I just came back from London, where I was looking for British writers to work on the upcoming UK version of Tablet Hotels. The site will feature the same hotels — it’s a truly global selection — but we want to develop stories with a British wit and sensibility, to help travelers get beyond their comfort zone. Next trip up for me? India!

Do you have a well rehearsed, short response to the question “What is Tablet?”, that strangers must ask you all the time?

I tell them it’s a cult. More seriously, though: Tablet is the ultimate expert-driven hotel guide, supported by a built-in online travel agency. The sauce only works if we have access to the best hotel rates, and we do. Editorially, the approach is irreverent, and we never compromise on the integrity of our hotel selection. We proved it could be done, and we have spawned some imitators — but none with the same soul, the same core values.

Design and boutique have become frustratingly overused prefixes to ‘Hotel’, when explaining Tablet to a stranger, how do you describe your selection of properties?

It’s not about grand architectural gestures or a certain style in design. The only common thread is that all of Tablet’s hotels are inspiring, because of what talented people have put into them.

It’s a fantasy that innovation can be turned into a systematic process; creativity is not mechanical, and that’s what’s fun about it.

What was your overriding goal for what Tablet should be and when did you feel you achieved that?

I wanted Tablet to be a model of integrity and innovation, and to make business sense on a global level. Innovation is a never-ending quest, so it’s difficult to ever feel a sense of finished achievement. It’s a fantasy that innovation can be turned into a systematic process; creativity is not mechanical, and that’s what’s fun about it.

You’ve lived and travelled pretty much everywhere, is there anywhere you’d never go back?

In fact my motto in general is “never go back.” Trying to duplicate an extraordinary travel experience usually just leads to disappointment, unless you’re going back for the people you’ve met.

What are the things you can never leave at home?

Music. I used to travel with a backpack full of cassettes. Today, I take something new to try out there. Our French editor recommended m83 and it became the soundtrack of my last trip. Other recent discoveries include WU LYF, Active Child and Washed Out.

And my kids are still young — leaving them at home is always the most difficult part of traveling.

To me contrast supplies the tension that creates the energy to do something with your life.

Do you have a preference for design aesthetic in hotels, or do locations dictate the style a hotel should adopt?

When it comes to hotels, I don’t really have a “type.” It’s change and contrast that make life interesting. To me contrast supplies the tension that creates the energy to do something with your life.

If you were opening your own hotel, what would be the 3 most important ingredients on your list?

- The basics, the services and amenities, must be solid.
- Something visually beautiful, whether inside or outside
- A social element that brings people together

…and the 3 things you simply wouldn’t stand for?

- Attitude — it’s called “hospitality” for a reason
- Mediocre bedding — never underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep
- Lack of originality

It’s never cool to say you’re cool.

Pop-ups, artist’s installations, designer collaborations; hotels seem to be on a never-ending mission to “out-cool” each other. Is this a good thing for the industry, or do you think they should stick to what they know best?

I am up for anything, as long as it’s genuine. It’s never cool to say you’re cool.

This month, we’re highlighting some of Tablet’s favourite new destinations. What makes a place special to you?

The energy created by the local people. Plus, I need to know that I can eat (and drink) well.

We know you don’t want to go spoiling your favourite unspoilt destinations, but if we promise to keep it just between us and, well, one or two of our readers, would you spill the beans on a few of your favourite virgin locations for us?

- The Atacama Desert in Chile
- Madagascar
- Burma/Myanmar

We’re going to cheat and start off with one of yours… what’s the most important thing to know about you?

It’s a good one, isn’t it?! And trickier to answer than it is to ask, I’m realising! I guess the most important thing to know about me is that I’m obsessed with design. I think everybody has something that has the ability to consume them. The thing that can make you lose track of time and forget to eat, the thing that quickens your heartbeat and takes your breath away. Not everybody is lucky enough to find their thing, let alone find a way to explore it like I have. I don’t have the patience to be a designer – I’m not a craftsman, and I think you have to be to be a good designer. But I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was five years old, so I feel very lucky to have found my ‘something’ to write about.

I think everybody has something that has the ability to consume them. The thing that can make you lose track of time and forget to eat, the thing that quickens your heartbeat and takes your breath away.

So, you’re a self confessed design geek, where did this passion for design come from, and what’s your background?

I’ve always had a creative streak, but I was also quite academic at school, so I was encouraged to pursue that route, go to University and get a ‘proper job.’ The problem is creativity doesn’t quite work like that. It won’t be ignored, so as I’ve got older and had some success in my proper job, that side of me has come to the surface again. I think buying my first house, subscribing to Elle Decoration, and the Modernism exhibition at the V&A all conspired to really kick-off my interest in design specifically. They say “If you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not conservative when you’re older, you have no brain,” I think the same is true of art and design. I loved art when I was younger, especially modern, abstract art and I still do. But my real passion is design now. I get really excited about creative expressions that do something, that make people’s lives better in a practical as well as aesthetic way.

So, tell us about your book – how, and why did it happen?

I’ve been interviewing designers for my blog, confessions of a design geek, since I started writing it in April 2010. I sometimes guest blog for the London Design Festival and I was chatting to William Shaw one day about an interview I was doing for them with Javier Mariscal. William said “You do know you’ve got a book on your hands, don’t you?” I stared at him blankly for a second, and said “Have I?” He managed to convince me that the collection of interviews I’d already done and the ones I had in the pipeline would be something that people might want to read. This was just a few months before the London Design Festival, so I knew I would have to move quickly to get something out in time for that. Luckily for me, my step-sister is a very talented writer and editor and her boyfriend is an equally talented book designer, so I called them up for some advice and they ended up helping me make it happen, with Clare giving me loads of help on the words front, and Zander designing the book and blog and handling the print process through his design agency, Venn Creative. The next time I spoke to William, I was asking him to write the foreword!

“You do know you’ve got a book on your hands, don’t you?” I stared at him blankly for a second, and said “Have I?”

What drew you to interviews, and how did you start speaking to designers?

Not being a designer, I am fascinated by what happens behind the scenes in design and what goes on in designers’ minds, so interviewing designers to ask them seemed like a natural thing to do. I started off by getting in touch with people I respected by email. In March I went to a talk with Wim Crouwel at the Design Museum, and afterwards, my husband told me I had to go and ask him for an interview. Wim Crouwel is a design God, so there was no way I was going to march up to him and ask him for an interview for my little blog! My husband managed to persuade me that it would be worth it just to get one of my business cards into his hands. So, shaking like a leaf, I asked him for an interview and to my shock, he agreed! Following that interview, people have started getting in touch with me with offers of interviews, which is amazing. My interviews with John Makepeace and Anthony Burrill both came about because their PR people approached me.

You have a wonderful knack for bringing out the human qualities in designers, is this something you set out to do purposely and if so, did you find it hard to sometimes cut through the stereotypical design-waffle?

Thank you, but to be honest I think my approach is completely borne of ignorance! I don’t have a design background, so I guess I’m just a bit naive. I’m not really aware of the stereotypical design-waffle – I just ask questions I want to know the answers to, working on the assumption that the other people might be interested too! To a certain extent I do try to ask questions other people might not ask, but that’s more so I don’t bore the pants off the people I’m interviewing!

I love finding out what people’s favourite colours are – especially when they answer with a Pantone reference, that’s delightfully geeky!

What are some of the most surprising things you’ve found out about your subjects?

I love finding out what people’s favourite colours are – especially when they answer with a Pantone reference, that’s delightfully geeky! I have been surprised (and saddened) to discover how many of the designers I love aren’t able to make a full time living out of design yet, and how much of their time is taken up with admin! But I love the minutiae; that Javier Mariscal can be inspired by a tomato, that Anthony Burrill prefers crunchy peanut butter to smooth, that Joanna Boyle drinks too much tea…

Have you ever had any interview ‘fails’ that may or may not have made the final cut?

No – I’ve never had an interview I didn’t want to publish on the blog. They didn’t all make it into the book, just because I had to be selective and pick interviews that worked together as a set. But I interview people whose work I respect and admire and I’ve never been disappointed with gaining further insight into how they think, how they work and what inspires them.

I interview people whose work I respect and admire and I’ve never been disappointed with gaining further insight into how they think…

The book’s cover carries the ominous sub-title “Volume 1″, so what’s next?

I’d love to publish something every year for London Design Festival. I adore my blog, but there’s something very romantic about paper. This one was Interviews, so I’d like to explore the other areas that I cover on my blog; ‘creative spaces’, ‘out and about’, and ‘here’s one I made earlier’ to see if any of that content will translate. I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve, but I think I need to give my designer and my husband time to recover from this one before I start talking about doing it all again!

Confessions of a Design Geek; Interviews is available in a limited edition of 1,000 copies from Confessions of a Design Geek, and is also available from the Design Museum Shop, the V&A book shop, the V&A Reading Rooms, Scene x designjunction, Design Diversion, Theo, Dezeen Space, Lifestyle Bazaar, Outline Editions and Today’s Specials. 50p from every book sold will be donated to Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. Registered charity number SC024414.

Full Name: Gian Paolo Jakeway (known as Jake)
Age: 64
Occupation: Retired Art Teacher
Hometown: Born in Florence Italy. Father was a soldier with the 8th Army, met my Mother – a local girl – and the rest is history.
Current Location: Rhoose Point, near Barry, South Wales

When did you start surfing?
In Spring 1972 on a home made surf board at a beach called Southerndown, South Wales.

Can you tell me where and when you caught your best wave?
Westward Ho, North Devon, England in the Summer of ’79. One Sunday there was a huge swell and I just managed to make it out the once, caught one wave which was about 8 feet high. I rode it for a few seconds before being pummelled.

Where do you surf now? Can you reveal a hidden strip on that coast?

My local spot is a beach called Southerndown which is only a 20 minute drive away, where coincidentally I first started nearly 40 years ago.

Who’s your surfing hero?

My surf hero has always been PJ (Pete Jones) who runs the surf shop at Llangennith, Gower. I have surfed at Llangennith since I started and PJ has always been the local hero. He was the Welsh, British and European surf champion. I bought my current board, a 9 foot Robert August (Wingnut) copy from him.

My fictional surf hero has to be Matt Johnson from the film Big Wednesday. When I’m surfing I often think of the lines from the film “That is Matt Johnson, that is Matt Johnson!”

Funniest Memory?

I was a teacher in ’72 and there were others like us, we all made boards and went to Lacanau in West Coast of France. Bruce Brown – an early pioneer of the surf film – was down there filming, so Christine (my wife) went off to Athena to buy a life size bikini babe poster and Dave Moseley made an amazing board out of it! So when Bruce Brown spotted it and filmed it, we hoped it had made his film Endless Summer. I don’t think it did.

Where in the world would you most likely to spend a week/month/year surfing?

I would love to spend a year revisiting some wonderful places where I have surfed. In the mid 70′s I made two surfboards and with friends who had done the same we headed off for the South West coast of France and spent an unforgettable Summer at Vieux-Boucau, North of Biarritz. Here we met Rodney Sumpter who was making a surf film and also hiring local venues and showing Bruce Brown’s ‘Goin’ Surfin’.

One day another guy was filming two of us surfing, and we ended up on the film titles for the TV programme ‘Holiday’ which was hosted by Cliff Michelmore. Coco Beach, Florida comes to mind too, as does one day on The Emerald Isle in North Carolina when two dolphins were ‘playing’ with me in the surf. Llangennith alos holds so many wonderful memories and a good swell there would be high on the list.

I now only surf in the summer, but at the age of 50 discovered snowboarding and am now also hooked on that. On the mountain, when the conditions are right, it’s easy to get stoked!

Firstly can you tell us a little about yourselves – who you are, how you met and what you do:

Initially we were very involved together academically; we ran courses in architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology department of Architecture as well as at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design. Around four years back we decided to end our academic engagements and put all our energy into building an architectural office. 

We had both studied Fine Art before we started to study architecture, and we still nurture our work in reference to the art world. But today our references have become broader; during the initial concept development stage we usually have a quite interdisciplinary discussion.    


You are the designers of the now-famous Stockholm photography haunt Fotografiska – what was the inspiration behind this project?


Initially we looked at all sorts of subjects for inspiration. We started of with a nostalgic approach relating to photography, we looked at the origin of the art. We found wonderful images of coagulating silver grains, photos in extreme close up. We scaled up the grain to become a spatial language, to be used as design input for all furniture. We made prototypes of cut silver grain formations into steel and wood. We then tested another approach using an aesthetic closely linked to the art of photography – we thought about lenses and the spatial effect of them and did a lot of tests with perspective deformations. We also tried to implement out-of-focus effects, which is an aesthetic deriving from photography. The final design was a mix of them all; the main material is silver-like, which came from our research within silver grain. The slight mirror effect has a clear blurry, or out-of-focus effect. The perspective deformations came from the effects of cameras lenses.

This toolbox of design parameters has been implemented for the all the furniture and the functions they serve. Swedes are very practical and rational, so we needed to be very clear on letting the functions drive the formal language. So the shape of a wide-open portfolio/large book gave shape to the portfolio in a very direct way, but with a twist, literally. The objects/functions that give shape to the furniture are rotated a few degrees, to give it a more unique appearance. The book modules merge together the function of a table and bookshelf, also slightly rotated. The same design approach has been used for all the furniture within the project. The reception differs a bit as a result of the flow of visitors with large cuts in which to house folders and other informative material. Very rational, but with a distinctive design.

Yes, looking through your work there’s a very deliberate style – how would you describe it? Is each project different or do you have a certain way of working together?

The outcome of our projects is the result of clear spatial ideas, rather than focusing on a specific aesthetics. But we use all forms of strong expression to nurture the discussion at the office. When starting a project together we usually try to have an intense workshop together with the aim of generating a lot of ideas. Then there is a testing period to see what seems most suitable for that individual project.

So what have you been working on lately – do you have any upcoming exhibitions, launches, openings, etc?

Yes, we have a few things coming up:

• A new architecture exhibition for the Swedish public authority Levande Historia or ‘the Living History Forum’ called “P.K.” An exhibition dealing with intolerance and the effect in society an intolerant attitude can bring. It is based on recent studies of intolerance amongst young people in Sweden, this report was recently published by the Living history forum. The report and the exhibition brings up subjects that are very related to the terrible deeds that happened in Norway in July, and with it a very important platform for current discussion. The media has already begun referring to the report.
• New work for Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair. New store concept!
• New apartment project. It is the 3rd in a series of apartments that derives from the same spatial ideas.
• Small villa project on an island in the Stockholm archipelago.
• Finally; a new profile for our office, we have started a separate company dealing with production and project management. The reason for this is to do more advanced projects, while still keeping budgets low.

Lastly, we are constantly inundated with exceptional talent out of Stockholm – any insights or reasons for this you can think of?

There is a generation shift happening in Sweden right now, not only in architecture, but across all cultural fields. And the recent success of Swedish fashion, music and art is only nurturing this phenomenon.



We’re big fans of the bi-annual editorial feast of illustration and poetry that is Popshot Magazine – have been since it launched back in November 2009 in fact – so, when its founder Jacob Denno got in touch to tell us about his latest creative endeavour, the Popshot Magazine Print Shop, we were all aflutter. Needless to say, we got straight over there and were predictably impressed with what Jacob had to offer; a selection of his favourite illustrations from the magazine’s two year history as beautiful 550mm x 675mm giclée prints, each in strictly limited runs of 150. Eager to find out more, and of course to just catch up in general, we bothered Popshot’s head-honcho for a brief Q&A; here it is…

Devin McGrath

Jacob, it’s almost two years since we were first introduced to the brilliant Popshot, what’s been your personal highlight since launching the first issue?

The biggest highlight has been watching the magazine grow and evolve. I haven’t tried to push the magazine itself in any particular direction so whenever anything changes it’s because it feels like the magazine asked for it! Gaining international distribution a couple of issues ago was amazing and receiving emails from people who had picked up copies in Hawaii or Brazil or Singapore. The most recent personal highlight has been launching The Print Shop and knowing that those prints will be mounted on people’s walls.

Mydeadpony

You’ve worked with over 100 artists in the last two years, how did you go about choosing your favourites for the new print shop?

The criteria was that they had to be powerful, poignant and be able to tell a story without the aid of the poem they were created in response to. I think they work amazingly on their own and they start to take on their own story, especially when they’re blown up to the size that they are (675mm x 550mm). Some of the themes are more obvious than others but I like to think that all six images can stop and make you wonder what it’s all about for a little while.

City Abyss

How do you see the print shop progressing? Is it an add-on for fans of the publication, or could you see it evolving into something that could help promote the work of up and coming artists?

I would love it if it evolved into something that could help get beautiful work into people’s homes whilst supporting illustrators at the same time. At the moment we’re just thinking of it as an add-on that if successful could progress into something greater. There’s not a huge central hub for people to go and buy illustration prints from and the thought of becoming that hub has crossed our minds. I like to think we’re well qualified to do it but probably best to watch some sort of space…

Sam Green

The print shop covers the illustration side of things, how about the poetry? You’ve helped promote some events haven’t you? Can we expect your own events, podcasts, festivals?

We’ve sponsored/helped promote a few events in the last year or so and there’s a couple more in the pipeline. The Popshot blog is constantly keeping up with what we think are the most interesting things going on in poetry and obviously the magazine publishes what we think is beautiful written work. There are no immediate plans as yet to create any Popshot only events but we love being able to support events that we believe in. The most recent one was a live poetry & illustration event at Kings Place in London. It doesn’t get much more relevant than that!

Esra Røise

The Popshot Print Shop is live now, and the magazine’s S/S 2011 issue is also available here.

Name: Mieke

Age: 31

Occupation: Head of social media and community management

Hometown: I’m kind of from all over the place

Current location: Leiden, the Netherlands

Angelique Sailor’s Sweetheart by Angelique Houtkamp

Best shop in Amsterdam?

I’ve been back in Holland for three years now and don’t have a favourite shop as of yet. However… (and this isn’t exactly a shop) one place I can recommend is the lappenmarkt on the Noordermarkt on Mondays. Literally translated it’s called the ‘rags market’, but on Monday’s stalls are selling everything from second hand clothing, to fabrics, second hand furniture and curiosities. There are some great vintage interior shops just around the corner as well.

So what’s your favourite find?

My favourite find didn’t come from Amsterdam, it came from Brussels. I was there for a long weekend a few years ago and, because we had a dress up party the following week, we visited a fancy dress shop where I found a very old beaten up M16 cap gun. My friend bought it for me as a 30th birthday gift. It’s beat up and quirky and I love it. My other favourite find is my stuffed Jackalope, which I found in San Francisco at Paxton Gate. Again, surreal, quirky (and I had a hilarious exchange with the Transport Authority about whether it was allowed as carry-on or not, in case you‘re wondering: it‘s not) and I absolutely adore it. We named him Handsome Bob, he’s a real looker.

Handsome Bob

Fancy Dress! I love fancy dress… what’s your best outfit?

I think my best outfit was last Halloween. We were going to a party in Paradiso (a big old church that was converted to a concert venue in the late 60s) for my birthday, but I was going through a break up so I wasn’t really in the mood to find a costume. Since we’d already gotten the tickets I decided to re-use the sailor girl costume I’d gotten the year before and dress up as one of Angelique’s paintings. It worked out really well, even if no one knew who I was supposed to be.

Can you name your best store for new and old goods?

A great area to shop for both new and old goods are the so called ‘9 Straatjes‘. There are a couple of really good vintage clothing shops in the area, as well as a bunch of new design, fashion and interior shops. The area is also littered with bars so it’s a great place to browse around for an afternoon.

Mieke’s Wall by Mieke

Any hidden or new shops/boutiques in Amsterdam that you don’t mind revealing?

My tattoo artist, Angelique Houtkamp, actually just opened her parlour “Salon Serpent” a few months ago. She was looking for a space both for meeting people (she has a big foreign fan base), working on her art, tattooing and selling her prints as well as other knickknacks and decided to roll it all into one. It’s turned out to be a real gem. It has the look and feel of an old barbershop, and then the place is filled with all sorts of cool trinkets, from her painted baby skulls to beautiful prints as well as other things like bottles of ‘girls tears’ and tattoo designs. So it feels like a very fancy curiosity shop, and I love curiosities so if I could move in I would. The ceiling alone is worth a visit.

So after all that shopping & finding treasure… where’s the best place to grab a drink?

I almost don’t want to recommend it for fear of other people going there, but my favorite pub in Amsterdam is the Oranjerie (located at the Oranje Binnenstraat 15hs). Very friendly staff, really good affordable food and tucked away from all the tourists. It’s a proper Dutch pub with a great atmosphere. On one wall they just keep plastering posters for exhibitions and theatre productions on top of each other, I think it must be half a meter thick at the top, it looks lush though it have been done away with during their recent remodeling.

Follow Mieke on Twitter

Name: Violeta Beral Vazquez
Age: 28
Occupation: Climbing Instructor
Hometown: Madrid
Current Location: London
Favourite thing to do?: Whatever on a bike

Tell me more?
I like anything to do with bikes. I love riding in the city, in the mountain, jumps, downhills…building bikes, photographing bikes in action.. watching other peoples bikes… anything!

BMX Supercross World Cup Madrid 2010, Photography by Violeta Beral Vazquez

So London or Madrid? Which is better?
Each one has their bits. Madrid is my hometown and I love it. I would choose Madrid because of the weather, the mountains, the beach nearby, the friendly people and the nightlife. London is amazing as well, and I would choose for the mix of people and culture floating everywhere, it is bike friendly, it is a city that absorbs you, I love it!

What bikes do you own or would like to own?
I have a fixed bike, a jump bike, a bmx and bike to play polo with. I would also like to have a racing bike, a downhill mountain bike, a xc mountain bike, and another one made to my measurements to see what it feels like.

You really do love bikes!
Yes, it is more like an obsessive compulsive disorder.

A polo bike? Is that what i think it is?
Well, my polo bike is just a bike to play polo with! not in the grass but on a hard court.

Bike Polo, Photography by Miguel Udaondo

Where do you play that?
In London there are some courts, they are just like basketball courts but they have to be closed in the sides so the ball doesn´t go out. People usually meet in Newington Gardens, Downham Rd, Hackney Downs… or anywhere you can make a court.

And can you tell me favourite spots in Madrid & London?
I think my favourite ones come with the surprise of finding them. I mean, I really like to discover new places, so it would be more the action of finding them than the places themselves.

Brilliant! So I assume there is a bit of an exclusive community?
More than exclusive I would say small, since it is not as big as many other sports, although it is growing fast.

Photography by Pablo Conejo

Why do you think bikes are fashionable and/or a way of life?
Well, they are fashionable for some people… you can express yourself through your bike a little bit. It becomes a fashion item when you only think about how it looks (rather than how it rides) no matter how much money you spend on it. It can became a way of life very easily if you start to get involved with it. If you ride your bike everyday you may have to change bits and bobs and realize how they have changed your bike for good or for bad and you start changing everything to make it to your own taste. That already will take you deeper into bikes, then you start looking to other peoples bikes and see how they changed them and then you may meet somebody who also likes bikes and have a freaky conversation about bikes and feel like it was a very interesting conversation! And that would be just the beginning!

I have two last questions for you…

Best bike shops in London & Madrid?
Hmm, this is free advertising, isn’t it? In Madrid I would have to say Ciclos Noviciados, the guys who run it are amazing and they love bikes. In London is harder to say since some shops are amazing as in the quantity of material they have, but then the service is not so personal so I don’t have a favourite one.

and

What’s your bike motto?
Why walk if you can ride!

What was your inspiration for starting a label?

I guess it came as a logical extension from the other things we were doing at the time – running a fanzine, then a clubnight and a blog etc. Just a curatorial spirit and desire to share the things we loved with as wide an audience as possible.

What has been the biggest change caused by downloading to your label and the independent record industry as a whole?

I guess we embrace it really, to be honest. We’re a small, boutique operation and only sell things in limited runs so it isn’t particularly harmful for us to give the music away free digitally. In fact, we find it helps promote the records quite nicely.

Berwick Street is obviously a huge part of the UK’s music heritage, how big a loss, do you think, are shops like Sister Ray to popular culture?

It definitely really sucks because those places really were/are great creative hubs and you get a really strong sense of curation and selection within them in terms of the records `they stock and support but I guess there’s a similar kind of identity being fostered online now in terms of blogs etc. Still, it’s a bit sad and scary to think that everything might exist solely in the internet one day. Music’s a totally social thing and those bricks and mortar shopping experiences are really enriching and satisfying.

We have fond memories of trawling through stacks of vinyl on the hunt for something special, hanging around in record shops, meeting new people, and so on… How important do you think events like this and Record Store Day are in both preserving something special, and introducing the digital kids to the excitement of physical music?

It’s definitely a great way to get people energised and excited about buying music again, especially with so many great labels offering exclusives and rarities etc. I read a great article by Simon Reynolds in the Wire this month about how downloading culture has totally exploded the culture of scarcity around music and I think that totally applies here – it’s an amazing feeling discovering something special by pure chance or serendipity – one that huge minesweeping torrent download sessions will never really replicate for me.

Are you looking forward to meeting the record buying public? What do you think you’ll gain from the experience as a label boss?

Absolutely. It’ll be nice to meet people that are into what we’re doing. Sometimes being trapped in the internet can feel a bit like an echo chamber and it’s weird thinking that actual human beings enjoy the things we strive to put together.

Photograph from Vice Style

I guess it was the music around me at the time, that’s what got me off me off my arse to do it, when i first heard klaxons and then saw them live, I thought this is the right band to kick off with, they encompassed things I loved and then also taught me a lot. I have always put music and record labels together, whether its Stax, Warp or What’s Your Rupture?, I wanted to do something like that.

What has been the biggest change caused by downloading to your label and the independent record industry as a whole?

I don’t think anything has really changed for me, we were born in the era of downloading and filesharing so we don’t know any better!
I don’t know how many more records we would sell if it didn’t exist, I think it probably effects major record labels more but if everyone
just puts out good music, which i think will always sell and is sensible in the deals they do and the amount they spend on marketing etc. there will be a profit for both the artist and the label.

Berwick Street is obviously a huge part of the UK’s music heritage, how big a loss, do you think, are shops like Sister Ray to popular culture?

Any record shop closure is a loss for humanity ! Part of me thinks Record shops need to think harder about extra revenue and how to create it, there is more to music than just LPs and CDs.

We have fond memories of trawling through stacks of vinyl on the hunt for something special, hanging around in record shops, meeting new people, and so on… How important do you think events like this and Record Store Day are in both preserving something special, and introducing the digital kids to the excitement of physical music?

I guess its very important , I hope we don’t make everything too sentimental by looking back at some golden age of yesteryear, I don’t think that is very appealing to young people, I hope we make this feel new, and I think the only we can do this is by releasing forward thinking music… I think we need to embrace new formats and the digital world and all that, we have to keep moving forward fast but also have one foot in the past.

Are you looking forward to meeting the record buying public? What do you think you’ll gain from the experience as a label boss?

I’m looking forward to the day, its a celebration of what we do, it’s gonna be great to finally put faces to the people who keeps us alive…

Photograph from Hedi Slimane’s Rock Diary

What was your inspiration for starting a label?

Just wanting to do it for ourselves. We both worked for record labels when we started Moshi Moshi so it was a chance for us to do our own thing. An opportunity to indulge our own passions and see if other people felt the same about the stuff that we liked.

What has been the biggest change caused by downloading to your label and the independent record industry as a whole?

We have probably suffered less than many because our business doesn’t rely on big back catalogue sales. On balance the digital revolution has probably done us as much good as harm. Sure we sell less physical product these days but the internet has enabled us to have a much wider reach than we ever would have been able to. And reach people who would never have knows we existed. I actually find the opportunities presented by digital music very exciting and I think (hope) it’s will ultimately be a good thing for us.

Berwick Street is obviously a huge part of the UK’s music heritage, how big a loss, do you think, are shops like Sister Ray to popular culture?

I think it would be a real shame if we lost independent record stores. They are a place where like-minded music fans can hang out and learn more about the stuff their passionate about. I’d hope that this social aspect of the indie store might be its saviour.

We have fond memories of trawling through stacks of vinyl on the hunt for something special, hanging around in record shops, meeting new people, and so on… How important do you think events like this and Record Store Day are in both preserving something special, and introducing the digital kids to the excitement of physical music?

Record Store Day is a great idea. Not only is it a chance to remind people how great these places are but its an opportunity for labels like ours to show our support and do something creative with physical product that we probably wouldn’t otherwise be doing.

Are you looking forward to meeting the record buying public? What do you think you’ll gain from the experience as a label boss?

I’m strangely excited. I used to work in a record shop before i started the label and I loved it. I enjoy the inter-action with the public – it gives you a window into what people are listening to that you don’t get stuck behind a desk. Sometimes i wish i could go back to it so maybe this could be a turning point in my career.

Canadian photographic artist Mariel Clayton has a decidedly unique style – and more than a little of what some may call, ‘a dark side’. Laboriously concocting twisted scenes of murder, rape, child abuse and torture with, erm, Barbie dolls, Clayton has won as many accolades for his work as he has gasps of horror and disapproval, so – he must be doing something right. We think he’s a bit of a genius, if of course a little twisted – but then aren’t we all? – so decided to drop him a line to discuss his meticulously assembled work in more detail…

Group Shot

How did you get into photography and how long have you been working with it?

I’ve always liked taking pictures, but I only got seriously into photography as a hobby about 4 years ago – and again mainly travel photography. I’ve been taking pictures of the dolls though for nearly 2 years now.

What was the inspiration behind your doll photography?

I honestly just thought it was really really funny.

Domestic Phuqing

How much time and work goes into each shoot?

It’s tough to say! It absolutely depends on the complexity of the piece, and whether I need to make anything for it. For a regular ‘Homicide Barbie’ shot, it usually takes about a minimum 5 hours or so, to set everything up. While I am composing a shot, I constantly stop to look through my camera and make sure everything is lining up the same way through the lens (I learnt this the hard way, your perspective when you’re sitting at a table is not the same as a camera view). If it’s any of the ‘Hystoria’ pieces – those took a lot longer, about 10 – 15 hours or more. For those I had to make some of the props, costumes etc. It’s hard to say exactly the length of time, because I’m not really paying attention. With most of them I also have to stop, go to work (cursed day job) sleep etc….

The case of Baby P

Is there a message, or messages behind the images?

No message at all for most of them. If I have something specific to say in a picture – I will always state it in the title or in the description. For all of the ‘Barbie Murderess’ shots I have no specific message or manifesto – I leave it to the viewer in interpret the way they want to. For me, the interest is seeing how peoples minds react to what they are seeing – that is the best part.

She loves dinner parties the leftovers last for days

The ‘Barbie Murderess’ shots are especially gory – how and why did you come up with this concept?

I used Barbie as a prop before (being beheaded by Ninja Turtles etc.) because I never actively set out to develop this type of ‘style’ of pictures. The first one I did, with Barbie committing suicide in the tub, was more a visual ‘gag’ – something I thought was really funny. My friends loved it so much that I wanted to do more of them, and so I kept on with the theme. I’ve always been fascinated by the inner machinations of peoples minds. I’m intrigued by sociopathy and the whole outer facade/inner workings concept and how the two don’t always correspond. Barbie, as the ultimate stereotypical feminine icon just seems to lend herself to an alternate portrayal. I think because she has been idolised as the epitome of everything that is ‘good’ about being female, being sweet and docile and taciturn etcetc. She has been sanitised to the point where she has absolutely no pesonality whatsoever, so she just seemed to be the perfect model to explore the idea of this hidden evil. There was no time really when it wasn’t conceivable for me to use her in the pictures, it just makes perfect sense. Nobody is ‘that’ good, ‘that’ perfect – everyone is flawed in some way, and I wanted to explore that.

Suicider

If you could shoot any location or object (or both) on the entire globe – where and what would it be?

I have no idea… I can’t narrow it down!!! There are so many places I would love to go and shoot. If I could do anything, I think it would have to be in the archives of the British Museum, I would love to go and shoot all the relics that they never put on display. Or if it has to be a place, I would really like to up to northern Scandinavia – take the Hartigruten ferry around the coastline.

Rockwell

Who have been your major influences and what’s next for Mariel Clayton?

I think my biggest influence would have to be an English cartoonist named Carl Giles. He was a one-panel cartoonist who started out during World War II and carried on right up until the ’80′s. He was a master of subtlety and detail – and he was able to combine not only the main visual ‘gag’ but lots of smaller ones within the frame. I always think of that when I’m composing something – to try and pay attention to the details. I have no idea what’s next… truly. I make a point of not to think too far ahead, because I never know what’s going to happen. I like to let things unfold. So right now I will just keep doing what I’m doing, and as new ideas come along I will explore them!

The Barbie and Ken Killers

You can buy prints of Mariel Clayton’s spectacularly disturbing work over at the 5 Pieces Gallery…

So how did you get into this line of work, was it the passion for cars, design, both?

Of course, as a small boy I always loved cars but I also had a passion for drawing. I was always drawing and sketching cars and somehow the dream came alive to be working as a car designer, so you know? Both work together quite well…

Which cars inspired you growing up?

At that age when you are 15, 16, you always think about the dream cars, a Ferrari or a Lamborghini Countach, you know? Expensive products you are always dreaming of, and every time I saw a Ferrari on the street or at a motor show I was always amazed at how fantastic it was. In today’s world it’s nice to see them, to look at them, but you know it is much more complex to work on a really high production car like a Focus or C-MAX and a much bigger challenge than doing a sports car.

So you prefer designing for high production?

It’s nice to do something like a sports car because there is always a lot of credit and coverage from the media but on the other side with something like a C-MAX or Focus, this car is built a million times – the challenge for a designer and the team is much greater. I feel most proud about this challenge. As a team we are creating a product that sells a lot of numbers but also you have a certain responsibility for the company because the cars need to keep being produced, you need to keep people busy, and if you have a flop, you have a problem.

Where do your everyday influences come from?

When we create a car we work together with market research who determine our target customers. If it’s a new colour, or if it’s a successor of a certain product, then we need to look at how our customer has changed over the years… their lifetime, that’s then influencing your design brief. I take inspiration from everything that surrounds us, perhaps it’s from the car business – when I got to shows I get a lot of inspiration on trends – but also what is happening in social life, architecture, when you go into town shopping, or when you go on vacation. As a designer you are always thinking…

Also in yourself, sometimes you have good days but others where you are really stressed out and need to execute things, at these times you have to take a look deep in your brain, at your art, and take inspiration from that. It’s a very emotional business. To sum it up in one sentence you could say I am inspired by life.

Do you have any design idols?

If I am honest, I don’t have them really. It changes all the time but I don’t have any favourite designers. Boring answer huh?

Where do you feel the design of cars is going, the recent B-MAX concept sports an intriguing pillar-less design?

You need to differentiate. One thing is about innovation, and I think B-MAX shows that quite well. There is a demand in the market to show you are different and unique. The B-MAX shows we are really innovative but not just for the sake of it, there are a lot of advantages for the customer. In terms of styling we need to perform functions as the highest priority, but also we need to inspire the customers to buy the product, and that’s about emotion, about designs.

We will be more challenged in the future when working with engineering because of the environment, aerodynamics etc. In terms of the whole thing, I believe we will be getting a much more simpler body language than in the past, I think the last 5 years we have had a lot of energy in terms of expressive forms and we will keep on going there. I’m not talking about Ford but I think in the car business there are a lot of overloaded designs and I think this will be changing to more simpler forms. We at Ford will continue with our very expressive forms, evoking a lot of emotion.

Do you feel we are still making iconic cars, lots of people look back fondly at the cars of the 50s and 60s… are external influences effecting the design of cars today?

The most important thing here is to sell cars, and the whole process is to make cars for the customers. I think the current success of Ford in Europe is telling us that we are doing the right thing, especially with the Fiesta, and to be quite honest, I think that the Fiesta is an iconic car. Because of the style, the looks and… I know the competition are looking very closely at what we have done with the Fiesta. This tells me that, when getting compliments from the media, from the customers, from others, that we’ve done a great job here and that the Fiesta is an iconic car, even though it is a high production car.

How do you keep up with modern trends in all fields of design, do you visit websites like ours?

Yeah, the internet, I’m also a fanatic reader of all kinds of magazines, whether it’s fashion or cars I try to read all the most important magazines, British and German. There are a number of blogs I regularly read and also the feedback from comments is valuable. We also have customer feedback from market research.

Finally, are there any other contemporary cars that inspire you?

Yeah, there are definitely cars there, the emotional products, Aston Martin DB9 for example, because of its timeless design. The 911 Porsche is also something I still admire. I believe that in the compact car class – it sounds a little arrogant – but I believe we are the leaders in that segment so I guess I am inspired by some of the stuff I cannot really tell you about, stuff that we’re working on for the next 3 to 4 years…

Name: Matthias Heiderich
Age: 29
Occupation: Photographer
Hometown: Bad Hersfeld
Location: Berlin
Website: www.matthias-heiderich.de

Tell us about being an artist in Berlin – the ups, the downs:

There are no downs, that’s the up. I enjoy being an artist here, you can do whatever you want and you’ll always find people to work with.

You say on your website that you’re a self-taught photographer, when did you start taking photographs?

I bought my first camera in 2008, which was the starting point.

You have a very unique style – who or what are your main influences?

Music, vinyl covers, other photographers, good graphic design. To name some of the people that inspire me:
Joseph Schultz, Christoph Morlinghaus, Mark Weaver, Tim Hecker, Monolake
I am also a huge fan of synthesizer music, vintage design / photography.

Your Berlin portraits explore stripped-down complexities of colour and architecture in stunning detail – is this what you were trying to achieve?

When I go out I search for patterns, lines, colours, the abstracts of the urban landscapes to transform them into something new, take them out of their contexts. I enjoy playing around with forms, structures, and colours.

Your latest work focuses mostly on industrial architecture, signage and colour – is this something you will keep exploring? What’s next for you as a photographer?

Yes, those are definitely some of the keywords and I will keep taking pictures of these things, as the industrial areas are my favourite places to hang around on sunny weekends while listening to music and eating chocolate.
Next are also more exhibitions outside Berlin.

If you could chose any place on earth to photograph, where or what would it be?

I’d definitely choose some industrial areas in former soviet countries. They must be full of awesome and weird architecture.

We hear you’re also an avid musician – tell us about your music:

Well, I must admit I am not really active at the moment, but I produced a lot of music in the last 10 years and also played many DJ gigs and some live gigs. I got a bit tired of it, but I am sure I will do it again, there are many ideas rotating in my head concerning a multimedia project. At the moment I am focusing on running a netlabel where I release the music of friends – www.weirdandwired.net.

OK, thanks so much for speaking with us. We’re huge fans. But before we go, any tips for the Berlin visitor?

Go there in summer, bring your raincoat and dancing shoes, stay calm and stop taking pictures of your drunk friends on the dancefloor. If you’re male and drunk, you shouldn’t try to get into Berghain.

Name: Devan Harlan
Age: 32
Occupation: Artist & Designer
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Location: New York, NY
Website: www.devharlan.com

Is being a successful artist in NYC as good as it sounds – or are there ups and downs?

Well New York certainly offers a lot of opportunities, and is a great place to be if you have creative pursuits, but I think being successful in any discipline is just matter of putting in the time and hard work, New York won’t do that for you. Also success completely depends on how you define it, and from my vantage point I think there’s still a lot lot be accomplished.

You state on your website you’re self-taught – how and why did you become an artist?

I think being self-educated I’ve always been a bit anti-establishment, and have operated outside the norms. Creative instincts were sort of second nature, but I channeled them into a commercial design path. The reality however is that unfettered creative freedom is a kind of holy grail that I think cannot truly exist in the corporate world, tho I had tried to believe otherwise.

Recently I’ve found that operating in a purely fine art context allows me to pursue ideas in a much more rewarding fashion. There’s too much ground to explore, it’s not worth allowing your creatively to be shackled.

You have a very unique, cross-disciplined approach to art – can you explain your style and how you developed it:

Early on I was also heavily influenced by the kind of rogue tech-art scene in San Francisco that involved hardware hacking, game-mod’ing, video synthesizers and all sorts of non-traditional approaches to using video. I had many friends doing unorthodox things with projectors and spent years learning to program custom real time 3D applications.

Simultaneously however I was also learning and using industry standard tools for design and 3D animation. I think when it came together was when I gained a desire to build physical objects, a pursuit which I’m still studying, and all the techniques sort of merged in a way that’s been very satisfying.

You work is bold and inspiring – who or what influences and inspires you?

I think visually I’m definitely taking some cues from ideas developed in the 60′s Op-Art movement, and artists like Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely are some obvious favorites. And while this goes hand in hand with the psychedelic movement as well, I think I’m attempting to modernize the practice a bit.

On the other spectrum I’m deeply inspired by ancient societies, and man’s natural instinct for object making and ultimately building massive lasting edifices, another type of transcendentalism, a physical object that transcends time. And so the inspiration of the work is simultaneously sculpture that feels like a transcendental edifice, and a sensory sort of transcendentalism induced by light and color.

You recently collaborated with Olek – can you tell us about this project?

Yes, Olek and I had shown work together with Christopher Henry gallery, and after getting to know each other’s practice wondered, could these things be merged? We decided to use her ubiquitous crocheted street bicycles as the template, but as a digitally animating video sculpture. We began by building a sculpture of a white bicycle, and then we shot stop motion and video of the crochet process for all the pieces that would go on a real bike. All of this was then merged with the graphic and pattern based animation I’ve been developing and then projected back onto the real bicycle sculpture.

The whole process was good fun, but took many long hours and late nights of pretzels and peanut butter.

What can we expect in the future from lightmapping and 3D sculptural artists like yourself? Are there any limits?

I think architectural projection is finally hitting mainstream here in the states, but I think future applications are really going to involve indoor projection rather than outdoor . Using projection as a pure lighting source, or as a non-invasive user interface on surfaces and objects, and perhaps coming from a pico projector built into your phone.

Limitations are always being created and destroyed, so I’m never worried about limitations, ultimately it’s the concept that matters, and if the technology has to catch up it will.

If you could chose any place or subject to work on, as a canvas – where or what would it be?

Sure maybe the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion in Athens?

Finally, what’s next for Dev Harlan – are there any exhibitions, projects coming up?

Always busy. Planning to participate in the annual Festival of Ideas for the New City, which is going to have a outdoor video component called Flashlight. Am working on putting together a show in Berlin this summer, and have my first solo show with Chris Henry Gallery slated for next September. Also am producing editioned DVD’s from the most recent work with Olek, so look for those to be available shortly!

Name: Alice Galeffi
Age: 23
Occupation: Cultural Producer
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Favourite music: Good music!

So how’s Rio this time of year? Warm I bet.
Pretty warm, there was crappy weather during carnival though…

I see Carnival just started – you doing some crazy partying?
In theory, Carnival is great, everyone is happy, no work, you can drink as much as you like, party all day and night, kiss as many guys as you want and no one will judge you. But I don’t know… for some reason being in a crowd of 2 million people, drinking beer all day long and having nowhere to pee, and kissing drunk guys who have already kissed another 10 girls on the same day, just isn’t my jam…

Haha. I guess there are loads of gigs on or is it more just one big party?
There are bands on the streets, they are called blocos, but they play carnival music, which can be really cool, like old samba and maracatu – an Afro-Brazilian rhythm, composed by lots of drums, trumpets, tambourines and so on. It’s great to have free quality music on the streets during this time of the year. Earlier this year there was a bloco that mixed Beatles songs with maracatu; it was called Sargento Pimenta (Sergeant Pepper). There are 6 guys in the band and another 60 playing percussion. They expected 500 people and 10,000 showed up. It is a great idea because everyone loves the Beatles, likes the old carnival songs and everyone knows how to sing it, except now you can dance it differently, in a more Brazilian way.

OK, so apart from when Carnival is on – what’s the local music scene there like?
There is good stuff going on at the moment. I like Caetano Veloso’s new band Cê. At nearly 70 years old, the guy’s got together with a few 20-something year olds, and created a fresh sound. He mixes his old style with some more rock n’ roll influences. Orquestra Imperial is awesome; it is a true orchestra with 18 great musicians and there’s always a special guest. Their repertoire goes from Elza Soares’ ‘Beija-me’ to ‘Owner of a Love’, from the progressive band Yes. Great show. I really like Tono as well. It’s a young band, with psychedelic and world music influences. I heard the show is really good, but I haven’t had the chance to see it yet. The group Binario is known for playing every Sunday by the beach of Ipanema. Their album is named Nereda, independently recorded, proving that Brazil is also able to self-produce non-commercial quality albums. Theresa Christina sings classic samba, which I love. It is very characteristic of Rio.

When I think Rio music, I imagine those Favela parties with carioca funk – is it at all like that?
Haha. There is definitely a strong funk cult in this city, but if I told you I have never been to a baile funk would you believe me? When I was younger and was really into the carioca funk it was too dangerous to go to those parties, nowadays its not, it’s full of gringos at the favelas. I will definitely go one day, it’s on my to-do-list. But there is not only funk in the slums these days. There is a hostel called The Maze Inn, in a favela in the neighbourhood of Catete, where they have gigs, and the Jazz night seems to be one of the most popular ones. My friends are playing there on the 18th of March, their band is awesome; they are called Baleia. They play anything from Britney Spears to Andrew Bird, all with a jazz twist, they also play their own stuff.

And are there venues that cater for all genres?
Brazil in general is a big fruit salad, and Rio is no different. People like different things, mix different genres, and listen to all kinds of music. Circo Voador for example, in Lapa, downtown, is a great venue. They host anything from funk and samba shows, to international indie names like Vampire Weekend. It’s a cosy place to watch a gig, it’s in a circus tent you know, and there is character, soul.

So there’s something for everyone?
There is, but there could be much more. We still need more international bands coming to play. Some bands come to Brazil and don’t come to Rio! It’s outrageous. We used to have a great music festival sponsored by the telephone company Tim – it was called Tim Festival. I saw great shows there like Patti Smith, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Devendra Banhart and Daft Punk. I don’t know why they stopped. It was my carnival! Now there is an interesting movement going on called Queremos, which means ‘we want’. Some cool kids from Rio were fed-up of not having their favorite bands coming to play and created a crowd funding system to produce shows. You can sponsor your favorite band to come and do a show here. Once enough money has been raised to bring the band and the gig has been confirmed, you can get your investment back and go to the gig for free. Does that make sense? With this system they have already brought Vampire Weekend, Two Door Cinema Club, LCD Soundsystem, Mayer Hawthorne and are bringing The National soon.

Wow, that’s awesome! I’m actually a bit of an indie-rock/electropop type – where can I find live music? And places that play good music?
As I said before, Circo Voador has some great gigs, but also Teatro Odisséia, in Lapa, sometimes has local bands playing indie-rock. But the classic indie place of Rio is Casa da Matriz, a little house in the neighbourhood of Botafogo with two dance floors, and a gaming room. I’ve had great nights there. It was much better some years ago, more underground, now it’s a bit hyped and you’ve gotta queue to get in. It still has great DJ’s though. Dama de Ferro also has good music, its more electronic, techno and so on. There’s a new place also in Lapa called Espaço Acústico with a cool rooftop. The other day there was an electro-funk DJ playing and some live hip-hop/rap presentation. It would be a nice place to throw a party.

Do you normally go out to dance or just hang… or both?
Both. Recently there was a great event on the top of the Sugar Loaf, called Verão Morro da Urca. It is probably the coolest place ever to have a party, you get the cable car, which is exciting, and up there you have one of the most beautiful views of the city. But chilling is always good. Rio is lacking interesting bars though. We have the famous ‘butecos’, which are casual bars and you can go with your beach clothes. There’s no decoration, a horrible white light, no music at all and they all look the same. I find it’s kinda depressing but everyone else in Rio doesn’t seem to mind. I went to a super cool bar in São Paulo the other day named Z Carniceria, which means ‘the butcher’, and it’s decorated as one. It’s something different, the music was cool, the waiters were pin-ups and the owners were behind the bar. People are more open to this kind of stuff in Sao Paulo, people in Rio are still a bit square in lots of ways.

Right. Is there an area/s that are best for music lovers in Rio?
Definitely Lapa. There’s lots of things going on there, lot’s of places to go. And Botafogo, too.

Which are the best places to go?
In Lapa you can go to Circo Voador, Democráticos, which is an iconic Brazilian music place with live shows and where everyone dances, Espaço Acústico, Teatro Rivaldo where some good gigs are taking place, Teatro Odisséia…
In Botafogo there is Casa da Matriz and Pista 3, which are from the same owners so it’s basically the same thing. When Casa da Matriz is crowded and with a huge queue you go to Pista 3.

And where are the best places to hear traditional Rio or Brazilian music?
Democráticos.

Are there any Rio ‘hero’ bands?
I’d probably say Chico Buarque is considered a hero for many Brazilians… When Brazil was under a dictatorship during the 60s/70s, artist were being censured by the military government, and the guy manage to write lyrics with double meanings, he would criticise the government without them noticing. His shows are pretty rare these days, but you can still find him walking around Leblon beach.

There’s been some sweet music out of Brazil over recent year – CSS springs to mind – any bands you can recommend checking out for those who can’t make it to Brazil?
I didn’t mention Los Hermanos in the first question because they’ve been around for over 10 years. They are considered the best indie-rock band of Brazil, and unlike CSS they sing in Portguese, which is cool. I particularly like the CD ‘Bloco do Eu Sozinho’. Definitely worth checking out.

I bet there’s so much good music that never gets heard out of South America because it’s not in English right??
Brazil in general is pretty hyped at the moment, everyone wants a piece of Brazil! With music it is no different, Bossa Nova and the Tropicalia music styles seem to be the most popular ones. When I travel overseas there is always a café or a shop playing Brazilian music. I have also seen it in lots of movies. So I think there is space for our music even though most of it is in Portuguese. Brazil is in everyone’s imagination as an exotic place, and the music seems to consolidate this fantasy.

Finally, any tips for music lovers in Rio?
Don’t be scared of trying it all, get wild, after all we are in the middle of the jungle!

By Samuel Sweetman

Photography Credits:
2, 4 & 7; Matt Avent
3; Júlia Calmon
5; Ryan Burke
6; Lelo**