5 Minutes With Janette Beckman

Janette Beckman is an English documentary photographer born in London and living and working in New York.

Beckman started her career photographing the punk scene in England and New York in the 70s and 80s and has continued without pause. Attending King Alfred School in Hampstead, an alternative establishment "where the emphasis, both academically and socially, is on discovering and maximising the potential of each child" she discovered art, and upon leaving at 17 she spent a year at St Martins School of Art, and then three years at London College of Communication studying photography.



She soon had a job shooting for music magazines such as Melody Maker and The Face, with a studio and darkroom in central London. Beckman moved permanently to New York in 1982 and continued her career, shooting for her UK clients as well as new ones in the US. Beckman's work has appeared on records for the major labels, and in magazines including Esquire, Rolling Stone, Glamour, Italian Vogue, The Times, Newsweek, Jalouse, Mojo and others.



Beckman describes herself as a documentary photographer; she produces a lot of work on location, including Run DMC in Hollis Queens and The Specials on a rainy day, but she is also a studio portrait photographer.



In August 2010 Beckman produced a new exhibition entitled "Archive of Attitude" at Arkitip's Project Space, Los Angeles, which included artifacts from Def Jam and which garnered a lot of press coverage. Arkitip published a special supplement to the show in the form of a limited edition broadsheet newspaper full of Janette's photographs. That same month photographer Jill Furmanovsky chose Janette's Paul Weller and Pete Townsend as one of her personal favourite music photographs for an article with NME.



Q1. What was the first record you bought that had a life changing effect on you?



JB: Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band - I bought at Woolworths in Golders Green I loved that LP played it over and over - then years late Dexy's did 'Geno' and I loved that too.







Q2. You describe yourself as a documentary photographer-when did you start taking rock and roll and hip hop pictures and how did you get into it?



JB:I started taking rock and roll photos in 1977 when I walked into the offices of Sounds (weekly music paper) to show my portfolio of art photos (taken mostly in USA of neon, palm trees, Malibu lighting and American cars). There I met the editor and writer Vivien Goldman who asked me to photograph Spizz Oil that evening. Spizz were the support band for Siouxee at the Roundhouse and that was the beginning of my music photo career. I got a tiny office / darkroom on Neal St in Covent Garden around the corner from the music mags. It was on the top floor, had a hole in the ceiling which let in rain. I ended up working for Melody Maker shooting 2 or 3 bands a week - I developed my own film, made prints, lived on a diet of chocolate and coffee ( had an expresso maker in the darkroom).







Q3. Can you tell me a bit about the exhibition "Archive of Attitude" at Arkitip's Project Space, Los Angeles?



JB: Scott A. Sant' Angelo at Arkitip had written about my photo of Paul Weller & Pete Townshend Around the same time he opened the Project Space Gallery in LA. He offered me an exhibition which my west coast agent, Jen at Art Duet, helped me put together. I felt Scott and Damon really understood the whole style and attitude thing that I try to document in both my hip hop and punk images.They also made a brilliant newspaper of my work.



Punks London 1978 ©Janette Beckman



Q4. "Catch the Beat: The Roots of Punk and Hip Hop" show at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City on the Bowery featured your work and the work of photographer David Corio. It really captured the rawness an vibrant creativity of early hip hip hop (and of punk). Do you think we've lost that spirit now everything is so polished and performers images are so heavily manipulated?



JB: Thanks for that . Both David and I love that spirit. I do think a lot of that has gone - bands back in the day did not have hair and makeup or stylists to dress them. And photographers did not have Photoshop to take out every so called 'imperfection'.

I loved photographing punk and early hip hop because no matter what you looked like - you could still be stylish The economy in UK and US was really bad, kids didn't have jobs or money to buy designer brands so they made stuff, shopped in thrift or army surplus, borrowed their mum's clothes. Record companies took chances with the music, the art for posters and covers was creative and experimental It was a time before big business and making money took over music .



Q5. I love your books "Made in the UK: The Music of Attitude" and "The Breaks: Stylin' and Profilin'". Do you have more in the works for the future?



JB:Yes, I have a new book coming out in the fall featuring my photographs of an East LA Mexican gang called 'El Hoyo Maravilla' which I shot in the early 1980's.

It is being published by David Strettell of Dashwood Books, as part of an artists series, (btw Dashwood is the best photo book shop in town).



http://www.janettebeckman.com/



http://janettebeckman.com/blog/



All photographs Copyright Janette Beckman.

Gaz's Rockin Blues

If you are in London town...checkout Gaz's Rockin' Blues-London's longest running one-nighter club. It was founded on the 3rd of July 1980 and was held at Gossip's on Dean Street for until november 1995 when it moved to its current venue St Moritz in Wardour Street. If you can't make it to the club checkout Gaz's fantastic book: 'Gaz's Rockin Blues-The First 30 Years'.





The club generally promotes live bands each week.



St Moritz

159 Wardour street, Soho, London W1F 8WL

Every Thursday 10pm-3:30am

Admission £9 (£7 before 11pm



Gaz Mayall DJ's and hosts London's longest running one-nighter Gaz's Rockin Blues. He occasionally plays live with his ska band The Trojans. He first began Gaz's Rockin' Blues after a few guest appearances at the Two-Tone club, Oxford Street in 1979.



The eldest son of Blues legend John Mayall, Gaz was raised on a musical diet of R&B and was dragged around every beat, pop & rock festival and venues throughout the sixties as a child. First becoming a lifelong fan of reggae as a kid on the football terraces in the skin head era circa 1968-72.



Gaz began collecting records aged 17, bulk buying cheap reggae and ska collections down street markets such as Portbello road and Brick Lane at a time when it seemed no one wanted them.





Also a great fan of boogie woogie, rock'n'roll, traditional Irish music, funk and world music, Gaz, heavily influenced by a family friend, Radio One DJ and blues musician Alexis Korner, pursued his love of music in earnest and now has a world famous collection of predominantly black dance music ranging from the first tribal drum beats to the latest drum&bass.



For the last nineteen years Gaz has been running his own record label Gaz's Rockin' Records producing ska acts and artistes around the world.



http://www.gazrockin.com/

5 Minutes With Justin Giunta

Designer Justin Giunta, has worked in different mediums for the past five years, ranging from painting, fashion, industrial design, and now jewelry, to create work that sits on the continuum of fine art and commercial design.



Justin plays with the idea of the baroque philosophy that more is more, and the modern idea of deconstruction in fashion. SUBVERSIVE JEWELRY, a collection that has forged a unique niche in the international jewelry market, and is the culmination of Justin’s artistic and entrepreneurial efforts within the industry of design. Justin sites his influences as culled from an art historical perspective, mining the rich traditions from Europe, Asia, and Tribal aesthetics, as well as the design triumphs of 20th century modernists.



Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he has studied at several art institutions including Pratt Institute and the Gerrit Reitveld Academie in Amsterdam. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University, and a fellowship from Yale University. In 2009, Justin won the Swarovski Award for Accessory Design at the CFDA Awards.



Q1. What was the first record you bought and how did it change your life?



'Like a Virgin', Madonna. I was 5 and totally fascinated by her and her mix of the punk rock with a wedding dress. The impact of the her visually taught me that mixing desperate aesthetic themes was more interesting that looking at one theme done really well.





Q2. When did you start designing jewelry and what inspired you to create the Subversive brand?



I started in 2003 while living in New York. I was piecing together everything from clothing to chandeliers at the time. Jewelry started as a gift and turned into a calling. An unexpected calling that I listened to.



Q3. A few seasons ago Subversive worked with Target to produce a limited edition collection for the retailer. Do you have any other collaboration projects planned that you can talk about?



I will be making some pieces for designer Timo Weiland this season. He is a long time supporter of my work and his designs are maturing every season so I want to support his work as well.



Q4. You started working with the Tory Burch brand recently. How is that going and how different is designing for that brand as opposed to Subversive?



It is very different, but I love the design challenge. It is more linear than Subversive so I love exercising my creative agility



Q5. How has the e-commerce and online world effected what you do?



I sell more to people who do not really see the pieces first. It is interesting, we almost never get returns so my strategy of standing for what you make has resonated in people buying and loving the unique pieces we offer online. It is e-commerce but not impersonal.



http://subversivejewelry.com/

5 Minutes With Natasha Scharf

"Photograph (c) Taya Uddin, jewellery by Alchemy 1977 and make-up/hair colour by Manic Panic"



NATASHA SCHARF is an author, disc jockey, presenter and freelance journalist best known for her work publicising gothic, rock, metal and progressive metal music and subcultures. She currently works as a freelance music journalist writing articles and reviews for Metal Hammer and Classic Rock Presents: Prog.



Her first book, Worldwide Gothic, an exploration of the development of the worldwide goth scene, was published on 23 June 2011 by Independent Music Press.



Q1. What was the first record you bought and how did it change your life?



I've always been surrounded by music, ever since I was a baby. My mum was a big fan of '70s glam such as David Bowie, T-Rex and Queen and my father was a big fan of '50s rock 'n' roll - I'm sure both had an influence on me even from an early age. Most of the music I was exposed to was either borrowed from my parents or taped off the radio but my very first record was probably something age-appropriate like the 'Theme Tune From Fraggle Rock'! That said, I do remember buying Siouxsie And The Banshees' 'Peepshow' album on vinyl when I was young. I'd been into the band ever since I first heard 'Hong Kong Garden' when I was a very, very young but 'Peepshow' had such a different sound - it was poppier yet somehow darker than their other songs. I remember watching Siouxsie being interviewed on television at the time and being surprised by her sudden change of image - from big hair to a sleek Louise Brooks-style bob. I saved up my pocket money and bought it from the local Our Price, which had a really good range of music. I'm not sure whether buying it changed my life although I think that being into Siouxsie and the Banshees in the first place certainly ended up shaping where I headed!







Q2. How did you become involved in the Gothic rock, metal and progressive metal music subcultures?



That's three different movements you've mentioned there! Ok, the goth thing came out of punk. I was born in the summer of punk and as a child, was really drawn towards its dramatic look and the simplistic but emotive sound. By the early '80s, it was changing into a slightly artier, more experimental and darker thing and that attracted me even more - it was that movement that developed into what we now refer to as 'goth'. I come from a small town in the South East of England, which has always had an alternative scene but it was always what I call a hybrid alternative scene so punks, goths, hippies, metallers etc would all mix together and you'd get merging of styles and blurring of boundaries. And that's really where the metal and progressive elements come in - the scenes were all blended where I came from so everyone liked a bit of everything regardless of labels. Even to this day, my musical tastes are a bit schizophrenic - I have different styles to suit my moods, so progressive for epic, concentrated listening (I love a lot of the darker styles) and metal for something a little harder and more aggressive. Over the years, my tastes have developed more and I've become more involved with each scene on a larger scale. Nowadays, these are my main specialist areas as a music journalist and DJ so I'm living my loves!



Q3. Can you tell me a bit about the ‘Natasha's Batcave’ radio show?



Well, I joined TotalRock Radio back in 2001 when I stood in for a presenter called Diamond Dave over a period of about 6 weeks. I'd been harrassing them for ages about doing a goth show so the programme controller asked me to just that during my stand-in period and we named it after the 'zine I was running at the time - meltdown. After the stint finished, I was given my own show, which we decided to call The Batcave - I named it after London's first gothic club and played around with the Batman connection by using Alien Sex Fiend's cover of the Batman theme tune as my intro (ASF were an original Batcave band so it was like a circular acknowledgement!). I started off presenting it once a month, on a Sunday afternoon, and eventually it went weekly. The idea was that I played music that fitted under the 'gothic' umbrella, which included gothic metal, industrial, electronica, post-punk, psychobilly - all sorts of stuff. Although there are quite a few gothic radio shows around now, when I started the Batcave, there was nothing else like it so I was doing something very unique. I used to interview bands on air and go backstage to gigs, get bands in to do sessions and play lots of unsigned stuff.



I left TotalRock last year, after 9 years of broadcasting on the station so the Batcave show is no more but I hope to resurrect it one day as a podcast or something similar when I get a spare moment! I do miss broadcasting but I've been so busy with my writing recently that it's taken a bit of a back seat.



Q4. You have been interviewed in various music documentaries including Adam And The Ants - Stand And Deliver. Were you a big Ants fan and do you think they influenced the Gothic scene?



I was a huge Ants fan back in the day! Again, this goes back to being attracted to the whole drama of punk I think. Adam had such a striking, almost cartoonish image and the music was so infectious, it really struck a chord with me - I remember painting toothpaste down my face like warrior stripes and watching his videos on Top Of The Pops! I still listen to the songs now and have been lucky enough to catch some of Adam's recent shows - he can still do it and his music still sounds exciting. I absolutely think they influenced that early goth scene - afterall Marco Pirroni played in the original line-up of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Adam's early look was very fetishy and not dissimilar to the modern deathrock look and of course there's all his military wear, which fits in perfectly with the current steampunk movement. The early Ants music was inspired by the same stuff as early goth, with a heavy dose of glam - it all came from the same scene. By the early '80s, the Ants had that wonderful tribal beat running through their music and that's been replicated so many times throughout gothic rock and post-punk music.



I do remember having a similar conversation with the music journalist Mick Mercer about this years ago. We came to the conclusion that both Adam and Toyah were big influences on what became the gothic scene - there's no one who really does it quite the way they did.



Q5. The Asian ‘Gothic Lolita’ movement seems to be more about fashion than music-would you agree and what is your take on it?



As I explain in my book 'Worldwide Gothic', the Gothic Lolita movement is very much a fashion and has become even more so in recent years, especially outside Asia. Despite its name, it actually has very little to do with Western goth. It's basically a subgenre of the popular Lolita fashion that was adopted by a musician called Mana who was, at that time, in the band Malice Mizer - he was simply combining two things he was interested in and making something new from it. He later set up his own fashion label where fans could purchase his own designs and that's clearly influenced a lot of contemporary fashion. But the big difference is that Mana looks at 'gothic' not as we would through music but more as an arts movement and he takes a lot of influence from classical paintings and fashions.



Musically, the visual kei bands that adopt the look are more progressive than gothic although there is an actual Japanese gothic movement as well. It's interesting that the gothic lolita look has become so popular in Western cultures recently but very few of its followers are interested in actual gothic music. It Asian roots were originally more in cosplay but it's now a fashion in its own right.



Worldwide Gothic: A Chronicle of a Tribe by Natasha Scharf.



STOP PRESS! Two new book signings confirmed! Author Natasha Scharf will be signing books at Cornucopia's 10th birthday in Belfast on Saturday on Saturday 22 October (and will also be guest DJ at the club!) and at the Spa as part of the Whitby Gothic Weekend on Saturday 5 November.



http://www.facebook.com/pages/Worldwide-Gothic-new-book-out-June-2011/205136389514948



Publisher's website:



http://www.impbooks.com/music-books/Worldwide-Gothic/Chronicle-of-a-Tribe/104

Style Calendar

Studio Baer and Mixt(e) Magazine’s Fashion Director Joanna Schlenzka launch ‘Style Calendar’ a covetable product for 2012.



Creative Director Daniel Baer and Stylist and Fashion Director of Mixt(e) Magazine, Joanna Schlenzka, have brought together one of the most exciting line-ups of fashion photographers to produce the inaugural and gorgeous

Style Calendar.





The beautifully designed and packaged calendar is a new, large-format editorial publication full of arresting, conceptual imagery that is being produced in limited edition for 2012.







The calendar’s theme is built around the concept of colour and plays with different characters of women using distinctive visual language. The photographers selected for the project range from very established to up-and-coming creatives. These include high profile names such as Serge Leblon, Yelena Yemchuk, Miguel Reveriego and KT Auleta and rising stars such as Daniel Sannwald, Johan Sandberg and Mark Pillai.



- Beautifully packaged in a custom-made corrugated silk-screened box.



- Large-format W:450 x H:700mm - Published to the highest standards in print design - Produced as a collectors’ item in a limited edition of 1500 copies - Price £22.00, available in selected retail outlets in London, Paris and New York - Order directly from the website



www.style-calendar.com from October 2011



Photographers: KT Auleta, David Dunan, Jam, Andreas Larsson, Serge Leblon, Mark Pillai, Miguel Reveriego, Johan Sandberg, Daniel Sannwald, Laura Sciacovelli, Esther Teichmann, Yelena Yemchuk.



Editor Notes:

Studio Baer is a creative agency collaborating with a diverse range of clients in the fields of luxury, retail and the arts to create contemporary graphic design and art direction. The studio regularly works with some of the most exciting photographers, artists and international book publishers, such as Phaidon and Aperture. http://studiobaer.com



Joanna Schlenzka is imminently relaunching Mixt(e) Magazine as their Fashion Director. Formerly she was Senior Fashion Editor at Dazed & Confused. Joanna also frequently contributes to Another Magazine, Another Man, Ten, Lula Magazine and Ponystep.



Style Calendar is kindly supported by Fedrigoni UK.



Photographers - All photographer biographies are available on request.



ISBN 978-0-9569851-0-1 www.style-calendar.com For further information and images please contact:



Jodi Mullen jodi@circle-pr.com +44 (0) 7971 997730

5 Minutes With Tony Crosbie

Fish & Chips & Football-Tony Crosbie's 1st book. The Japanese title translated to "The red devil from Liverpool".



TONY CROSBIE is form Liverpool and has been based in Tokyo for 23 years. He works as soccer commentator for Fuji TV, a freelance designer for brands like Muji and a stylist for the likes of ZZ Top, Mariah Carey, Vincent Gallo (who stole his hat) and Japanese pop pickers SMAP as well as keeping corporate clients like Nike, Levi's and Budweiser up with the latest trends.







Tony and a ZZ Top.







Tony Crosbie -A Fresh Face at St Martin's 1982.



Crosbie graduated from Saint Martin's School of Art in London with a degree in fashion design. Since then his work has taken him to far-flung locations all over the world. It's also given him an endless string of anecdotes. From rock stars with massive egos to actresses surrounded by an entourage of assistants, this fashion veteran has seen the warts-and-all underbelly of celebrityland more times than he cares to remember. Crosbie moved to the other side of the camera over a decade ago as a presenter and sports commentator on Fuji TV. Most recently he covered the British Royal Wedding.











Sean Lennon and friends with Tony.



Q1. What was the first record you bought and how did it change your life?



TC: 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' by "Middle of the Road" weird almost comedy song bought from Woolworths in Liverpool ............it changed my life in as much as I'm now middle 'o' the road and cheap!!







Q2. You studied fashion at Central Saint Martins and Pulp played at the closing party recently. How do you feel about Saint Martins moving to Kings Cross?



TC: Though not in London for the St. martins S of A moving party I did receive an invitation which arrived in Tokyo on the day of the party! bit sad to move as it was one of the main reason's St. Martins was so fab in the middle

of London on the fringes of dirty Soho ............... great!! I was so impressed with Soho I even had a flat in Frith Street for a while opposite Ronnie Scott's the jazz club as opposed to the numerous jizz clubs in the neighborhood a perfect place to be educated!!







Tony on holiday with Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood.







Tony Crosbie with Tom Ford



Q3. After you graduated Saint Martins you moved to Tokyo to design for Grass Mens and more than 20 years later you still call Tokyo home.



TC: After graduating St. Martins I was offered a 2 week job by a tokyo menswear company called Grassmens they had bought some of my textile design's through Timney /Fowler and wanted a fresh designer to spice up their tokyo collection and after 23 years I'm still here!! originally the women all seemed so exotic, graceful, petit, gorgeous, calm, but now it just seems everywhere else I go in the world is so rude, impolite, filthy, scary almost (though the recent huge earthquake and nuclear meltdown are fairly scary) but politely so there was no looting /rioting for food etc etc everybody was amazingly but expectedly very calm which really help's after such a calamity.







The lovely Victoria Beckham with Tony.



Q4. Every Japanese person that I meet knows you from your television career in Japan. How did you make the transition from fashion designer to television personality?



TC: I had been styling tv shows /tv ad's/films etc for a few years after leaving full time design work and was styling a half Japanese half american famous tv presenter for a sports show on fuji tv one day and the producer noticed me the foreigner and asked where I was from ? "Liverpool" do I like football ? "Yes" what was I doing at 3.30 in the morning on Wednesday .........and I first started about 11or 12 years ago and have digressed from football to almost anything , recently appearing on TBS in Japan commenting on the recent royal nuptials (so glad Kate is so elegant/skinny could of been terrible! phew!!) I noticed she's keeping a few St. Marts ex students in work . My secret of tv work is.....I always have a sneaky can of beer normally asahi before any tv time it just seems to bring the tension up a notch to TV TENSION!







Jack 'Loser' Nicholson with Tony. Who's the loser now eh?



Q5. Can you share a funny story regarding one of the many celebrities that you’ve worked with, either on TV or as a stylist or designer?



TC: A while ago I was styling Eikichi Yazawa (Japanese Elvis/Jonny Hallyday) for a tv commercial shot in L.A. We arrived in L.A. about 5 in the morning on the red eye from tokyo and our STAR suggests in terrible igulishh that he buy breakfast for the whole crew , So someone finds us a diner and he orders "BACONEGG EVELYBODDIE" so the waitress goes around the table asking everyone how they want their egg's easy over etc etc and our STAR when asked how he'd like his eggs ? asked for medium rare....................

Still in the diner our STAR notices me drinking orange juice "chief how's the orange juice?" well Yazawa san it's a bit sour ! so our STAR proceeds to pour honey from a bear shaped pot on the table into my orange juice while murmuring "honey angel na na na na na honey angel........" do you remember that song, he ask's ? yes,yes of course, everyone agrees, only to realize later the song was Johnny Angel and had nothing to do with frikkin' honey......................... bastard!!!!







Tony's 2nd book..... " Iguriss shinchi no onara to gepu" translation " the farts and burps of an English Gentleman"!!

5 Minutes With Jon Wealleans

JON WEALLEANS was born in Yorkshire in 1946. His first studies were in architecture, he then went on to gain a Masters degree in design at the Royal College of Art, achieving a Distinction. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Self taught as an artist, he has also practised as a consultant architect and designer since 1980, as well as lecturing at the Royal College of Art, the Architectural Association and Kingston University.

Jon Weallean's Groovy London pad in "1970 maybe even 71". Photo: Tim Street Porter. From the book 'Interiors' Published in 1981.



Jon Wealleans has been represented by Francis Kyle Gallery since 2002 and participated in the theme exhibition Roma in spring 2003. Exceptionally wide ranging in his choice of subjects, Wealleans paints with a bravura technique which gently subverts the realist tradition.



"In place of the unified focal length of the photographic image, Wealleans substitutes the saccades of the human eye as it surveys a prospect, zooming in and out, panning continually. This is, of course, quite like an analogue of memory itself, as it ranges over space and time. While his paintings at first glance seem fairly straightforward, on closer inspection they suck you into their golden glow of be-here-nowness." -Will Self.



Recently he has returned from a working visit to a favourite location, Hampi in southern India, and he has also been extending the range of an ongoing series of small-scale garden studies, his 'garden fragments', adding new subjects from southern France and west Africa.





Photo: Tim Street Porter.







Q1 . What was the first record you bought and how did it affect you?



JW: 'C'mon Everybody', by Eddie Cochran or Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry. I cannot count 'The Green Leaves of Summer' that I bought for my Father's birthday present. With the first two I played just the introductions until they wore out or everybody else did. Dum de DUM, de diddy dum de DUM. I think the effect was to search for Elmore James and lose sight of Elvis. I didn't know Elmore James' name, but I knew he existed. I was very interested in pre-Beatles teenage angst music - Joe Meek produced stuff, especially English cover versions done by Marty Wilde and his ilk. I had a girl, Donna was her name - since she's been gone, I never been the same and that accurately sums up my teenage existence. She wasn't called 'Donna', she was called... Well, I'll keep that to myself. The little cow. The guitar introduction to Chuck Berry's JBGoode was a sort of litmus test of any budding guitarist's technical ability. Now pre-pubescent children can play it, so that in the original take Chuck Berry appears to be wearing oven gloves.





Q2 . How did you become involved with architecture and subsequently with the design of iconic shops like Mr Freedom?





JW: I became involved with the Mr Freedom outfit because my wife was designing T Shirts for them, and they just needed somebody a little more organised than themselves in order to facilitate a move to bigger premises. I instinctively liked Tommy Roberts. I was good friends with some fashion designers like Paul Smith and Paul Reeves and that may have helped. My memory and time get compressed. Popular culture has always been addicted to it's own past which is the reason for so much revival and retro stuff. There was just a feeling at Mr Freedom that early Pop Art and the 1950's could be little bit re-invented.







Q3. You have collaborated with rock musicians and their management, including the Elton John Organisation and Led Zeppelin. Is there a natural alignment between rock & roll and architecture?



JW: Not really although Architects would love to think so. There was a group of Architects called Archigram, who drew extremely hypothetical futuristic stuff in the late Sixties and they deeply believed that THEY were very Rock n Roll. I remain unconvinced to this day. When you met them they were just goofy nerds lacking advanced drug taking experience. Architects are a very boring breed actually and I have worked with many. I am ashamed with that alignment. I never really hung out with architects to be truthful, although their self love was temporarily intriguing.



Q4. You have devoted increasing time to painting since the 1990's. What sparked that transition from the world of architecture?



JW: Well I always just loved drawing and I still draw every day. At the Royal College of Art in the interestingly named 'School of Furniture Design',I sat next to a nice guy called Roger Dean for a term and we slightly competed. He went on to draw the fantastic' Yes' album covers. I had done some psychedelic illustrations for underground press here in London, and most of my friends were illustrators or graphic designers like George Hardie.





Q5. Your friend Will Self says 'the concept of ordered chaos' is intrinsic to your creative process. Would you agree?



JW: I always agree with Will. Too scary to contradict. I think he means 'ordered chaos' only in a very visually cluttered sense. I really don't have any problem with eclecticism - there just doesn't seem to be anything wrong with that, apart from the lingering guilt induced by the doctrines of 20 century Modernism. Always remember that the Nazis didn't force the Bahaus to close down because of Design Principles - they thought that flat roofs were Jewish.

It's OK to like Maxfield Parrish as well as Andy Warhol, just like it's OK to like Mozart and 'Half Man - Half Biscuit.'

Check out the latter's 'Joy Division Oven Gloves', then compare and contrast with the former's 'Serenade for 13 Wind Instruments' if you need further evidence.

Since thinking about Chuck Berry's guitar introductions, I feel an 'Oven Glove Theme' coming on. This is true. My current collection of paintings for The Francis Kyle Gallery in London has a working title of 'Orchids & Oven Gloves.



As a footnote to my 'answers' to your questions, I should have added that just prior to the Mr Freedom period, I seriously wanted to get into movie set design, and got as far as meeting an important set designer at Pinewood who was currently involved in a Bond film. He was nice and shamefully I have forgotten his name. My problem was that I only wanted to work on sci-fi films - none of that period costume bollocks. In truth, and to make things less achievable, I only wanted to work on sci-fi films that had already been made. So I wrote to Ridley Scott explaining that I knew his brother quite well, and explained how much more innovative 'Blade Runner' would have been with the benefit of my involvement. I am afraid this is true. Do you know, he never replied!

Finally, apropos my reply to your question Q6 I should add some information for connoisseurs of the half assed and mediocre. Andy Warhol was a big collector of Maxfield Parrish original artwork. How much we loathe well worn cliches, but not a lot of people know that.



...I cannot believe we have conducted this interview on cyberspace without mentioning Troy Shondell. A recording giant who made the charting record in the US and the UK of : 'This Time'

I will not sleep until you have urged your fan base to listen to Troy Shondell's 'This Time' in spite of its' faulty piano solo later immortalised by The Bonzo Dog Band. 'This time we're really breaking up' - oh yes, me and Troy definitely had a bond. Do you people have Spotify? It's high time that Troy was reassessed.







http://www.jonwealleans.co.uk/

Buddha Boy

Sleep well little friend. We miss you. 21st August 2011.



See these eyes so blue.

I can stare for a thousand years.

Just be still with me.

You wouldn't believe what I've been through.



-David Bowie, 'Cat People'.

5 Minutes With Lady Starlight

LADY STARLIGHT is a rock n roll public servant. As a DJ, record collector, style icon, writer and producer, she is bringing rock and heavy metal back into it’s rightful place in pop culture.

Lady Starlight been an influential presence in the New York City underground since the early 2000's. She has produced nightlife events that celebrate forgotten genres over the past decade. From late 60’s psych, to 70’s glam, to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.She has done solo international tours as a DJ with stops in London, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Chicago. She partnered with the Morgan’s Hotel Group to create a reputation for the brand as a rock n roll destination.



Her persona has been an inspriation to many artists, most notably Lady GaGa. Lady Starlight has been a critical player in Lady GaGa’s success. Her approach to art and music, inspired GaGa personally and professionally. Lady Starlight has collaborated with the singer on everything from fashion styling, onstage performance concepts, and set design. The two joined forces as a duo in 2007, ‘Lady GaGa and the Starlight Revue’. Lady Starlight spinning her 70’s glam and metal records between GaGa’s pop songs. The shock and confusion their stage show created would become a trademark for GaGa. From July 2010 to May 2011, Lady Starlight performed as the opening act on Lady GaGa’s record breaking world tour, The Monster Ball.



Lady Starlight was a featured prominently in the Emmy nominated HBO special presentation: The Monster Ball at Madison Square Garden. She was voted "Best Female Hard Rock DJ" by the popular New York City weekly, The L Magazine. Recent press includes an AOL home page feature, interviews in Rolling Stone, MTV, and Guardian, She was a guest along with Perry Farrell and Gene Simmons on the popular Chicago radio show, ‘Mancow in the Morning’.

In honor of their biggest show as a duo in 2007 at the Chicago, IL festival, Lollapalooza, Lady Starlight joined Lady GaGa on stage during her headlining performance at the festival in summer of 2010. Resurrecting an original dance number to Metallica’s classic track Metal Militia, to a crowd of 80,000.

Lady Starlight is currently working on music production, writing and fashion design projects.



Q1. What was the first record you bought and how did it change your life?



Rant N Rave with the Stray Cats-It sent me back in time and I havent gone forward since.





Q2. You’re a fixture on the New York downtown creative scene. What is your background? Did you come to New York from another place or is this your hometown?



I grew up in upstate New York, moved to London after university and then to NYC so I wouldn't get deported for a forged work visa. For most people moving to NYC is the dream, to be honest, for me, it was just the most European city in America..haha





Q3. I know you love to dance and perform. Can you tell me a bit about the performance projects that you are involved with or are creating at the moment?



I do a mix of djing and performance. It came from being a gogo dancer and always thinking the dj should play something else. so I decided to just do both. I'm my own gogo dancer. Talk about full service. I got off tour with my best friend Lady GaGa in May. and then Judas Priest! I'm also working on a noise album using progressive rock samples. I'm sure it will chart on Billboard Hot 100



Q4. Can you tell me your top ten records? The classics that you’d take away if you were stranded on Mars?



Pawn Hearts-Van Der Graaf Generator

Hemispheres-Rush

Iron Maiden-Iron Maiden

Diamond Dogs-Bowie

British Steel-Judas Priest

Desolation Boulevard-Sweet

Sum of the Men-Man is the Bastard

Nadirs Big Chance-Peter Hammill

...And Justice For All-Metallica

Phenomenon-UFO





Q5. I am sure you are sick of talking about Lady Gaga, however for the benefit of readers of this site (or anyone who actually has been on Mars for the past few years) , can you talk a bit about your early shared experiences with Stefani Germanotta before she became better known as to the world Lady Gaga?



GaGa and I were basically a punk band on the LES. Punk in the true sense of the term, not the formulaic style its turned into. we created a stage show with cheap halloween store props and homemade bikinis. infusing my heavy metal and glam records with her pop music and perfromed at indie rock venues. and we all know indie rockers are afraid of sex and adverse to having fun... We WANTED people to hate us! but it didnt work..hahaha



http://www.facebook.com/ladystarlightnyc

http://www.myspace.com/ladystarlightnyc

5 Minutes With Duncan Quinn

Duncan Quinn, the London-born former lawyer makes, slim fitted "rock 'n roll meets Savile Row" suits which are available off-the-rack and custom at his shop on Spring Street in Nolita, NYC, which opened in New York in 2003 as well as his Los Angeles and Miami stores. Quinn's shops also stock 100% cotton shirts, which are made in a London, 100% silk ties bearing Quinn's signature fleur-de-lys motif, woven in England, and sterling silver 12-star and enamel cufflinks made in London, as well as handmade umbrellas, socks and "anything and everything bespoke." Such attention to detail means that Duncan Quinn has attracted a following of sharp-dressed "gentleman rogues" who ascribe to the Quinn aesthetic of classic 1960's style icons and rock stars.





Q1. What was the first record you bought and how did it change your life?



The Jam "Snap!"...how did it change my life? Ha...if only I could say...it certainly set the stage for much pondering of Paul Weller and the whole punk scene in UK in the late 70s long before I got into the earlier wave of Stones and other geniuses from the late 60s...



Q2. When did you come to New York and what inspired you to create the Duncan Quinn brand?



I came to New York in 1998 to study for a masters in Law at Columbia University on their LLM program. I started duncan quinn the brand when I was practicing as a private equity attorney at Kirkland & Ellis LLP as I was fed up with having to go back to Europe to get a well made but interesting suit and more punchy shirts and ties that didn't fit like a sail or have an Hermes animal printed on them...



Q3. How has the e-commerce and online world effected what you do?



Its very helpful in terms of people's awareness and understanding what we do, but as a lot of our business is making unique bespoke pieces for unique characters and special events its not huge in terms of our overall sales. Its tough to order a $5,000+ bespoke suit sight unseen without being measured by someone who knows what they are doing...



Adrien Grenier in a DuncannQuinn suit



Q4. Savile Row aesthetic represents something quintessentially British-do you think America really understands and does it really matter?



Its tough to generalize but what I would say is that the interest that is taken in presentation, cut, fit, and finish has increased exponentially since the first duncan quinn store opened in 2003 in NoLIta. Back then guys thought a suit fitted them if they could button it up. No matter that it was six inches too big everywhere except the sleeve length!



As to whether it really matters whether or not America understands Savile Row I'm not sure it does. Most of England doesn't understand it so it would be a stretch for America to. Savile Row is an institution which a small group of people with a keen view on the art of dressing and the means to pursue their passion understand. For everyone else it is a street in London where some say they make some of the finest hand made suits in the world. Just as you can't really understand Ferrari until you've had the joy of driving one hard on a beautiful road you can't really understand a real suit until you've experienced the pleasure of how people treat you when nothing else has changed except your external wrapper. Style always cuts the mustard even where fashion is a fickle mistress.



Q5. You have a good ‘celebrity’ clientele. Can you share any funny stories about any of those clients or do you have a ‘doctor/ patient’ relationship which prohibits that?



Ultimately a lot of the guys we deal with are celebrities in their own way, either in the traditional sense or just legends in their own lunchtime in their field. They come to us as they seek something unique amongst a sea of commercial dross. Its not really for us to share the chats we have with them and the funny antics that ensue any more than those with any other client. To get involved with that you need to become a client and get invited to the dinners, wine tastings, car rallies and other shenanigans we get up to as often as we can.



Duncan at the Love Ball in Paris in July 2011.



http://duncanquinn.com/



8 Spring St., New York, NY 10012

nr. Elizabeth St. NYC.

212-226-7030

Buffalo Style - Ray Petri, Jamie Morgan, Cameron McVey.

Buffalo is the legacy of stylist Ray Petri who worked collectively and closely withphotographers Jamie Morgan, Cameron McVey (of the short lived Cameron McVey pop duo), Roger Charity, Marc LeBon, Kate Garner and many others. Ray Petri took influences from New York Street Style, Reggae Culture, East End Boxers, Jamaican Rude Boys, British Mods and American Military styles. The resulting collaborations were presented under the 'Buffalo' tag.

The Buffalo photo shoots for THE FACE regularly featured the brothers Nick Kamen and Barry Kamen ‘Looking Hard In The Yard’.Some of these images had a very influential and lasting effect on menswear design and presentation.










All Images form THE FACE magazine circa 1984.