham and I fancy ourselves war-time Consiglieris, with a a long standing track record to boot.

So which items, clothing or otherwise, are on your wishlists this year? Would love to get items from both of you.

Graham Funke: Three years ago, Burberry Prorsum made a leather coat with shearling. It cost $6,000. We referred to it as the “drug dealer status jacket.” Yes, price versus worth is totally relative, and that was too rich for my blood, even when it dropped to $3,000. Things looked on the up-and-up when the tag dipped to $1,750, though by that time, my size was not readily available. If I could find one this year, I might consider paying the $6,000, if it would free me from waking up every morning weighed down by regret.

StoneRokk: With a sui generis approach to life, most everything is affected. From our conversations to how we spend the rare moments of down time and, of course, what we wear. Much like most of the world, clothes do not get made to fit the masses, so we have forged a relationship with Eamon Springall and Ryan Doherty at Stitched in Las Vegas where we get everything from suits to custom whiskey that awaits our arrival in a private locker.

Man, that “Do They Know It’s Christmas” video is amazing. Saw Cheapshot in there…Morty. Crazy to see Adam in there. But it made me think…whatdoes it take to really keep a brotherhood of DJs together in this day and age?

The Captains: This gets discussed a lot. Here is an easy way to describe it: our immediate peer group all became DJs in an organic manner. We loved records and that was the sole impetus. There was no fame or money or media attention. Now that these elements are part of the equation, you are forced to question what draws somebody to want to be a DJ in the first place. Guaranteed, some motivations aren’t as pure as ours were.

What’s the most inappropriate song request you’ve ever gotten? Where you’re like, “Dude/Girl, wrong place, wrong time, wrong DJ.”

Graham Funke: The list for most appropriate song request is shorter and probably more interesting.

StoneRokk: For the consumers who try and solicit my attention, I say this: make a suggestion as to what will make your experience more enjoyable. Your sense of entitlement only makes me want to play the song less.

Mike, how’s the Money Shot project coming along? Getting more familiar with the camera?

StoneRokk: That started as a chronicle of my life and development as a shutterbug. Due to the name, Money Shot Project, it garnered attention from the more salacious intranet scout, which made for some interesting web wooers.

What do you guys have popping off in 2011? What’s the latest with Mas Trabajo?

The Captains: We aim to create a circumstance in which people come to expect quality product at a consistent pace as opposed to any one specific offering. Mas Trabajo is definitely coming to the masses in Q1 of 2011, along with a slew of other amazing ideas and items to compliment it. Any and all visits to our blog will keep you abreast of the things you need in your life.

Interview by Rich Thomas

This week, the queen of the striptease becomes queen of The Sunset Strip, when burlesque icon Dita Von Teese shimmies into a three night stint at The Roxy Theatre. Starlet and pin-up come to life, Ms. Von Teese has become known around the world for her traditional meets modern style of burlesque that draws inspiration from the glamour of classic Hollywood. Earlier this week, the iconic beauty took a break from rehearsals to speak with The Roxy Theatre about what stirs her martini and what gets her tassels twirling. Here’s what she had to say…

To view the whole interview with Ms. Von Teese go to TheRoxyOnSunset.com

Rebecca Ninburg – better known as “Demolicious” – is the amazing co-founder of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. She’s been a pioneer in the sport of roller derby since 2003, and today there are more than 400 women’s roller derby leagues across the country. On the eve of the Red Bull Banked Jam in Chicago against the Windy City Rollers, Ninburg (pictured above) sat down with us to share her thoughts on today’s derby and the upcoming game.

For players, what is the attraction to roller derby?

It’s based on merit. It all depends on your skill set, your natural ability, and your level of commitment. It’s a place to learn about and express yourself – you get an alter ego. When you see people in their daily lives and their daily clothes, that’s not the person you know on the track – you’ll only know these incredible athletes. There’s a personal strength you get out of this sport. I have seen that in these girls; they get this confidence.

You really present a new role model for young girls. 
That they don’t have to grow up a certain way, to play a certain sport?

It’s redefining what it means to be feminine… That you can be beautiful, that you can be strong, that you can hold your own. I’m excited to see this next generation and what happens with them. The sport really will grow into its own when the “juniors” grow into it.

Who are your favorite players to watch?

The sisters Psycho Babble and Deranged from Rocky Mountain. Their parents owned a roller rink, so they have this speed and agility and are able to adapt to strategies on a dime. Bonnie Thunders from the Gotham Girls is another who is breathtaking to watch. She’s a former figure skater. In our own league, Krissy Krash (pictured at left) is phenomenal as is Stefcon, Laguna Beyatch, and Chargin’ Tina.

The Derby Dolls play on a banked track, which is the original track of the 1970s, but 98% of the leagues now play roller derby on a flat track. What are your thoughts on that?

Flat and banked track can coexist beautifully. Flat track has progressed so quickly just because there’s so much competition. When flat track is played really well, there is a tremendous amount of excitement in that. There really is, like jaw-dropping.

You play the Windy City Rollers this weekend on their home turf, but it’s your home track…

Chicago’s going to be amazing. I’ve got to hand it to them; it takes so much courage to skate the 4-½ foot incline of the banked track, and the timing of the jam is different. But when you have a team that’s played together for a long time and they know each other so well, you just never know what you’re going to come up against. They are REALLY good skaters. We have the utmost respect for them.

There is A LOT of passion for roller derby. You have an extensive volunteer community – different people built the risers, built the track, painted the walls, do your sound and lighting…

You can’t do this alone. They believe in what we’re doing so much, and the best thing you can give someone is purpose, ownership, and motivation. These guys are taking ownership and making it ten thousand times better than I could ever do it.
With everything that’s happened in roller derby, can you believe how far you’ve come?

My naiveté was my greatest asset. If I had known what it would take to do this, I would never have started. I’ve always said that I’m just going to go with it. If it keeps getting better, I’m not going to stop. And it hasn’t stopped getting better.

Interview by Kimberly Truhler

In a society saturated with IKEA, Target, and cookie-cutter retailers, finding that perfect piece of furniture that makes your home stand out can be difficult.  Sure you could spend time digging through thrift stores and private boutiques, but who has the time or the energy for that?

What if you could sleep on a bed made from naval mine shells with a base constructed of woven nylon mesh that stands on mine fuses?

Have you ever thought of upgrading your home office to include a desk built from pieces of an actual naval mine with drawers on guide rails, a granite desktop, and top shelves?

Did you know you could take your daily bath in a stainless steel tub, which sits on mine fuses and features an outer shell made of naval mines?

Last but not least, wouldn’t a naval mine toilet with doors that open outwards and a toilet seat made of real wood complete the look of your bathroom?

If furniture flaire is what you seek, look no further than Marinemine, a line from Estonian scultpor Mati Karmin.  Mati put down his blow torch to walk me through his world of explosive home accessories and to explain how when he looks at marine mines, he sees armchairs, fireplaces, and tables instead of deadly weapons of mass destruction.

What gave you the idea to create marine mine furniture?
It all began with a marine mine that I found serendipitously amongst other metal waste. I found its form to be very inspiring and I made a fireplace to my house. My friends saw it, got excited and urged me to continue playing with different forms.  Mine shell is a perfect design module because of its basic geometric nature- it consists of two hemispheres that has cylindrical central part between them. From this came up my professional interest- which items and forms of furniture are possible to make out of a mine?

Where do you find the mine pieces that you use?
When Soviet Army left Estonia in 1994, there were thousands of empty mineshells left on the seacoast.  Of course, most of them were melted as metal waste; but it was pure luck that I managed to get some mine shells (from an island Naissaar near our capital Tallinn) in the nick of the time, and because of that the material resource is limited.

What exactly is a marine mine?
Theoretically it is a very simple and effective weapon of mass-destruction that has been used almost immutably about 100 years.

What were the mines that you use in your creations traditionally used for?
They were pieced out by Soviet Army with the intention to use in the Gulf of Finland in the potential state of war.

Is everything you use authentic or do you recreate pieces to resemble old 
mines?
The mine shells I use are authentic as well as most of the acessories (portholes, details from military technology). But sometimes I have to make some details according to the style of certain object.

Have you always had an interest in mines?
No, not always.  But when I saw how many mines (that had explosives burnt out) were on Naissaar (an island near the capital of Estonia, in the Gulf of Finland ) I came up with  an idea to start making this mine furniture collection. As I am a sculptor by profession, the mine furniture initially wasn’t my main goal- but I’ve come to this because of the temptating deisgn module that marine mine gives.

What is your best selling piece?
Fireplaces, by far ( I think our climate has a big role to play)

Do you have several of these pieces displayed in your home?
I have a fireplace in my home, it is very practical it heats the room quickly and gives an unique touch to the interior- it is not anonymous but is deeply idiosyncratic and personal.
I also use a fleecen armchair.

What types of things have you created from mine parts?
I have created a complete collection where there are fireplaces, armchairs, bar cabinets, aquarium, barbeques, writing desk, sofa, bath, toilet and baby carriage.

Have you done any intersting custom projects recently?
In June this year there was an exhibition in Tallinn of different mine forms.  The whole idea was to show that with making different cuts into mine shells you can easily create new esthetical surfaces; concurrence of colours; forms; rust and stainless steel. It was a play with different forms.

Have you ever had any strange requests that you haven’t been able to fill?
So far I’ve completed all the orders. Sometimes it may take a bit longer because it takes time to find the original authentic details- so I have to visit different antique fairs or search it on the internet. The list of details I use is pretty precise- from old German treadwheels to self-made stylish imitations that have been somewhat adapted in accordance with the form needs.

What is your background as a sculptor?
I like to use bronze, stainless steel, tile and metal but I’ve also worked with marble and other materials as such. I have been working as a monumental artist for over twenty years now. I started to deal with mine design because of the friskiness it gives. You can also call it a creative challenge that has given me a lot of excitement and joy.

What’s next on the agenda after the mine furniture?
I would like to make a retro-like racecar where 2-3 people would sit behind each other- like in bobsleighs. Of course it should be on high technical level… and very luxurious.

Words by Nicole Pajer.

If any of you reading this have ever partaken in a mosh pit, you either did it of your own free will, or were dragged in against it. So when legendary east coast punks Bouncing Souls played the legendary Troubadour — once a regular home to misfits like Jim Morrison and George Carlin — there was likely going to be inevitable, irreparable damage to both venue and attendees alike. (Especially seeing as how tonight was the last show of their 20th anniversary tour, and the boys were going to go all out to kick our suntanned-and-spoiled west coast asses.)

And sure enough, looking down from the club’s balcony, I saw that the vortex was slowly starting to swirl — so I rushed down to join the fun.

Tonight’s show was an evening of sucker-punches and self-revelation for me: first, there’s the dedication. The Souls brought out their L.A. fanbase, a loyal legion of fervent, fanatical fans that know every word to every song. So when singer Greg Attonito belted out new gems like “Never Say Die,” alongside classics like “Private Radio” and “Manthem”, the crowd shouted back in perfect cadence with every chorus. Damn.

And as for all you pit connoisseurs who have found yourself at a punk or metal or hardcore show where people are just standing around…maybe with their arms folded or backs turned in polite banter with one another…well, no such thing here. Even people who tried to avoid getting sucked in eventually did, though they didn’t seem to mind.

Equally absent were the windmill/karate kids, who’d decided (thankfully) to spend their night at the dojo.

But as the crowd clobbers one another, the band gives a good ‘ol fashioned clobbering to some seriously vintage equipment: scarred and stripped-down Les Pauls. Marshall amps and cabinet heads that threaten to burst into dust upon the merest click of a distortion pedal. Bass guitars that have endured some serious beatings.

Kind of like their crowd, a diverse one that spans generations: some of the most rabid fans are here to swear their allegiance. Old punks have returned to re-discover their roots. Heart and soul, the band’s collective finger stays on the pulse of that perennial youth. And perhaps best of all was the camaraderie of the crowd. You sort of wake up the next morning feeling bruised, yet victorious… you got your ass kicked, but you got your ass kicked by family.

And just to reiterate that notion, there was the one fan who’d been to over 50 Souls shows, who took time to propose to his girlfriend on stage. After she accepted, he was quickly yanked off by fans, and Attonito dove (appropriately) into “Break-Up Song.”

But before I subjected myself to an old-school beatdown, my colleagues and I got a chance to talk with the Souls outside.

Following bassist Bryan Kienlen’s lead, we climb over a weathered passenger seat and into the trailer. It’s really little more than a tiny narrow passageway lined with bunks on either sides, with a small miniature ‘room’ to veg in the back. The bunks are fashioned from alarmingly thin planks of wood, and are anchored to the truck’s walls with plenty of nuts and bolts. They make the army barracks in Full Metal Jacket look like beds at the Carlton-Ritz.

But the walls perhaps best capture the essence of these boys’ mindset: a slathering of stickers — bands they’ve toured with, bands they love, backstage passes and assorted memorabilia from their past — covering any and every inch of paneling.

Still, it’s difficult not to be in awe of how a band’s managed to live in,  let alone survive in such a truck for 15 years — especially given the heavy amount of year-round touring these guys have maintained. They’ve sacrificed a whole hell of a lot for this band, and the time put in seems even more hardcore when you look at their living quarters.

This bus is insane.

Kienlen: It’s been getting us by since ’96…we’ve made some adjustments and re-modeled some stuff. Took out one of the engines, put in another…

(Noticing the sticker) I see you’re a huge Damned fan…

Kienlen: Yeah, definitely.

Any album in particular that got you into them?

Kienlen: Phantasmagoria, probably, and then Strawberries. I kind of got started with their later stuff first, and then the stuff like “New Rose” and “Neat Neat Neat” after that. A lot of British punk.

So tonight is the final show of the tour, here in L.A. How does it feel to be back here for your 20th anniversary?

Attonito: Amazing. It’s great to have been out on the road for so long and finally come back here…

Looking back, how does it feel to have survived for so long?

Attonito: We never really thought it’d come this far, really. We definitely didn’t start out with that intention…this was more just something to do for fun back in school…

Listening to a lot of your songs, you guys have taken the time to write some really positive songs. You guys have maintained that sort of outlook on a lot of your albums, which can’t be said for a lot a bands.

Kienlen: Well, we’ve written some darker songs too. But it’d be easier to just write an angry song than something positive.

Steinkopf : Yeah, some songs we just can’t really play live anymore. Sometimes you write from a place where you weren’t really in a good spot, and you just don’t need to re-visit those times.

McDermott: But a lot of the time those positive songs can come from the dark places. You’ll be writing and then something unexpected comes up. Certain feelings you didn’t see coming.

So is there one of you that writes all the lyrics?

Kienlen: Nah, it’s a group effort. We all contribute…everybody’s free to when they want to or can.

Attonito: Everybody’s pretty much free to put in what they want, when they feel like it…

Are there any countries you really loved playing above all?

Kienlen: A bunch. South America is always awesome.

Attonito: Opening for Green Day in China was pretty huge. Just playing in front of these huge crowds of almost 60,000 people…

McDermott: Playing Budokan was also pretty up there as far as dream gigs.

Speaking of other countries, a lot of music — especially punk — is sort of a by-product of the country that it comes from…and a lot of issues that are American mostly relate to American audiences and so on. Do you still find that in countries like Mexico and Argentina kids can relate?

McDermott: Yeah, sure. Most countries, they all share something they can relate to.

Pete Steinkopf: And sometimes it doesn’t even matter. They don’t have to speak the language; they know the lyrics, and that’s enough for them.

A lot of bands say there’s not much left after Budokan — like you’ve reached the pinnacle. Is it worth all the hype?

Attonito: There’s a bit of a different vibe there. The crowds are so respectful, but they still get into it. There just wasn’t a lot of moving around.

So, are there any venues you guys would love to play that you still haven’t?

Steinkopf: The Hollywood Bowl.

Kienlen: We’d still have to open for someone, of course…

Now that you guys have been around for a while, do you find you’re getting a lot of the younger generation here? Or is it a lot of older guys and gals coming back?

McDermott: There’s a little of both. A lot of them are older guys who’ve been coming to see us for years, and then we’ll get the young guys who come up to us and say “I’ve been listening to you guys for years!” It’s crazy.

And after attending a Bouncing Souls show, one can see where that cult-like following comes from. The Jersey boys continually fly under the radar, and perhaps it’s for the best. Here’s a band that has struggled to make a living on their music for 20 years, and have managed to develop a huge following without going mainstream and having to perhaps compromise. The positive vibes of their lyrics carry through to the comradeship of their crowds: My first Souls concert definitely made for a bonding experience, and also a bit of a royal ass-kicking.

With their 4th annual Home for the Holidays Tour coming up, and a brand new gem, Ghosts in the Boardwalk, still spinning on Bouncing Souls’ fans CD players, young and ‘old’, it’s clear punk’s in their blood — and judging by the toil and schlepping they’ve put in over 20 years, the guys have made it clear they still have no plans to give it up anytime soon. Doesn’t seem like they’d have it any other way.

]]> http://www.chinashopmag.com/2010/11/the-bouncing-souls-give-tough-love-at-the-troubadour/feed/ 0 http://www.chinashopmag.com/2010/10/rjd2-the-solution-to-your-music-snobbery/ http://www.chinashopmag.com/2010/10/rjd2-the-solution-to-your-music-snobbery/#comments Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:24:10 +0000 Jeff Nau http://chinashop.designenginela.com/?p=38544 Continue reading →]]>

This may be a somewhat hastily-conceived notion, but DJ RJD2 might be the best thing to happen to the ever-expanding genre in years. He may be even the way to bridge that widening gap between the terminally unhip and old-fashioned instrument players (read: music snobs), and the countless DJs also slaving at their craft and bringing their own variety of musical influences into it all. Ramble (as people call him) is no exception.

The man is truly a diverse musician who explores nearly every conceivable musical classification — from jazz to trip-hop, from 80′s synth tinkery to film scores and soundtracks, from country licks to stand-up comic bits, he always manages to make it all blend together perfectly. And RJ’s worked hard to get this far, beginning nearly 20 years ago, steadily climbing his way to the top of that mountainous pile. From the jazzed-out funk of soul of “Here and Now” to the Kill Bill-worthy, exploitation film-soundtrack reverberations of “Take the Picture Off”, should you talk to anyone worth their weight in music criticism, you’ll hear nothing but the best about the guy.

Clever, diverse, and lending that certain undefinable, sprawling epic-ness to his mish-mashes, RJD2 is ahead of the game. Recently Ramble sat down and chatted with ChinaShop about his history, his influences, and how he’s gotten so far.

One thing I noticed about your discography is that your musical interests are very diverse but you show an unabashed  love for different kinds of jazz — especially pieces like “A Beautiful Mine”, off Magnificent City Instrumentals. Then on tracks like “Iced Lightning” off Since We Last Spoke, you’re delving into more of a 80′s-conscious, synthy kind of vibe. What are you listening to and looking for when you jump around between genres?

RJD2: Really, all I’m looking for is drama. suspense. I have always felt like the ideas that I work with are tension and release, and the medium is rhythm and chords. So with both of those, it really just comes down to using harmonic and rhythmic techniques to build tension, suspense, intrigue, and (maybe) provide release. So synth, guitar, drums, strings, samples, piano-the goal is almost always the same.

Could you talk a little more about how you got involved in the Exit Music project /tribute to Radiohead, and your remix of the song “Airbag”? How did you approach doing a remix  like that — especially knowing Radiohead has both a cult-like following and mass appeal, who can tend to take anyone with their favorite band’s music a little too seriously?

RJD2: Ha! I think that is the thing I’m most insecure about of all my catalog. Of course, when they asked me to be a part of it, I couldn’t say no, but at the same time, it was a little like interpreting a musical “standard” — you’re not gonna capture what the original did. I just had my best go of it. It is what it is….

RJD2: Well, I had re-acquired my catalog masters, and needed a way to re-release them. I had also finished “The Colossus”, and needed a way to release it. So, the best way to do that was through my own label. I had learned so much over the years about releasing a record, and had built up a lot of contacts, and frankly, figured out how to get done what needs to get done to release an album. So I was confident it was do-able. And it was. While the record might have gotten a bigger profile if a label had handled everything, it might not have. It’s hard to put a price on NOT owning your masters, at least for me. That’s huge.

RJD2: It’s great. they actually do the physical distribution in the U.S. and Canada as well. The orchard actually distributes a lot of labels, so I consider it to in essence be on par with the resources I would have had if I had put the record out with a label. It really doesn’t differ too much. The whole game of physical is changing so much that you aren’t comparing apples to apples if you compare now to 3 or 4 years ago.

RJD2: Umm, I’m not crazy about the term, but whatever. Doesn’t really matter.  I don’t think its fully accurate, but I guess for a few songs, its kinda descriptive, maybe?

Interview by Jeff Nau.  Photos by John Wells.

More ChinaShop Articles regarding RJD2:

The Human Nature of RJD2

The Perfect Storm: Z-Trip Takes Detroit

It all began when Claire’s aunt celebrated her 60th birthday with a dolly cake that was designed to resemble her.  Having loved the idea so much, Claire had decided to make a dolly cake replica for her friend’s upcoming bachelorette party.  “I had caught a sneak peak of her wedding dress and knew how she was going to do her hair and hair piece and I set out to do a perfect replica of what she was going to look like on her wedding day,” explains Claire.  Several weeks later, Claire found herself creating a Balmain-inspired dolly cake for her sister’s birthday and alas, the fashion-forward dolly cakes were born.  Many friends at the party work in the fashion industry and could not praise the designer cake enough.  “I sort of started getting commissioned to do everybody’s birthday cakes,” states Claire.  Next, it was cakes for the girls at Who, What, Wear and then there were special requests such as a pucci cake from the Rachel Zoe team.  “I had to remake that cake 5 times because with a pucci – because of the design, if you don’t have it perfect, it doesn’t look like a pucci.”  After becoming known for her fashionable birthday cakes, and posting them all over her blog, The Kitchy Kitchen, Claire has started getting requests from other clients and the dolly cakes have taken on a life of their own.

“Girls freak out over them because it’s a Barbie in a cake,” explains Claire.  When I asked if they are indeed real Barbies, Claire confirmed.  “They do make dolly cake dolls but I choose Barbies because the face is almost more expressive and there is more make-up to mess with.”  As far as her process for selecting the prefect doll for her cake, Claire walks around Target, her holy grail of Barbies, with a photograph of the model she is doing the cake for, scanning the aisles for a plastic look-a-like.  It’s not always easy, explains Claire, to find a Barbie that looks like everyone. “I’ve had to resort to buying blonde Barbies and coloring their hair with coco powder to get light brown hair. “

“My favorite part of the process is the problem solving – thinking how do I do this?“  Claire points to the China Shop theme cake and explains, her creative process, “Like this one, I was on your website for a while thinking, OK bull in a china shop…what do I do?  Is there a bull? Is she a matador?  I love the motif on the website and I thought, I love china.  I love the look of it, so I decided to go with sort of the broken up china thing.”  Claire melted down white chocolate and painted over it with a coat of white and pearl-esscent food coloring.  She then used fine paintbrushes to create a blue and white theme onto the solid sheet of white chocolate, which she then broke up into little pieces.  The next step was to add a little flair to our Barbie by frosting the tips of her hair blue and giving her, what Claire explained as “ombre hair.”

The strangest cake she’s ever made? – A Purple Rain Prince cake for Prince’s DJ’s party.  “I used a Malibu Ken doll because Prince has very fine features.  I had to use a blonde, blue-eyed Barbie, go in and paint his pupils brown, give him the creepy facial hair with a Sharpie, and then I colored his hair black and basically gave Ken a weave.  I glued in doll hair that I found, jheri curl hair.  The ball gown ended up being the trench coat and I used coconut for his crazy ruffles.”

Words by Nicole Pajer.  Photos by Sidney Bensimon

Fitz & The Tantrums have such an enchanting story…where ex-lovers become sources of inspiration, living rooms turn into cutting-edge recording studios, and tattoo artists become heroes.  I got to hear it first-hand on Thursday as I sat in the hallway of the Dangerbird Records headquarters with Fitz himself for a quick interview before he had to run off to take the stage at Silver Lake’s “Hipster Haven” aka Spaceland.  It was a delightful little interview.  We were offered ice cream mid-conversation and at one point Fitz was even asked to serve as an interim security guard in the absence of the guest list girl.

So tell me about this organ, the crazy way you acquired it, and how it contributed to the project?

Fitz: Well I was definitely going through a bad breakup.  We were sort of on a no talking policy, trying to just clean break.  I all of a sudden got a phone call from her.  I saw it on my phone and I was like I’m not picking that up [laughs].  And she left me a message and she just said, “Sorry to call you but my neighbor has an emergency, he has to move out today, he has to sell everything in the basement and he has this huge organ.  I thought you might want it, he’s selling it for 50 bucks.”  I hung up the phone, called him, called her, and I said, “Put the $50 in his hand.”  So I got it but then I literally had to feverishly find piano movers.  To find a piano mover in like 3 hours as the sun is setting – I called like 15 places and finally got these shady Russian guys to come do it.  They lifted it up and this thing was so heavy and they almost broke their backs doing it.  They put it in my living room and it’s a massive 60’s organ so it takes up half of my living room.  And that was truly the beginning.  I was so excited to have this thing.  I sat down this night and I wrote the first track off of the EP, which will also be on the LP called Breakin’ The Chains of Love.

So that really inspired you?

Fitz: Oh yeah.  It just came at the perfect time.  I was really wanting to put all that pain and energy from the break-up into something creative and it just came together.

Does your ex know that she played a major point in your career?

Fitz: Yes, especially since the songs have been getting a lot of airplay on the radio so I’m sure she’s not too happy about that because they are a lot about her.

I heard that you guys toured with Maroon 5…

Fitz: Yes, we did and that was another kind of serendipitous thing.  He [Adam Levine] was getting a tattoo in New York and the guy who was giving him the tattoo said, “You gotta hear this new band I found, it’s my favorite band.”  He played him it, Adam flipped out and called and then he called us the following week and asked us to go out on tour with them.  And that was amazing, we got to tour all these East coast colleges with them, play in front of thousands of kids.  It was pretty exciting.

Did you ever find out what tattoo he was getting at the time?

Fitz: I didn’t.  I forget to ask – I gotta ask him that.

I hear that you are inspired by Motown.  How did that come to be?  How did you get into all that?

Fitz: My parents are classical music and opera freaks.  That is the only thing that my dad would allow growing up in the house.  So the one sort of concession that I could make with my mom driving the carpool to school was that I could listen to the oldies station.  That is where I first kind of started to find my love – to me, that’s the best period of songwriting.  Then when I started to work in studios for other people, I just fell in love with the sound of those records even more.  I made this whole record in my living room and just tried to pay homage to that period and yet give it a little modern spin.

And you have an album coming out in August?

Fitz: Yeah.  We just signed with Dangerbird Records not too long ago and the records coming out Aug 24 so I’m pretty excited.  I recorded the EP and then kept going with the full length in my living room.  It was just the best way to get it done.

Words by Nicole Pajer with photos by Sidney Bensimon and Dustin Downing