Watch It, Love It
Emil & Friends Perform "Royal Oats" and "Ali Baba" in the PAPER Kitchen
After beginning his music career in Boston, Emil Hewitt made the leap to Brooklyn, signing a record deal and catching the eyes of music bloggers with his complex, synth-driven pop (and maybe a prank about his band really being the indie side project of actor Emile Hirsch) in the process. Last month, Hewitt and his bandmate Dan de Lara (also the writer behind popular music blog Asian Dan), stopped by the PAPER kitchen to perform acoustic versions of "Ali Baba" and "Royal Oats," the latter of which appeared on an EP of the same name produced by cult French label Kitsuné. Ahead of a headlining show at Glasslands this Friday and a new EP Vampire Bites, whose proceeds will go to Red Cross to benefit continued Hurricane Sandy relief, Hewitt and de Lara chatted with us about how they got their start, what happened when they pretended to be associated with Emile Hirsch and their thoughts on selling out.
How did Emil & Friends start?
Emil: I was living in Boston in 2009ish and I met Dan when he was in Boston for school. Besides being a great musician, Dan also runs a blog called Asian Dan and he was one of the first people to get in contact with me about my music. He showed me some of his music and after I ended up getting signed and moving to New York City, Dan got looped in when I needed to put together a live show and we've been playing together ever since. He's been a very supportive part of the project in every sort of the way.
Were either of you guys in other bands previously?
Dan: No, nothing serious.
Emil: The interesting part for me was that I was mostly a DJ and an actor when I was younger. I'd grown up being able to play the guitar a little bit but what really allowed me to make this project happen was recording software and being able to multi-track yourself in private as opposed to being in a band where the first two years or so can be kind of rough. If you really get a handle on recording software, you can take your ideas and on your own time get them together. I began to make music that was beyond my ability to perform live so once things started to get serious and I got a record contract, I was playing catch up. My first live performance ever -- singing in front of people -- was only two years ago. It just goes to show that we live in a day and age where some people do it that way.
In a way there's a disconnect -- technology can help you produce amazing sounds but it becomes a new challenge to figure out how to perform live.
E: They're two different beasts, really. There's a lot of amazing music that we listen to and love that really doesn't make sense live and that I probably wouldn't want to see live.
D: Even when there's a lot going on in the recordings, it's really cool to play it live -- even if you have to change it -- and to give people the [ability] to experience a new thing.
How would you guys describe the music that you make?
E: People will identify the project as being genre-bending and genre-hopping so it's difficult to classify. [It's] electro-synth-pop-soul-rock-folk and if I've had a little too much to drink before a show, it becomes funk.
I read somewhere that when you first started out a few years ago, you told people the band was founded by the actor Emile Hirsch?
E: I actually didn't! Someone else did. Dan should tell you the story.
D: I was blogging and got a press release that said Emile Hirsch had a synth-pop project and I was like, "What is this? Yeah, right." I brushed it off and then got another email that was like, "You should be honored that you're getting this email from Emile Hirsch. You're getting a first listen."
Whose idea was it?
E: It was my idea with one of my oldest friends, Ben, who managed me. We were sitting around and I was like, "I have this EP and I really want to get it out there" and bloggers get hundreds of emails a day and don't have time to open it all so what's going to make it stand out? What I was really trying to do was get at the fact that you can deny it if you want to but everyone is a celebrity-whore. If you hear a weird story and there's a celebrity's name in it, you're that much more likely to click on the link. My name is Emil Hewitt so Emile Hirsch is very similar. I was like, "We're roughly the same age so why don't we just claim that on the set of Speedracer, he made this indie thing and he's trying to cross-over?" I thought we should make the email laughably pretentious. The email was like, "You should be honored to check this out. Your blog's been picked." We thought it was hilarious.
D: It worked.
E: Within a month, we were on all these Hollywood blogs and international blogs. The best part was that the people who really understood -- who got it immediately -- were like, "This isn't Emile Hirsch but I'm listening to it and I like it."
D: Yeah, I was like, "This is good music!"
E: It just goes to show, some people can criticize that [method] and I'm totally okay with that but I tried to make a point and I think the point was made. There was a blog in France that I won't name that made a glowing review of the record and then after they found out that I wasn't Emile Hirsch, they tore it down and sent me an [email] that said the equivalent of "You'll never work in this town again!" You can't take that too seriously.
Did Emile Hirsch or his people ever get in touch with you?
E: No, not that I'm aware of. We tried to get in contact with him to see if he wanted to appear in a music video because it got to a point where it was obvious that he knew about the story. But now it's like "playtime's over" and there's no more making fun of blogs. We're trying to play good shows and put out good records. At the end of the day, if your music is going to last and you want to make a career, you need to do what all bands have eventually done, which is be respectful, play shows, open for people, work really hard. It's not going to happen for you if you're sitting at home with a laptop making great music [and not getting out there].
Do you think there are too many acts right now that are relying too much on the "record music on your laptop in your bedroom" model and not playing enough live shows?
D: You could say that the whole DJ bubble could pop very soon. People want to see real things, someone sweating and playing guitar. Even for me, I'm cut from the DJ/electronic world and I love that stuff. At the same time, I want to see someone working for it. It's cool putting your hands in the air and watching [a DJ] but...
You have an EP out to benefit Hurricane Sandy. Anything else coming up?
D: We'll be pumping away at the studio.
E: There's a record that's 75% done and I'd love to make a lot of content for it, two or three music videos.
Do you guys both make music full time?
D: I'm [blogging] on the Internet. I'm all up on the web.
E: Music is the type of thing where it can occasionally pay your rent and occasionally you find yourself [needing a day job]. The biggest way for a musician[to make money] is with licensing. It's not consistent.
So licensing existing Emil & Friends material?
E: Yeah. We had this song "Rain Check" that was used in a Target commercial. That inches you towards being autonomous in terms of [not having a day job] but I do have a part-time job working for a market research firm, where I travel around the country and spy on shoppers. All my co-workers are actors and writers and musicians who need this job because you work your own hours and I can turn down jobs if I'm busy and if I need to work, I can. My boss is John Engle who was in the band Codeine in the 90s. He's this genius guy. I was in the field with him and he was like, "We're re-releasing our stuff and I'm gonna go on a world tour so I'll be back [later]." It's humbling to see a great artist working part-time years after they made a splash in the music industry and who, for all intents and purposes, seems very happy.
And going back to music licensing, do you think there's less of a concern nowadays with the idea of 'selling out'?
E: If we were playing in the 90s, I would've been very hesitant to let one of our songs be used in a commercial but now I think it's funny. I showed that little Target clip to everyone. It's out of necessity. In the music industry, necessity creates the boundaries of what's cool. Things get clamped down and within that, people are like, "What's cool? What can we afford?" All of this laptop-based music where it's one dude touring around, it's really recession-based music. It's really cheap to make, you can make it yourself, it's DIY, it's cheap to tour... It's all related to how things are on a larger scale. If [the economy] bounce[s] back, maybe then licensing won't be cool anymore. At the end of the day, musicians will always do it, though, and I don't think an artist should ever be criticized for a commercial decision if that means making more art for more fans.
Catch Emil & Friends when they headline Glasslands Gallery this Friday, January 11 at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased HERE.
You can download their new EP, Vampire Bites, over at Pledge Music, where proceeds will go to Red Cross to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief.
Interview by Abby Schreiber Read Full Story
How did Emil & Friends start?
Emil: I was living in Boston in 2009ish and I met Dan when he was in Boston for school. Besides being a great musician, Dan also runs a blog called Asian Dan and he was one of the first people to get in contact with me about my music. He showed me some of his music and after I ended up getting signed and moving to New York City, Dan got looped in when I needed to put together a live show and we've been playing together ever since. He's been a very supportive part of the project in every sort of the way.
Were either of you guys in other bands previously?
Dan: No, nothing serious.
Emil: The interesting part for me was that I was mostly a DJ and an actor when I was younger. I'd grown up being able to play the guitar a little bit but what really allowed me to make this project happen was recording software and being able to multi-track yourself in private as opposed to being in a band where the first two years or so can be kind of rough. If you really get a handle on recording software, you can take your ideas and on your own time get them together. I began to make music that was beyond my ability to perform live so once things started to get serious and I got a record contract, I was playing catch up. My first live performance ever -- singing in front of people -- was only two years ago. It just goes to show that we live in a day and age where some people do it that way.
In a way there's a disconnect -- technology can help you produce amazing sounds but it becomes a new challenge to figure out how to perform live.
E: They're two different beasts, really. There's a lot of amazing music that we listen to and love that really doesn't make sense live and that I probably wouldn't want to see live.
D: Even when there's a lot going on in the recordings, it's really cool to play it live -- even if you have to change it -- and to give people the [ability] to experience a new thing.
How would you guys describe the music that you make?
E: People will identify the project as being genre-bending and genre-hopping so it's difficult to classify. [It's] electro-synth-pop-soul-rock-folk and if I've had a little too much to drink before a show, it becomes funk.
I read somewhere that when you first started out a few years ago, you told people the band was founded by the actor Emile Hirsch?
E: I actually didn't! Someone else did. Dan should tell you the story.
D: I was blogging and got a press release that said Emile Hirsch had a synth-pop project and I was like, "What is this? Yeah, right." I brushed it off and then got another email that was like, "You should be honored that you're getting this email from Emile Hirsch. You're getting a first listen."
Whose idea was it?
E: It was my idea with one of my oldest friends, Ben, who managed me. We were sitting around and I was like, "I have this EP and I really want to get it out there" and bloggers get hundreds of emails a day and don't have time to open it all so what's going to make it stand out? What I was really trying to do was get at the fact that you can deny it if you want to but everyone is a celebrity-whore. If you hear a weird story and there's a celebrity's name in it, you're that much more likely to click on the link. My name is Emil Hewitt so Emile Hirsch is very similar. I was like, "We're roughly the same age so why don't we just claim that on the set of Speedracer, he made this indie thing and he's trying to cross-over?" I thought we should make the email laughably pretentious. The email was like, "You should be honored to check this out. Your blog's been picked." We thought it was hilarious.
D: It worked.
E: Within a month, we were on all these Hollywood blogs and international blogs. The best part was that the people who really understood -- who got it immediately -- were like, "This isn't Emile Hirsch but I'm listening to it and I like it."
D: Yeah, I was like, "This is good music!"
E: It just goes to show, some people can criticize that [method] and I'm totally okay with that but I tried to make a point and I think the point was made. There was a blog in France that I won't name that made a glowing review of the record and then after they found out that I wasn't Emile Hirsch, they tore it down and sent me an [email] that said the equivalent of "You'll never work in this town again!" You can't take that too seriously.
Did Emile Hirsch or his people ever get in touch with you?
E: No, not that I'm aware of. We tried to get in contact with him to see if he wanted to appear in a music video because it got to a point where it was obvious that he knew about the story. But now it's like "playtime's over" and there's no more making fun of blogs. We're trying to play good shows and put out good records. At the end of the day, if your music is going to last and you want to make a career, you need to do what all bands have eventually done, which is be respectful, play shows, open for people, work really hard. It's not going to happen for you if you're sitting at home with a laptop making great music [and not getting out there].
Do you think there are too many acts right now that are relying too much on the "record music on your laptop in your bedroom" model and not playing enough live shows?
D: You could say that the whole DJ bubble could pop very soon. People want to see real things, someone sweating and playing guitar. Even for me, I'm cut from the DJ/electronic world and I love that stuff. At the same time, I want to see someone working for it. It's cool putting your hands in the air and watching [a DJ] but...
You have an EP out to benefit Hurricane Sandy. Anything else coming up?
D: We'll be pumping away at the studio.
E: There's a record that's 75% done and I'd love to make a lot of content for it, two or three music videos.
Do you guys both make music full time?
D: I'm [blogging] on the Internet. I'm all up on the web.
E: Music is the type of thing where it can occasionally pay your rent and occasionally you find yourself [needing a day job]. The biggest way for a musician[to make money] is with licensing. It's not consistent.
So licensing existing Emil & Friends material?
E: Yeah. We had this song "Rain Check" that was used in a Target commercial. That inches you towards being autonomous in terms of [not having a day job] but I do have a part-time job working for a market research firm, where I travel around the country and spy on shoppers. All my co-workers are actors and writers and musicians who need this job because you work your own hours and I can turn down jobs if I'm busy and if I need to work, I can. My boss is John Engle who was in the band Codeine in the 90s. He's this genius guy. I was in the field with him and he was like, "We're re-releasing our stuff and I'm gonna go on a world tour so I'll be back [later]." It's humbling to see a great artist working part-time years after they made a splash in the music industry and who, for all intents and purposes, seems very happy.
And going back to music licensing, do you think there's less of a concern nowadays with the idea of 'selling out'?
E: If we were playing in the 90s, I would've been very hesitant to let one of our songs be used in a commercial but now I think it's funny. I showed that little Target clip to everyone. It's out of necessity. In the music industry, necessity creates the boundaries of what's cool. Things get clamped down and within that, people are like, "What's cool? What can we afford?" All of this laptop-based music where it's one dude touring around, it's really recession-based music. It's really cheap to make, you can make it yourself, it's DIY, it's cheap to tour... It's all related to how things are on a larger scale. If [the economy] bounce[s] back, maybe then licensing won't be cool anymore. At the end of the day, musicians will always do it, though, and I don't think an artist should ever be criticized for a commercial decision if that means making more art for more fans.
Catch Emil & Friends when they headline Glasslands Gallery this Friday, January 11 at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased HERE.
You can download their new EP, Vampire Bites, over at Pledge Music, where proceeds will go to Red Cross to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief.
Interview by Abby Schreiber Read Full Story
Tilly and the Wall Play the PAPER Kitchen
In the decade since indie band Tilly and the Wall formed in Omaha, the five band members -- Jamie and Derek Pressnall, Kianna Alarid, Neely Jenkins, and Nick White -- have grown up, gotten married (some to each other), had a few kids and drifted to other cities. Now, four years since their last album, 2008's O, the band has reunited and produced Heavy Mood, their fourth full-length record to date. On the heels of the album's release earlier this month, the group stopped by our kitchen to treat us to toe-tapping (literally!) renditions of "Hey Rainbow" and "Static Expressions" -- two tracks off the new LP -- and chat with us about how their musical reunion's been going.
What can you share with us about the new album?
Derek It rules. We're very proud of it.
Kianna: It feels like there's some sort of theme. It's hard to put your finger on it. The lyrics "We have to try and lift up the weight" hold the power, as if there's a heavy mood out there and nobody can deny that. The message of the album seems to be "let's all together now lift up that weight." You can't just will something away, it's more about transcending through and going into the experience, working through it on individual levels.
How was the recording process this time around? You've had a big break since the your last album came out.
Nick: It was a big break. And we've kind of all split apart. Neely and I live in LA now, Kianna lives in Missouri, and [we have] kids and the whole thing...life. So we took a little time off and it just felt like the right time for everyone and we were all in contact.
Derek: This time it was a lot of songwriting and crafting in the studio because we all live in different cities and a lot of it was done with Mike Mogus. He really produced this record and had a heavy hand in it.
How has it been seeing one another so much all of a sudden?
Neely: I think we've all talked about how when we're together it doesn't feel like anything has changed, even though our lives are so different. We're still total bros and everything is the same as far as friendship goes.
Jamie: And I feel like we appreciate the time we have together more because we all have really busy lives. And for us to schedule a tour with children and everything we have going on [makes us] appreciate the time we have together.
Kianna: Tilly was our entire life for such a long time and to come back together and know that the unit is still just as concrete as before really shows that if a band really works from the beginning, it's never changed.
Derek: It's just like [being in a] family.
Kianne: I feel like 20 years later if we said, "Do you guys feel like doing another Tilly album?" we'd be like "Sure!" And it wouldn't be weird at all, besides the fact that we'd be like 50 or something.
Kianna: I'll also say that this tour, since we've been away so long, it's sort of blown my eyes that the kids are coming back and they're all fans from before. It's showing how long we've been around and the loyalty that [the fans] are giving to us when we're on stage. It's inspiring.
Interview by Abby Schreiber Read Full Story
What can you share with us about the new album?
Derek It rules. We're very proud of it.
Kianna: It feels like there's some sort of theme. It's hard to put your finger on it. The lyrics "We have to try and lift up the weight" hold the power, as if there's a heavy mood out there and nobody can deny that. The message of the album seems to be "let's all together now lift up that weight." You can't just will something away, it's more about transcending through and going into the experience, working through it on individual levels.
How was the recording process this time around? You've had a big break since the your last album came out.
Nick: It was a big break. And we've kind of all split apart. Neely and I live in LA now, Kianna lives in Missouri, and [we have] kids and the whole thing...life. So we took a little time off and it just felt like the right time for everyone and we were all in contact.
Derek: This time it was a lot of songwriting and crafting in the studio because we all live in different cities and a lot of it was done with Mike Mogus. He really produced this record and had a heavy hand in it.
How has it been seeing one another so much all of a sudden?
Neely: I think we've all talked about how when we're together it doesn't feel like anything has changed, even though our lives are so different. We're still total bros and everything is the same as far as friendship goes.
Jamie: And I feel like we appreciate the time we have together more because we all have really busy lives. And for us to schedule a tour with children and everything we have going on [makes us] appreciate the time we have together.
Kianna: Tilly was our entire life for such a long time and to come back together and know that the unit is still just as concrete as before really shows that if a band really works from the beginning, it's never changed.
Derek: It's just like [being in a] family.
Kianne: I feel like 20 years later if we said, "Do you guys feel like doing another Tilly album?" we'd be like "Sure!" And it wouldn't be weird at all, besides the fact that we'd be like 50 or something.
Kianna: I'll also say that this tour, since we've been away so long, it's sort of blown my eyes that the kids are coming back and they're all fans from before. It's showing how long we've been around and the loyalty that [the fans] are giving to us when we're on stage. It's inspiring.
Interview by Abby Schreiber Read Full Story
Birdy Covers "Skinny Love" and "People Help the People" in the PAPER Kitchen
Sixteen-year-old British songstress Birdy stopped by the PAPER kitchen recently and treated us to gorgeous covers of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" and Cherry Ghost's "People Help the People." Both songs appear on the artist's self-titled debut album, which you can snag on iTunes. Watch the clips above.
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Sondre Lerche Plays the PAPER Kitchen
Brooklyn-by-way-of-Norway indie singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche recently performed a few songs in the PAPER kitchen and, after, stopped to chat about his new live album, Bootlegs, why he wants to help the ladies of the Hamptons relax, and which artist would "eat him alive for breakfast." Read on.
Tell us about your live album. Where did you record it?
It's from two different shows. Most of it is from a show in my hometown in Bergen [Norway]. It has 200,000 people and is the second biggest city in Norway but that doesn't mean much. It's where I grew up and in a way, we didn't plan on recording. I'd sort of given up on the idea of recording a show because it never lived up to the experience of actually doing it. I was disheartened by what I heard always and gave up on the idea. This show was sort of special because it was at the same venue where I had the release concert for my first album.
So it was like a homecoming.
Yeah, in a way. It was a small, small club inside a cave, basically. It's called The Cave -- "Hulen" or "cave" in Norwegian. But I didn't think much about it and then my sound engineer, it turns out, had recorded it very primitively. He sent me the recording and said, "You should check this out and it's actually pretty good." So I checked it out and for the first time, I was legitimately excited by hearing a recording of my show. For better or worse, really, I thought it was a chaotic and intense document of what it feels like to be onstage and hopefully what it feels like to be in the room. We couldn't do anything to manipulate it because it was just two tracks so we couldn't fix it. And that was part of what was great about it. It's really raw and it's really unpolished in the true sense of the word.
Where was the other show?
There are two songs from Brooklyn. We did a small, private show in Williamsburg. So it's my two homebases.
You've been playing music since you were in your teens. Do you have any favorite anecdotes from those days when you were starting out and playing shows at clubs while you were still underage?
When I was thirteen and played underage shows in Bergen, it was always easy because my older sister worked at all the cool clubs so that was my way in. I would always be allowed to play if they had open mic nights. I also played in a band with her. It was sort of a noise rock band. I was 13 and it was basically a band with her and her two girlfriends who were 27. We were a pretty strange set-up but we played together for years.
It was trickier when I started touring the States because here I didn't know anybody and I was still underage when I did my first couple of tours and I remember I was headlining a show in Seattle and they're very strict there. It was a sold-out show and I had to stand out in the street while people were in line to get inside -- I was not allowed to be inside. I had to go straight from the cold street onto [the stage] and I was pretty fucking pissed off. I was like, "I fucking sold out this joint and I have to stand out here in the freezing cold!"
And they didn't even have a dressing room for you?
I wasn't allowed to be there. They had it but didn't allow me in.
Have you been back to play at that venue?
Yes, I have. And of course it's not their fault, they're also busted by [the cops] but it did feel like, "Fuck you!" It was more problematic in that sense but now I'm all good.
On a different note, I was following you on Twitter and you're very funny. You had a funny observation about women "looking anxious" in the Hamptons. Were you out there chilling over the summer?
I had a one-day vacation there. I went to a hotel called The Maidstone -- it's very fancy. They had really good food. I was just snobbing it up with the locals though I can only afford to stay there one night. I just noticed that people look so strange in the Hamptons -- especially the ladies.
Are you referring to plastic surgery?
Of course plastic surgery but they always have this anxious look on their faces. I was just thinking I wanted to help them.
How would you do that?
I would just give them a hug, tell them it's alright and to calm down, get a divorce. You don't need the money. Stuff like that. I don't know if they would respond to that. It's easy for me to say, I'm sure. It's a place where the men are very boyish until they're 100 but the women are very worried and stiff and I want to help them relax.
So I take it you're very active on Twitter?
I think Twitter's wonderful. Sometimes it can make you a little crazy because it's so constant. It goes on forever. But I like it because you can focus on the niche. If you are a niche artist sort of like myself, you can get in touch directly with your audience. People can go straight to the things you're interested in. If you don't take it too seriously, it can be pretty amusing. Of course you have to watch yourself also because things travel very fast.
Are you speaking from experience?
Yeah. In Norway, the mainstream [media] pays attention to what I say whereas it doesn't really here, which is such a relief because you can totally say anything. In Norway, sometimes what I say gets picked up and put in the papers or in the equivalent of US Weekly. Then all of a sudden you're in trouble because you're leading these two parallel lives and something is okay to say here because nobody gives a shit but in Norway, it's more of a mainstream celebrity [situation].
If you could perform with any musician, who would be at the top of your list?
She would possibly chew my head off and eat me alive for breakfast but Fiona Apple. She is, I think, one of the greatest contemporary songwriters. I don't know if it would make sense.
Why not? Why do you think she'd "chew your head off?"
I think she's so severe and maybe it would be like she'd be overpowering because she's so great. I'd be like a little mouse and she'd be this wolf [mimics wolf noise] but I would take that. I think she's just incredible.
"Two Way Monologue"
"Modern Nature"
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Tell us about your live album. Where did you record it?
It's from two different shows. Most of it is from a show in my hometown in Bergen [Norway]. It has 200,000 people and is the second biggest city in Norway but that doesn't mean much. It's where I grew up and in a way, we didn't plan on recording. I'd sort of given up on the idea of recording a show because it never lived up to the experience of actually doing it. I was disheartened by what I heard always and gave up on the idea. This show was sort of special because it was at the same venue where I had the release concert for my first album.
So it was like a homecoming.
Yeah, in a way. It was a small, small club inside a cave, basically. It's called The Cave -- "Hulen" or "cave" in Norwegian. But I didn't think much about it and then my sound engineer, it turns out, had recorded it very primitively. He sent me the recording and said, "You should check this out and it's actually pretty good." So I checked it out and for the first time, I was legitimately excited by hearing a recording of my show. For better or worse, really, I thought it was a chaotic and intense document of what it feels like to be onstage and hopefully what it feels like to be in the room. We couldn't do anything to manipulate it because it was just two tracks so we couldn't fix it. And that was part of what was great about it. It's really raw and it's really unpolished in the true sense of the word.
Where was the other show?
There are two songs from Brooklyn. We did a small, private show in Williamsburg. So it's my two homebases.
You've been playing music since you were in your teens. Do you have any favorite anecdotes from those days when you were starting out and playing shows at clubs while you were still underage?
When I was thirteen and played underage shows in Bergen, it was always easy because my older sister worked at all the cool clubs so that was my way in. I would always be allowed to play if they had open mic nights. I also played in a band with her. It was sort of a noise rock band. I was 13 and it was basically a band with her and her two girlfriends who were 27. We were a pretty strange set-up but we played together for years.
It was trickier when I started touring the States because here I didn't know anybody and I was still underage when I did my first couple of tours and I remember I was headlining a show in Seattle and they're very strict there. It was a sold-out show and I had to stand out in the street while people were in line to get inside -- I was not allowed to be inside. I had to go straight from the cold street onto [the stage] and I was pretty fucking pissed off. I was like, "I fucking sold out this joint and I have to stand out here in the freezing cold!"
And they didn't even have a dressing room for you?
I wasn't allowed to be there. They had it but didn't allow me in.
Have you been back to play at that venue?
Yes, I have. And of course it's not their fault, they're also busted by [the cops] but it did feel like, "Fuck you!" It was more problematic in that sense but now I'm all good.
On a different note, I was following you on Twitter and you're very funny. You had a funny observation about women "looking anxious" in the Hamptons. Were you out there chilling over the summer?
I had a one-day vacation there. I went to a hotel called The Maidstone -- it's very fancy. They had really good food. I was just snobbing it up with the locals though I can only afford to stay there one night. I just noticed that people look so strange in the Hamptons -- especially the ladies.
Are you referring to plastic surgery?
Of course plastic surgery but they always have this anxious look on their faces. I was just thinking I wanted to help them.
How would you do that?
I would just give them a hug, tell them it's alright and to calm down, get a divorce. You don't need the money. Stuff like that. I don't know if they would respond to that. It's easy for me to say, I'm sure. It's a place where the men are very boyish until they're 100 but the women are very worried and stiff and I want to help them relax.
So I take it you're very active on Twitter?
I think Twitter's wonderful. Sometimes it can make you a little crazy because it's so constant. It goes on forever. But I like it because you can focus on the niche. If you are a niche artist sort of like myself, you can get in touch directly with your audience. People can go straight to the things you're interested in. If you don't take it too seriously, it can be pretty amusing. Of course you have to watch yourself also because things travel very fast.
Are you speaking from experience?
Yeah. In Norway, the mainstream [media] pays attention to what I say whereas it doesn't really here, which is such a relief because you can totally say anything. In Norway, sometimes what I say gets picked up and put in the papers or in the equivalent of US Weekly. Then all of a sudden you're in trouble because you're leading these two parallel lives and something is okay to say here because nobody gives a shit but in Norway, it's more of a mainstream celebrity [situation].
If you could perform with any musician, who would be at the top of your list?
She would possibly chew my head off and eat me alive for breakfast but Fiona Apple. She is, I think, one of the greatest contemporary songwriters. I don't know if it would make sense.
Why not? Why do you think she'd "chew your head off?"
I think she's so severe and maybe it would be like she'd be overpowering because she's so great. I'd be like a little mouse and she'd be this wolf [mimics wolf noise] but I would take that. I think she's just incredible.
"Two Way Monologue"
"Modern Nature"
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PAPER's Super(Duper)Market 2012 with Target
Though it may be bad manners, we highly encouraged the pint-sized attendees of our kids dinner with Target and Yummy Fun Kooking's Clare Crespo to play with their food. On the menu: Mice Rolls (crackers, rosemary, cheddar cheese, and chives), Hippo Dip (hummus and vegetables), Spaghetti and Eyeballs (the meatballs had olives for eyes) and Fruit Pizza (sugar cookies with cream cheese, powdered sugar and fresh fruit). Parents who turned out with their little ones included photographer Nigel Barker, Elle's Anne Slowey, Glamour's Anne Christensen, designer Tess Giberson and hairstylist Ric Pipino among others. Check out this video of all the fun.
Relive our amazing SuperDuperMarket with all of our coverage gathered below in one spot. Yum!
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Relive our amazing SuperDuperMarket with all of our coverage gathered below in one spot. Yum!
PAPER's Super(Duper)Market 2012 with American Express
PAPER made all of its food dreams come true this July when we we invited some of our favorite vendors and artisanal food retailers from across the country to participate in our first-ever food market pop-up, The Super Duper Market. Held in Chelsea and co-sponsored by American Express and Target, purveyors from Brooklyn's Shorty Tang and Sons (who make to-die-for cold sesame noolds) to San Francisco's cult-favorite ice cream makers, Humphry Slocomb, served up their delicious goods while Manhattanites and the like shopped til they dropped. Check out all the fun in this clip.
Relive our amazing SuperDuperMarket with all of our coverage gathered below in one spot. Yum!
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Relive our amazing SuperDuperMarket with all of our coverage gathered below in one spot. Yum!
Check out PAPER's Super(Duper)Market 2012
PAPER made all of its food dreams come true this July when we we invited some of our favorite vendors and artisanal food retailers from across the country to participate in our first-ever food market pop-up, The Super Duper Market. Held in Chelsea and co-sponsored by American Express and Target, purveyors from Brooklyn's Shorty Tang and Sons (who make to-die-for cold sesame noolds) to San Francisco's cult-favorite ice cream makers, Humphry Slocomb, served up their delicious goods while Manhattanites and the like shopped til they dropped. Check out all the fun in this clip.
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Atlas Genius Plays "Trojans" and "Symptoms" in the PAPER Kitchen
Aussie up-and-comers Atlas Genius stopped by the PAPER office and vocalist/guitarist Keith Jeffery played a few songs for us -- and it was their very first live "show" on U.S. soil to boot! Watch acoustic performances of their thoughtfully melodic tracks "Trojans" and "Symptoms," off of their debut EP, Through the Glass above. Also be sure to check out their music video for "Back Seat," which premiered on PAPERMAG.com HERE.
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Caveman Plays "Old Friend" and "Decide" in the Paper Kitchen
Brooklyn band Caveman recently stopped by the PAPER office to play a little concert in our kitchen. Here they are performing their lovely, jangly tunes "Old Friend" and "Decide."
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Get to know 11 DJs In Our Tourneau Advertorial!
PAPER and Tourneau teamed up to create an in-book advertorial for our November issue, featuring 11 amazing DJ's. To celebrate the watch brand's new website (where you can customize your own watch) and these 11 talents, we threw a party on 11/11/11 (check out the photos here). Get to know these cute record-spinners in our behind-the-scenes video above.
DJs who participated included
Chelsea Leyland,
Va$htie,
Andrew Andrew,
Franco V,
Pierce Jackson,
Huggy Bear,
Vikas Sapra,
Josh Madden,
Jen Amadio,
Chrissie Miller and
Jasmine Solano.
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Art Stars: Behind the Scenes of our Baby-G November Advertorial
In honor of our November Art Issue, we teamed up with Baby-G to shine a light on some our favorite ladies in the art world. Get to know gallery owner Alex Mallick Williams and photographer Victoria Hely-Hutchinson in these behind-the-scenes video from the photo shoot. Make sure to check out the advertorial in PAPER's November issue on stands now!
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Garrett Morris: "Super Smooth-y"
Though Garrett Morris might best be known for his work in the original cast of "Saturday Night Live" and, more recently, on "2 Broke Girls," he can also be seen in LA at The Downtown Comedy Club. He also enjoys a smoothie every morning. Watch Morris whip up a delicious fruity concoction in Molly Schiot 's new installment of her PAPERTV series "Check You Out." Mr. Garret Morris, if only we were as cool as you.
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Salt-N-Pepa + Mr. Mickey: The PAPERTV Interview
The one and only Salt-N-Pepa played the Malibu Black Halloween party Thursday night and Mr. Mickey, who spends 90 percent of his day at PAPER yelling random S-N-P lyrics across the office, got a chance to meet his idols. Here, the three chat about Salt-N-Pepa's decision to reunite, slutty outfits and the fact that that IS, indeed, Pepa's niece in the "Shoop" video. (Also, that guy rolling dice and checking out Pepa in one scene is Salt's real-life husband. Who knew?) This and more fun tidbits in our PAPERTV interview above.
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Meat Lindy & Grundy
MEAT Amelia and Erika, owners, managers, cool couple, and butchers of LA's artisanal butcher shop Lindy & Grundy. The shop sells "only pastured meats from animals raised on small, local, sustainable ranches."
Directed by Molly Schiot.
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Style Watch: Behind the Scenes at Our Baby-G Advertorial
Check out the behind the scenes footage from our September Baby-G advertorial. We learn how stylish ladies, Chelsea Leyland and Bonnie Morrison make time for fashion in their busy schedules!
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Meet Aspiring Student Body President, Lucia Ribisi
Lucia Ribisi is 13 and, from the looks of this "Check You Out" video from PAPERTV pal Molly Schiot, she's already cooler than you. (You might recognize Lucia from our Weetzie Bats fashion spread a few issues back. She's also daughter d' actor Giovanni) Here, she tells us about all the reasons why she'd make a great class president (If only she had made the cut-off date.). Below, Schiot gives you some additional background about Ms. Ribisi:
"Lucia Ribisi is awesome. She is 13. She also missed the cut off date for school president. Lucia resides in Los Angeles and is many parts David Bowie, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Bjork, tattoos, pencil drawings, Sharpies, Banksy, unicorns, figure drawings, Sex Pistols, Cat Stevens, Kimya Dawson, Paul Baribeau, guitars, The Runaways, Nate Denver, Robyn, glitter, being tall/wearing boots, George Harrison, karaoke, Harold and Maude, the soundtrack to the movie Whip It, Kids, The Velvet Underground and Nico, costumes, Manic Panic, the Rolling Stones, handmade things and Bat Woman." Read Full Story
"Lucia Ribisi is awesome. She is 13. She also missed the cut off date for school president. Lucia resides in Los Angeles and is many parts David Bowie, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Bjork, tattoos, pencil drawings, Sharpies, Banksy, unicorns, figure drawings, Sex Pistols, Cat Stevens, Kimya Dawson, Paul Baribeau, guitars, The Runaways, Nate Denver, Robyn, glitter, being tall/wearing boots, George Harrison, karaoke, Harold and Maude, the soundtrack to the movie Whip It, Kids, The Velvet Underground and Nico, costumes, Manic Panic, the Rolling Stones, handmade things and Bat Woman." Read Full Story
Givers Stop By the PAPER Offices For a Kitchen Concert
Louisiana-based quintet Givers were kind of enough to give the Paper staff a private concert recently in our kitchen! Check out their effervescent, South-American-tinged acoustic renditions of songs "Up, Up, Up," and "Meantime" from their new album, In Light.
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Melissa Auf der Maur: "Out of Our Minds"
Melissa Auf der Maur solidified her status as an arty, metal high priestess on 2010's Out of Our Minds, but here she proves her howl sounds just as powerful backed by a couple of acoustic guitars. Check out this simple unplugged rendition of OOOM's title track she recently performed for PAPERTV.
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Behind the Scenes at Paper's Beautiful People 2011 Shoot
PAPER managing editor Whitney Spaner and the PAPERTV crew were on hand at our Beautiful People photo shoots to capture all of the fun. Here, Adele tells us about the joys of Skyping with her dog, Terrible Records' Chris Taylor and Ethan Silverman share their beauty tips (crying and eating wings) and the Wonder Girls wax poetic about New York City. This, as well as chats with Jane Eyre director Cary Fukunaga, fashion designer Mandy Coon, choreographer Austin McCormick and model Joan Smalls in our video roundup above.
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The Hilfigers Take Art Basel
This past December, PAPER headed down to Art Basel Miami for a full-on takeover. From shows to parties and performances to screenings, the week-long series of events was a non-stop arty party. But we couldn't just head down there without bringing some of our favorite people! Thus, meet the Hilfigers! To help us celebrate Art Basel, we created a special Tommy Hilfiger advertorial in our Spring issue featuring fashion's chicest family out in about in Miami. Watch this clan run all over town, from the Wynwood Walls to the Standard to PAPER's own party at Rainbow City where N.E.R.D performed. The Hilfiger's left no stone unturned and no party un-partied in this behind the scenes video.
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