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Luke Dearnley: The Conductor

Posted on September 5, 2022 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | In conversation with Sydney’s venerable electronic music maestro and underground intelligentsia, Luke ‘Snarl’ Dearnley

To those familiar with the electronic music scene in Sydney over the past 30 years, Luke Dearnley of sound system duo Sub Bass Snarl (https://www.snarl.org/v3/) will need little introduction. His own twitter bio portrays him as a ‘programmer, webnerd, live sound engineer, deejay, cat fancier, hobby aquarist, science enthusiast, [and] lover of sub frequencies’. He is indeed, all those things. What this modest description may not convey is the fact that Luke has been something of a prime mover and pioneer in the realm of electronic music in Australia, having worked to bring emerging sonic arts to the notice of the Australian public since the early 1990s. He’s also a conduit for vast amounts of knowledge and information on the subject; assiduously and meticulously illuminating the often-mystifying intersection where electronics, infotech, music, and visual arts meet. For those that would like more of an introduction, a brief biography follows the short interview, below.

Meanwhile, I spoke with Luke recently to find out how he spent the last few years, and to find out what shows he has coming up in the not-too-distant future. There’s one on September 29^th, for those in Sydney town…

What have you been working on lately?

‘Well, I’ve been putting together a solo live set for a gig. Phil Smart (https://ra.co/dj/philsmart/biography) is running a weekly night called Tempo Comodo (https://www.facebook.com/tempocomodoclub) and the idea is that all the music should be under 120bpm, which I found an intriguing concept. I boldly suggested I could do a live set down there, and he has me down for late September – it’s good to have a deadline to work to, or I’d never get anything done. I’m going to try and use a modular synth setup and do it all out of that. Playing solo live is quite new thing for me, so we’ll see how it goes. Lots of work to do yet.

I’ve also been slowly working on a few of my own Eurorack modular synth module designs, and plan to launch them, hopefully later this year.

Last year I did a brief run of eight Thursday nights of live electronic performance called Vitalise, in the Rocks, at a 2-month pop-up venue called Good Space (https://goodspacesproject.com). For those who remember the old days, I suppose it was a bit like Frigid [which Luke ran with Seb Chan, Shane ‘Sir Robbo’ Roberts, and Dale Harrison]. This time, it was quite tricky to do by myself. I roped in a bunch of awesome helpers, but it was still a big workload. So, I have expanded the team somewhat and there have been a couple of spot gigs here and there. Good Space will be returning with an even bigger complex of pop-up venue spaces in Summer, and Vitalise may well appear there again in a weekly capacity.’

‘Of course, with gigs returning, my work with bands such as Hermitude has started up again, with a short album tour under our belts, and some festival shows on the horizon.’

The last couple of years (pandemic lockdowns, etc) have impacted music and the arts heavily. What changes did you observe within the arts, and electronic music scene?

‘Things lurched to a sudden halt almost overnight. People I knew with 6 or 9 months of [gig] bookings suddenly had everything cancelled, and zero chance of earning any income; not just the performers, but the sound engineers, tour managers, lighting operators, roadies, veejays, hire companies, venues, merch sellers, and so on. The impact was huge. Way bigger than many people realise.

So, people started coming up with ways of ‘carrying on’ such as streamed live gigs…
Please no, I just spent all day on Zoom at work…

And then when things (repeatedly) opened up a bit? Sit down gigs. Umm… No.
Really, no. These things were all terrible, and hopefully go away, and don’t come back.’

Now that restrictions have eased and all bets are off, what have you seen emerging in music and the arts?

‘Now gigs are back it is really, REALLY hard to get crew, presumably because many such people shifted into other lines of work when COVID killed their existing income streams. I’ve [recently] been to some gigs where the crowds were oddly small. I’m not sure if it’s because there are way more gigs on all of a sudden, or that people are still nervous about going out, but it’s pretty crazy. More uncertain than usual when putting on a gig. Also, I’ve found going back to the juggle between a day job and gig work a lot more challenging than usual, both time management wise, and stress level wise.’

How did you weather the ‘pandemic years’ yourself?

‘I’ve always had a blend of ‘normal job’ and music related stuff – be it deejaying, putting on gigs, touring with bands doing sound, or whatever. So, I simply retreated into the former, since there was for the most part, no option for the latter.

There was an odd 2 months [during 2021] where I put on [the aforementioned] Vitalise, with weekly electronic music performances, which seems surreal now. But yeah, generally no music stuff apart from occasionally noodling round at home with my modular synths and other gear. ‘

Tell us about the music you’re making at the moment.

‘So, I mentioned before the upcoming live set at Tempo Comodo. A few weeks back Seb and I did a ‘ye olde’ Sub Bass Snarl set at a ‘ye olde’ Swarm party. Sub Bass Snarl gigs are pretty rare these days, as Seb lives in Melbourne [Seb Chan is currently the director and CEO of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image] so it was great to get an opportunity to do a set again.
This is the recording: https://www.mixcloud.com/lukesnarl/sub-bass-snarl-at-swarm-18-june-2022-sydney-australia/

I’ve also participated in quite an unusual ‘shared’ process of making tracks using modular synth, called Modular Theme Time Sessions. The original idea started in Melbourne where a bunch of modular synth artists would get together, jam and end up recording an EP. But when COVID hit, the idea went online. The participants are put into groups of three to four people and given a theme. The first member of the group records a sound and uploads it, the next person in the group downloads that and adds a sound, and uploads the result. This goes on until you loop back ‘round to the first person again, and keeps going until as a group, you consider the track finished. Each group submits their track, and that becomes the release on Bandcamp. They are mixed and mastered by the organisers.’ https://mtts.bandcamp.com/

What’s changed in your music practice over the last, oh, 30 years?

‘Ha, good question. Well, focus on or interest in particular sounds and genres has shifted over the decades, but always seeking out new and interesting sonic territories. I’ve certainly been able to afford equipment more readily as I’ve gotten older. And in the last (nearly) decade, I’ve been more and more interested in modular synths, and their uses and techniques.

Within the confines of the Sub Bass Snarl duo Seb and I form, the techniques have been the same, but the hardware I use to realise them has changed. I’m always sampling Seb’s deejaying, looping bits, mangling, chopping, changing, and putting them back in the mix, adding effects, and adding layers of synth. Just focusing on the sampler part of it, I originally used a borrowed Mirage 8-bit sampler from my flatmate at the time, then an Akai S950, also borrowed. I then bought a second-hand Prophet 2002+ rack sampler, then got a Yamaha SU700 in the late 90s. I used that for ages, then tried out an Octatrak but it didn’t really work for me. Now I use various Eurorack modules. A lot has changed over the decades, and of course the gear you use influences how you do what you do, but it is all still improvised.’

What do you think has changed most in live electronic music audiences between the ‘90s and now?

‘Hmm. Well, the number of people over 30, 40, 50 (and even older) in attendance at any gig has certainly increased. And the rise in music festivals has meant local electronic acts can play to much, much larger audiences now than in the 90s.’

Venue lockouts preceded pandemic lockdowns in NSW. How much has government policy helped or hindered the emergence of new musical cultures here over the past couple of decades?

‘In NSW in particular, we seem to have been on a largely downward trajectory over these decades. Licensing of venues has meant very few could trade through to dawn, which was the norm for many places in the 90s.

The poorly aimed lock-out laws made things worse, and the pandemic worse still.

There seem to have been very few opportunities or spaces for people to experiment, try new works or forms, test ideas in front of a crowd, cross-pollinate, mingle, challenge each other, share ideas, and so on. I was trying to address this somewhat with Vitalise, as it had no proscribed limits around genre, or how long you performed, or what with.’

Fondest memories from the electronic music scene over the past 30 years or so?

‘Oof. There are many. Very many!

The Cryogenesis daytime chill-out picnics we (the Frigid crew) used to put on, on one of two islands in Sydney Harbour, were pretty lovely.

And the multi-room all-night dance parties, Freaky Loops (https://www.snarl.org/v3/?page_id=20) we put on (with a HUGE team of helpers) as benefit gigs for 2SER were extremely memorable.

Can’t forget Frigid. From just the week-to-week, seeing a great crew of punters turn up to socialise and check out the acts, to the big parties like Squarepusher playing live for the 5th birthday, and the Dung NYE series.

Also seeing my talented Elefant Traks friends grow and thrive, and being able to do my small part to help out in the live aspects of some of that, has been really rewarding.’

Top three artists to listen to right now?

‘I enjoyed the first release from Sydney modular dub techno duo 80T: https://eightyt.bandcamp.com/

After 20+ years of making tunes, Deep Child’s first outing on Mille Plateaux called Fathersong is a must listen: https://forceincmilleplateaux.bandcamp.com/album/fathersong

And the raw energy of Haiku Hands: https://haikuhands.bandcamp.com/music
I gotta admit – I’m a huge fan of Haiku Hands – absolute powerhouses of awesomeness.
They will go far.’

Catch Luke performing live at Tempo Comodo, Club 77, on Thursday the 29^th of September: https://www.facebook.com/tempocomodoclub

Luke Dearnley: A Brief History of Bits (and Bleeps)

*An early version of Luke* *(photo: FB)*

Scratch the surface, and it’s clear that Luke’s industrious, even scientific approach to electronic and dance music, is no accident.

Growing up around Bondi and Coogee, Luke attended school in Sydney’s Surry Hills. His interest in electronics began at an early age. His dad worked both authoring and teaching the electrical engineering course at TAFE, so naturally, young Luke grew up helping him repair electrical things around the house, or for family friends. Luke recalls his dad, Dave, getting him to read out the colour bands on resistors so he could tell what value they were. Soon, as computers evolved from being cupboard-sized things used as business machines, to becoming the kind of device most homes would eventually possess, TAFE decided they’d best get their workforce familiar with the new-fangled devices, and Luke’s dad came home with an early ZX80 to brush up on.

At some point Dave loaned Luke a book called ‘Teach Yourself BASIC Computer Programming in Eight Hours’. Luke read it, and at the ripe old age of ten started writing what he refers to a ‘probably very naïve’ computer programs in an exercise book. A few years later, Luke and his brother Ben would receive a Commodore 64 for Christmas, and Luke got stuck into that in a big way, not only coding in BASIC but also at a lower level in machine code, pulling apart games to see how they worked in calling up processor threads, memory, display adapters, and one other crucial piece of hardware attached to the computer’s system board…

Luke remarks that amazing thing about the C-64 was that it had the SID (Sound Interface Device) chip built in, dedicated to doing audio, so all the games had amazing soundtracks. ‘The designers of that chip made it like a mini synth. [It had] 3 oscillators with selectable waveforms, 3 ADSR envelopes, an analogue filter, and so on. The designer went on to co-found Ensoniq.’
At this point, Luke discovered that there was a link between programming computers, and making music. ‘At the same time there were monthly electronic magazines that would come into the house – Electronics Today International I think was one. I remember reading a series of articles in it, that detailed the design of a mixing console.’

Luke did well enough in school to get into the Elec Eng/Comp Sci double degree program at UNSW, and it’s while studying here that Luke would go on to eventually meet Seb and also key founding members of Elefant Traks socially.

Luke recalls ‘I was at uni for a lot of the ‘90s. Seb and I met at uni, but only because we recognised one another from going to the same ‘alternative’ clubs and band gigs. He was in a completely different faculty and degree [and] started a few years later. Eventually we were like “Hey weren’t you at PWEI [Pop Will Eat Itself] last night…?” – I forget which [actual gig] it was.’

During this time, a lot of the crowd would hang out at the now defunct UNSW café know as Esme’s. I even recall a mutual friend remarking at the time, that Luke and co pretty much had the coffee shop annexed on any given day. Luke concurs that once the café made the move from indoor smoking to fresh air and outdoor tables, with a vantage of campus rolling down toward Anzac Parade, ‘sitting at Esme’s and drinking coffee with whichever mates were around between classes was very common.’

By the late stages of his double degree, Luke was working full time at the Uni in IT support and systems administration, and trying to finish uni part time. At the same time, Seb and Luke were DJing several nights per week, and were running the earliest iteration of Frigid, publishing Cyclic Defrost (https://www.cyclicdefrost.com/), putting on the Cryogenesis outdoor island gigs, and running Freaky Loops benefits for 2SER, where they also ran a weekly radio show. In Luke’s words, ‘The uni was quite rightly hassling me for not getting through [the double degree program] fast enough and failing the odd thing here and there.’ It was eventually proposed by UNSW that ‘they would take me out of the double degree program with Elec Eng and Comp Sci, but I was closer to finishing Comp Sci and more interested in that than electronics at this point, so I asked to finish the Comp Sci component!’

Sometime during uni, Luke became involved with Clan Analogue, an ‘Australian record label which started in 1992 as a collective by a number of individuals interested and active in electronic music and with a shared passion for analogue synthesisers and digital culture.’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Analogue)

‘I think with Clan Analogue, I met one or both founders [Brendan Palmer and Toby Kazumichi Grime] at a gig, and was given a flyer to a ‘Clan meeting’ and went along. Since Sub Bass Snarl were/are a combination of deejaying and live hardware, I was interested in meeting others using electronic hardware and making music in their studios or live, so I could learn from them. It was also a way to access people making dance music, whether for deejaying on the radio, solo, or with Seb. Until then I was playing almost 100% overseas artists, and so wanted to find and play local stuff.’

*Luke, circa early Frigid era* *(photo: FB)*

By the mid 1990s, Frigid was well on its way to becoming an institution within the Australian electronic music scene. In a time prior to most forms of online social media, it not only gave a platform to emerging artists from Australia and overseas, but also served as a hub for the community. Prior to Frigid, however, there was Cryogenesis, existing in two forms. At first as ‘a fortnightly Sunday recovery, in the back room of now demolished pub in The Rocks [Sydney]. It overlooked this incredible rusting industrial crane yard, which went amazing colours at sun set. Probably all gone for apartments and casinos now.’ By 1994 Luke and Seb were playing a lot of “proper chillouts” at raves, rather than in the main room, and purveying ambient and downtempo electronic music. ‘The idea [for Cyrogenesis] was spawned because people were putting on Sunday gigs and falsely calling them recoveries, when in fact it was up-tempo dance music being played. We were incensed, and decided to put on a PROPER [rave] recovery. We teamed up with specialist chill out crew Punos [designers of chillout spaces in the early Sydney rave scene] and each fortnight would have to drag all the furniture out of the back room of this pub, to be replaced with the famous Punos cushions! We’d set up some decks, a TINY sound system, and charge folks five bucks.’

We asked some people, who to us were really big names at the time, if they wanted to play. People like Phil Smart and Sugar Ray. I never thought they would say yes as we couldn’t offer much pay, but they actually jumped at the chance to play tunes [outside the dancefloor context] for a change.’

‘That was our first regular event. It was a lot of hassle and people were always confused about which Sunday of the fortnight it was on. But it did OK and went for a while.’

Cryogenesis then did several one-off events, renegade-style in parks, which would occasionally attract the attention of rangers, ‘but I don’t remember one actually being stopped. I mean it was a bunch of ppl picnicking in the park, where we played very quiet, very relaxed music, hardly a violation of the concept of ‘park’. ‘

Luke recalls that at one of these events, Dale [Harrison, bass player and later DJ, Elefant Traks co-founder, and member of the Frigid crew] ‘pointed at one of the islands in the harbour and said, ‘you should do one out there’, half as a joke I think. Seb, being the tenacious bugger that he is, contacted National Parks and Wildlife and found out you could rent the islands for functions, but you were not supposed to have amplified sound.’

So wisely or not, the group went on to do a Cryogenesis on the island, and moved on to doing roughly two such events per summer, either on Rodd Island or Shark Island. ‘They were daytime chill-out picnics, where you were trapped on the island all day, and had to bring supplies with you or barter with other attendees. Glorious times! Eventually we had international acts play, and everything.’

What happened next was pivotal in giving genesis to the ‘institution’ that was soon to follow.
Luke recalls that ‘in mid-96 we needed to raise some cash for a deposit on one of these islands and decided to run four weeks of Sunday fundraiser shows in the ground floor [Chapel] bar at Kinselas.’

‘Toward the end of the four-week run, people were telling us the night was great and that they didn’t want it to end. As a result, we ended up running a Sunday night called Frigid for ten years from 1996 until 2006. It ran across five venues around Sydney over the years.’

‘Those four weeks of fundraisers were done in collaboration with another crew, maybe called ‘All Funked Up’ or something like that. Sir Robbo (DJ and subsequent member of Tooth and Astronomy Class) from that crew ended up sticking around, as one of the four of us who ran Frigid;
Seb, myself, Robbo and Dale.’

Through Frigid, the group had the opportunity to offer DJs and musicians live gigs, and went on to host interstate and overseas acts, as well as locals. There were also regular album launches, label nights, film screenings, live visuals, turntablism exhibitions and a lot more besides.

I ask Luke to recount any particularly memorable experiences from the Frigid years. ‘One was when some guy called Kenny Sabir said he had a compilation CD he’d burnt copies of, and wanted to launch it [at Frigid]. Apparently, he was ‘starting a label’ or something. A lot of people were starting their own independent labels in the late ‘90s, as the majors were ignoring interesting and electronic stuff. So we said ‘sure, come back to us with a line-up of acts’ probably expecting 3 or 4 live acts for the night.

He came back with a list of 13 live acts! It went down in history as the biggest Frigid we’d ever had, with around 600 people paying the massive $3 cover charge at the door.’

This was of course the start of the now renowned Elefant Traks (https://www.elefanttraks.com/) record label.

Later on, as bands from the label such as The Herd started to tour nationally, Luke was asked to go along as their live sound engineer. ‘I think at the time [early 2000s] I was the only person they knew who did sound. I was quite new to it, and inexperienced back then. But I learned a lot on the job, and have now done sound for a lot of the acts on the roster, and toured all over the place, from the US to NZ, to the UK, and Asia.’

This kept Luke pretty busy.

‘A downside of this was that I sometimes had to turn down DJ gigs with Seb when tours came up, but we were getting less opportunities to play anyway, as new event and club promoters came through and booked their mates.’ Such is the cyclical nature of emerging culture.

Whilst with Elefant Traks, Luke also worked with Urthboy, Astronomy Class, Horrorshow, Hermitude and more.
‘Throughout the 2000s, there were national tours when records came out. Hermitude have probably kept me the busiest. In 2011, they asked me to tour with them as sound person, production manager, and to do their live vision switching, which was a handful. 2012 was crazy busy; I was working full time, and did seven back-to-back national tours that lasted eight months – four [tours] with Hermitude, and in between [one each] with The Herd, Urthboy and Horrorshow. That was wild!’

Also in the mid-to-late 2000s, Seb and Luke were frequently asked to play at a night called VOID (https://www.facebook.com/Voidsound), which showcased a range of new (at the time) UK bass genres, such as Dubstep. ‘This was a pretty vibrant and exciting time, with new sonic adventures and PA systems being pushed to their limits with the sheer amount of deep subsonic frequencies in the tunes!’

‘VOID ran for about 5 years, touring a multitude of international DJs then went into hiatus, until around 2016/2017 when it started up again, at which time they invited myself and Vaughan Healey to co-run it with the others.’

This is where the trail goes a little cold…

You see, what happened next was precipitated by a little outbreak, that eventually became a pandemic, which all but put paid to live music performances for a few years, bringing us neatly to the Vitalise series of shows Luke organised during 2021, touched upon in the interview above.

And the rest, as they say, is history? Here’s to the next chapter.

For more information:
https://www.snarl.org/v3/
https://www.facebook.com/tempocomodoclub
https://goodspacesproject.com
https://www.mixcloud.com/lukesnarl/
https://mtts.bandcamp.com/
https://www.cyclicdefrost.com/
https://www.elefanttraks.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Voidsound
https://ra.co/dj/philsmart/biography

What Will 2020 Be About?

Posted on January 6, 2020 by caramelanimals

Interviews and Photos: Reef Gaha | A New Years Vox Populi |

In 2018, Caramel Animals began an annual series of vox-pop interviews, seeking predictions from Sydneysiders on what the coming new year would hold. Prognostications were sought, fortunes told, and general portents decided. As we spoke, recurring themes of conflict, resolution and the culmination of a decade became apparent. We remarked on the pervasive cultural influence of world affairs on this small nation and found that even though our respondents seemed to share strong interest in the urgent geopolitical and environmental crises our planet was facing, they also shared an almost universally optimistic outlook; cautiously hoping that society and their own lives would change for the better. This year, we’ve taken to the streets again, this time to ask ‘What will 2020 be about?’

Over the 2019/2020 holiday and new year period, we roamed inner Sydney searching for answers. It’s important to acknowledge that at this time, much of Australia was in the grip of a worsening bushfire crisis that has so far seen thousands evacuated from their homes, with 500 homes lost entirely. At printing, 19 people have tragically perished in that fight. Deaths among the animal and wildlife population are estimated at over half a billion.

As we recorded the following interviews and snapped photos, Sydney was veiled by an almost perpetual smoke haze, filtering sunlight into a darker hue and seeming to keep issues of environmental management and climate change foremost in people’s minds.

Whereas last year’s responses were broadly optimistic and upbeat, this year’s answers were still hopeful, but tempered with a slightly more nebulous and foreboding tone.

Of course, none of us know with certainty what 2020 will hold but once again, rather than consulting astrologers or soothsayers, we present you with a round of educated, speculative and candid guesses from those friends and strangers brave enough to give an answer for these pages. We’ve also re-visited a few of the folk who were kind enough to participate in the 2019 story last year, and asked them to remark on the predictions they made back then. Much like the new year, hindsight is supposed to be 20:20 (ouch) right?

What will 2020 be about?

| Elle Hunt|

Globally, I think 2020 will be about being more responsible. I think I’ve seen this change a lot in 2019. Not just in small stuff like decreasing the use of plastic bags, but in people individually trying to make a difference with the environment, and with one another. So, being kinder to one another and the planet because, especially here in Australia, the massive effect we’re having is obvious at the moment; we need to lessen that [effect]. It’s about responsibility and accountability.

How about for you personally?

For me personally, I hope 2020 will be more about family. Seeing my family more, whether that be my close friends or my immediate relatives. You see, 2019 was a big year of study and focusing on myself and that’s very draining. I’d like to focus on others.

You did this interview with us last year and talked about what 2019 would be about. How do you now feel about what you said this time last year?

I definitely fell into a whirlwind of education. I learned a lot about myself and about other people. I met new people and made new friends, which is amazing [if you can do that] in any year. Personally 2019 was a really great year, but a lot of hard work as well. Globally, I talked about resolution to rights for people, but I don’t think I’ve seen that locally or globally as much as I’d hoped, though I guess progress has been made, a little in the USA and a little with youth climate strikes all over the world. There has been change, but I’m not going to say that there’s been resolution. We’ve definitely had more of a say.

The best predictor of the future is the past. Hopefully things don’t get too much worse before they get any better though, because without proper leadership (which is something that a lot of us in the Western world are lacking) it’s going to get really, really bad.

|Tim Dean|

I’ve been thinking a lot about where I was in 1999 and 2000, and thinking a lot about what I thought; not just about what I’d hoped, but expected 2020 to be like. When I think about 2020, I can’t help but look back and contrast the way the world is now with the way I thought it would be or, hoped it would be. And when I do that, I feel a bit disappointed.

But when I think about 2020 I also think about how fatigued we all are, and how fatigued I am with all the noise, drama and bad news. I think there is a groundswell of energy now among a lot of people to do something, to change things. We are now 20 years into this millennium and we’re not happy with where things are, and we’re not going to put up with it anymore. I wonder if this year (or maybe 2021) is going to be the year with the generational change, with generation Z emerging (as we’ve seen with Greta Thunberg). Maybe this is the year when we see a crack in the veneer of the assumed normality with which we’re all so dissatisfied.

You were kind enough to do this interview with us last year at this time. In retrospect, what remarks might you have about the forecast you gave for 2019?

Yeah. I said that ‘19 was going to be a year of change and I think, a year of change it was.

I remember you saying things might have to get a little worse before they can get better.

Yeah. When there’s a change in a system, it often needs to be destabilised first. You need to rock the boat a little bit so there’s room for new ideas to come in. When everything’s crap but stable, it’s really hard to inject a new good idea in, because it’s all just fitting together in a crap way.

I think the world is pretty shaky at the moment, or at least I think it’s safe to say just about everyone thinks the world is less stable than it either was or should be. And that feeling of instability is the opening for change.

For you personally what might 2020 be about?

I’m feeling a bit more fired up this year to pursue a couple of projects that were more embryonic in 2019. So, I’m going to try to carry that energy and momentum to do some big things. The last few years were about getting some stuff sorted out, experimentation. I found some stuff worked, some didn’t. I had a couple of really amazing experiences that have opened new doors and so this year, I’m going to try to reach forward and do some big things.

|Eva Windirsch|

Hi, my name is Eva. I’m from Germany, and I’ve lived in Sydney for four weeks.

Awesome. Welcome to Sydney!
So the question I’m asking today is, what will 2020 be about?

I think it will change a lot, because people aren’t that selfish anymore. I mean, a lot of people have taken to the streets for climate change and things like that. But at the same time, I think there will be a lot more trouble because of new problems (or are maybe old problems) because of displaced people. I’ve seen people take the [refugee] problem to make more trouble out of it, which is not necessary.

For example, in Germany it’s like many people have taken to the right side of politics because of the refugees. But because of that, there are many people have come out against them, and the atmosphere has changed. People aren’t relaxed. I think the people are, I don’t know how to say, they want to change things but there are many conflicts that may arise out of that.

So the things in general are becoming more political?

Yeah, for sure.

Okay. How about 2020 for you personally?

Oh, I think that’s about change too, because I am 19 years old and just finished my school, and now I can start with real life! I want to study in Germany, but before that, I’ll travel around Australia. I think it’ll make a change in my personality; I’ll experience something that I had never experienced before. I’m curious about that.

Any specific plans for study?

Yeah, I want to study ethnology.

| Bud Petal |

I think the main issue is going to be the climate change emergency, and I think more activism will pop up in many other areas of society. I think more high school kids will get involved, and more university students and older people. I think it’s going to get bigger, into a groundswell hopefully, that will get more people involved in trying to make a change around that issue.

Awesome. What about you personally?

I guess that’s the same as always. I have a handful of ongoing projects. We’re still doing some new Bud Petal music. I’m working on a novel, set in Sydney, that I’m trying to finish at the moment, and then some academic work.

You were kind enough to do this interview with us last year. In retrospect, what remarks might you have about what you forecast for 2019?

I guess the main lesson from this past year for anyone on the left is, many people have lost the illusion of being able to change the system from within the system, for example, with the election here and Labor losing, then Labor in the UK also losing. I think people have finally understood that the problem is not going to be solved by voting or organising within the system. The problem is structural, within a capitalistic economy. That is the cause of the problem.

I think that’s why a lot of activism is now happening outside of electoral politics and why all of this climate action is happening, organised from below.

That’s the main lesson from this past year; that it’s an illusion to think we can change the system from within. Because people in power are not going to give that away without people outside forcing them to do so. The challenge now is just getting people to understand their own agency and to understand that change is really easy in wealthy places like Australia. That’s the main issue I think now.

We actually can change things?

Yeah. There are studies where people have looked into this. One of the main aims of the capitalist media is to remove a sense of agency from the mass population, to have them…

Just consume?

Yeah. Passive receptacles for propaganda, thinking the only agency they have is in consuming and voting while the rest of the time, they’re not allowed to be engaged in society. The main thing we need to bring back into society is [the idea] that people can easily connect to change. There are so many opportunities for action in a free society like Australia. On the climate issue, there are organisations you can get involved in. You can join your union. You can start going to protests. You can organise in your community and have veggie patches. There are endless opportunities here. It’s not China or Siberia or whatever. Yeah.

| Sophia Grant|

I think for 2020, I mean, I live in the UK and the end of 2019 for a lot of people was pretty deflating, with the results of the election going so heavily in the direction of the Tory party.

I guess since 2016, Brexit has been looming and even in the run up to this election, there was this hope or tiny possibility that it wouldn’t happen, and that we could still be part of a wider community; that we could still be more international rather than, a ‘little England’ of isolationists, looking inwards and othering foreign people. I guess being an immigrant myself (I’m from New Zealand and Germany) it’s like you’re an outsider, even though the overt racism isn’t directed towards people like me, because I speak the language as a native.

With 2020 for us, there’s the difference that Brexit is happening, but there’s still the old uncertainty about what that will actually mean. For me as someone who has recently bought a house in the UK, I don’t know if that will spell disaster for the economy? Will that mean that my house price will completely drop through to the floor? Will the pound completely tank? There are all these different considerations that you think about if you’re not based in the country for the rest of your life.

More generally for 2020, I hope it will be a year where people wake up and smell the coffee in terms of climate, and in the event that Brexit does bring disaster for the economy; I think my dad spoke about… It was like Turkeys voting for Christmas. I guess if people realise that all the things they were promised aren’t materialising, maybe they’ll need to believe in something else.

Yeah… what’s it going to be?

Yeah. What’s next? What is post-Brexit? With politics in the UK, it’s always framed as ‘left versus right’ and ‘socialism versus something’. Today, it’s not so defined along ideological terms anymore. If you think about what we need in the future, there’s all this technology, people losing their jobs, and actually there’s a lot of opportunity too. New jobs are being created, like by the green economy. There are more creative jobs because machines can’t do those jobs. There will be all these areas of opportunity that we could be moving into.

How about for you personally?

For me personally, there’s a lot of optimism for 2020.

2019 really laid the foundations. I achieved some things and I want to hold onto some successes. I guess there’s this personal optimism, but you have to balance that with concern for wider society because of the way politics has gone in the UK; that the party who got in doesn’t tend to be concerned for wider society, they’re more concerned for their own social class.

Especially where I live in Glasgow, which is a city that has a lot of deprivation. Money and deprivation kind of side by side. How can I make sure disadvantaged people aren’t being left behind?

| Ian Watson |

I hope that 2020 will be about finding a bit of hope and you know, meeting in the middle. Compromise and getting somewhere, because I think 2019 has felt a bit bleak at many points and people get tired of that after a while. I mean, even as much as we love the angst, hopefully people get a bit tired of it and move on. Perhaps I’m just being hopeful? I don’t know.

Sorry? You’re talking about resolution?

Yeah, resolution of differing camps, I guess. Hopefully without anybody getting into any serious strife in the meantime. Definitely, the last year for me personally has been a bit turbulent. I’ve come back [to Australia] from the UK and you know, they’re going through a bunch of stuff over there at the moment.

And I suppose personally so am I, because we’re relocating and trying to work life out. That’s kind of thrilling for a bit, but you get tired of it after a while and you want to get on with things.

That’s fair. So for you on a personal level then, what will 2020 be about?

I’m hoping to do all the things that I never did because I had something else to do – which is quite a lot of things! I probably won’t get them all done. I suppose in 2020, I’d like to get things a bit better sorted out with how much work I’m doing; with how much is for work, and how much work I’m doing for myself.

I’d like to shift the balance towards ‘me’ work as opposed to demanded work. That’d be nice. At the same time, I’d still like to get paid. It’s all about finding the balance.

| Erin Webster |

I’ll sound very pessimistic and I’ll say much of the same as 2019 was. I was thinking about it last week and looking at who’s in power, looking at how they act. I don’t think they’re going anywhere. I think we’ll just keep hearing about ‘get Brexit done’ and it was ‘make America great’, but now it’s ‘keep America great’ because [apparently] they think they’ve made it great already. I don’t think we’ll see anything new and radical. It’s going to be what it is for the next year. Who is running the world and how do they run it? They don’t want it to go anywhere. They’re pretty much settled in.

We’ll keep hearing about climate change. We’ll keep seeing protest about climate change. There might be something small done about it, but yeah, I’m very pessimistic. I’d like to see something done about it. It’s just that the people who can make the choices, decisions and changes haven’t made them yet.

You’re a realist.

Yeah unfortunately.
Globally, as much as I’d like to see change, I just can’t anything great happening.

So moving more specifically, what about you? What will 2020 be about?

Less about me I hope. I tried to get into some volunteering last year but got halfway through the process and didn’t find anything, which was probably a bit slack. Maybe Meals on Wheels deliveries once a week or volunteer at Ted Noffs. I’d like to do something like that regularly. I’d also like to get my motorbike license.

| Jacqui Munro |

I think 2020 holds the promise of a decade. I speak to people who are really optimistic about, not just the next year, but also the years to come. And for me, that inspires a great sense of work ethic and hopefulness.

Do you see certain things moving toward resolution or perhaps toward conflict in 2020?

I’m not sure that there is ever an end point in resolution and conflict. I think there’s always change. Part of that means working together to address problems, and being able to see lots of different ways to address problems. Because there’s never one answer to a challenge and we all have a part to play.

Do you see any hot button issues in the next year?

Climate change is clearly an issue that we need to address, individually and as a society at large. And politics has a really important role to play in that, in my opinion.

How how about for you, personally?

I have some challenges ahead in politics. I need to challenge myself to be more aware of issues. Including climate change, where the detail is becoming more and more important. It’s not enough anymore just to hold an opinion casually. I think it’s now the time that I have to take responsibility to understand those issues more deeply, so that I can speak with more authority, and also converse and understand the opinions of others with more clarity.

I guess that you’re saying that on a personal level because that’s what you do for work?

Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s also something that’s valuable for lots of different issues. It’s not just climate change. There are local issues around me here in Sydney and Darlinghurst, to do with drug and alcohol rehabilitation in particular. I think that there is a lot of hopefulness for people to start this decade and year. Part of that means being able to offer services that are useful for people who are seeking help.

It would be nice if we had governments that were a little bit more focused on social safety net, rather than social and fiscal conservatism, and that kind of thing?

Well, I have to say that I think we have a reasonably good system. And I think systems like the NDIS are being rolled out with care and things don’t always go right immediately. But seeking to improve systems is very important to me. Not throwing out the baby with the bath water. For me, I think liberalism and economic liberalism is quite important. That means being efficient, but being able to be effective with those services, so we’re able to give as many people as possible the help that they’re seeking.

| Angus Cornwell |

What will 2020 be about?

I think that there’s a tendency among people of our age or milieu, to believe that it’s going to be quite a starkly apocalyptic. And I don’t think it necessarily is; I think it’s going to be banally apocalyptic. I think we’ll probably continue to develop and improve the technologies of evil in such a way that we can practice evil without necessarily noticing that we’re doing it, ever increasingly, more intensely and faster. And I suppose, in Australia you might think that would manifest itself in terms of the erosion of civil liberties and the rule of law to which we’re acclimated. I think we’re very badly prepared for what reality could look like when those freedoms are gone.

We see it. We see our footprint at home and overseas. As Australians overseas, you might think about it as something like the way we treat asylum seekers who are intercepted in the water when coming to Australia by boat. In the past, even holding people in tropical prison camps on Nauru and Manus Island, at least those people were afforded some freedoms. But now we have about 50 people in Papua New Guinea who don’t have any contact with doctors or lawyers. They’re forbidden to have mobile phones. This is a very extreme kind of control, which I hope (but doubt) that 2020 will reflect very poorly upon.

So things are going to get worse, rather than better?

But they’ll get boringly worse, not interestingly worse.

Okay. Now how about for you personally?

I have a stack of boring business development goals. But to be honest with you, I think in the last year (and hopefully this will just be in perpetuity now) I’m quite happy with the person who I am. I like myself and I’ve made peace with myself. I feel like I want to keep a respect in the way that I talk to myself, the way I think, and the way that I talk to other people; here I want to keep doing more of the same.

| Alex Staples |

I think 2020 will be all about climate change and the environment, and hopefully taking action. I mean, I see a bit of a new revolution, a bit like how people are protesting a lot lately. Sort of like a resurgence of what was kind of happening in the 70’s.

For me personally, I think a career change in 2020.
Moving apartment but staying in Sydney.

Did you consider leaving Sydney at some point?

I mean, I was thinking about moving overseas, but I think I’ve made the decision to stay.

| Anna Blum |

Well in the US, I think it’s going to be very politics heavy in 2020. I think there’s going to be a big focus on the November election and whether Trump will be re-elected.

I think climate change is going to be a major talking point and focus point in the world. I don’t know what’s going to happen with that; I don’t know if it’s going to be too little, too late.

For me I hope it’s going to be about finishing my thesis. It’s in applied ethics. I’m looking at new technologies, how they should be brought to market, what the clinical trial landscape should look like, and arguing for the inclusion of vulnerable groups into research. So that’s my focus. I hope there’s going to be a place for that, and I hope it’s going to make an impact in the world.

| Will Gilbert |

Every year starts with setting new goals, hitting some of them and getting close to others while totally missing a whole bunch of them as well. But it’s nice to set them and try to find directions you want to go in, and how far you want to push what you’re already doing. And that’s always an exciting time, trying to think about what’s what’s possible in the next year. But, more broadly?

Globally? I think it’s been fascinating being in this sort of ‘post-truth’ era of global media and politics. I think 2020 might be about moving into an era of acceptance of that media landscape. Different sorts of communities and publications, and people finding that they can do their own thing, find their own truth and activity, and progress away from the bigger media movements. It’s very interesting seeing the social media landscape, which… puts people in political bubbles, and which can end up being quite isolated. I would hope that 2020 is going to bring some changes to that landscape and people are going to start realising that they have to break out of those roles.

Maybe more people learning how to research stuff by reading actual scientific journals?

Uh, yeah. Yeah.

I’m kidding.

Yeah, too optimistic, I would say. I think there should be at least be a better kind of public awareness of the way that all of those things are working and how to deal with them.

| Minh Tran |

In general, I feel like in 2019 people were starting to realise that they do have a voice, and that they can be a reason for change. I think now with 2020, people are going to use that power, hopefully for good, to make positive changes. I think now people can see that they are supposed to challenge things, question things and hopefully they can exercise that power however they see fit.

How about for you more specifically?

I guess in 2019 I took some chances and I took risks I didn’t think I would ever take. 2020 is all about seeing how it’ll unfold. I’d like to think that these risks will lead to good things. We’ll just see if that’s what will actually happen.

What kind of risks are we talking about?

I guess just stepping out of my comfort zone and just being more open.

[Humorously] I mean, last year my favorite fast food chain came out with a limited-edition burger, and I was a little apprehensive that it might not meet my expectations, but I gave it a try and it was actually really good! I’m hoping they bring it back again this year! [Laughter]

So there you have it.

Prognostications sought, augurs consulted, fortunes told and general portents decided. For the second year running, we’ve seen recurring themes of conflict, resolution and the turning of corners, with hope for the beginning of a decade and the undeniable weight of political and environmental issues both at home and abroad. Similarly to last year, it’s worth noting that all our respondents share a strong awareness of the urgent geopolitical and environmental crises our planet is facing. This time however, the almost universally optimistic outlook of last time has been tempered with a stronger sense that we need to do even more to urgently change for the better, and avert the possibility of impending cataclysm. Again, on an individual level, although most here acknowledged that the world is in the midst of an ‘almighty shit storm’, all appear to be maintaining focus on their own trajectory whilst working toward fulfilling their own goals.

Though only the next 12 months can truly answer us with certainty, we’d like to thank everyone who has generously thrown their hat in the ring and participated in this little discussion, and for providing us with a remarkable round of well-informed contemplation and homespun futurism.

May we all in good health enjoy the ride this year will offer.

Happy New Year from Caramel Animals.

Links to some of the wonderful people in this article:

Elle Hunt: https://www.instagram.com/smellydemon/

Tim Dean: https://twitter.com/ockhamsbeard/

Bud Petal: https://www.instagram.com/sandwich.mcneil/

Erin Webster: https://www.instagram.com/studioeau/

Anna Blum: https://www.instagram.com/blumin_anna/

Minh Tran: https://www.instagram.com/antiquitease/

Jacqui Munro: https://www.instagram.com/jacquifunro/

Reef Gaha: https://www.instagram.com/caramelanimals/

The Annual Caramel Animals MBFWA Highlight Review 2019

Posted on May 22, 2019 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | Runway and Backstage at Resort ’20|

Caramel Animals presents a retrospective and alternative look at Australian Fashion Week, Resort ’20.

Now that the stardust has settled, we bring you this irreverent and non-comprehensive look back at ten Resort ‘20 collections, traversing news and interviews from backstage at seven shows, where we conversed with our favourite hair and makeup directors as they worked to embody designers’ visions in follicular and maquillant form. As usual, in our quest to decode the concept and inspiration behind each collection showcase, the creatives at the nexus of couture, hair and makeup often provide the richest, most eloquent source of insight.

You’ll see every look from the runways we’ve covered and bear witness to frenetic, candid moments backstage. This year, our reviews are presented alphabetically, rather than in order of appearance.

This year’s review covers Alice McCall, Carla Zampatti, Double Rainbouu, Emma Mulholland, Lee Matthews, Leo and Lin, Mariam Seddiq, PE Nation, Tigerlily and We Are Kindred.

| Alice McCall |

Resort ’20 marked 15 years of Alice McCall’s eponymous label. The designer synonymous with playful rock chic, bohemian glamour and effortless vintage references sent the latest evolution of her signature style down the runway with the ‘Cosmia’ collection. McCall brought delicate fabrics of varying weight and transparency together, in pieces ranging from short play suits to two-piece sets and full-length gowns. Retro vintage prints gave way to mauve, fuschia, pink and coral. Layered ruffles were followed by meshy sheers and shimmering metallic gowns.

| Backstage at Alice McCall |

Backstage, we chatted with MAC Cosmetics Makeup Director, Nicole Thompson.
‘Today we’re doing 60s girl with a little rock and roll twist. It’s all about lashes today. We’ve actually got three sets going on; top, bottom, in between. We’re doing strips. We’re doing individual. We’re basically making it look so lashtastic, making their eyes look huge, but we’re fitting it to each girl. The lip is a beautiful nude; a dirty nude. It’s called Act Natural. I say a dirty nude, because it’s not peachy and cute. She’s not peachy and cute; she’s had too much of a good time. This is a couple of hours into the night kind of make-up.’

I ask Nicole for a little insight into who the Cosmia girl is.

‘I always feel like there’s a little bit of a 60s reference in Alice’s work. The last few times I’ve worked with her, there’s always like a little 60s thrown in. You know what? Today, we’re somewhere in between Twiggy and Jane Birkin. It’s that effortless beauty that Jane Birkin had, but then pack on those lashes and we’re heading more towards Twiggy.’

Wella hair director Keiren Street corroborates. ‘It’s all about a cool, kind of lived in, slight nod to the 60’s teddy girl. It’s a little bit sweaty, a little bit gritty. It’s a little bit of fun. Some of the girls have fringes plonked in there, to give them a kind of fun, effortless movement.’

| Carla Zampatti |

To say that Carla Zampatti is an icon of Australian fashion design would be an understatement.

Regardless, her enduring influence is as much a product of her everlasting flair for style, as it is her formidable acumen as a businessperson. In 2019, her signature look remains as contemporary and up-to-the-minute as ever. At Resort ’20, that signature was ever-present in a silhouette defined by strong shoulders, a taper at the waist and elongation of form to the ankles.

Clean lines abounded, with staples in warming indigo, a tiger lily print, suits and gowns in blacks and primaries followed by geometric and animal black and white patterns, culminating with the appearance of a balloon-sleeved number with narrow split skirting.

Zampatti was given pride of place in closing MBFWA. She chose to do so by bringing in the Brandenburg Orchestra for musical accompaniment, combining her love of classical music and fashion.

| Backstage at Carla Zampatti |

Backstage, we spoke with Lara Srokowski, Director of Artistry for Lancome Australia.

‘The makeup look for Carla Zampatti was all around architectural eyeliner, really pushing the boundaries of makeup. Really quite defined eyes.

Lancome is always about really natural skin, so we’re using that to compliment these quite structured eye looks. There’s been a lot of architectural eye liner this year at fashion week, which has been great to see, really. It’s my signature eye liner, so it’s great. I really love designing eye liner looks.’

The makeup look was also a statement on Zampatti’s signature style…

‘Definitely. This is a 60s and 70s inspired winged eyeliner. That was the trend back in the 60s and 70s, so it’s cool to kind of modernize the wing liner a little bit and to take it a little bit more edgy. We’ve made it triangular in the outer corner and done that splash of gold, for a more modern approach on that wing.’

We also spoke with Goldwell’s John Pulitano about the hair concept.

‘I feel like Carla’s work is so high end and beautiful. Today she has these beautiful pants suits, lots of prints. It’s definitely expensive, but what we want to do is bring a softer, freer element to the hair, more like a rock chick inspired look. That gives it a bit of toughness and a bit of an edge. The whole idea is to keep it flat and more head-hugging, no volume at the roots, because the more volume, the more beautiful a look becomes. Spray your double boost on the roots. Blow dry flat. Blow dry the deep side part over the face, because we want hair covering one eye when the girl comes out. Blow dry that all forward, and then we are going to take a round brush, and we are just going to put a little flick in it, but all we want is a bend. We don’t want to make it retro. How do we take a ’70s inspired flick and make it now? We put a little bend in it, so when girls come out they might have a little right angle, and then the hair will just billow out to the side, and that will reference a nice ’70s inspiration brought into the now.’

| Double Rainbouu |

This year, Double Rainbow’s off-site collection showcase took place in the Chinese Garden of Friendship alongside Sydney’s Darling Harbour. Designers Mikey Nolan and Toby Jones chose the gardens for the way they ‘present an idealised microcosm of nature where all elements are balanced in harmony […] The garden is a moment of peace and tranquillity within the concrete and chaos of the city’. The ‘Synthetic Leisure’ theme, emblematic of last year’s collection has given way to a zen-like embrace of nature. The fabrics are softer and feature ‘gi’ style two piece sets, some carrying Japanese style prints harking to ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’. Macramé towel carriers and slide footwear speak to long summer vacation days, but Double Rainbouu’s psychedelic and Nu-Rave influences are still evident; These garments will be as much at home on warehouse party dance-floors as they will be on the beach.

| Emma Mulholland |

Emma Mulholland’s ‘Holiday’ breakout label has been characterised by collaborations with artists and photographers, and by Emma’s interest in the souvenir. We asked Emma herself for a little insight. ‘I’ve been working at Paramount Hotel on a collaboration. I wanted this event to be just a lot of souvenirs. I’ve worked on about 8 different collaborations with Sydney artists. And yeah, we’re just kind of having a party and there will be a bunch of people dressed up in the clothes and stuff as well.’ For her Resort ’20 event, Emma decked out the foyer of Paramount House Hotel as a pop-up Souvenir shop – the kind you might find at a regional holiday destination – and put on a party. Soft toys, homewares, totes, t-shirts, caps and hoodies filled a space decorated with palm trees, neon lights, wax fruits, and Mulholland’s key checkerboard thematic. Models and various guests at the party wore pieces from the Holiday collection, resplendent in those checks, pastel pinks, bright greens and logo prints.

| Lee Matthews |

Matthews celebrated 20 years of her label this year, and for part of this collection, drew on influences from her earlier work. Sheer fabrics, draping, utilitarian sensibilities and an ‘LM’ monogram print all made an appearance as Lee along with head designer Natalia Grzybowksi hewed from the elegant yet utilitarian sensibility the house has become known for. Separates in sustainably sourced linen and cotton met statement dresses in luxurious silks. A palate of black and white was punctuated by dark reds and soft pinks, all set to a soundtrack that concluded with a Cocteau Twins finale.

| Backstage at Lee Matthews |

Backstage, we spoke with Nathan Gorman, Hair Director from Kevin Murphy, about what inspired the hair look. ‘Lee Matthews has a really effortless appeal, and we wanted to actually fold the hair in a way that didn’t resemble a bun, but was unique and reflective of the folds in the clothing that Lee actually does. So, Lee’s quite famous for using lots of different kinds of fabrics and draping to create that beautiful shape and flow. We wanted to highlight and actually make the hair disappear. So we folded it, we tied it, and we’ve used a hairband around the face to elongate the neck and to really hero the face and the neck, and the shoulders of the clothing.’

Claire Thompson directed the makeup design. ‘There’s always a freshness to the Lee Matthews woman. She’s never overdone, never tacky. In a time of contour and wet highlights, I feel the Lee woman is an in-between. It’s not matte skin, but it’s not wet or glossy. It’s a creaminess now to the skin that we’re seeing, which I think is a lot more elevated; more expensive looking.’

Claire continues.

‘She’s travelled, and there’s a little flush on the cheeks to tie in with those beautiful fabrics that indicate travel, and that indicate you’ve been having a good time. Beautiful brushed-up brows. She’s elegant.’

| Leo and Lin |

Leo and Lin’s sophomore outing at MBFWA made a marked departure from the sweet ‘Ms Moonlight’ collection that debuted last year. Romance was still writ large, but this time the creative vision expanded into an eclectic toughness and worldly versatility, evidenced by the adoption of botanical prints, revealing sheer and mesh fabrics, and a nomadic, gypsy-like flourish to the styling. This, with a touch of the Asiatic, and even the frontier. Flowing printed silks and scarves met with structured lace gowns, tailored separates and even a see-through rubber half mac, while brocaded black lace spoke of a darker European sensibility. Leo’s collection has stepped off the silver screen, donned its travelling boots and taken to the four corners of the globe.

| Backstage at Leo and Lin |

Backstage, we spoke with Jo Smith, an Artistic Director for Toni & Guy Australia, and salon owner for Toni & Guy Georges, in Melbourne. ‘We’re working with clothes that are elegant, strong, and romantic. So that’s what we wanted to bring out in the hair. We’ve got three hair looks that we’re working with. Our first look is a soft wave, something that’s got a nice stressed feel to it, but looks effortless. Second, we’re working with a low ponytail that’s going to be a textured, dishevelled knot but again, working with a very soft outline, so you get that romantic feel coming through.’

‘Our third look is going to be more of a slick, lived-in and slightly grungier, but still a very beautiful, elegant feel. Working with a soft wave and working its structure and definition around the face.’

‘With the mood board, something that was very apparent were romantic, wispy, soft references. But something that still had a very strong structured feel to it, which I think is going to complement the Imperial collection so beautifully.’

Kelly Bowman was Makeup Director, with sponsorship from Natio. ‘I’m keeping all about the skin. It’s going to be pretty, femme, nice and dewy, and luminous. It’s going to be a soft focus on the eye. We want to really extend everyone’s eyes, but really softly. So we’re using really warm, natural tones. Earthy tones. The brands’ quite femme and soft, so we’re trying to keep it that.’

| Mariam Seddiq |

Mariam sent her Resort ’20 collection down the runway to the remixed strains of Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’. The attitude conveyed was one of power chords, rock chic and glam. Silver and gold metallic fabrics met smooth tailoring, with the volume turned up to eleven. The styling harked to 80’s hard rock videos and a Motley Crue sensibility, but none more than the sheer black dress and blazer look, shown third in the order.

| Backstage at Mariam Seddiq |

Backstage, we spoke with Lara Srokowski of Lancome, who directed makeup for the show.

‘Today’s makeup look is all about empowering women, so we really wanted to empower the woman with their skin, and keep it really natural. Mariam Seddiq is all about women and empowerment, so we thought it was a perfect partnership with Lancome because that’s our mission as well. Then we’ve gone for quite an edgy twist of the eyes, to match the intensity and patterns and fun of the outfits. So we have that really structured, almost graphic eye; an architectural eyeliner really helps to add that pop to it.’

Diane Georgievski directed hair for Redken.

‘Today, the hair is based on that Parisian woman, that really lived in hair, beautiful texture, to really accentuate unbelievable gowns that are walking down the runway today. We want the hair to look effortless, but in fact it’s very structured. This is a complicated woman, but she wants to feel and look like she isn’t, and the hair needs to emulate that. Three days, four days strolling around, just absolutely sexy.’

| P.E Nation |

Resort ’20 marked P.E Nation’s first solo runway show, but the buzz surrounding the ath-leisurewear brand established by Pip Edwards and Claire Tregoning has been bubbling up at ground level with a momentum spurred on by how readily women have been adopting this label; taking it to their hearts and wardrobes. This is street and sportswear equally adaptable to action or lounging, with a graphic presence and attitude that has seen it equally ratified by nightlife and subculture. Makeshift stadium bleachers were set up to seat audience members at the show, and the finale showcased a swimwear collaboration with Speedo which saw models walk out to bathe in an ‘aquatechnic’ indoor waterfall.

| Backstage at PE Nation |

Backstage, Carol Mackie, global artist for MAC Cosmetics took charge of makeup. We asked her about the concept. ‘So it’s really quite organic. Not really a contrived makeup, if you like. It’s organic in that we’re using product that is really a ‘staining’, so staining on the eyes, staining on the lips. Quite monochromatic in that we’re using rusty tones, earthy tones. But then what we’re doing is adding a touch of what you might call armour if you like. It builds strength in the inner corner [of the eye] with that little fleck of gold.’

Carol continues. ‘When you think about P.E. Nation, and the way they are, it’s quite a strong brand, but it’s still beautiful, and organic.’

Brad Mullins directed hair for Original Mineral. ‘I’m so inspired by the girls. I wanted to use cool girl texture, so I wanted diversity; wanted individuality with the girls. We’re going with a styling feel with a middle part, keeping it flat to the scalp, and some of the hair we’ll braid underneath, using our products in a creative way. We’ve created a bit of a wet look for the top, and the ends are going to be dry and very textured It’s just a kind of cool girl hair, which will echo the clothes.’

| Tigerlily |

This collection marked Tigerlily’s return to MBFWA after a 17-year hiatus. With the runway wet down with water, and tropical sounds filling the gallery, one could have been forgiven for thinking Tigerlily were about to send a swimwear show down the catwalk. Instead, the audience was met with a full collection of day to evening wear. Tailoring featured, as did linen, sleek pant suits, ruffled skirts and subtle tropical detailing such as coconut buttons and minimalist white lily bouquets. Wardrobe staples in suede appeared alongside versatile layered dresses, all with an easy summer sensibility, true to the label’s core.

| Backstage at Tigerlily |

Backstage, we spoke with Lancome’s Lara Srokowski about the makeup look.

‘We’ve used our iconic Advanced Genifique Serum. We’ve actually layered an oil on top, to really amplify the glow on the skin, and then we’ve mixed the oil into the foundation as well, which manipulates the texture. Makes it a little bit more lightweight and glowing. I think the look here is effortless and beautiful. That glow really helps to compliment this collection, and I mean, when I was looking at the collection I could just imagine them wearing all these clothes on a beautiful summer holiday, so you know that skin is super important to compliment the collection.’

Lara hints at the ‘surprise’ Tigerlily were about to deliver to anyone expecting a swimwear collection.

‘Really beautiful linens and just such a beautiful collection. A bit different for Tigerlily, they were mentioning; there’s a lot of linen and quite simple, elegant clothes, so really beautiful.’

We chatted with John Pulitano, Hair Director with Goldwell, about the hair look for the show.

‘The inspiration for the look today was an ode to the ’40s and ’50s screen sirens, Lauren Bacall in particular. What we liked about what was that beautiful front wave that they used to have. Obviously we need to transport that into now, so we decided to go for a wet look as well, because we want to create that slightly tougher, sort of edgier girl.’

Less of a hairspray look?

‘Less of a hairspray look. Less of a beautiful look as well. We want to cut to the beauty, by using wet hair. We used a Double Boost, which is a spray volumizer onto the roots. Then we used the Curly Twist Surf Oil and dried that in. We used a little bit of wax on the roots, then we went through again and sprayed more Surf Oil in. Now we’re just putting some pins in, trying to keep them fairly high up near the crown area. Then we’ll just wet down the ends and just give it a bit of sheen before the girls walk out.’

John has recently made the shift to working with Goldwell, after being one of Redken’s mainstay Hair Directors for an age. In many ways, the change marks a new era in hair direction at Australian Fashion Week. We ask John about the move.

You were with Redken for how many years?

‘About 10.’

That’s a long time. Can we talk about that?

‘Yeah. Look, I just wanted a change. Ten years down the track, I felt like it was time… There’s so much product technology out there, I needed to have more. I’ve got a lot more now, in terms of Goldwell, and a lot of other [partner companies KMS and Kao] ranges as well.

A lot of new companies are coming into Fashion Week, sponsoring and doing hair at for the shows, where Redken was dominant for a very long time.

‘Yeah, Redken definitely were at the forefront of Fashion Week. I think these days, for a lot of companies, in terms of sponsorship dollars, they don’t always have the budgets they used to have years ago.’

| We Are Kindred |

Kindred returned to MBFWA with a new colour palette and a nomadic, bohemian look. Last year’s emphasis on florals, pinks and pastels had given way to subtler bespoke botanicals, and soft paisley prints. Black, white and gold were a feature, but the undoubted hero was a gorgeous bel air blue. Ever present were linen, cotton and silk in separates, dresses, and playsuits.

And that’s all she wrote.

The index finger that pressed the shutter button has triggered its last full-burst capture (and having written this article, moves on).

MBFWA is over for another year, leaving us all to ponder the mercurial, intersectional flashpoint between art and fashion, as we reflect on how we as Australians choose to adorn ourselves as an earthbound species in 2019/20.

Dust off your glad rags for another season and as you do, give a moments’ thought to exactly where the boundless talent and energy behind Australian fashion might take us this time next year.

Reef Gaha is an Australian photographer.

MBFWA is managed by IMG. Mercedes Benz is the naming rights sponsor.

See more at http://mbfashionweek.com

What Will 2019 Be About?

Posted on January 8, 2019 by caramelanimals

Interviews and Photos: Reef Gaha | A New Years Vox Populi |

Love or chaos? Disaster or triumph? Success or devolution? As 2018 drew to a close and 2019 began, rather than consulting an astrologer or soothsayer, Caramel Animals took to the streets of inner Sydney to find out what, well, regular folk predict the new year will hold. Without too much prompting, we’ve simply asked the people who were kind enough to stop for us ‘what will 2019 be about?‘

The following is a transcript of the thoughtful and candid responses we were offered.
Without further ado…

| Elle |

‘For me, it’s going to be about education and discovery. I learned a lot in my 20s and I turned 30 in 2018 so my 30s are going to be a bit more grown up. On a more global level, 2018 was pretty intense, so I hope there’s a lot of resolution in 2019; resolution to rights of a lot of people, whether people of colour, the poor or women – I hope we can get a say, more so than rich white men have over the past few centuries.’

CA: More so than guys like Trump?

‘Haha, did you read between the lines?’

| Elizabeth |

[Photos to follow]

‘Love! I’ve just met the love of my life, well, five months ago.’

CA: And from a global perspective?

‘Chaos! Chaos, I assume. Do you get the sense that everything’s devolving? I do if I read the news, haha! I get the sense that things are unravelling.’

| Tim |

‘I think 2019 is going to be a turning point year? The last few years, everyone’s been a little disrupted, a bit unsettled and I think we’re all looking forward to finding a new equilibrium; a new normal. That may not come in 2019 but I’ve got a feeling this is the year when we’ll turn a corner and decide what that might look like.’

CA: And from a personal perspective?

‘From a personal perspective, in terms of career, I’ve been experimenting with a range of different things and I’m looking forward to, this year, finding a few of the things that work and really investing time in them. I’ve been really enjoying that process, and I’m hoping it’ll be rewarding.’

| Felicia |

‘I think 2019 is hopefully going to be a lot more positive than last year was. I feel like my 2018 was good but things can always get better, hopefully. I’m hoping to move overseas, so probably a lot of change. New beginnings!’

| Pollyanna |

‘2019 will be about realisations of mistakes that we’ve made… so there’ll be alterations and possibly altercations. I’m seeing chaos but maybe also something coming out of the chaos that’s new and good. Similarly, personally, I think it’s going to be very chaotic but I’m hoping it’ll culminate into something very successful and positive. I just want the possibility of success, and work, and stuff to do after finishing uni.’

| Naveena |

‘2018 was a big year for me, and very stressful, so I want 2019 to be the opposite of that. I’m free in many ways now and I guess I want to focus on the kind of life I’ve always wanted to live. In terms of politics, I hope we can right some of the wrongs that have occurred, particularly in the White House. There have recently been a lot of female Democrats voted in. It’d be good if that were to continue. And… get rid of Trump!’

| Alice |

‘I think 2019 will be the year when everything comes to a head; kind of the year when things have to get worse before they start to get a bit better. I’m hoping that’s going to be a good thing, ultimately – I know it sounds terrible – but good in so much as 2020 can be about getting on with real change! On a more personal level, I think 2019 is a year of self-development, of self-love and getting back on track a little. I’m doing a PhD and I’m a year in, trying to figure out where it’s going. I think now I’ve got a much clearer sense of that.’

| Saul |

‘For me personally, I hope it’ll be more creative, and there’ll be more swims! Globally, hopefully, there’ll be political change. I feel like there’s political change on the horizon. Not that I was there at the end of the 60s, but the end of the 60s or the end of the 90s for example, they were probably the most exciting parts of those decades. In some ways those decades really started to get going in their final two or three years. I think there are exciting things that have happened last year that are harbingers of change and potential. So, I’m excited about the next year.’

| Declan |

‘I think 2019 will be a year we’ll see more big campaigns around chronic injustices gathering momentum. The ‘Carbon Bubble’/Unburnable Carbon and Stop Adani campaigns will be worth following and supporting this year in the lead-up to various elections. The choices between the barbarism of policies made by and for the rich vs. a future for the people and planet will become even starker.

Professionally, personally I’m hoping to have a big year capitalising on all the testing of ideas I’ve done in 2017-18. I’m aiming to finish a book about the social dimensions of lab chemistry and nanotechnology.’

| Bud |

‘I think it’ll be about a few challenges in society. One would be the threat of climate change, for which I think people will have to band together to create a stronger movement to face the threat. I think another issue is the resurgence of the far-right. Communities need to work together to defeat it, whether through art and music, or joining your union, or helping at a local soup kitchen; there are countless possibilities that exist to make 2019 and the future world better.

Personally, I’m releasing a new Bud Petal album and have a few projects going on including trying to finish a novel (which will probably take longer than 2019!). Also an academic book and some photography. Like any other year, some will finish during the year and some won’t!’

So there you have it.

Prognostications sought, augurs consulted, fortunes told and general portents decided. Recurring themes of conflict, resolution, the turning of corners and the culmination of an era. All, it seems, tempered by the pervasive cultural influence of the USA on this small South Pacific nation (and the world). It’s worth noting that while all our respondents share strong awareness of the urgent geopolitical and environmental crises our planet is facing, they also possess an almost universally optimistic outlook in hoping that society can change for the better and avert the possibility of impending cataclysm. On a personal level, though most here have acknowledged that the world is in the midst of an ‘almighty shit storm’, all are maintaining focus on their own trajectory whilst working toward fulfilling their own goals.

Though none of us yet know what 2019 will truly hold, thanks to all who participated in this discussion for providing us with a remarkable round of educated guesses.
May we all in good health, enjoy the ride this year looks set to offer.

Happy New Year from Caramel Animals.

Elle: https://www.instagram.com/smellydemon/

Tim: https://twitter.com/ockhamsbeard

Pollyanna: https://www.instagram.com/_pollyinyourpocket_/

Naveena: https://www.instagram.com/nav_artsci/

Saul: https://www.instagram.com/flaxfluxus/

Declan: https://twitter.com/agentdeclan

Bud: https://www.instagram.com/sandwich.mcneil/

The Annual Caramel Animals MBFWA Highlight Review 2018

Posted on May 23, 2018 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | Editorial Assistant: Camilla Turnbull | Runway and Backstage at Resort ’19|

Caramel Animals presents a retrospective and alternative look at Australian Fashion Week, Resort ’19.

Now that the glitter has settled (or was it stardust?) we bring you this irreverent and non-comprehensive look back at eleven Resort ‘19 collections, traversing news and interviews from backstage at eight shows, where we conversed with our favourite hair and makeup directors as they worked to embody designers’ visions in follicular and maquillant form. In our quest to decode the concept and inspiration behind each collection showcase, the creatives at the nexus of couture, hair and makeup often provide the richest, most eloquent source of insight.

You’ll see every look from the runways we’ve covered and bear witness to frenetic, candid moments backstage, culminating in a spectacular denouement as Camilla confers an utterly transcendent, heart-rending finale to the week.

This year’s review covers Alice McCall, Albus Lumen, Lee Mathews, Double Rainbouu, We Are Kindred, Hansen & Gretel, Romance Was Born, Deadly Ponies, Roopa, Leo & Lin and Camilla.

| Alice McCall |

McCall playfully brought delicate fabrics of varying weight and transparency together, in pieces ranging from play suits to two-piece sets and full-length gowns. Fuscia, florals, geometric neutrals and minty aquamarine pastels met cascading pleats in lavender and pink flanked by black, gold and white pieces. Evident as ever were McCall’s delicate hand embroidered flourishes and custom in-house designed laces. Feminine to the core, McCall’s look is one where a quintessential rock chic and underlying toughness temper the diaphanous fabrics.

Backstage, we chatted with MAC Makeup Director Nicole Thompson.

‘So, with Alice’s collection, like most of her collections, the dresses are for real women and how they want to look; very feminine, very girly, really beautiful. So, we always like to juxtapose a little with the makeup and hair and have a bit of toughness so it doesn’t look too floaty and girly. This year, it’s a little ‘twisted fifties’.

Nicole continues.

‘The feeling of the hair is a modern take on the victory roll. The hair is twisted up backwards. I wanted to have the liner really powerful and strong. When they’re walking straight ahead, we wanted to make sure these [liner] flicks can be seen from both sides of the catwalk, super intense. The key with this was to get the girls looking straight ahead, and we did the flick-in first. That way, on the profile it’s super strong when they’re walking by. They look like they go faster with this liner – this liner goes faster!’

Renya Xydis, hair director for Wella Global confirms the concept.

‘It’s vintage, forties/fifties tough chic, so she’s the cool Alice McCall girl. Basically we’ve just pulled the hair back on both sides so you can see the cheekbones and their fierceness. We’ve made them look fierce but not hard. We’ve made them look beautiful but not too pretty, and we’ve made them look strong but still feminine. Yeah, tough chicks.’

| Albus Lumen |

Marina Afonina’s inspiration for this collection was Pablo Picasso’s terracotta ceramic work from the 1970s. This is evident in the colour palette and fabrics seen at Albus Lumen’s first on-site MBFWA show. Deep, earthy tones met burnished ochres, soft blues and deep emeralds. Minimalist ¾ and ankle-length silk pieces were joined by two-piece sets with rustic undertones, many adorned with feature buttons and subtly styled contours. Tie waists, head scarfs and bucket hats complemented a look evocative of a provincial Mediterranean summer.

Backstage, we spoke with Lara Srokowski, makeup director for Lancome Australia.

‘The makeup look is about strong and powerful women, but it’s quite a unisex look so it’s really all about the skin. It’s perfect for Lancome because that’s our signature technique. What we’ve done is half the models will have this really beautiful natural glowing skin, which represents femininity. Then, you’ll see more of a masculine look as well, which is more of a terracotta touch to the skin. You’ll notice some of the models have a slight terracotta, almost sunburnt look across the high points of the cheek bones and the nose. This is to represent that they’ve been there working with clay. The ladies have been sitting there making pots, so they’ve had a little bit of clay kind of splashed on the face.’

Travis Balcke, hair director with Balmain Hair Couture further expanded upon the terracotta theme.

‘So Marina’s vision for the show is Pablo Picasso, and that there are two types of people in the show. There’s more of a masculine and a feminine but we’ve left that up to the person watching the show to decide which look they feel is more masculine or feminine. We have some girls with their natural texture, which we’ve encouraged with leave in conditioner, and then the second look is a more traditional ‘Spanish’, where we extended the hair and worked with high-sheen gel to create a long, thin braid.’

I asked Travis about his work with Marina.

‘We went to Los Angeles and shot a campaign which kind of set the tone of the collection, then came back and had several meetings about the girl and who the character of the show is. So, it’s quite minimal, but a lot of thought went into creating that.’

| Lee Mathews |

A passage from Lee Mathews’ site summarises this collection best.

‘Initial inspiration for the Lee Mathews Resort 19 collection came from the iconic American architect Frank Lloyd-Wright, designers Charles & Ray Eames, and minimalist artist Donald Judd [and] their belief that design should be in harmony with humanity and the environment.

With this concept in mind, Creative Director Lee and newly appointed Head Designer Natalia Grzybowski began with a grounding palette of creams and clays, punctuated with pops of mint, orange and blue. These colours appear across a hybrid of natural textiles and zero-waste fabrics – from organic cottons to a coated zero-waste Italian linen and ethically sourced silks […] Collectively, these precise compositions represent the vision and hope of change in the fashion industry, one where the environment is no longer an absent factor in the manufacturing process.’

Backstage we spoke with Alan White, Hair Director for Di Lorenzo and Lee Mathews, who confirmed the ecological sensibility behind the show. ‘Basically both companies come from sustainable backgrounds, and it’s a perfect tie up between the two companies. Di Lorenzo being ethically sound, and all of their ingredients being biodegradable, natural, and the same with Lee. Lee’s doing a lot of work with ethically sourced clothing, bottles, bottle tops and recycled stuff. We’re in an era now where it’s coming to pass, that’s what’s happening. We’re all trying to help save the planet.’

I asked Alan how this concept is further embodied in the hair look. He’s enthusiastic.

‘What we’re doing is organic, so we’re just trying to get every girl the best out of their hair. We’re using two different elements of the Di Lorenzo range. One is a conditioning, beautifying range, so […] that’ll finish them beautifully on the ends. And if we need to do a little setting, what I’ve done is use super single quill clip-ins around the forehead to open up the face. I’ve either used Barrel Wave, C-Swirl or Motion Mousse and then using the super single clip-ins, clip them into place and then diffused it dry, and what that does, it leaves me an indentation. After it’s all finished, we just brush it, run our hands through it, create a low ponytail at the nape and then finish it with the Ocean Mist. Just putting that on your hands, it relaxes the hair, brings in a little bit more natural texture.’ Alan sums up his working relationship with Lee: ‘I knew Lee when she was making clothes out of a bedroom in Paddington probably 25 years ago. So we’ve known each other since then, and I think she knows my feel is a really natural feel. So, natural texture.’

Claire Thompson, makeup director with Guerlain, expands upon the concept.

‘I believe in the skin. Less about powder and baking and highlighting and contouring, and more about creating a glow from within. Super, super moisturised skin. Using this incredible colour on the lips, but also on the cheeks and across the bridge of the nose, and all the areas the sun would naturally hit. I feel it gives us a more lived-in bronze, summer glow in a way because it’s less towards those traditional bronzy colours and more about this sort of lift lately, like you’ve had a little too much sun. And the lipstick too. Not perfect. No heavy lines. Everything is sort of blended out. Everything is slightly imperfect to make it look perfect.’

| Double Rainbouu |

As former creative directors at Ksubi, Double Rainbouu’s Mikey Nolan and Toby Jones are exponents of an erstwhile cult-like subcultural tradition within Australian fashion. There are times when clothing forms part of an inextricable intersection between emerging culture, music and nightlife milieus. Post-lockout Sydney is not exactly in the grip of a compelling subcultural emergence, but this collection, appropriately presented at the Lansdowne Hotel, harks to such pivotal moments in youth culture.

‘Synth UUave Resort 19’ speaks to a psychedelic synth-wave inspiration behind this collection, evidenced by the ‘Synthetic Leisure’ motif woven into key pieces. The colour palette is pure candy shop and neon, tempered with darker industrial fabrics and warped checker-boards alongside fetishistic fish-netting and PVC, primed for a mind-altering all-night rave.

| We Are Kindred |

An endlessly feminine tour de force, this was one of those shows where every girl on the runway embodied a leading lady presence. Floral and botanical prints, a runway lined with fresh floristry and hemlines adorned with daisy flower appliques; a colour palate of pink, minty green and creamy white ensemble pieces with gorgeous detailing, all perfectly accessorised with custom sun hats, matching scarfs and gold statement jewellery.

Backstage, we spoke with Richard Kavanagh, hair director for Redken, about the hair look.

‘We’re creating a really very feminine style with a utilitarian braid and a gritty texture. The concept for the show is about the strength of femininity, bringing the gritty texture in. It’s as though she’s busy working, she’s just thrown her hair back in a quick braid, and she’s getting on with her work.’

I asked Richard about working with Kindred.

‘I’ve worked with the Kindred brand on a regular basis since they started. I guess my personal aesthetic matches their brand aesthetic, so it’s super easy. I just turn up and go ‘here you go, do this’. It’s a really easy creative process. I get what they’re trying to say with the collection, I get what they’re trying to say with the brand. So I just try to enhance and amplify that through creating a character with the hair. I guess the We Are Kindred woman is a woman who is powerfully entrenched in her femininity. She embraces her femininity and is strong in it.’

Makeup director Molly Warkentin gave us an insight into the makeup look.

‘It’s all about being fresh, youthful, free spirited. I’ve taken that into the skin; it’s all about skin.

We want them to look really hydrated, but I wanted to play and make it fun as well! To make that freshness come through, we’ve used blush for a flush through the centre panel of the cheek, almost like she’s just run up some stairs. And then we’ve done some faux freckles as well, which just keeps it fun.’

I asked Molly about the faux freckles.

‘We were shooting their campaign and I kind of just did my thing in the morning. We loved it, and that was going to be the makeup. The model we were working on, Zoe Barnard, actually had natural freckles, but I loved it so much, we decided to do the faux freckles for everyone. She was my inspiration, my freckle-ation.’

| Hansen & Gretel |

Hansen & Gretel’s rocking ‘Eve’ collection stood out for the way it seemed to riff on that evolutionary moment in the late 70s where premonitory foreshadowing of 1980s styling had very much begun, but elements of the late 60s influence were still an integral part of the visual currency. This moment spanned styles from mild to wild. At times H&G seemed to be calling on the gloss of Charlie’s Angels (complete with a buoyant hair flick) and at times, the grit of Stevie Nicks. This along with a wealth of other 70s pop-culture iconography and a huge helping of Rock ‘n’ Roll, with a catwalk move that saw a ‘Satisfaction’ T-shirt walked halfway down the runway before dodging left into the crowd without reaching the end – cute. Many looks saw the models shod in the ankle boots which have resulted from H&G’s collab with Senso, sporting deep forefoot lacing almost to the toe, mildly reminiscent of a daintier ice-skate style boot.

Backstage, we caught up with Prema’s inimitable Gareth Lenagh, hair director for KMS.

‘The look that we’re going for is an evolution change. Ainsley really wanted to emphasise the natural progression of women. We’ve started off the hair with a natural look, working with the girls’ natural texture. We wanted to make them the best version of themselves. We’ve taken a centre part, working it with a really polite ear tuck, and some natural movement through the back, then we’ve worked that into a low ponytail. With that low pony, we’ve used a little bit of rope. The reason we wanted to use rope? It’s a little more raw. With the theme of Eve and the Garden of Eden, I wanted to bring in a little raw material. That’s working all the way through to the end with what we call the grunge curl, which is more styled; it’s more of a finished look and a pop.’

Rene Benkenstein directed makeup for Clinique. We asked her about ‘Eve’ as she worked on Clinique ambassador Steph Claire Smith’s fresh visage.

‘This is very feminine; this is exploring different levels of femininity. Its free, it’s still very beautiful, but not overly done.’

Rene continues. ‘Different looks play up different elements, but always making sure that it’s not overdone. So, when it came to cheeks for example, there is more of a soft flush. Lips would be natural lip toned, but just enhanced a little. And then on the eyes we have some natural moments, but also a slight graphic liner. And then some of the models show a surprise pop of blue. So, that also brings in a little fun element.’

| Romance Was Born |

After closing MBFWA with the spectacular ‘Electro Orchid’ last year, 2018 saw RWB take their show off-site and ‘underground’, into the speakeasy cabaret-like surroundings of Restaurant Hubert in Sydney’s CBD. Sequestered away below street level, their latest collection was revealed. Though still glowing with the colour palette and ethereal themes that herald their signature style, the shift to a Tuesday night in a cosy venue seemed to reflect the more approachable wearability with which Anna and Luke have imbued ‘Mother of Opal/Opal Goddess’. Incorporating Jenny Kee’s classic opal print and referencing Erté’s iconic art deco illustrations, the pair have put a modernised and uniquely Australian twist on high 20’s style. Models walked the collection out into static, mannered poses while draped in vibrant colour, luxurious jewels, abundant pleats and soft, flowing materials.

| Deadly Ponies |

An NZ label making their MBFWA debut, Deadly Ponies are known for their leather accessories. The newest line ‘Devotees’ takes inspiration from devotion. Creative director Liam Bowden is quoted in FashioNZ as saying ‘In the new season silhouettes, PVC features heavily as a means of presenting a second skin over signature pieces, protecting and revering the objects within, creating almost transportable temples of modern day craftsmanship.’ For the show, models were clad in soft, flowing pink and violet outfits fashioned from scarf material (and previewing the brands forthcoming scarf collection), to walk bags out, with electric blue and pale pink pants serving to highlight and maintain focus on the accessories being presented.

| Roopa |

Perhaps John Pulitano, hair director of this show for Redken summarises Roopa’s Resort ’19 collection best: ‘When I spoke to Roopa, the concept was all about the architecture in Nepal. Really beautiful, colourful, different mandalas hanging in the street. Beautiful textures; the rooftops and the layering in the rooftops. I think a lot of her shapes are very much like that too. Lots of beading. There’s definitely a real richness in the colour of the fabrics and the beading. It’s a really beautiful collection.’

I asked John how he’d be reflecting this theme with the hair.

‘One look is a little reminiscent of how the women in Nepal would wear their hair; generally it’s very smooth. It has a rich texture. A very soft braid, but literally just the beginning of a braid. The first twist, and then we’ll tie it so that there’s some pieces coming through, very soft and very luscious.

Then we’ve got girls with curls. With them, we’re going to create a really defined, beautiful, separated curl and lots of high shine. I really want to make that curl come to life on the runway, but instead of coming to life in a fluffy kind of way, coming to life with a really moist finish and shine.’ As we spoke as John worked on the tresses of Redken ambassador Adriana Perri, who’d stopped by with the Blondage Army.

Makeup director Lara Srokowski from Lancome corroborated, and explained the makeup concept.

‘The clothes are really pretty for this particular look, so we wanted to have the makeup a little grungier to complement the style so as not to be too overpowering with that kind of prettiness. We’ve created a beautiful skin, that’s our signature, and we’ve gone for a little more of a grungy eye look. You’ll see a trend of two different eye looks throughout the show. There’s one that will be dark black liner, smudged all over the eye with black eye shadow on top. Then, just before the models hit the runway we’re going to make it nice and glossy and it’ll start to smudge a little bit. That’ll look cool. The brows are kept raw so the focus really is that eye. The second eye look is all about liner; the inner rim has been lined, and then on top there’s a little bit of a winged liner, but it’s been blended into the bottom, so it’s kind of an architectural eyeliner look.’

I asked Lara what she’d use to give the eye work its glossy look.

‘We use lip gloss. I’m using one with a bit of glitter in it so it gives that two-dimensional gloss effect!’

| Leo & Lin |

Leo & Lin carried off their MBFWA debut with an ethereal theme, a galactic muse and a starry violet backdrop. The ‘Ms Moonlight’ collection was unapologetically whimsical. Shades of sunset, dusk and pale indigo were evident in a colour palette that contrasted with a glistening, celestial white. The starry motif, astrological symbols and cute sixties styling were evocative of golden age cinematic musicals, with a contemporary geometric twist. To that end, Moon River featured prominently in the soundtrack, calling Audrey to mind.

Rajja Richani directed the makeup for Napoleon Perdis. We asked her about the look.

‘Really ethereal, beautiful, clean, fresh and hydrated skin with very minimal makeup actually. We wanted the girls’ beauty to shine through.

We have an accent of white and silver glitter underneath the lower lash line, so it’s very intergalactic; very ethereal and otherworldly. Then we have a holographic silver star placed on the cheek bone to accent the stars throughout the collection. Overall though, just a really clean, ethereal, fresh look. Skin is the hero.’

Nadia Semanic directed hair for Tony and Guy. We asked her about the hair concept.

‘We wanted to go with something that was sixties inspired, but not too much. So today we’ve modernised that concept by using what is quite prevalent today, the top knot, but instead the knot is at the base of the neck.

So a really low, tight knot at the base of the neckline. We twisted the hair and created a knot, pinning it around the edges. In terms of the parting for the models, we used a really sharp central parting or a really dramatic side parting, just to differentiate and keep it really individual. We wanted it to be uniform but also wanted to keep the individuality. What we’ve also gone with, is we’ve kept the models natural texture when placing it into the knot, so the hair had that cohesiveness but still kept that individuality.’

| Camilla |

And so we come to MBFWAs stirring, transcendent finale. Camilla Franks showcased her newest collection, ‘ The Girl I Was, The Woman I Am.’

Carriageworks’ largest gallery was transformed into a sensuous Japanese spring evening, resplendent with an 1100kg prop cherry blossom tree. The ground was carpeted with several hundred thousand cherry blossoms, as the walls were draped from floor to ceiling in bolts of fabric bearing Japanese fan-like motifs. The renowned Satsuki Odamura Koto Ensemble provided live musical accompaniment to the runway, replete with huge Taiko drums.

Goldwell’s press release provides insight into the collection as ‘Inspired by Camilla’s travels to Japan’ and quotes Camilla. ‘In Japan, both the girl and woman unravelled and played in the juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern. The mysterious and erotic. The playful and exotic. I wrapped myself in ancestral kimonos and ceremonial dressing that light the way for girls to find their womanhood and the infinite possibilities that lay in this realm.’ During the show, girls of all ages walked the runway, speaking to all stages of womanhood and 90’s supermodel next door Emma Balfour graced the set.

We spoke with Alan White for Goldwell regarding the hair direction for the show.

‘Well there’s an influence from modern Japan with some history thrown in. The girl is a traveller, she’s worked her way from Kyoto, to Tokyo, to Osaka and she’s starting to feel confident. She’s a girl, now she’s turning into a woman. We worked with the traveller theme and Japan’s rich history of Samurai, Geisha and Harajuku girls to create hair that pays homage to Japan’s traditions, culture and colours, while making it modern and wearable. We included paper origami style ties around some of the caught pony to represent peace hair – a peace hair pony tuck.’

Linda Jefferyes directed the makeup for Camilla using Shiseido.

‘It’s a very Japanese influence, and so I really wanted to work with the idea of Japanese warriors. This is why I’ve used the mask-style glitter. I wanted to come back to Camilla as well – so that’s why I like the idea of using glitter, because Camilla always seems to use flourishes of sparkle and embellishment on her clothes. I wanted to keep the look simple but strong, and that’s why I went with the glitter.

We sent Steph from Shiseido to a shop to find something silvery, and she came back with these [adhesive glitter appliques]. I always had it in my head when I was referencing things about the Japanese warriors, I sent a lot of references through to Camilla. I was thinking, maybe I could paint that on?

The skin was a big part of the look as well. We wanted beautiful girls with fresh skin, which is why we’ve done the whole Shiseido cleansing and moisturising, and the beautiful, natural makeup they do. And then we’ve embellished with the warrior woman. As you can hear, the drums are beginning!’

And that’s all she wrote.

The index finger that pressed the shutter button has #triggered its last full-burst capture (and having written this article, moves on).

Dust off your glad rags for another season and as you do, give a moments’ thought to exactly where the boundless talent and energy behind Australian fashion might take us this time next year.

Reef Gaha is an Australian photographer.

MBFWA is managed by IMG. Mercedes Benz is the naming rights sponsor.

See more at http://mbfashionweek.com

A Clockwork Melange

Posted on February 11, 2018 by caramelanimals

Why You Would | A Brief History of Mechanical Timepieces

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha |
Model: Yuka Suzuki |
A History of Mechanical Watches and Review of Five Current Examples |

Caramel Animals presents; the mechanical wristwatch. For years supplanted by its battery powered counterparts then relegated to further obscurity by cell phones, at one stage its complete disappearance seemed imminent.
We’ve put together five attainable examples imbued with horological significance, for even the most budget conscious wearer. Some are faithful homages to rare classics. Others are obtainable classics themselves.

First though, a brief history of wearable clockwork.

Swiss watchmaking flourished through WWI and II under the cover of military neutrality. As American, German and Japanese clockwork factories were re-tooled to produce munitions, Switzerland maintained the techniques and facilities required to keep timepieces in production. This included the accurate chronometers and water resistance required to keep the war effort synchronised. Some of the most coveted pieces available today are descendants of (or homages to) the ‘tool’ watches used in conflict. As WWII ended, the Swiss once again emerged as the world’s horological chieftain.

This dominance continued largely unchallenged til the late 1960’s, when things began to change. Hitherto not-so-haute horologists in the USA and Japan were beginning to produce the battery powered watches that would precipitate the infamous ‘quartz crisis’.

The world flocked to more affordable and accurate electronic time-pieces. Where manual or automatically wound watches from Switzerland were once the apex of reliable time-keeping, their production was intricate and labour intensive. Economies of scale shrank as market share receded. The quartz invaders were unerringly precise. Where even chronometer certified mechanical pieces may lose or gain a few seconds per day, a little quartz cheapie will vary in the order of mere seconds per month. The Swiss watchmaking industry saw a decline in popularity. A new pop-culture icon was about to emerge in the form of the digital wristwatch.

Advancing circuit-board technology saw simple analogue models joined by increasingly complex digitised models. Calculator, databank and programmable pieces offered complications that mechanical clockwork couldn’t match. It wasn’t until a group of industrialists got together in the early 1980s to develop an affordable Swiss alternative to the quartz peril, that the downward slide was arrested. That ‘group of industrialists’ are now the biggest watch company in the world, and the affordable alternative they created was called (you guessed it) the Swatch.

As the market for consumer electronic timepieces grew, haute horology and bespoke luxury Swiss items became an increasingly specialised concern, though a hard core of enthusiasts and collectors remained faithful. Meanwhile, names like Swatch, Casio, Seiko, Citizen and Timex thrived.
The next step change in ‘everyday carry’ arrived with the gradual infiltration of the mobile phone. Now, many quartz wearers would abandon their watches, but this time on the proviso that ‘my phone tells the time just fine’.

Eventually though, science fiction became fact as Apple and a slew of other gadget manufacturers began marketing Dick Tracy style smart watches, causing many who’d abandoned watches to adopt them again, if only as a companion to the applications running on their increasingly smart phones.

What of maverick individuals wanting to avoid the constant distraction of smart gadgets?

Do you take out your phone to glance at the time only to be lured by notifications, messages and the intrigue of social media? You’re not alone.

Reading the time need only be the business of a split second glance.

Flying in the face of pervasive digital technology, a growing subculture are strapping mechanical timepieces back onto their wrists. Parallels can be drawn with audiophiles and rev-heads who often find themselves in the thrall of analogue technology. Under the spectre of mpeg compression, vinyl holds a tangible imprint software just can’t match. Chrome bumpers and butterfy carburetors seem to embody soul in a way that moulded plastics and electronic fuel injection just can’t. Some folk regard old technology as superior. Others simply have a penchant for nostalgia.

For many, mechanical timekeeping has always been a passion. As 20^th century ephemera will show, clockwork has never been far from the wrists of the good or the great.
Accordingly, Caramel Animals presents a collection of reliable pieces that deliver automatic, mechanical movements affordably. They’ll wind themselves with the merest gesture of your wrist, spinning little weighted rotors and spooling tension into tiny springs, to be released in the form of ticking time measurement.

Some were designed with high altitude in mind, while others would be at home on the floor of the ocean. With counters set to zero, let’s begin.

| Ginault Ocean Rover |

Think of this watch as an open love letter to the military issue Submariners of old. This dive watch is perhaps truer to the original Rolex ‘form follows function’ ethos than even contemporary Rolex models. Yes, the Ginault Ocean Rover (GOR) pays homage but does so faithfully, with heart emojis in its eyes. You can’t help but appreciate its fawning adoration. What’s even nicer about the Ginault is that it’s not simply paying lip service; pains were taken to reproduce the steel-hewn solidity and true 300m submersibility of the original. There are comparable Sub homages available from Steinhart and Squale, but they lack the perfect proportions and incredible bracelet configuration of the Ginault. With stunningly executed solid end links and an adjustable ‘glide-lock’ clasp, it wears better than anything you’ll find this side of well, a genuine Submariner.

The American built Ocean Rover is resolved in all its fine details. The USA assembled in-house movement is ‘chronometer certified’ by Ginault and comes with papers documenting its accuracy. While the long-term reliability of this relative newcomer’s movement may be an open question for some the calibre is, in architecture, a clone of the venerated ETA 2824 movement that powers many of the world’s most loved watches. The GOR also comes with a beautifully broached dive bezel and features a super legible dial, illuminated with stunning ‘gold sand lume’ indices that lend the watch a hint of vintage patina.

Are Ginault attempting to re-create or celebrate Rolex’s past design achievements? You bet. Are they allowing the execution of the Ocean Rover to rest on anyone else’s laurels? Heck no. This is anything but a mere imitation.

Variants of the Ocean Rover (including some with date) are available from http://www.ginault.com and it’s rumoured that if you ask them nicely, you may receive a discount on the $1300 USD asking price (but don’t quote us on that).

| Tiger Concept GMT Pilot |

The original GMT Master was developed by Rolex in collaboration with Pan-Am. The jet age gave rise to frequent crossings of longitude, latitude and dateline, evincing the need for a Pilot’s watch that could display several time zones at a glance. This Tiger Concept GMT pays modernised homage to the early 6542 reference from Rolex with slender case design, chamfered lugs, gilt indices and the prototypical ‘Pepsi’ blue and red bezel. In this instance, the bezel has been given a slightly faded look in a nod to the way vintage GMT bezels fade over time.

At this price point, the Tiger Concept is arguably the best GMT ‘Pepsi’ homage available. While it’s a relative cheapie, its execution of case, dial and bezel would be more than acceptable at several times the money. The original GMT is perhaps one of the most subliminally recognisable timepieces available, thanks to being seen on Hollywood wrists of stars such as Tom Selleck, Keanu Reeves, Dustin Hoffman, Marlon Brando. Indeed, enough names to fill a Fantales wrapper.

A domed mineral crystal and pressed steel bracelet end links complete the nostalgic look. Being a true GMT, the Tiger possesses a fourth ‘GMT’ hand used to chart time in remote zones. For the uninitiated, the blue segment of the bezel is used to indicate night time hours along its 24-hour scale. Red is used to indicate daylight hours. The bezel can be rotated to allow indexing of a third time-zone if you’re cluey and simply ‘double’ the hourly increments of the standard dial when reading from the GMT hand. Like the original, a quick-set date is featured at 3.

Available directly from http://www.tiger-concept.com for $189 USD.

| Oris Big Crown Chronograph |

Moving on from the homages, here’s something unique you might affordably pick up on the second-hand market. Want something reminiscent of 1930’s era aviation, with more than a hint of art deco?

A multi-dial chronograph, this Oris is the only truly Swiss timepiece in our little line-up today. With flieger style legibility and retro mid-century styling, this piece is both elegant and purposeful. Its large crown and indices hark to the classic pilot watches it references while a coined bezel, cathedral hands and Bauhaus style numerals give the watch an ornate, vintage feeling. This is complemented by a ‘guilloche’ patterned dial, making it equally appropriate for casual or formal settings. Its slightly larger 42mm scale allows it to house a powerful ETA 7750 (stopwatch) calibre. As such, it’s the only chronograph we’ll pay attention to today, though the Omega Speedmaster must rate honourable mention. Some say not many chronograph watches can be worn with a suit, yet the Oris seems to share this versatile twist with the Speedmaster. Its multi-piece stainless steel case is polished almost exotically, while the curved Plexiglas acrylic crystal gives off a warm, vintage feeling (whilst also lending itself to the easy buffing-out of scratches). SuperLuminova C3 ensures legibility in darkness. The quick-set date at 3 is a convenient inclusion.

Being a genuine Swiss piece, this Oris is one of our dearer inclusions, but expect to pay a minimum of $1000 USD on the used market.

| Seiko SKX009 |

If you’re someone who frequents watch forums, this little ISO certified diver won’t come as news to you. Popular because of their simplicity and hard-wearing affordability, Seiko’s line of automatic dive watches can be traced back to the Vietnam war era. This SKX009 is a direct descendant of the Seiko 6105 worn by Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now and by Kiefer Sutherland in A Soldier’s Sweetheart. More modern references can also be seen in James Cameron’s The Abyss (Cameron is an accomplished diver himself), and elevated almost to the status of co-star on the wrist of Robert Redford in All Is Lost.

Rated for 200 metres of water resistance, folklore has it that a watch forum member once pressure tested an SKX007 for the sake of finding out just how many atmospheres the case could withstand. A commenter on authoritative watch blog Worn and Wound reported that the tester backed out at 42 atmospheres (420 metres) ‘because he was afraid of the crystal cracking if he pushed the test further. The watch itself took over 200% of its indicated [depth] rating without failure’.

These watches are available in several different sizes, colourways and dials, but we’ve chosen the SKX009. Its contrasting blue and red dive bezel recalls the classic ‘Pepsi’ GMT pairing, and its indices bear Seiko’s proprietary Lumibrite luminescent paint, known for being among the brightest available at any price point. While the 7S26 movement can’t be hand wound, it’ll start right up with a gentle shake and is the only watch here which features both quickset date and day complications – handy on long vacations where days just bleed into one.

A cursory search of reputable watch outlets online will net you an SKX for circa $200 USD.

| Vostok Amphibia |

While the Swiss had waterproof case technologies sewn up, Russian watchmakers had access to no such patents, and in many cases, materials were scarce. If they were to produce a dive watch capable of operating at extreme depth, they’d have to come up with their own solution. Because of this, the Amphibia stands as an authentic example of Soviet design and ingenuity. The story goes that the name ‘Amphibia’ was chosen from a competition among Vostok factory employees.

Where Swiss watches use gaskets as crystal seals, the Amphibia uses a 3mm thick Lucite (plexiglass) that deforms slightly under pressure, allowing it to push into the case, gradually providing a stronger seal at greater depths. Such distortion of glass or sapphire crystals would simply cause them to crack. Where traditional screw-down case backs use rubber O-ring seals, Vostok devised a much wider sintered gasket combined with a bayonet mount as a unique way of sealing the back case against water pressure.

While the Amphibia we’ve chosen here features a sober ‘sonar wave’ motif, collectors often remark on the toy-like, cartoonish dials of some variants. Some bear the image of a scuba diver (the famous ‘Scuba Dude’), a galleon. or even breaching whales (among others).

The other great thing about the Vostok is its price. You’ll easily find an original through highly-rated eBay sellers, for well under $100 USD shipped.

| Conclusions |

There’s a lot of variety, and plenty to love about these affordable mechanical watches. We’ve only shown you a few, but what’s not to like about battery-free timekeeping on a shoestring, all running on the flick of your wrist? Okay granted, my grandmother once told me that her idea of heaven is a place without telephones or clocks. For many though, the convenience of viewing time at a glance (in a variety of extreme conditions) is preferable to the potential distraction of notifications. Then, let’s not forget the unmistakable style and craftsmanship that goes along with traditional watchmaking, and the never-ending pop culture associations that abound.

Is there a greater significance to these trinkets?

Perhaps watches aren’t merely about telling time, but also our relationship with it? Einstein famously declared that ‘time is an illusion’ but in any event, ours is temporary. Some of the best watches are built to withstand extremes of pressure and altitude. With a little maintenance, they may even outlive us. Because of this, these objects (and some spectre of the relationship we have with them) may someday be passed down in heirloom-like fashion (though hopefully not in a way that recalls the ‘uncomfortable hunk of metal’ from Christopher Walken’s infamous Pulp Fiction scene) something an iPhone X will never quite achieve.

The Annual Caramel Animals MBFWA Highlight Review 2017

Posted on May 23, 2017 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | Hair/Makeup Commentary: Claudia Byatt | Editorial Assistant: Kelsey Decker | Front of House and Backstage at MBFWA 2017 |

Caramel Animals presents a retrospective and alternative look at nine MBFWA 2017 shows, captured as our contributors worked furiously behind-the-scenes on adjacent projects.

Now that the glitter has settled (or was it stardust?) we bring you this irreverent and non-comprehensive look back at a few key Resort 18 collections. We also bring you news and interviews from backstage where we rapped with a few of our favourite hair and makeup directors as they worked to embody the designers’ visions in coiffure and cosmetic form.

This year’s review covers (in order of appearance) Alice McCall, Karla Spetic, Steven Khalil, Gary Bigeni, Michael Lo Sordo, C/MEO Collective, Vale Denim, Akira and Romance Was Born.

1. | Alice McCall |

Alice McCall’s unmistakable style signature is easy to talk about; her profile on the MBFWA site provides all the keywords required. ‘Intricate detailing, season after season […] pretty and feminine, chic and bohemian […] year after year.’ This year, Vogue Australia praised McCall for never ‘hewing too far from [her] core.’ This Australian designer knows how to play to her strengths, with sexy results. Perhaps the show’s press notes sum up her 2018 collection best: ‘Alice McCall’s archetypal rock chick has been let loose in her socialite mother’s closets, she’s pilfered the heirloom Italian couture and is wearing it out to the club.’

|Click Here for Page 2|

Bogan Via: The Search for Bougainvillea Chin

Posted on April 6, 2017 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | Camera Assistance: Suzi Chou | Maps to the Ornamental Vines’ Homes with Maddie and Bret of Bogan Via in LA

No, this is not the tale of a botanically inclined, Powell Peralta inspired remake of a Bones Brigade skate movie from the late 1980’s.

This is the story of two musicians from Phoenix who got together, found they got along pretty well and decided to make their way to LA in pursuit of their creative goals.

It’s also the story of how Bret and Maddie, two Arizonian Americans, having never set foot on the Great Southern Land (of Bogan) came to form an electro-pop band named Bogan Via. It’s a question that’s confounded ardent Australian concertgoers who happen upon our pair while visiting shows in LA (and other BV tour locations) for the last half decade. When Bret and Maddie play a show, they’re often approached by little Aussie battlers mistaking Bogan Via for a vernacular signifier of Terra Australis in the wilds of Southwestern USA (either side of the Sierra Nevada).

In actuality, the Bogan Via name is simply a contraction of Bougainvillea, a thorny angiosperm originating in West Africa and South America, popularised by British and French colonialists during the 18^th and 19^th century.

Today this floral vine is decoratively cultivated around the world in areas with warm climates (and aqueducts) so unsurprisingly it’s common to both LA and Phoenix.

It’s widely thought that the first European to observe these plants was a lass called Jeanne Baré, an expert in botany who disguised herself as a man because in 1789, she couldn’t join explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville’s maritime exexpedition as a woman. In masquerading thus, she became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.

But I digress.

‘Why is this article called The Search for Bougainvillea Chin?’ I hear you ask.
‘Are Bogan Via skateboarders?’

The Search for Animal Chin caused a sensation among the Thrasher readership in 1987 because at the time, it was one of the first skate films to have a plot, distinguishing itself from the gonzo skateboard stunt montages set to music that had previously informed the genre.

‘Skateboarders (Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Mike McGill) known as the Bones Brigade show off their various talents during the search for their sport’s legendary founder.’

Why does this matter?

We’d planned to shoot photos with a deranged plot: Hollywood has Maps to the Star’s Homes. The Search for Animal Chin had ‘Maps to the Skater’s Homes’, but we weren’t looking for those. Instead we cased the streets and structures of Downtown LA …

… looking for sprigs of Bougainvillea.

The photo set which accompanies this interview is affectionately titled
The Search for Bougainvillea Chin.

Squint your eyes just right, and the truck says ‘Bougainvillea’.

On a warm October evening in 2016, I meet with Bogan Via at Zinc (an always hospitable vegan/vegetarian bar and café restaurant on the corner of Mateo and Willow in DTLA). We’d talk about music and the emerging national sentiment in the States (roughly ten days before Trump’s impending election to the presidency)

The sun sets auriferous over the streets west of Alameda as we shoot. We take time to discuss the band’s musical sensibilities, the contrast between LA and Phoenix as creative centres, and how the West was really won. We reconvene a few months later to recap.

How and when did you two get together, musically? Is there a Bogan Via ‘origin story?’

M: Bret and I met over 5 years ago. He saw a few of my YouTube videos and reached out to me on Facebook asking if I wanted to collaborate on some music. We didn’t know each other at all but it was crazy timing because I’d just put out an ad, hoping to start an all-girl folk band. This was definitely not that, though when we met up, we clicked instantly.

B: Yeah, we were friends on Facebook but had never met in real life. She frequently posted videos of herself with an acoustic guitar singing covers and originals and I was entranced by her voice. I messaged her about meeting up and she seemed excited about it. I later found out that she’d recently posted on Craigslist trying to start an all-girl band; good timing at its best. We met up in the practice rooms at Arizona State University and pretty much immediately hit it off.

How long did you wait before calling her back?

B: I think we ended up meeting the next day too, or very soon thereafter.

You came from Phoenix. What prompted you to make the move out to LA?

M: I dragged Bret out to LA so I could pursue acting. I’ve always been an actor, long before I was a musician. I just figured we could be Bogan Via anywhere, but Los Angeles is where I need to be to really push myself as an actor. It’s a tough city though and I miss Phoenix constantly. So, who knows, maybe we’ll move back!

B: Yeah, Maddie said she needed to be in LA to pursue her acting so we made the jump. I’m always on board with a little adventure.

Artistically, what was it like leaving the familiarity of the Phoenix community and scene for LA?

B: I’m not sure if it’s because we were in the thick of the scene in Phoenix or had grown up there, but I feel like there was a very tangible music scene there. You knew the hot spots; you knew the up and coming bands. There was definitely a lot of camaraderie between bands. In LA, I haven’t really discovered a scene. There’s the music business here and I feel like that almost trumps the scene a bit. There are so many venues and secret house shows and private showcases that it feels more like a jungle than an incubator for talent. People wanna ‘collaborate’ in LA. In Phoenix we just got together to jam. There’s just more pressure and expectation on everything.
‘Is this one gonna be a hit?’ If not “don’t waste my time” says LA.

M: There’s amazing stuff in LA too but because there’s so much to dig through, it’s harder to find. We’ve been here over 3 years and met some beautiful people who’ve become great friends; it feels like we’re finally breaking into something, getting comfortable. But honestly, every day is different.

It’s just so saturated out here in LA. There’s a million people everywhere and most of them are artists. It’s chaotic and alienating – It’s easy to feel like you’re not good enough. Phoenix has an amazing community that’s just starting to really sprout. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening in Phoenix and a lot of great music.

Around the time we met, the election was impending and we spoke about Trump. He’s since taken power. How is the sentiment on the ground in LA and around places you’ve travelled?

M: People are scared, people are angry. They feel betrayed and I think a lot of them feel helpless. It’s basically a f*cking nightmare. People are pissed off. They’re protesting, they’re sharing information, they’re talking to each other. I have a lot of problems with the entire political system. I think the whole thing needs to be turned on its head. Trump is obviously a f*cking joke. He is hateful, he is uninformed, he’s an abuser, egotistical and misogynistic. It’s too easy to hate on Trump because he’s such a f*cking idiot. I’ve got little to no faith in the system, but I have some hope in people. It reassures me that people are asking questions, scrutinizing every little thing. I think that’s great. We need to keep doing that, we need to stay angry and suspicious, we need to keep exposing the corruption because it has existed long before Donald f*cking Trump.

B: Life continues it seems. As involved or heartbroken as people seem to be I don’t know if the disenfranchised will make anything of it. Obviously, we’ve seen the continual scathing he receives on Facebook as many become aware of how crazy his actions are, but I’m not sure anything’s going to change. If the media starts talking about something else, people will start feeling something else… Life goes on. Gotta get that money.

Who are your musical heroes? Are there any artists you’d love to channel?

M: Some of my musical heroes are Ben Folds, Radiohead and First Aid Kit. That music inspired me at an early age. It got me through some rough patches so it’ll always hold a dear place in my heart. Artists that influence my work in Bogan Via would be Austra and Banks, definitely. I would kill to collaborate with Lana Del Rey one day; I just f*cking love everything she does. There’s also a band from Phoenix I adore called ROAR. They put out an album last year that seriously changed my life. I really just love music that makes you feel a little sad.

B: Yeah, I get really inspired by albums. My favorite artists don’t necessarily make music that I love all the time but at some point, they’ve made an album that changed my life. I remember listening to Radiohead when I was younger too, and thinking that it was all this jumbled up noise and mess. When I revisited Kid A later, I had something of an epiphany. I could see the story and understand its artistry. Funeral by Arcade Fire hit me instantly; such powerful emotion and great song writing, and it only gets better the more you listen to it. These two definitely set the bar in my world and hopefully continue to inspire me to get closer.

Day to day, how different is LA life to Phoenix life?

M: Phoenix is just so easy. Our families are there, most of our oldest friends are there. There’s no traffic in comparison. It’s definitely more comfortable there, but we go back to play shows and visit with family all the time. It’s a quick trip from LA so it’s okay! LA has a lot to offer, that’s why everyone wants to be here. It’s just different. It’s an incredibly expensive city so we live in a small one bedroom in Hollywood. I love our apartment but it’s always loud outside and the streets are dirty. There’s a huge wealth gap in LA. There are homeless people everywhere and there doesn’t seem to be much outreach for them. Seeing the disparity wears on you.

B: I don’t think we’ve swallowed the red pill quite yet. I’d say we still prefer Arizona to Los Angeles. People are nicer in Phoenix by a huge gap. LA is a crazy city where everybody’s gunning for something and it turns people a little vicious. Neither Maddie or I have the cutthroat mentality so it can be pretty depressing here sometimes.

What balances out those negatives about LA – what do you love about it?

B: The trees and the green and the humidity. Now that we’ve lived here three years we’ve made some friends that we cherish a lot. Vegan options are on overload which is encouraging. There are a lot of movers and shakers here who are trying to make the world a better place. Young people working ridiculously hard to follow their passions and not planning their retirements any time soon.

M: I feel like I’m hating hard on Los Angeles but it’s not that bad. There are lots of creative people here, there’s always something to do. I can be quite shy, so it’s just a lot for me to take in. I get overstimulated easily; if I wasn’t an actor I don’t think I would live here, but most people love it!

Has anything weird taken place since Trump was sworn in?

M: Anything weird? Everything has pretty much been weird. I mean, I haven’t seen anyone light themselves on fire but people are really paying attention now! They’re getting more involved than I’ve seen before. That’s not weird though, it’s great!

B: Hmm. Lots of rain here in LA. I joked with Maddie that they f*cked with the weather to keep people from protesting the inauguration and now they just don’t know how to make the rain stop.

Bogan Via become lured by the promise of pink neon. No Bougainvillea here folks.

If anyone’s headed to Phoenix, what are a few musical acts and venues they should check out?

B: The scene in Phoenix is very much growing. More festivals and venues are popping up and it seems like people are starting to really take an interest. Some of our favourite spots to go are Crescent Ballroom and Valley Bar. Both venues bring more hip, weird music that maybe Phoenix wouldn’t normally have been exposed to in the past. This has given rise to more local artists pursuing less traditional music and it’s been very exciting to see what’s churning out. Some of our favourites are MRCH, Emby Alexander, Harrison Fjord, and Snake Snake Snakes.

Emby Alexander at Tribal Cafe, W Temple St, Echo Park

M: There is so much good music coming out of Phoenix. I mentioned before, I’m obsessed with a band called ROAR, their music moves me, I can’t even describe it. There’re a lot of amazing women I admire so much. Luna Aura (now LA based), Sareena Dominguez, Steff Koeppen (& the Articles), Taylor Upsahl. I love their music. The Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix is top notch as far as venues go. The hospitality, the quality, you can’t beat it. They take chances on artists; they let newcomers take the stage. They supported us so much, especially when we first started. Valley Bar and Rebel Lounge, they’re fantastic too! They just take care of you, it’s f*cking wonderful! I feel like there is just so much great art coming up, and downtown PHX is an exploration of that. The bars, the venues and independent shops, they all contribute. They all share this push for local love!

The search intensifies…

Maps to the Star’s Homes… Having grown up outside LA, I feel like sometimes there’s a gulf between the expectation and reality of the place; there’s Tinseltown and the perceived glamour, then there’s something altogether more circumspect and down-to-earth about the city.

How do you feel about the Hollywood cliché versus the reality of LA as an American metropolis?

B: I feel like I didn’t have many preconceived notions of tinsel town, aside from it being a very competitive place to try and make it. I think there’s probably something here for everyone. I remember meeting people who weren’t aspiring to make it early on when I was just getting my grip on the town and I would ask ‘why do you live here then?’
LA is a tough, tough town and I certainly had a hard time understanding why people would choose to live in a dirty, expensive, overpopulated town if it wasn’t where they necessarily needed to be for their career, but obviously there’s a million ways to slice it.

The LA that’s portrayed in movies exists for sure, it’s here. And that’s the big allure I guess, because when your ship comes in, there’s a lot of fun ways to spend the cash and you truly can live in that fictitious/not fictitious world if you so choose.

M: Well, that’s a hard question. I never really had expectations of LA. I just knew as an actor, I needed to try it out because the opportunity was here. I didn’t think it would be glamorous; I actually expected to be poor and feel rejected, but I didn’t think it would be as hard to connect with people. Some of those clichés are true; the egos, this kinda’ persona people take on. 3 years in, I‘ve made some really extraordinary friends but at first felt like I met some bullshit people and sat through a lot of bullshit conversations. As far as the reality of the city, I’m not sure what that would be. I mean, there’s a lot of money here and there is sparkle but there’s so much poverty too and you see it everywhere. You see it more. It seems so wrong.

As dawn breaks over DTLA, Bogan Via unearth their botanical namesake, Bougainvillea. Hallelujah.

Lastly, what’s next for Bogan Via? What can we expect in 2017?

B: We just recorded a new single set to release in a couple of months. We are heading to Treefort Music fest later this month and then Neon Desert a couple months later. We’re hoping to get a full-length vinyl out this year and tour as much as possible.

M: We’re recording new music all the time.
We’re psyched about our next single that’s being mixed right now. We plan to make another album and press it to Vinyl and then tour! I love touring, it’s my absolute favorite, so I’m hoping we’ll hit the road again soon – I’d love to go on tour for months.
Beyond Bogan Via, I just wanna’ cause change in the world. Bret and I are both huge advocates for animal rights. I volunteer with Mercy for Animals so we foster cats and dogs through an organisation in LA. Some days I want to quit everything and spread veganism across the planet in hope of saving it, you know? Human connection is everything. I really want to help the people and animals that need it. So, hopefully in 2017 we can expect a lot of both!

You definitely won’t find Bogan Via sharing a charred snag at Bunnings on a Sunday morning. You can however watch and listen to their compelling musical works
by visiting the following:

https://boganvia.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheBoganVia

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBOGANvia

Bret and Maddie expect to release a new full-length album later this year.

Meanwhile, let’s delve deeply into their back catalogue for a classic BV video:

Bogan Via
Kanye
Directed by Freddie Paul, 2013

Bonnie Stewart: Another Latitude

Posted on January 19, 2017 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | Hair and Makeup: Kelsey Decker | Props and Wardrobe: Ester Karuso-Thurn | Dublin to Sydney via Byron Bay with Bonniesongs

Someday you’ll be minding your own business, out at a show in the drudge of your hometown. You’ll become ensnared in a sonic moment that whisks you away, to somewhere far from the four walls of the venue you’d walked into. Voices and instruments carrying the echo of another latitude roll into town. An artist might envelope you in the spectre of their world with a song and take you to a place hitherto completely outside your personal mise èn scene.

For a peck of audiences in Australia over the past couple of years, Bonnie Stewart has been one of those subtly transcendent artists. Her lilting vocals float over gentle peaks of acoustic and electronic instruments, layered ethereally into what may be a moderately enchanted loop pedal. Under the spell of thrumming guitar, Stewart renders her arrangements with a fidelity of performance that seems to amplify an almost spectral presence. This is Bonniesongs. She’ll play loudly whilst making you ridiculously aware of silence and then go some way to reminding you how music is at its most basic, mere vibration moving through air, occupying the same molecular space as the incorporeal.

After the show, the wormhole closes over. Bonnie is softly spoken, approachable and personable. The woman who bare moments earlier, exuded something supernal onstage, is supremely down-to-earth.

We talk about what brought her to Sydney, how different this place is from her hometown of Dublin, and attempt to approximate an understanding of what gave rise to her uncommon craft.

How and when did you start Bonniesongs?

Well, for years I sang and wrote songs alone in my room, mostly recording vocal layers into GarageBand, and couldn’t figure out or imagine it live. I guess “Bonniesongs” started once I began performing, which actually started in a treehouse in Byron Bay. That was soon after I moved to Australia.

I was volunteering at an organic farm and self-sufficient community called Jasper Hall. It was a really inspiring place. Luckily, I had a mandolin with me, and just started writing songs in the mango tree I was living in!

A mango tree?

It’d always been a dream of mine to live in a tree. Anyway, I gave the residents a few performances and had a lot of fun. It just continued from there really. I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to start playing in Sydney if it wasn’t for some very encouraging friends though. You gotta have your pushy friends!

You’d just moved from Dublin to Sydney. What lead you to leave Dublin for Australia?

I’m not totally sure where it began. Maybe it was too much watching Neighbours and Home and Away (she laughs). I just started feeling a pull towards Australia. I became a bit obsessed that the universe was telling me to come here! There were logical reasons, like I love the sun and the lifestyle it brings. There were also more economic opportunities compared to Ireland, and there are some Australian jazz musicians I really enjoy. Ultimately I was looking for a change of scene and an adventure.

I felt in my gut that I needed to come here. I’m a big believer in following instincts.

What are some of the differences between Dublin and Sydney, in terms of music and performance?

I think the main differences really come down to performance opportunities and financial support. There are some really creative musicians and interesting sounds coming out of Dublin, but the lack of venues and backing are the biggest problem. There are less and less spaces to play and usually for little or no money. Conversely, I know musicians in Sydney who can make a living playing music, who somehow always find a space to put on original music even if it’s just a warehouse, tiny bar or house. That’s not to say Sydney is full of venues or support for original music. It can be hard for sure. Sydney musicians have to fight to make it work sometimes, which is maybe why there’s such a strong music community here. I hope that Dublin’s creative musicians will make it work too.

I’ve also noticed a variety of instrumentation here in Australia. All these saxophone and trumpet players, and a sousaphone! I’d never seen a sousaphone until I moved here! I think it comes from having more support for music in schools. Primary school kids are playing in jazz bands and that is awesome. I didn’t have music as an option at all in school! That’s just crazy!

Wait… No music in schools?

Well not in my schools. I know of friends who could. I eventually had to take music outside of school. I guess it’s just another example of how music isn’t always recognised as important. Music should be a required component in every school because it’s just SO beneficial for learning and development, and it’s an integral part of life.

At a grassroots level, Sydney entertainment and nightlife have taken a beating at the hands of the state’s inept lockout laws. You’re from Dublin. What would you say to a state that would see its creative communities hamstrung by over-regulation?

Suck a brick, state. Uh too many emotions, I’m not sure where to begin…

A lot of your songs are like little stories. What do you write about? What inspires you to write?

All sorts of things inspire me lyrically.

Animals?

Yeah! I’ve written about spiders, mice, dinosaurs. Falling off cliffs. Swimming, dreaming, video games, ice cream, sand dunes, Nauru… feminism.

Musically, I get a lot of inspiration from watching live music. I take mental note of sounds that I like and what seems to work, though most of my songs have come from noodling around on guitar and drums or even just singing around the house.

Some of your songs seem to be written about your daily life too.

I definitely end up writing about little things that’ve happened to me or what I’ve been thinking about at the time. I recently watched Night of the Living Dead and pretty quickly wrote a spooky song inspired by that [Barbara]. I need to have a clear idea of what I want to say, otherwise I usually never end up finishing the song. I have a lot of unfinished songs! When I’m feeling inspired and focused, I can write the song quickly, which has probably lead to some of my favourite songs. Oh, another example is the time my gardening enthusiast housemate pulled up my lavender plant and some herbs which he thought were weeds. It led me to write a song, Flowers in the Garden.

A lot of your songs evoke an almost cinematic sound. Do you have a strong visual in mind when you write your music?

I’m a pretty visual person in general I think, so having an image just helps make things clearer in my mind. My friend Ida Lawrence and I made a stop motion animation video for my song Dinogon, and it’s pretty much exactly what I was visualising as I wrote the song.

I wish I could make animated music videos for all my songs, but it takes me toooo long!

Would you like to see your music on a film or soundtrack?

Yeah. I’ve had a couple of bits of interest in my music being used in films, but it hasn’t followed through yet, unfortunately. I recently played at Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival. A man told me I sounded spooky and would be a perfect on the soundtrack of a scary movie, so I hope that happens.

Your dad is a luthier.
What kind of stringed instruments does he mostly make?

Are any of your guitars or other instruments made by him?

My dad has made guitars, mandolins, mandolas, and fiddles. He made me a very special classical guitar, which I love so much. I also have a Les Paul style electric made by him, and a mandola. These beautiful instruments are all safely back in Ireland at the moment, though. I’ve only had the opportunity to perform live with them once, last April in Dublin. Other than that they’ve been relatively unplayed for the last few years. My dad has been too worried about flying with instruments, and how they would react to the change of climate. I think I’m gonna sneak that classical guitar over next visit, though.

I get a sense of depth or ‘tradition’ in your music.

Do you feel like there is something ‘in the blood’ about making music for you?

I always love it when people tell me they can hear the ‘Irishness’ of my music. I’m definitely never trying to make it sound that way. I’d like to think that all the music I’ve ever put a lot of listening time into, comes through or inspires me at some point in my own music making. I always had Irish music around the house, then grew up with punk, grunge, indie and rock. I studied jazz, some Indian Carnatic music and a lot of experimental improvised music along the way and, well I think it comes through at different times. So in a sense, I feel like all the music I’ve ever really connected with has stayed ‘in the blood’ for me.

What’s next on the cards for you in terms of tours or releases? Where can we see or hear you play?

Well I have so many songs that I need to get out there, so one of my next goals is to just record everything I’ve written in the last couple years and put it all out. But I wanna keep my favourite songs for a special album release. The album will be called Cat and Mouse. I hope to get it out this year. That’s all I can tell you! For now, you can listen to some tracks, buy my demo or keep up to date with gigs from my website https://bonniesongs.com or https://www.facebook.com/bonniesongsmusic/

As we went ‘to press’, Bonnie let us know she has a new video to share (just in time for this story)! Thanks to the wonder of YouTube, here it is:

Live at Cleveland’s
Bonniesongs featuring Freya Schack-Arnott
Sand Dunes

Diana DeMuth: American Music

Posted on December 19, 2016 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | On Location with Diana DeMuth in Hollywood |

It’s a Tuesday night on Cahuenga, half a block south of Hollywood Boulevard.

At Hotel Café, an intimate, dimly lit bar fills with industry types, musicians and punters.

A few interlopers hover around in corners but moreover, this feels like a roomful of insiders; people switched on to what’s about to happen, let in on a well-kept secret. Expectant murmurs. Girls with guitars, drums and keyboards begin to take their places on stage in front of a red velvet drape. A quick sound check ensues. The visages of these women are serious, no-nonsense and ready. Diana DeMuth is front and centre. An air of anticipation falls over the room.

Diana is originally from Concord, Massachusetts. Having recently made the move to LA, she now shares a house with friends on the Valley side of the Hollywood Hills, overlooking Toluca Lake, Studio City and Burbank.

Here at her home, we talk easily. She strolls around in bare feet. Chunks of fresh cut lime bob around in the gin and tonic she’s casually sipping. She manages to nurse the same glass for most of the afternoon. When Demuth takes the stage, she’s a woman of determined mien. There’s a smouldering urgency to her presence. As she performs, intensity flickers over her face. There’s a gravity to her delivery that places her along a continuum of bluesy storytelling in American music; a veritable road-trip soundtrack to leaving familiar places, people and heartache behind, healing and inevitably moving on.

As I set up lighting gear on the porch, rich contralto notes float from the kitchen, a voice effortlessly changing key and flitting between octaves. As we shoot photos, it begins to rain lightly and the fixings of sunset are masked by an overcast sky. It’s a good time to ask Diana more about her life, love, musical motivation and settling into the City of Angels.

A lot of your songs refer to specific American towns and cities. Sometimes your songs are even named after these places. Would you say there’s a strong sense of ‘American place’ inscribed in your music?

I love writing about places I’ve lived and spent time in over the years. Being that I grew up in America, a lot of my songs resonate with this country and its cities. However, I’d like to believe people from anywhere can listen and relate to their essence. Many of my songs discuss the discomfort of being in a new place and the comfort of being home. I think those feelings, everyone has experienced at one point. Usually the places I write about, I’ve spent time in but occasionally I’ll write about a place I haven’t been yet to capture a feeling.

When I wrote the song ‘Albuquerque’, I hadn’t actually been there yet. My college roommate was from there and I liked the sound of the word. It embodied a kind of foreign feeling. I wrote the song about leaving and returning to something familiar.

You’ve somewhat recently left somewhere familiar and made the move to LA. What do you love most about this city so far?

I had almost no expectations moving to LA, and I think that’s worked in my favour. Something about this city has been very freeing for me. I love how big LA is and how many cool places I’ve discovered here. It feels like a fresh start.

Cool places, you say? Tell us a few.

Yeah. I really like spending time in Silverlake. Some of my friends live over that way and there are a couple good places to eat there. Also a place called Sunset Beer, which I was introduced to recently. It’s basically packed with refrigerators full of craft beer – I’m no expert but I’m learning (she smiles). I think a lot of people expect LA to be stuck up in a way which hasn’t been my experience at all. You can be whatever you want to be and I think that’s awesome.

What are some things that have gone right for you since moving to LA?

One that comes to mind happened in my first few months of living here. When I moved to LA I only knew three people, one of them being an amazing producer named Jeff Bova. One of my goals coming here was to reconnect with him, try to learn more about the industry and how I could continue growing myself in it. I met Jeff in his studio last fall and after spending a few hours with him, I had a feeling we’d work together. He’s currently producing my newest album. I’d say that day was the starting point for everything that’s happened musically in the past year.

Are there days where you put the music to one side and just, explore something else?

Totally. I’ll go for a run or go explore a new area. I spend a LOT of time in my car in LA traffic so if I can move around outside on foot, I’ll do it!

What’s the thing or issue in life that inspires dedication to your craft more than anything else?

I can’t live without writing. It might sound cliché but ever since I began playing music, there’s been a voice in my head telling me this is what I’m meant to do! I don’t question that anymore. I don’t think I can fully process anything without writing a song about it. That’s what keeps me dedicated.

I see that. I feel like there’s an urgency to what you sing. I see it when you perform live. What are the experiences you grapple with most in your songs?

My writing is mainly fuelled by relationships. Whether it’s a person or a place, I love talking about connection. I’d say recently my songs have taken a more personal turn. There’s one titled ‘Dear Eliza’, which refers to someone I used to love, going home and driving past her house after many years. It’s a nostalgic song. In my latest song ‘I Don’t Believe the Rain’, I wrote about my experience in LA regarding relationships and my inability to give up on situations (and people) even when I should. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster out here emotionally, so I’ve written a lot!

An emotional roller coaster. Romantically?

I think whenever you move to a new place there’s a bit of a roller coaster that goes on. I mean that in many ways, not just romantically. Meeting new people, knowing who to let go of and who to keep around, and all the other things that come with growing up. It’s all just part of the journey.

A lot of song writing is (consciously or unconsciously) about putting a voice to the deepest things we feel as a people. Some people are going to feel like you put a voice to their feelings, too. What would you say to someone who’s struggling in love, or in life?

In love, I would say know your worth. I think we’re often drawn to people or things that aren’t necessarily the best for us. It’s a lesson I’ve had to relearn a couple of times. Know yourself; value yourself and people will be attracted to that. I’d say the same goes for life in general.

Like, knowing when to walk away?

Know when to walk away, and then do it. No use in hanging around things or people that aren’t helping you. It just slows you down.

That reminds me, there’s a verse in one of your songs that says ‘Lover if you miss me you can find me in the city, lost on an August day. Since your revelation, you’ve been hiding in New England, you cut your hair and changed your name.’ What’s that about?

I wrote this song when I was eighteen and it’s about knowing when to leave. It discusses my relationship with Boston and my relationship with someone at the time. I wrote this when I felt like I needed to leave where I was and who I was with. It’s about reinvention.

One for the LA neophytes. If you knew someone who had a rental car and one day to spend in LA, which places would you tell them to go and see?

That’s a tough one. When I first moved here I lived in a place called Highland Park and I think it’s a pretty cool area – great taco trucks! Also, it’s a bit of a drive, but Point Dume in Malibu is beautiful.

What can we expect from you release-wise in the next year or so? Where can we find more of your music?

I have a brand new album that only my family and close friends have heard. It will be released in 2017, and I’m REALLY excited about it!

You can find me on Facebook.com/dianademuthmusic, dianademuthmusic.com

The video for my brand new single is here on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za9YZpS6xKk