Band Lineup:

I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME (CD Release)
- “Pink Floyd meets NIN” – Dave Navarro
- “Their sound reflects the influence of European electronic artists known for their song writing and live shows…” – Vikton Phoenix, Buzzbands.la

OMNIFLUX (Debut)
- Debut solo project by Mahsa Zargaran (Sabrosa Purr/Big Black Delta)

INTO THE PRESENCE
- Featuring members of UFO, Train, and A Perfect Circle

GINA & THE EASTERN BLOCK
- Featuring drummer/producer Marc Jordan (Credits include: Velvet Revolver, The Cult, Slash, Milla Jovovich)

8MM
- Husband & Wife trip-hop duo feat Grammy nominated producer Sean Beavan (GnR, Marilyn Manson, NIN, Slayer, No Doubt)

DJ Shaun Lopez
- The other half of Chino Moreno’s (Deftones) new electronic project Crosses

Plus:
Lucid Absinthe Supérieure tasting by The Los Angeles Absinthe Club

See you there!

Rankin says that LA has always been a place near and dear to his heart: “Like so many photographers and directors, it has a strong pull for me. It is the unquestionable and true home of the industry I work in. The light, space and dynamic landscapes in and around the city make it the best place in the world to shoot. I am excited to finally have a base here.”

The artist has selected a cozy Melrose gallery to be the epicenter of his sexy portrait collection. From the street, the two-roomed white walled, glass fronted gallery appears just like any other, but it’s what’s inside that will throw you. From naked celebs like Heidi Klum in a chocolate bath to rock stars in compromising positions, Rankin has something for everyone.

The gallery launched with Open Rankin, a retrospective look at Rankin’s last few decades working with fashion, portraiture, beauty, erotica, and fashion films. The exhibits continuously rotate and the current focus, the Hunger TV exhibition, includes exerts from Rankin’s recently launched bi-annual “glossy magazine of visual intrigue” titled The Hunger.

”The Hunger is an idea that was born from the realization that, more than two decades into my career as a photographer, I am still inspired by what I do every day. I named my first retrospective exhibition Visually Hungry – that’s how I felt. In a lot of ways, it is how I think I’ll feel until I die,” explains Rankin.

If you like your photography with a side of skin, consider Rankin Gallery up your alley.

Rankin Gallery
8760 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
www.rankinla.com
323-944-0026
Tues – Sat 11am – 6pm

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer)

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)

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)

In the lobby of West Hollywood’s Andaz Hotel, Allison joked about continuously breaking her Kindle as Catherine told her somber tale of someone beating her to the house she had planned on moving into. The girls explained that listening back to their earlier tunes makes them proud of how far they’ve come and that being role models to artists who haven’t made it yet has it’s pros and cons.

Is it difficult to be in a band with your sister?

Catherine: It can be difficult but I think it’s difficult to be in a band with anyone. And we’ve been doing it for so long and we’re kind of forced to make it work because we’re siblings and we can’t say, “Oh I never want to see you again!”

Allison: Well we could…

Catherine: We could but we figured out a way to kind of work thru our differences and make it work.

Do you live together?

Catherine: We did for the past year in London but usually no.

Allison: We fight much less when we don’t live together. Right?

Catherine: Oh yeah [laughs].

Are you pretty similar or are you opposite of each other?

Allison: People that get to know us say that we’re really different but I think it’s hard for me to tell you how we’re different.

Catherine: But we definitely are different.

Allison: It’s the way we process things.

How old were you when you both started singing?

Catherine: I think 4 and 6.

Were you always singing together or did you ever have your own individual projects?

Allison: For a minute each of us has done something, but mostly together.

Is it true that “Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge” was going to be your last music effort?

Catherine: That was going to be our last effort together and we decided to split up. Then the bass player from Coldplay called us and wanted to work with us so we got back together.

What was your plan B if that didn’t work out?

Allison: Solo projects.

How did you guys hook up with Guy Berryman from Coldplay?

Catherine: I met him in New York thru an ex-boyfriend years ago and he heard our music and really liked it and we kind of stayed in touch thru that. Whenever he’d pass thru New York, he’d call and see what we were up to. He wanted to hear our new demos and he wanted to start a production company so we ended up making this last record together.

Was your record one of the first that he made with his new company?

Catherine: Yeah we were!

So you grew up in Alabama and moved to New York and now live in London?

Allison: We’re done with London.

Catherine: I think I’m gonna move to LA. I was just looking at houses yesterday and I got rejected for the house I wanted.

Allison: Did he say why?

Catherine: He said somebody had checked it out first or something. Oh my God the house was amazing and I loved it. I’m so so sad. I just found out.

Are you both going to move to LA?

Allison: I’m not sure yet. I kind of want to move to Nashville. I’m trying to decide if I want to split my time between the two.

What was the biggest thing you had to get used to with living in London?

Catherine: The fact that you can’t get great food whenever you want it. In New York, you can get whatever you want to eat at any hour or delivered to your home. In London you really have to search out good food.

Allison: But after 10pm, that’s it.

Catherine: Some of the food is so bad. It’s like they don’t have any passion for food.

Allison: It’s getting better. There is amazing food there but you have to find it. The fish and chips are good but not something like a sandwich.

Catherine: You go somewhere and order a sandwich and it’s like 2 dry pieces of bread with butter and a thick layer of cheese. And it’s cold.

Allison: Stay away from Ranch dressing there too!

Catherine: They have this thing called salad cream.

Allison: It’s like miracle whip but sweeter and like a dressing.

Catherine: Oh it’s so disgusting. You’ll order a salad and it’s covered in it.

Do you get compared to a lot of other sisterly duos like The Veronicas?

Catherine: Not really The Veronicas. We get compared to anything that just has 2 women in it – Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Mamas & Papas, The Bangles…

Allison: Bananarama.

When you listen back to your earlier albums? What goes thru your head? Do you feel like you’ve come a long way?

Allison: Yes, especially live – I feel like I’m most proud of how far we’ve come. I have a fondness for the early records…

Catherine: I don’t!

Allison: But you wish you could go back and know what you know now.

Catherine: I think we were just young and kind of naive and we would play out in coffee shops with a guitar and suddenly the concept of having other instruments on a record was foreign to us. Anything kind of blew our mind like, “ooh there’s a drumbeat on there.” We just didn’t know what we wanted and now we’re more specific and more aware of what we want.

Do you ever play any of those old songs live or are they locked in the vault?

Allison: We play some songs from the last record. The other songs are locked in the vault.

Catherine: I was thinking the other day about if we’d ever bring those out… probably not!

Allison: The only way is if for some reason they started selling again and people became familiar with them but not right now. It would probably be fun to revisit them and make them new.

Catherine: Especially the production.

Do you see yourselves as role models to other artists that have been at it for a long time and are ready to throw in the towel?

Allison: Yeah. I guess when you put it that way. There aren’t that many people that have been doing it as long as us without major success so yeah.

Catherine: But I do think we might give false hope to a lot of people too who might be like, “Oh look at them. They made it after 10 years!”

Allison: I remember seeing Behind The Music with No Doubt and they were doing it for 10 or 11 years before they had that first record hit. I was so inspired by that and that gave me a lot of hope. I think Lucinda Williams also did it for a really long time before anyone knew who she was. Justin Bieber – it took him so long to make it where he is now.

Catherine: Never Say Never! He seems like such a sweet kid.

Allison: And then that whole scandal came out about him possibly impregnating that girl and I was like, “I am going to be upset if this is true.”

I remember when Jessica Simpson had that promise ring and “wasn’t having sex…”

Allison: And Britney.

Catherine: We have promise rings too.

Allison: We promise we’re having sex.

Do you guys ever feel pressure from your managers to say that you don’t have boyfriends because it makes the fans like you less?

Catherine: Every once in a while someone will say, “Oh don’t say you’re in a relationship.” I’m like, “We’re adults.” It’s not like we’re teen heartthrobs where we need to keep the fantasies alive. Adults know that even if you’re in a relationship that it might not last so if they really want a shot with you to just wait it out.

Is there anything else that we should know about you guys?

Allison: We’ve given you all the information that you can handle right now so…

Catherine: We’re highly intelligent. We have great taste.

You break a lot of Kindles…

Allison: Well mine broke and then my mom stepped on the one that they replaced so then she gave me a new one for Christmas and I need a new case for it.

Catherine: Well the case obviously helped a lot!

Allison: I’m so upset. I live off this thing.

What book are you reading on there right now?

Allison: Oh like a million! But I think at the moment I was reading “The Heart of Tantric Sex.” If you must know…

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

Dashing threads aren’t the only offerings at this East Sunset boulevard shop – chic furniture, dinnerware, wall trimmings [antlers, anyone?] and other hand-picked goodies for your home are all here under one big roof, displayed with utmost form and care.

Conceived by (figures) interior designer Justin Warwick, The Warehouse is also the birthplace of The Classroom LA – a grassroots workshop Warwick founded with Kelsey Wintringham, offering classes in everything from sewing machine operation and planting herb gardens to building mason jar chandeliers. You can keep up with upcoming courses here. Registration fees vary, starting at around $30 bucks and climbing all the way up to the $170 realm.

Between the clever décor, the beautiful clothes, the knowledgeable staff and the classes, this place is well worth a visit – you’re sure to walk away a more stylish, better informed, and most certainly more inspired you!

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb (@Zoetica)

We recently caught up with vocalist Emily Armstrong who explained that 2012 is shaping up to be the band’s best year yet.

Check out our conversation with Emily as she discusses being a female vocalist in a male dominated rock world, items in her tour survival kit, and the band almost being named Masturbation Salvation:

Since we caught up with you guys last October, you seem to just be getting bigger and bigger. What do you owe the momentum to?

Working together as a team here at Pocket Kid Records/Fontana and the support of our fans!

How does it feel to be a female fronted rock band amidst a sea of male fronted rock bands?

We have a leg up I’d say because of the lack of female fronted rock bands these days. But at the end of the day, we are just friends who love rock music and love playing rock music with a passion. There is no boy-girl equation.

What runs through your head right before you guys take the stage?

A million things. It’s too hard to think. My mind is racing…!

What’s in your touring survival kit?

Vitamins, water, good coffee and good food when we can.

Do you have any female singer role models that you look up to? You’ve been described as a cross between Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, and Siouxsie Sioux…

Sure, It changes from time to time but it mainly falls back to the 60′s – 70′s folk singers. From Melanie, Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens – you name it. They sang with so much honesty I can’t help but get goosebumps and watery eyes.

Emily and Siouxsie, you’d been playing together for a while, but it wasn’t until you teamed up with Chris and Sean that you found the Dead Sara sound. Did you know when you first jammed with them, that you had found the missing links in the project?

It took me a little longer then the first jam but not much longer. I was just stoked to be playing. It didn’t hurt that we started writing “Weatherman” the first rehearsal… like I said, it didn’t take much longer.

What has been the most surreal moment of being in this band?

Being played on 98.7 FM. Because, being from LA I would listen to that station growing up and fantasize that one day my band would play one it. The support from them is amazing!

Is it true you almost named your band Masturbation Salvation?

It was an option that Siouxsie had…yes.

Who is your favorite band that you shared a stage with and why?

I don’t have an answer for this one yet. Going blank.

Where do you hope 2012 takes Dead Sara?

Staying really really busy. We got a lot cut out for us this year and it’s all exciting! Including being one of the featured artists for Warped Tour. I know how important it is for a band to be working – and this work is a blessing.

If you had to pick one of your songs that best sums up what Dead Sara is all about, which would it be and why?

I have to say “Weatherman”. Only because it was the first song we started writing together with Chris and Sean. And now it’s our first single…

 Is there any sort of underlying theme to your debut album?

I’d just say it is raw, energetic, rock n roll and passion.

What is your secret to your massive on stage energy? Chugging coffee pre show? Natural adrenaline? Energy drinks?

Sleeping! A good rest sometime during the day or right before the show and then letting adrenaline do its thing when hitting the stage.

What’s the best part about being a Los Angeles rock band?

Big city, big dreams.

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

Weatherman by Dead Sara

Started in NYC by Improv Everywhere eleven years ago, the event has been gaining popularity ever since – so much so that a staggering 27 countries took part in Sunday’s festivities.

Multiple thousands of pantsless pranksters swamped subways all over the world, with LA’s participants -boxers, briefs and thongs on proud display- nearing 400 as they gathered at downtown’s Union Station to alternating amusement and dismay of unsuspecting bystanders, then rode the Red Line to Hollywood and Vine.

The official mission statement instructed “agents” to behave naturally and to answer inquiries with nonchalant ease, which became increasingly difficult as their numbers grew. When time came to pile into a train and head to Hollywood, the northbound Red Line was filled almost entirely with bottomless Angelinos.

Costumed heroes and villains faced serious competition as the raucous mob descended onto the Walk of Fame, while tourists wasted no time snapping away with every manner or photo-device imaginable. Even Mickey couldn’t resist a stolen glimpse.

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb (@Zoetica)

NAME: Evaline
LOCATION: Turlock, California
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

Former Maverick Records artist and Placebo touring mates Evaline have been going at it since 2003, but it’s their latest set of songs that caught our ear. The comely looking California six-piece released their latest full-length, Woven Material, in the summer of 2011, and they’re kicking off 2012 with a benefit show in San Francisco on January 24 with another ChinaShop favorite, Barcelona. Feel free to pillage Evaline’s SoundCloud for a handful of tracks available for streaming and download. We’ve embedded the epic “Hours” below, just to give you a quick fix of the type of sophisticated, glorious rock ‘n’ roll this crew is capable of.

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill). Photo by Lisa Johnson.

Produced by Camila and Wendy Melvoin (Prince & the Revolution, Wendy & Lisa), Nocturnes (Plaid Records, Tunecore/Topspin) is the follow-up to their debut album Common Reaction and was recorded at Wendy’s personal studio inside the famed Henson Studios compound in Los Angeles. The resulting 11-song mix perfectly melds moody dance pop with guitar and synth-driven electro. It’s a musical blend that prompted Soma magazine to describe it as “an album that marks a quantum leap in the band’s creativity… Grey and Hailey enlisted the aid of producer Wendy Melvoin, of Wendy & Lisa fame. Melvoin gave the songs the duo had written an immense sonic palette: drums that sound like buildings collapsing, guitars that roar like supersonic fighter jets and chest-crushing bass lines… A big part of Uh Huh Her’s sound is the harmonic blend the duo brings to their vocals. They sing with a fierce conviction, marked by wrenching vulnerability and a subtle, undeniable power.” (November, 2011) Album highlights including the anthemic, synthesizer-driven songs “Another Case,” “Wake To Sleep,” and “Human Nature” as well as “Same High,” which was written for and featured in the Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated film The Kids Are All Right.

Nylon magazine has premiered the video for the noir-inspired track “Debris” which was produced by Leisha and guitarist Brad Ackley. The clip features and was directed by the band’s longtime photographer Tasya Van Ree. Watch it here: http://nylonmag.com/?section=article&parid=7342.

Additionally, check out the recent clip for the song “Another Case” directed by Justin Coloma below

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