1/3

London band, Male Bonding are the classic three piece of guitars, bass and drums. Except that they throw in such ridiculous levels of restlessness and energy to each instrument and then take away any kind of studio refinement that the results can end up sounding like a tin can version of The Mae Shi or a Liars on Drive Thru records.

The Band also run Paradise Vendors Inc label, who've put out tapes and 7"s by peers such as Rapid Youth, Graffiti Island, Hand Jobs, Pens and Talbot Tagora.

Guitarist and Vocalist John Arthur Webb lovingly answered some questions about the band, the label, not playing SXSW, having Health to stay and scenes. Click below for the interview in full

Basic, basic, basic - How did Male Bonding get together, what do the three of you do with the rest of your time?

We were friends, we all liked the beach boys - so we started playing together. We all live together now, so in our spare time we do things like moan about our poorly fitted kitchen, practice in Robin's room, play host to touring LA bands (last night was the return of HEALTH) and chase each other around the garden flicking each other with rolled up tea towels. You know the vibe.

-You guys, Pens, Graffiti Island etc seem to be all good friends and play similar music, do you feel attached to a scene at all?

I feel attached to any band that wants to take there music and handle it in their own way, and keep control of what they do. There are some great UK bands emerging that deserve to get some of the spotlight that US bands get. Graffiti Island are my favourite band in London. I have utter respect for them as people, and the way they handle their business. they are not competitive and are totally supportive. Conan from Graffiti Island is like our 4th member. If we're not sure about playing a show or doing a release, then we ask him. There was a time when he was being cc'd on all our band emails.

'Pumpkin' Live

-Your sound seems to be something akin to pop-punk but tinny and rough around the edges, what is it about this lo-fi sound that you like? Do you think you'll always record this way?

My heart lies in lo-fi diy recordings. Sometimes we think it would be nice to record properly, so you can hear all the vocals etc but we always revert back to "live" sounding recordings. I always think "lo-fi" recordings hold a lot more mystery, and are generally more exciting.

-You went to SXSW this year, how was your reception?

We went to sxsw, but didn't end up playing any MB shows for various reasons. We got offered to play one of the Killer Bridge shows, but Kevin almost died one night, which kinda knocked the wind out of our sails. We were there doing our thing with another band also, so we didn't have much time for MB.

Male Bonding in America

-Male Bonding has a pretty great blog, is it something that's important to you?

Blogs are fun. I'm so not into anything negative - people that use the internet, blogs etc to blow shit at other people / bands etc should take a long, hard look at themselves. It's so easy to hide behind a screen. Don't go out of your way to get involved in something you don't want to be involved in - that's my problem with the internet. Our blog could be better, and hopefully it will be one day. We are lazy though.

-Paradise Vendors Inc is the record label you run, with it there seems to be an emphasis on physical releases that are well-designed, colourful products - would you agree with this?

Yeah - our label is very important to us. It's important to us to help out bands that we like. Our releases have all sold out so far, which is a pretty great achievement. If you are going to the trouble of paying to press a 7", then you might as well make it look nice - it's not difficult, we all love records. If we can do it, then anyone can.

Split 7" w/ Pens

-What upcoming releases do you have with PVI?

Well, the next release is just about to come out. That's a split with us, graffiti island, and 2 US bands, Rapid Youth and Old Blood, both of whom are awesome, and we are super happy to be putting out their songs.

The next release looks like it will be another 4 way split. We are just waiting to confirm the line-up. As it stands, it's pretty amazing.

-What are the future plans for Male Bonding?

Drink more coffee. Move to LA. Put down some turf in our garden before summer kicks in.

Male Bonding are online at myspace.com/malebonding
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'Laziness is the mother of invention'

The Journal of Popular Noise is a semi-annual audio magazine founded in late 2007 and inspired by 'the traditions of pop music, printed periodicals, and the delight of a finely crafted artifact'.

The Journal contains bespoke recordings on 7" vinyl by musicians and collaborators such as: Climax Golden Twins, Past Lives (former Blood Brothers), Pontious Pilots, Copy, Dutch Dub, Na + Jenko, Bora Yoon + Ben Frost and will soon include Andrew W.K amongst its list of contributors.

I was fortunate enough to not only pick up one of these brilliantly crafted packages from New York recently but also to get a interview with The Journal's founder and NYC Parsons School of Design graduate, Byron Kalet.

-The JPN began as a project at University, what was the original stimulus for the project?

As it was my final project at Parsons, I was trying to make it a culmination of everything I liked making. The assignment was totally open so I just tried to fit everything into one project. I had been trying to focus on sound design and publication design so it seemed like the natural thing to do.

-Your background's in design but do you have any history in creating music zines etc?

I had never really thought about making a music zine in the tradition of DIY punk zines before. I was in bands all throughout my teens and early twenties, so I was very involved with music but I wasn't that interested design or magazines back then. I liked making everything else though, t-shirts, stickers, flyers, record art, and all that. I guess I saw it as more of an outlet for the literary people in the punk scene who weren't musicians. I already had so much going on that I didn't feel the need to mine that territory, plus it was pretty well worn territory before I even got into that stuff. I've definitely drawn on some of the ethos in terms of a means of production but aesthetically I've made a conscious decision to avoid that connection.

Issues 4-6

-How do you go about approaching bands for the project, is there a selection process?

When I first got started, I just asked my friends who I grew up playing with if they would be interested in being a part of this ridiculous idea I had. I expected everyone to blow me off but what happened was quite the opposite. I ended up with more music than I could publish, which I think pissed some people off. I eventually put it all out there though. I just happen to be lucky enough that my friends are amazing musicians and artists. Now I'm expanding into working with people I haven't met before. I think that there is an editorial voice within the people I choose to work with, but its sort of serendipitous. We also have a list of dream contributors, maybe we'll be able to get someday.

-For the recordings you set down certain guidelines for the artists to follow, how receptive are they to these suggestions? Did you find that some followed them and others strayed away from your intentions?

Well the biggest surprise is how excited people are about having constraints. I thought that no one would want to have someone tell them how to write a song. It's sort of like the cliched scene of the bigwigs at the record label trying to inhibit an artist expression so they can squeeze a hit song out of them. But in my case, everyone is really eager to comply! I don't understand it. I guess for most of them it's just something they've never done - it's a new challenge so it's fun. And obviously not motivated by finances. A few people have strayed from the format but I like that too. I imagine some kid in front of his stereo racking his brain trying to figure how how some crazy thing fits the format when it's actually off in some another world.

-Do the guidelines vary from issue to issue, do you play about with the rules at all?

I keep them the same in every edition. I think this one of the most interesting parts of the series. My favourite moment is when iI get a new recording in from someone and I get to see how they interpreted the rules. Every new record makes all the ones before it more interesting. Does that make sense?

-The layout of the magazine is something that people always seem respond positively to, how did it come about, who designed it?

I designed that also, although I feel like I can't take too much credit for it. Basically, the packaging came about because it was the only way I could figure out how to put 3 records together in a sleeve without having to cut or glue anything. Laziness is the mother of invention. Once I had that worked out, I just used the die-lines to dictate the typographic grid. It all kinda fell into place. I did draw a new typeface for the titles, which was based on the main text typeface - Avenir. I wanted a super thin sans-serif that would be really unique and graphically identify The JPN.

-Rather than tapes or Cds The JPN uses vinyl only, what do you prefer about it?

Well, I've written a lot about this topic. Basically, vinyl records are such an elegantly simple way of listening to sounds. Since vinyl records were invented we've seen a wide variety of other methods try to replace them, but nobody seems to be able to top it. One of the main tenets of the Journal is to create a really powerful physical relationship with music and vinyl is just the best way to do it. Same story with the letterpress printing, I don't want people to see this thing as a nostalgic throw back. The methods of production are just what I consider to be the best way to achieve my goals.

-What have been your favourite releases or songs so far?

I have to say I think they're all outstanding. Most of these artists are old friends of mine and I've heard every record they've done. The records they've done for the Journal have to be some of their best work. A few stand out, Past Lives (issue 7) are one of the most amazing new bands out of Seattle. Linda & Ron's Dad (issue 12) made their entire record out of David Bowie samples, which came out amazing. And Dutch Dub's record (issue 2) is also an old fav, he ties the whole issue together with a narrative sailor theme. It's like a tiny opera, so cool. I feel like the issues that are most successful are the ones where people bring another concept or element to it.

-What music have you been enjoying recently?

Most of what I'm listening to at the moment is 70's German Krautrock, Electronic, and Prog. I have a good friend who has been compiling all the best jams for me. Beyond that I've been into Blank Dogs, who are a really scrappy sounding lo-fi band out of Brooklyn, sort of in the same vain as Wavves and other bands like that. I've been really digging the last Matmos record (would love to have them contribute to the JPN).

Issue 1-3

-The way JPN works is somewhat akin to a record label, do you ever think you'll go down that path?

Yeah, actually I co-released the debut record from Truckasauras with Seattle label fourthcity and I'm about to release an EP from another Seattle band called Flexions. Both bands had contributed to the Journal in the past under different names and it seemed like a natural progression to continue that relationship.

-JPN is reaching its 2nd birthday this year, how long you plan on keeping it going? What's changed in the time that you've been running it?

I'm trying to keep this thing going for as long as I can. But that remains to be seen. It still seems to be gaining momentum and I think the spring/summer edition is going to really kick it up a notch. Its going to be an all spoken word edition featuring Andrew W.K., Ian Svenonius, Walker & Cantrell. I just got the Andrew WK record this morning and it is insane. Couldn't be more excited about it. I think the biggest change is that we're more confident in what were doing! At first it was like this little thing i was making in my living room but before I knew it we've been able to reach people from Japan to Australia. It's a really great feeling to know that you're a part of something that people from all over are enjoying and as excited about as I am.

The Journal of Popular Noise can be found online at popularnoise.net.

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The 90s

What the hell is wrong with Kate Moss's voice?

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"Thanks, thanks a lot"

Probably missing the boat on this one by about 30 days but I'll paddle along anyway. The video above is of Joaquin Phoenix appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman last month. The painfully funny and curt interview generated quite the stir at the time - even prompting this dire little skit by Ben Stiller at the Oscars.

Less unimaginative parodies, however, have been made of the interview Phoenix conducted on the same day with Katey Rich of Cinemablend.com. In it he speaks candidly (and more importantly clearly) about his move to hip hop and his dissaffection with acting.

There something about Phoenix that makes him such an endearingly tragic character, despite the media's (I say the media's, I of course mean EVERYONES) incredulous speculation over his new vocation he seems completely earnest about it, even slightly losing his temper with the interviewer for second guessing him.

Maybe it's his involvement with The Children of God or the death of his brother, but even generic I'm-a-celebrity-get-me-out-of-here comments such as:

"In some ways I wish that I wasn't a public figure, I wish that I didn't have expectations"

Just completely slay me every time. Heartbreaking stuff.

Click here for interview in full

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P-rock

Launched in 2002 with the tiniest of budgets, P-Rock was a independant digital music channel set up by two South Londoners. It's playlist consisted of mostly pop-punk, ska, skate punk, emo as well as some hardcore, and as a result proved a unexpected success at the time averaging out at 600,000 viewers a week.

The channel, run by a small team of staff with no previous experience in television, differed greatly from other music stations: just one type of specialist rock music, no presenters, only one type of regular 'show' (a weekly countdown) and little to no advertising - a factor that would lead to the channel being taken off air numerous times, eventually for good in November 2003.

I asked one of the co-founders, Mark Shipman, about this saccharine anomaly in my teenage viewing schedule. Shipman who is now respected economist and soon to be celebrating his 47th birthday, has published books, holds seminars, advises banks and other institutions as well as infrequently appearing on television as a guest expert. Still pretty punk rock though.

-What were your first memories of the punk scene in the 70's, how did you get involved? What were your favourite releases/clubnights?

I remember just how scared everyone was of the punk movement. The “establishment” genuinely thought this was anarchy and they were very worried. Being a teenager and part of such a movement was a real buzz. Having had to grow up with Gary Glitter and The Wombles, punk was a breath of fresh air. During the 70’s, although I lived very near Bromley, I wasn’t part of the Bromley Contingent although I knew one or two of them. To be honest, I was just into the music and went to gigs like most people. My favourite bands at the time were Generation X, UK Subs, Pistols, Buzzcocks, The Damned and a couple of local bands (Rodney & The Failures and Fucking Useless) who never made a record.

-How did you go about setting up the channel initially? What were the protocols like to get it on air?

Setting the channel up was hard work. We had to jump through a number of hoops with Sky and the music collection/copyright agencies. What made it harder were we were just a couple of South London geezers as opposed to some suited corporate outfit. It took us a long time to be taken seriously.

UK acts that would normally never get any airtime on other stations found an audience on P-rock. Jesse James (here with 'Shoes') show off two of the main themes that these British bands usually shared: a cheaply made video and love of ska.

-How many people were involved in the running of the channel? How hands on was the process?

The channel was set up by two people, myself and my good mate Lol Pryor. It was Lol who had idea for the channel. Just before we went live, we recruited a third person, Russell Aldrich (former Epitaph Europe Records head of marketing).

-The channel and website came about before the days of mainstream broadband, youtube and viral videos, would you have been able to do p-rock online if it was created nowadays?

Yes, I think it would be a lot easier to do on-line!

-Was it simpler to have a channel run entirely by fan votes rather than the way that every other music station does/did things?

P-rock used a computer software package (similar to the one used by the other channels at the time) to record the phone votes and then adjust the play list. This was the easiest way for us to operate, especially as there was only three of us running the channel.

Millencolin - Fox (Epitaph Records))

-P-rock's playlist consisted of mostly American bands, mostly playing skate punk or ska, mostly on American labels, did you have any connection to these bands or was it a case of enjoying what was being selected and popular at the time?

When we began to turn the idea of a music channel into P-rock, most labels never even returned our calls. Therefore, we could only play the videos we were sent. The American labels got the idea better than most and in particular Epitaph were very helpful. Hence the American dominated play list.

-P-rock were quite liberal in the videos they played in terms of adult content, did you care much that you were showing 18+ videos?

We always-pixilated videos to be shown after the 9pm watershed. I remember spending hours on an editing machine taking out tits, dicks and such like. That said, we know a couple got under the radar, but it didn’t do too much harm to the channels reputation.

-At what point did P-rock no longer seem financially viable?

Running a satellite channel is a very expensive business; the monthly broadcast fee to Sky just to use a satellite was over £40k a month. Our plan was to have enough funds to cover the channels operating costs until the advertisers come in. We anticipated this would take a few months.

However, the problem actually came from the channels success. Within just two weeks of launchinh and with a marketing budget of only £2k, we were receiving 50% of Kerrang TV viewing figs and it was similar for MTV2. This obviously pissed off the owners of these channels, who we believe then operated, a cartel on us with advertisers.

No reasonably large advertiser would place an ad on p-rock because they wouldn’t be allowed to have ads on the other 11 music channels run by the two big corporates. At that point, we knew our days were numbered. Our viewers loved the fact there were hardly any adverts but as a channel we couldn’t live on thin air and the revenue from phone votes was just too small. Something had to give and in the end we ran out of money.

I'd like to think that other people have as fond memories as... wait what I am talking about. This song is still fantastic, Home Grown -You're Not Alone

-Odds are probably against you getting recognised in the street but do you ever think about the legacy that P-Rock left?

Now and again I read or get sent something about P-rock and it does make me feel proud. When you think that two blokes, who knew absolutely nothing about TV other than watching it, had an idea, wrote it on the back of a fag packet and then turned it into the fastest growing music channel in Europe, I’m very proud. Also, to have influenced as many people as it did is a nice legacy.

-What advice would you give to someone trying to set up an independent channel in 2009?

My advice to anyone thinking of setting up a channel - start with a large fortune and expect to have a small one at the end. The journey is great but it’s not a cheap one.

Looking back, P-Rock can seem incredibly dated and of its time. Yet with the effect that it had, in shaping the musical tastes and ears of countless impressionable youths across the country and also in providing hours upon hours of sheer joy and entertainment to hundreds of thousands, the channel and its creators should be remembered with warmth and fondness rather than the embarrassment and shame that you would associate with other teenage escapades, like not any reading books and liking Static X.

Mark Shipman can be found online at trendfollewer.com

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Looga, Barooga

Chris Pell is an illustrator and student currently living in Brighton, he creates intricately detailed and irresistibly grotesque drawings and videos. I interviewed him recently and asked some questions here and there, read and enjoy -

-TLL: You've been drawing now for years, how would you say your style has developed? 

No, I totally agree. It's funny, I never really see my self change the way I work but in retrospect it has changed a lot. Studying in Brighton was the biggest influence, I stopped listening to certain types of music and got into others and just meeting other people around other courses introduced me to other influences. The whole sort of focus on human contortion and figurative work came from loving fantasy art I think. It's just so great, I grew up with a book of the works by Boris Vallejo, I kind of imagined illustration would be something like that until I came to uni and got my dreams shattered.

Flyer designed for Crystal Antlers show in Brighton

-You've had links with plenty of bands/musicians, being commissioned to do cover art and graphics, how did you get approached to draw these works and how do you go about the illustration., do you try and stick to the feel of the song/band or just create and see how it goes?

Bands would generally stumble across my page or a blog and sometimes ask for work but most of the time I would approach artists I really like and ask if we can work together. I was lucky with university that it gave me a chance to work with musicians like Joe Howe (Germlin, Ben Butler & Mousepad) and not worry about money or time because it allowed me to manipulate any piece of work into a self-initiated project. But yeah because I was contacting people like Joe I was able to generally do whatever I wanted, I think making the drawing or animation fit the music is generally the golden rule.

-Looking at your website recently, I have to ask who these commissioned photographs are for and what inspired the project?

As a matter of fact the two photographs were part of course project to re-design a chosen album cover. I chose Witch's self-titled album and worked with graphic designer Joe Porter to help set up each photograph. The music fitted quite well with what we had in mind and I was getting into the body paint stuff a lot. I'm hoping to use these images further and possibly make a music video of some sort in the near future.

'Mary'

-For an illustrative artist a website can be quite restricting, how do you choose to present your work to an audience/the viewer?

At the moment Chrispell.co.uk isn't what I want it to be, there's going to be a big re-vamp on the horizon with a much nicer interface. I agree it's difficult to properly show what you're about on a monitor screen, so I've got a few fingers in various pies trying to get my work out there. Generally for the internet though I've been setting up all kinds of accounts, flickr has been the most recent and also vimeo.

'Will to Power' - Print available for purchase

-Your work always seems so creative and eclectic, do you draw inspiration from any non-artistic influences?

I suppose it depends on what you mean by non-artistic. I like looking at anything really that's genuine, I try my best not to look at other illustrators, its like poison that is, can't get out of your head. I watch a lot of films and listen to a lot of music which both help me draw, I also like the internet. a lot. It's pretty bad but I like going on blog binges and youtube sprees, its amazing how much effort people put into things that never have any point. Like the other day I found myself searching "me singing..." and watching videos of people filming themselves singing, then watching people crit them over webcam.

-And whilst on the subject of influences what aural delights have you been surrounding yourself with recently?

Without namedropping I'm listening to a lot of hip hop recently like Big L and also bands like Abe Vigoda and Pavement but that's when I'm in a good mood, when somethings wrong like I'm skint or its raining I'll put on some wolves or hot cross.

Music Video created for Germlin

-You've been experimenting with videos, creating for bands and artists, why did you choose to branch out in this way? do you think you'll be continuing your work in this medium?

I'm not really sure, as I've said I'm looking to do a music video of some sort but in terms of my animations I think I'll come back to that. I started playing around with after effects when I wondered what it would be like to animate my drawings, it was fun but very time consuming. I'd usually take a few days on a drawing but it takes me weeks to do a small animation, a lot of drive gets lost and I find myself trudging along, drawing trees and mountains for ages. I make it sound like I don't enjoy it but I do though, nothings more satisfying than seeing your pictures move.

-Your current residence, Brighton always seems like such vibrant and busy city, how has living there affected your work and yourself?

Brighton is crazy, I grew up in Shepshed which was a small town near Loughborough, and came here after foundation not knowing anybody. Coming from such a dry, angry town to a tiny city full of art school kids was funny. I got used to it pretty fast but its like a little shielding bubble, you meet pretty much everyone who lives here and no one can misbehave otherwise everyone knows about it. It's a lively place though, a couple of years ago I co-started a club night called which is taking a lot more shape. It gives me the chance to vent any other work I want to do to use through club night flyers and posters.

Flyer designed for Angry Dance Party VI a clubnight Chris runs

-What have you got coming up in the future? You mentioned moving to New York, do you think you'll ever make it to there?

Wow I wish. It's been on my mind for the last year or so but I'd love to stay in America for a few months. Money seems to have issues with me (as opposed to the other way round). I think I may stay in Brighton for another year and maybe think about moving to the big grey LDN and hopefully get a job doing what I enjoy, drawing and taking fantasy pictures, then who knows, land of the free I think.

For more details as well as prints for sale, see chrispell.co.uk and for more images see his flickr
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Ice Cream Pizza

White Vinyl Design is the creative vessel for Luke Twyman a multi-talented illustrator, photographer, musician and webdesigner based in Margate. He has worked with and been commissioned by the likes of Motive Sound recordings, Icon Magazine, Photographers Simon Upton and Joe Maxwell as well as bands such as MT. I interviewed him earlier in the week about his output with WVD: his background, ambitions, equipment and methods of communication.

-How would you define what you do? In the broadest sense you're a designer but there seems more to it than just that.

LT: In some ways I quite like to keep it broad. If I think I can get away with it without too much eyebrow raising, I quite like to simply say ‘creative’ or yeah ‘designer’. Usually I have to tell people I’m a graphic designer to save much confusion from the start. I think I’m at a stage where there are still a lot of things I want to try out, and so don’t want to limit myself to by saying “right from now on I’m an illustrator / art director / interactive designer” or whatever else I’ve decided I am on a whim that particular day.

-What's your background and education in creative arts? Who or what were the influences that convinced you to pursue a career in design?

Ha! Erm, little to no education really. I actually studied music at university, so most of my creative techniques have been self-taught. Since being a kid I’ve always drawn and made curiosities from paper, which luckily is something I never grew out of. I also used to make small video games just as a hobby, which taught me the basics of creative programming, as well as computer graphics.

While studying music, I did a course on self-promotion, which happened to include crash courses in HTML and Flash. With my prior video game experience I picked this up super quick and realised I could combine my skills of creative programming and illustration etc and put them to good use.

-Without giving too much away, what equipment do you use? What software, cameras, pens, papers, etc...

Nothing out of the ordinary really, 0.3 drawing pens are the staple, plus cheap permanent markers for most illustration work. I use a tablet sometimes, though usually only for finishing touches or tidying up.
Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator cover most digital work, though I have been experimenting with some stop-motion work in Adobe Premier lately. I’ve acquired a few cameras over the last year, but I’ve a basic Canon DSLR which has had the most action so far.

An interactive piano designed for the Website of Neverest Songs, Luke's personal project

-For your websites, how do you come about with each concept, is there a lot of pre-planning: working to the concept and plans of the commissioners or are you given free range to create and adjust as you see fit?

I’ve been lucky that a few clients have been very open to what concepts I can pitch to them. The Joe Maxwell site was probably the most free brief, but there was enough there in terms of basic requirements that I had something to work from.

All conceptualising happens on paper first, doodles and notes. For the benefit of relaying with a client I’ll normally mock-up in Photoshop, although in Joe Maxwell’s case I felt it necessary to go straight into some programming work to physically show him what I had in mind, and just hoped that he’d like it!

-Your websites seems to have a focus on interactivity and exploration, retaining the users attention via their own curiosity i.e. for Neverest Songs the title page is plain and uninformative requiring the user to find and explore by themselves and for Joe Maxwell's site the user gets dragged across the page, as if it were a sprawling map, to each link. Was this done purposefully?

Absolutely, I think in a lot of cases information does need to be displayed quite simply, and I do love work that is just beautifully laid out, or functions in a lovely way. However I think there’s also a lot of room for more immersing experiences, those that make visitors want to play and explore for themselves. I guess that links back to the video games thing – after creating playful interfaces, it’s hard to lose that thinking when it comes to any sort of interaction.

Simon Upton is a photographer who specialises in portraiture and interior

-The accessibility of your websites also seems paramount, existing without the prerequisites of text or a specific language. Instead they use easily recognizably symbols and pictures, providing a simpler, more aesthetic means of communication, is this always something that you were aiming for with your designs?

Yeah, that sort of visual communication has always appealed to me, and again initially it was simply re-applying what I already knew in creative programming, but gradually I learnt to apply it in a more functional way.

I think my aim with creative websites in future would be to best strike the balance between playfulness and direct communication. A lot of design we interact with every day communicates to us in a pictorial way, but we don’t always think about it. With the website for “Mt.”, the main navigation is purely abstract icons, but they’re presented in a way that makes a visitor want to use them, and they present enough of a reward that hopefully visitors will continue to use them and explore.

Website for the Carlisle band Mt.

-You seem to be extremely productive, with your work sought after not just in the UK but internationally as well, is this just down to the nature of the business, being quite global or has the internet brought artists closer together in this way?

The internet has certainly made working on certain projects easier, and in my case it’s been vital in me getting any work at all. Being based in Margate, I’ve found that my immediate area doesn’t present many opportunities for work, and the majority of clients tend to be London based. The web however has of course given everyone else a voice as well, making it hard to be plucked out sometimes.
There are certainly some nice opportunities to network with other creatives online, but for me it hasn’t much spilled over into the real world, and it’s not the same as networking in person.

-You deftly incorporate and work with a wide range of mediums, i.e. your Illustrations are rarely just drawings on a page, they combine area, space and photography also, do you do this to keep things interesting for yourself and/or the viewer or simply because that’s how you want things to look, existing in several realms at once?

I think often it’s something I’ve envisaged from an early stage when sketching out concepts, I start to see it in a certain way and just go with it. Plus I simply like trying my hand at different techniques.

Sometimes it can just be a means of creating the image I have in mind within the limitations of expense, but doing so in a way that I can comfortably feel that I’ve stylised it and given it a personal touch, and know that I’ve not just used that black card because I happened to have a pile of it under my desk.

Commissioned piece for Motive Sounds Record Label

-Do you still find yourself having to actively seek out work, like your submission for Icon Magazine, or do you find that you can rely on getting commissioned for most of your work these days?

Yes! I get spates of commissions but can’t rely on it being there all the time, I also freelance Flash design work in digital agencies to keep myself plodding along. I’d love to do some larger, and even more varied commissions…basically If people could just pay me to be fed while I make all the things I would normally enjoy making anyway, that of course would be perfect.

-Music seems to play a role in parts of your work and you also promote and put on gigs around Canterbury and Margate, for an area with such a rich musical heritage, what's the community like nowadays? Are there any bands to look out for or any interesting aural happenings?

Yeah music is incredibly important to me, it’s my other main love and “Neverest Songs” is the sound that I make. We’ve only just started promoting again, and for a while musical events in Margate have been few and far between. It’s in a bit of a tricky situation because, there simply aren’t many local bands at the moment (or if there are, they’re hiding!) and it’s simply not an easy thing to put on shows, with few locals ready to fill the line-up.

However we intend to give it something anyway, in the hopes that more local events will once again spur people on to make music, I think there’s still a demand to see interesting live sounds.

Canterbury is a bit different, there is more there, but even so, for a small beautiful city with, as you say a rich musical heritage, and one that is full of young creative types, relatively there doesn’t seem to be as much coming out of that as one would imagine or hope. However I don’t live in Canterbury myself so there is every chance that more is happening under the radar.

The band “Yndi Halda” I think are the most notable band I’ve been aware of, to have come out of Canterbury recently, definitely worth a listen.

Margate beach

-You recently completed the Micro Fantasy series of illustrations (top of page), but do you have any other upcoming projects in the pipeline?

Yes. I do. I have a few more illustration projects to come, some small, some less small. Also in the pipeline is a musical score for a feature film in production this summer. Not at all the kind of commission I usually get, but one I’m very excited about! Also we’re putting on a music & arts show in Margate on April 3, with French duo “Vialka” playing, so that should certainly be interesting, and definitely worth attending for any locals!

I’ve made a promise to myself to do a lot more personal projects this year, so even if I don’t get all the interesting commissions, hopefully I’ll still have some nice things to show for it.

For more information and innovation go to White Vinyl Design.

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Uz Vs Aus

I've pretty much just been either watching Mark Gormley (above) or Empire of the Sun videos these past few days. It's been awful.

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World Wide Wuv

Internet Forever are three piece from London who make very lo-fi, personal songs that veer very close to the dangerous sounds of twee indie pop, yet get riegned in by layers and layers of noisy noisy keyboards. They're having talks with Art Fag Recordings and all questions are answered by Laura Wolf (LW) and 'Heartbeeps' (HB):

-Firstly, how and when did Internet Forever get started, why did you decide to create music together? How would you describe the results?

LW: Me and Heartbeeps started making music together just over six months ago. We had a mutual appreciation of each other's music and shared favourite bands so we decided to give it a go. We had never met until the day I went to Cambridge and we wrote the basics of what would become 3D, previously we had just spoken on the internet. I think the results have been surprising and better than I thought.
HB: We were originally just going to make one song together, but once we posted it online people started saying good things about it, so we decided to take it from there. I had this idea of forming a band called Internet Forever, and pitched it to Laura over comments in her mp3 blog. Once we realised we would eventually have to play our songs live, we drafted in Christopher Alcxxk because he is a much better musician than both of us.

-There's a paragraph on your myspace page hinting that you prefer to record and produce at a fast rate, would you agree with this? Do IF swing to more of the Ryan Adams rate of releasing music rather than the Axl Rose side of things.

LW: I like to think so. I think we both like the idea of doing things quickly and allowing people to listen to them almost instantaneously and to get their feedback. It's better than being a perfectionist about 'your art'.
HB: That paragraph was originally written by Laura as the introduction to a zine she made, where everything was created over the course on one day. I thought it perfectly suited what we were about as a band. We're by no means prolific, but once we have an idea for a song we like to run with it, and it feels more organic this way.

-As three individual songwriters do you sometimes find that you can all be quite opinionated about how a song should work or are you more open to each other?

LW: To be honest we don't spend much time thinking about how songs should work out because they are all quite simple in structure. They start with an idea or basic track from me or Heartbeeps and then the rest of us add to them until we're all happy. We're pretty easily pleased, I think! What takes longest is me writing the lyrics, and Heartbeeps and Christopher are more than happy to let me emo myself to oblivion on top of our music so that's cool with me.

-What equipment do you use to make and record your music? Is there any specific instruments that you always end up using?

LW: We recorded the first few songs on garageband, sending each other parts over the internet until they were complete. We always use Casios! Nowadays we record everything we do on an Argos tape recorder.
HB: I use the same £60 guitar I've had since I was 17. I don't own an amp or any pedals!

-Your videos are amazing, who makes them?

LW: Heartbeeps is the genius behind them, he has a penchant for film and lomo photography.
HB: I just put those videos together in 10 minutes using various old footage from the 1970s and 1980s that I had on my hard drive.

-You're having a sudden surge of live activity soon, do you have any preconceptions about how people will react to IF as a relatively new band?

LW: I just hope that the people who have enjoyed listening to our mp3s also enjoy us live!

-How does playing live usually work out?

LW: It's been a long process getting our live show together because the way we wrote our songs meant we never played them live before. So it's exciting to sort things things out. We have loop pedals with beats on and also some live drums, two keyboards and guitar. We all switch around live which is something I enjoy, since I can play most things a bit and nothing particularly well!

-You must be quite proud to be associated with the fantastic Art Fag Recordings, will you be releasing anything with them? Certainly a lot of your peers, Pens etc, have some kind of connection with the label.

HB: We're talking to Art Fag about putting something out in the US, which will obviously be awesome, but first we have a single coming out in the UK in May. Pete Gofton (ex-Kenickie) is producing, which is super-exciting!
LW: I was really excited when we started to talk to Art Fag about releasing stuff, I like loads of the bands they already work with. We'll hopefully be releasing something with them in Spring.



-Management seems like an odd thing for such a personal and lo-fi band like IF to have, why decide to hire a manager, is it something that you all felt was needed for the band?

LW: I think it is totally an odd thing, I completely agree. We've never really 'hired' our manager, he just popped up and gave us a load of super good advice so we stuck with him. We felt a bit out of our depth when things we didn't understand started happening with the band (meetings at publishing companies etc.) and Mike was recommended to us as someone who could give us advice on this stuff. My instinct was to avoid it all but having been in bands for years I knew that not everyone gets the kind of attention we were getting so I think we decided to run with it rather than from it, to a limited a extent, whilst not doing anything that we feel will compromise anything we believe in. Notice this is the longest paragraph because I have spent a lot of time justifying this to myself!

-Would you like to namedrop (in a nice way of course) any influences of IF's that you feel people should know about: be they bands, writers, artists, people etc.

LW: My favourite band ever is Beat Happening and I think this has been an influence on everything I've done because I think everyone should realise you don't have to be a great musician to be in a band . I love labels like K and Kill Rock Stars, but we all have different influences...
HB: My two favourite ever bands are Pavement and The Unicorns, but I also really admire the careers people like Jon Brion and Momus, though I don't think I'm a good enough songwriter or musician to be able to translate any influences into our sound. I just play what I play and that's all I can do. My favourite photographers are Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever

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Abtams

It's a bit weird to think that people refered to The Replacements as The 'Placemats or just 'Mats in the 80's. Then again it's a bit weird to think they would go on national television with their eyebrows shaved off and weren't the biggest band in America at that point.

More fantastic words and sounds if you just...




When the band made album 'Stink' their label at the time Twin Tone recorded them for a series of videos in 1981. Here's them playing 'Kids don't Follow' one of the better numbers from this barely fifteen minutes nod-to-hardcore release.



Another MTV interview this time with the band meeting fans @ the suitable location of a barrrrrrrrgh



'Colour Me Impressed' from 1986 in New Jersey



Final MTV interview on their last tour, or thereabouts. Don't watch if you dislike being deflated of all happiness.

Here's a Paul Westerberg interview for Pitchfork conducted earlier this year clicky click

...Best band ever basically.
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