Awesome December Wallpaper
nice. peace.
Beautiful December Wallpaper from young, Cape Town photographer Jarrod Mouton. This guy has a wicked eye for it and his images are, at once both technical, and freestyle in their composition. View a portfolio of Jarrod’s images here:
Download the wallpaper here:
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- Nice.Peace.Bigger.
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- Nice.Peace.Big.
Pretty Lights
Pretty Lights is the musical vision of the ultra-versatile Colorado based producer Derek Vincent Smith, accompanied in the live setting by drummer, Cory Eberhard. Together these two achieve a raw energy rarely reached in the realm of electronic music.
At a time when music lovers from almost all subcultures and genres are finding common ground in the basic form of bangin’ beats, Pretty Lights is giving the people what they want; electro organic cutting-edge party rocking beats that fill venues with energy and emotion and send dance floors into frenzies. And the people are responding. Pretty Lights’ first two albums, Taking Up Your Precious Time and Filling Up The City Skies, have been downloaded over 300,000 times from PrettyLightsMusic.com, which equates to over 6.15 million track downloads. Additionally, since January 2009 Pretty Lights has sold out more than 33 shows including stops at Bowery Ballroom in New York, the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Georgia Theatre in Athens, and Subterranean, Congress, and The Metro in Chicago.
Pretty Lights returns with his new album, Passing By Behind Your Eyes, out October 6 and available for free download at PrettyLightsMusic.com.
What makes Pretty Lights truly different though, is that these beats have serious soul. Passing By Behind Your Eyes continues to showcase juxtaposing collages of beautiful vintage samples against backdrops of futuristic synthesis and dirty broken beats, creating a sound that can snap your neck while simultaneously shedding your tears. The sound is not only getting around, it’s spreading like a virus.
(Bio and pic via Sneak Attack Media)
Hannah Trigwell Interview
just wait till you hear her sing...
There’s a beautiful voice, belonging to an equally beautiful singer/songwriter that’s starting a fire. Her YouTube videos have accumulated over 320 000 hits, she’s creating a stir busking on the streets of Leeds, and we’ve featured before on Hectique Boutique. Its only the beginning though. This is Hannah Trigwell and she’s the spark! We managed to track the lady down for an interview….Check it:
Q: Hannah your music is beautiful. The songs evoke images of delicate sunshine on a winters day …where does this all this awesome come from?
Oh its completely inborn… Haha no I don’t know, I love writing and making music. When I first started learning how to play guitar I used to make up simple riffs and the lyrics just flowed out with whatever melody I had made. One of the first songs I completed was based around a really simple finger picking tune which sounded a bit like raindrops, the song ended up being called Waterfall… it all fitted together quite well. Most of what I write about is driven by intense emotion, so I try my best to get however I feel about the situation across to whoever’s listening.
Q: Are you a trained musician? Did you grow up in a musical home?
No, not at all haha. I’m self-taught in guitar and singing. Teaching myself guitar was once of the most drawn-out frustrating things I have ever done, but it has more than paid off. When I was young I started off on the dreaded recorder and then moved onto the flute but quickly got bored of the classical stuff. [for those of you who have been spared the um unique pleasure of the recorder please enjoy this video - hectique]
Q: How long have you been singing and writing songs?
I loved singing from a young age but only started performing alone about 2 years ago. I’ve been writing songs for about 4 years now, I’m much improved from when I first started but I am still learning new tricks everyday.
Q: Was there a moment when you were “this is it, this is what i want to do with my life”?
When I was younger I wanted to be a paleontologist, teacher, and then for a very long time I wanted to be a dentist. I never really considered music as a career until recently. I would absolutely love to be able to pursue a career in music but I think a lot of it rests with luck, being in the right place at the right time, that sort of thing. Making music is something I can throw myself into completely; it’s what I’m most passionate about.
Q: It shows! Your songs carry an ocean of emotion… so I gotta ask underneath who is Hannah Trigwell?
…When I figure that out, I’ll write a song about it and let you know.
Q: Ha ha, fair enough…. I do wanna know this though…. despite a voice that makes one a lil teary eyed and such, you’re busking in Leeds and playing a couple of gigs too… Why given your obvious talent have you chosen this route rather than X factor and the like?
As much as living the dream and being thrust immediately into the limelight doing what I love appeals, I just don’t think it would be a good idea for me. I’d much rather build up a local fanbase (of actual fans) then go from there. I love busking, you get immediate feedback and it’s brilliant for getting the public’s reaction to your own songs.
Q: Keeping it real is always respected at the Boutique! Which musicians inspire you? What are you listening to right now?
Missy Higgins, Tegan and Sara, Paramore, David Gray, Coldplay, Adele, Nizlopi… the list is endless Right now I can’t stop listening to Andy Mckee- For My Father, that guy is a genius, its completely instrumental but I think all of his stuff is just beautiful.
Q: What else makes you write?
Anything driven by emotion can make me want to sit down with a guitar and start writing. It could be something which has happened to me or something that I see in everyday life. I’d be reading something and a line could grab my attention, for being clever or just beautiful but simple, and so I’d write something around that idea.
Q: Whats next for Hannah Trigwell? When will we have an album or E.P.?
An EP under Hear Me Roar Management is in the works to be finished before Christmas. I keep writing new material though so we are just deciding which songs will make it. I’m also gigging around Leeds, catch up with me on Facebook or Youtube for updates!
Q: There you have it y’all, Christmas pressies sorted! Thanks for your time Hannah. Mad love to ya!
Emmanuel Jal
survivor.
Think back to when you were 7 years old… Are those pleasant memories? Perhaps you remember your parents, good times, birthday parties, parks, playgrounds and your first friends. I’m thinking you aren’t remembering AK-47’s, RPG’s, grenades, landmines, screaming, blood, shit, gunpowder, rape, murder and all pervasive destruction. Thats probably because you weren’t fighting in the Sudanese Civil War which resulted in 2 million civilian deaths (the highest since World War II) and 4 million displaced persons. This is the story of a man who was just a boy then. His name is Emmanuel Jal. Survivor. Activist. Hip Hop Artist.
Emmanuel was born in war ravaged Sudan sometime in the early 1980s, no-one is sure exactly when. Age 6 or 7, his mother was killed by soldiers and Emmanuel decided to join the thousands of children traveling to Ethiopia hoping for an education there. In one of the cruelest, most despicable deceptions of war, Emmanuel and thousands of other children were recruited by the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army and taken to military training camps (masquerading as schools in front of the U.N. and other international aid organisations) in the bush in Ethiopia. Thus began a 5 year journey through hell you and I can never, ever imagine. Nonetheless, take a moment to try and place yourself in that nightmare… Make sure you try to fathom just how your psyche would be destroyed as you spend your formative years running through the bush with an assault rifle taller than you are, all the while doing your best to kill and escape your own death.
Fast forward now. Somewhere between 11 and 13 years old, Emmanuel meets a British aid worker (Emma McCune) married to a senior SPLA commandant. She puts an end to the soldiering and adopts him before smuggling him to Kenya. There the civil war vet goes to school in Nairobi for the first time. Emma dies a few months later in a car wreck but her friends continue to support Emmanuel and he persists at school. As some semblance of normality returns to his life, Emmanuel cannot simply forget the past and at the same time he discovers the blessing of Hip Hop. In an effort to exorcise his own demons he begins singing and also becomes very active in the community, raising money for refugees and street children…His is not an easy recovery, but convinced that he has been spared so as to “tell his story, to touch lives”, Emmanuel makes his music, his message and his work amongst the most blighted of Africa’s children his life.
As the story of greatness often unravels, the rest is a beautiful history. 3 Albums later, Emmanuel is received on stages around the globe, has performed at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations in Hyde Park, and has addressed delegates to the UN. Still this man has not forgotten the little boy in Sudan though. For the last 319 days, Emmanuel has eaten only one meal a day. He will continue to do so until he has raised enough money to build a school in Southern Sudan. It will be the Emma Academy, in honor of the young British aid worker who saved him. Emmanuel’s story is far from finished, but this piece is, there is quite simply nothing more powerful I could say.
Click here to find out more about Emmanuel’s charity – GUA Africa
Go here to follow Emmanuel on Facebook, here for Twitter.
Here is Emmanuel’s YouTube Channel
Click here to buy his book, “War Child: A Soldier’s Story”.
Miles Fisher – MegaBot
Miles Fisher has been keeping himself busy of late… Aside from the rad E.P. he recently this summer, he’s certainly been proving his versatility as well, since he’s also spent the odd afternoon transforming himself into an…er…intergalactic, robot crimefighter with a drinking problem?
Yeah, that is whilst playing the character “Red” on Megabot, a new comdey webseries thats in a word “absoltely-fuckin-hilarous”. Basic (ridiculous) plot: “Seven years ago, five attractive, multi-ethnic students from Anytown High discovered mystical PowerSleeves. United, the Power Sleeves control MegaBot, a colossal crime-fighting robot, designed by Lord Galgon, who must defend Earth from BioBorg invasion, week after week…” The little subplots are whats truly ludicrous though, particularly the lampooning racism surrounding “Black”. Watch and you’ll laugh until you pee a little. Then you probably won’t be laughin so much but it’ll still be funny as fuck.
Anyhow, the series is from the (talented if rather strange) minds over at 5432 Films. Co-starring with Miles are Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) as Blue, Heather Anne Campbell as Pink, Randall Park (MTV’s Wild n’ Out) as Yellow and Giovanni Adams as Black with Jonathan Oliver as the voice of Galgon. You can check out all the episodes at http://www.megabot.tv/ and here’s a neat interview with the writer.
Motel7 – “I live in my world, and happy to be here!”
Its been difficult for me to write the intro to this piece. Mainly because I don’t want to sound like a gushing sycophant… So look I’ma tell you straight. Motel7, graffiti and fine artist, is epic. Epic in that she is truly and abundantly talented….sure. There’s no denying her graffiti absolutely burns with impudent color and the freshest of styles. Her fine art is an intrigue that hooks you instantly and then draws you under, below the surface, into a delightfully twisted and fun dimension thats all her own. But its more than this. Succinctly, you can like Motel or her work, or not and either way, I’ll tell you for free, she does not give a flying, blazing blue fuck. Not in an arrogant or unfounded fashion at all, she is actually a humble writer in a way…rather, this chick is herself, honest, real and true, all the way and all the time. Respect that. Now then, lets get to the interview shall we:
this is the level of dope we are dealing with...
Q: Um first up, its been a while…so how and where the hell are ya?
Yes it has been a few years! I am good, just moved into a new apartment in Oslo, Norway. I plan to just hang out here for a year or so, see what happens! I try not to think too much about what to do in the future, if I am unable to support myself financially then its just another part of life. Artists always make a plan!
Q: When talent was handed out, you took a triple share straight up, but is Motel classically trained as well?
Well firstly, i think talent only counts for half of your outcome. I think the other most important things are drive, passion and dedication. I studied at a Fine Art institution for a year, and the only thing I learned out of that was to drop out and do something else. It was probably the lowest year of my life. I was never cut out for being told what to do!
Q: Do you like wearing socks?
Haha…If they are “Hello Kitty” socks, then I like to wear them…
Q: Toyah – Fine Artist and Motel7 – Graffiti Artist… Clearly the two labels are not mutually exclusive for you. How do you define (if you do) yourself first and foremost as an artist?
Interesting question….I think when i meet people in bars I tell them I’m a fine artist. then when the conversation gets going, to better explain what I do, I have to bring graffiti into the picture. I consider myself just a very lucky person that fell upon these opportunities and maybe thats how I define myself – a lucky person. Saying I’m an artist is more of a joke for me, its like telling someone you drank a bottle of vodka in one go. You just want a reaction from the person. Who am I kidding? I’m not really an artist!
Q: For you, whats the difference?
The difference between graffiti and fine art? Everything. its comparing a subculture to ‘culture’. Graffiti was something exclusive to vandals, trouble makers….Fine Art is what brings in the cash!(and the erm…culture)
Q: A while ago, Banksy had this to say in an interview with Swindle: “Every other type of art compared to graffiti is a step down—no two ways about it. If you operate outside of graffiti, you operate at a lower level. Other art has less to offer people, it means less, and it’s weaker. I make normal paintings if I have ideas that are too complex or offensive to go out on the street, but if I ever stopped being a graffiti writer I would be gutted. It would feel like being a basket weaver rather than being a proper artist.” Do you buy that?
No, other forms of Art are always important, and in no way weaker than the graffiti counterpart. I hope he is referencing his own work, and then it is a personal statement. Art is history, its the future, it is the documentation of thoughts, perspectives. Most of what we know of Turkey from 1000 years ago, medieval times, and so on, is because of Art. Here’s my idea of it: 100 years from now, those walls have been painted over, your graffiti gone over by another building, cleaned up by the government or painted over by a fellow writer. But the canvas you painted will most likely still be in someones home, a gallery or a museum. I think thats important.
tekla - motel7
Q: In your head, are your ideas immediately classified canvas/installation or wall… or do they kind of drift into one or the other as they develop? I guess I’m asking if there is a dimorphism between the two…
I guess of course they are mildly influenced by each other. I tend to keep my graffiti and fine art very separate, but of course colors, humor, everything gets mingled. My fine art is more of a personal thing. It’s my feelings, my sadness, my childhood. My graffiti is playful, fun, trying to make someone laugh, smile…..maybe its because in real life I am so good at hiding my feelings, so the graffiti is my way of saying ‘Hey I’m OK!’
Q: Where do you draw inspiration from? Is your art a product of conceptual logic or an exorcism of the demons within?
Japan, Studio Ghibli, cartoons, anything a child of 10 would be inspired by. I’m inspired by dinosaurs, video games…anything a mature artist would NOT be interested in. I live in my world, and happy to be here! No logic, just full of childish dreams….
Q: Whats in Motel’s brain right now? Whats next on the canvas/wall?
I am busy working on a group show we are having here in Oslo, Norway. I also have a solo exhibition in Amsterdam, next year February, and a few shows I can’t talk about yet. I am always painting on walls, every week, twice, three times where I can, and constantly evolving my knowledge of graffiti. I have been traveling extensively the past few months, painting in New York, Minneapolis at a female graffiti convention, Paris, London, Bristol, Trondheim, Stavanger and Oslo. There is talk of Prague, and I am going to London at the end of the month for more graffiti! Traveling is important, and if you have enough money for a ticket, and a friend in another country, I advise everyone to do it.
Q: Yeah, you’ve got some interesting heritage (Irish/Norwegian if I remember right) and you’re traveling all over right now….How is this affecting your art?
I am always with the impression that traveling is good. Whoever said ignorance is bliss is an imbecile! My art has changed dramatically over the past few months. its good to get fresh perspectives. See the world!
Q: NYC and Bristol…Damn! These are the birthplaces of two very different but turbo influential graffiti styles…What was it like painting there? How was the scene?
Q: Does music inspire your art? Whats on your ipod?
Very much! right now I am listening to a lot of Reverend Horton Heat, Slim Cessna, Munly, Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Specials, The Sonics, Aus Rotten, Exodus, Toxic Holocaust, S.O.D., Lamb of God, The Doors, Michael Jackson, 80’s mix(??!!) Grieg…
Q: Hold up, Grieg? Edvard Grieg? The composer chap?
Yeah…
Q: You’re odd.
Haha, I just looked at my “most played” on my itunes… quite a bizarre mix there! Humor in some of the country music I mentioned has a huge impact on my fine art work. The disturbing nature of the girls I paint, the way it looks all pleasant, but something sinister lays deep….I love that shit!
rage - motel7
Q: I’ve heard you say a couple of times that you are grateful to be paid for doing what you love….and no doubt thats the way it should be. But how is the Art industry going to ever going to come right? By that I mean, most every artist believes their work should be readily accessible (and thats also kind of the very basis of street art) yet thats exactly the opposite of the way the fine art industry works – the rarer a piece, the deader an artist blah blah…. and at the other end of the spectrum huge multi-nationals are more than happy to pay street artists for designs (and associated cred). I see one common denominator here and thats money… Where do you think a happy medium lies and how to achieve it?
The biggest thing I learned about being a graffiti artist is to stay true, and keep it real! Don’t agree to something you don’t believe in! I really don’t look into it that much in the end, as i said before, I’m just kinda fooling everyone! I’m just me, I’m not trying to rock the latest fashions, or be hip to whats going on. I just paint. You want to buy my work? Sure here you go that’ll be so and so much! I think what we have to keep in mind is that there are loads of artists doing the same thing. Just enjoy the ride!
sexyburger
Q: Looking at your latest work, its clear that your style lends itself to some mad illustrative possibilities. In that vein, is software driven vector art something you intend to explore?
Sure, and its a slow process. I am teaching myself, so its more of a tedious development. I’m incredibly slow with technology! I am working on some clothing labels for a friend. its fun, but I choose painting over computers any day!
Q: Quick shots, here we go…..
Self Building or Self Destruction? Self destruction!
Relevance or Aesthetics? Relevance
Famous or Nameless? Nameless
Sex or Drugs? Sex and drugs!
Tattoos? Who designed yours? Davey Jones, or Diamond Dave. He works at Sins of Style in Cape Town, South Africa. He is very talented. I also have a tattoo by Lee Herbert at Sins of Style. He is a graffiti artist too, and amazingly good at doing black and gray tattoos.
Art and Spirituality? Spirituality is for hippies. suffering and self hate is lovely.
Motel’s average day? Drinking, art, parties, music, food, laughing, candles and this bloody computer
Q: Where can someone get hold of you / your art?
You can see more of my art at www.motelseven.com, or you can see my flickr at www.flickr.com/motel7wk3c
Ever dream this man?
creepy much?
In January 2006 in New York, the patient of a well-known psychiatrist draws the face of a man that has been repeatedly appearing in her dreams. In more than one occasion that man has given her advice on her private life. The woman swears she has never met the man in her life.
That portrait lies forgotten on the psychiatrist’s desk for a few days until one day another patient recognizes that face and says that the man has often visited him in his dreams. He also claims he has never seen that man in his waking life.
The psychiatrist decides to send the portrait to some of his colleagues that have patients with recurrent dreams. Within a few months, four patients recognize the man as a frequent presence in their own dreams. All the patients refer to him as “This Man”.
From January 2006 until today, at least 2000 people have claimed they have seen this man in their dreams, in many cities all over the world: Los Angeles, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Tehran, Beijing, Rome, Barcelona, Stockholm, Paris, New Dehli, Moskow etc.
Luck and Ripps
phunked up
The poll hath spoken…Hip Hop you desire and Hip Hop you shall receive. This new one is a collaboration from Luck & Ripps (via blocSonic).
What sweet, sweet sounds… the most silky smooth, 70’s jazz / disco stylee samples, over tha-thumpin’ bass lines and all the while B-Boy bravado a-rat-a-tat-tat in your eardrum. This album sounds like old skool, New York City circa 1982, sorta Kool DJ Herc-ish, with a twist. All tracks on this album are short (below 3 minutes) – beautifully dirty little vignettes of pure awesome. Catastrophe’s mad skills in production keep the sounds crisp and tight despite the complexity. Personal favorite’s gotta be “Roll Call” – just sick, and watch for the break-up leavin u hangin. My god, in sum you are gonna enjoy this killer album! Remember kids, download it, enjoy it, and tell everyone you know where to get it. Independent Hip-Hop revival yo!
Click here to download Luck & Ripps – The Catastrophe Connection
Schwarzenegger Breakfast (Twitter)
Everybody’s favorite terminator/governor knows the importance of the right food and good exercise…lets enjoy his latest tweet shall we:
zis is ultimate breakfast...vhere are my dumbbells?
