G E N E R I C A N I F E S T OVolume Two : Fall | Winter 2012

02

CONTENT

03 Easy R ide r s Pho to s by Ramon Fe l i x

12 The L ia r s Pho to s/ t ex t by Dus t i n A . Bea t t y

16 RVNG INTL . Tex t by N ik Merce r

18 Shepard Fa i rey : Deuce S t ud io Pho to s Jon Fu r long/OBEY 3 0 B u k o w s k i ’ s G u i d e t o DT L A Pho to s by Magda lena Wos in ska

32 Shop Ta l k Tex t by Dus t i n A . Bea t t y & N ik Merce r

36 Mar iac h i E l B ronx V i sua l Tou r D ia r y

41 Ke i t h Har i ng Arc h i ve s Pho tog raphy by Jon Fu r long/OBEY

50 The GNRC Eye Pho to s

Cover : Shepard Fa i rey , Lo s Ange le s , C A . Pho t o by JON FURLONGEASY RIDERS

What t he he l l i s w rong w i t h f reedom? Tha t ’ s wha t i t ’ s a l l abou t .

Ea sy R ide r (1969)

28

R ide r sS h a w n M c k i n n e y • 0 3 H a r l e y D a v i d s o n F X D P • G e n e r i c S u r p l u s D o mR y a n B e n n o • H a r l e y D a v i d s o n D y n a F X D X • G e n e r i c S u r p l u s M o j a v eTo m m y W i l s o n • H a r l e y D a v i d s o n 19 8 5 F X R • G e n e r i c S u r p l u s D u c k B o o tG r e g o r y B o l y a r d • H a r l e y D a v i d s o n S p o r t s t e r • G e n e r i c S u r p l u s C a l v a r yKe i t h M a r l o w • H a r l e y D a v i d s o n D y n a W i d e g l i d e • G e n e r i c S u r p l u s L e d g e r M i d

PHOTOGRAPHY RAMON FEL IX

WE’D LIKE TO TAKE YOU INTO

THE STUDIO WITH

THE LIARS

THE L IARSTHE L IARS

STUDIO SPACED WITH THE LIARS

I t ’s notof tenwegetagl impseintobehind- t he-scenesof a f i lm, piece of ar t or even a t he making of asong.Thebeginning,middleandendof t hecreat iveprocess is of tent imes t he most interest ing where ar t -is ts are gaining t heir foot ing, embracing tr ial anderror and putt ing l imitat ions on what t he f inal out -come wil l be. Los Angeles ar t roc kers, The Liars arefamil iar wit h t his journey and for t he better par t ofa decade have been hard at work on an ident i ty that r ivals even the most seasoned veterans. Here they give us a gl impse into what happens behind closed doors, in t he woods and especial ly in t he hear t oftheir s tudio here in Los Angeles.

I ’d love to make this the inter view The Liars have never done. ANGUS:I feell ikealotofwr i tersaskaboutt hegen-eral subject matter of t he record; in fact, t hey don’tget too par t icular l ike asking about the lyr ics. Then again, I ’m not too sure I’d want t hem to do t hat.[ laughter]

AARON: We get asked a lot of quest ions gearedtowards compact ing i t and sel l ing i t almost l ike our label would gat her information. They almost neverget past the l is tening exper ience.

ANGUS: When you’re asked t hesame quest ion over and over howdo you not answer i t the same way? You develop t his habit or r i tual ofsaying the same things.

JULIAN: Sometimes people don’teven look on the Wikipedia and t hey ask you quest ions t hat are s ixyears old

I ’ve unders tood that The Liars take a unique approach to recording where you guys work on individual par ts and then come together and share ideas.

ANGUS: That ’s how we typical lywork. We do a lot individual ly and sometimes even f inish songs our-selves. The major di f ference wit hth is record is we decided not to

do that. Aaron and I moved into this cabin in the woods to force ourselves to share ideas way beforewe would normally. I f you have a c hance to workalone on an idea you can almost develop i t to a point where you feel s trongly about i t . I t was a vul -nerable exper ience.

Was going into the cabin a way to remove yourself from any outs ide inf luences that might have crowded the process?

ANGUS: I t ’s impossible to shut music out of yourl i fe and le t ever yt hing come from inside. In t his dayand age there is music everywhere—all the t ime. You watc h a bloody basketbal l game and Nic ki Minajis playing in t he bac kground. That s tuf f gets in myhead!

JULIAN: I t sneaks in. You’l l be in t he supermarketgett ing some vegetables and t here’s some songt hat ’s playing t hat you’l l end up humming when youget home!Angus: L ike Jack Johnson or something!Jul ian:I s i t t hereandtr ytof igureoutwhyi t ’sinmyhead!

ANGUS: Music is made in suc h a way to inf i l t rateand sneak into your head. Forget turning on the ra -d ioorevenwatc hingT Vwhenyou’retr yingtowr i te. AARON: When we were in t he cabin we didn’t evenhavecel l phonerecept ion.We’dmeetupever ynight

for dinner and watc h t he NBA f i -nals. I remember this one Corona commercial that had this song that was a total nightmare! One of uswould end up humming i t .

JULIAN: We’re insanely cr i t i -cal too. I ’ l l t h ink to myself , “ Thissoundsl iket hatonenotefromt hatonesong.Nope,can’t doi t .”

There are some amazing visuals on the website. Are the visual nar -rat ives consis tent with the lyr ical narrat ives on each record?

ANGUS: I t just depends on t heproject. Wit h t he last record wedeveloped subject matter ear ly onsowehadstuf f wefocusedonandstudied. Sis ter wor ld was more fo-cusedonL Aandalotoft hevisualelements played with that.

JULIAN: The ar twork was real ly t ied together on that record as wel l .

ANGUS:Wit hWIXIWwedidn’t t ieourselves to any specif ic subjectmatter. We lef t t hings pret ty open-ended. I t made us turn real ly in -

wardandfort hef irs t t imeIs tar tedwr i t ing about myself more. That ’swhatyoureal izeusingspecif icsub-ject matter—you can easi ly def lectt hat inward gaze a l i t t le easier. I fanyt hing,t hevisualsonourTumblrhad to do wit h t he process of mak-ing the record.

JULIAN: Yeah, we real ly got to ex-

per iment with tr ying to make new sounds and explore new ways to express ourselves, especial ly wit hthe videos you see on Tumblr.

That has to be an amazing thing to do not only as a band but also with your ar t backgrounds as well .

ANGUS: Yeah, it ’s the best thing tobeabletothisintoamultimediaproj-ect. When we were in ar t school we were all forced to have to work onsomething specif ic but when we allexploredtheideaofbeinginabandwe realized we could do it all. We canrunthegamutfromthingsbeingvisual to exploring new sounds.

JULIAN: On any given day Angus i s in his room working on music,

Aaron is making some videos and I might be making some t -shir ts. Int he process of wai t ing f or t h ingst o happen we’re al l s t i l l creat ingsome t hing f or t h is col lec t ive.

So Jul ian, why weren’ t you inv i ted to the cabin?

JULIAN: [Laughter] I t was real ly a

space issue and I couldn’ t se t upmy drums. I v is i ted them once a week and brought t hem oranges,vi taminsandreal food. Angus: I t had a lot to do with t im -ing and wanting to give ourselves as much t ime as possible to exper i -ment. An example is that we real ly wanted Jul ian to exper iment with the l ive drums and the cabin re -a l lywasn’t setup for t hat. We justwentbac kandfor t hunt i l wefoundsomething we l iked.

JULIAN: And I didn’t have to an-noy them with al l the loud banging and80%of t heshi t tysounds.

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THE L IARSTHE L IARS

Is there a B-rol l with music l ike there is with f i lm—a bunch of discarded work?

JULIAN:Dependsonhowfaryouwant togobac k.

ANGUS: There was a point and i t might be wr i t ten on t he wall somewhere, where we have stuf f for apossiblefol lowupalbum.I t wast hrought hatprocesst hat we decided what would go on t he f irs t one. Wesimply had to put s tuf f to t he s ide t hat we t houghtmight see t he l ight of day at some point. The real i tyof t hat t imel ine is sometimes just too muc h. The t imei t takes togo intomixingandmaster ing just takessolongt hatt heideaofgett ingsomet hingelseoutis re-al ly di f f icul t . Over t ime, you just have a tendency tomoveonfromt heoldstuf f . I t ’s ashamebutweneedto put a l imi t on ourselves.

Even with making the sounds we had to put con -s t raints on ourselves and say, “No more exper imen-tat ion;weneedtomakesomet hinginterest ing.”Wit hmixingyousometimesget toapointwhereyoucan’teven decipher whether or not things are interest ing or not. You just hear t he same t hing so many t imesyou might not be t he best person to ask i f somet hingi s good or not.

How did you sett le on the ar twork? There are so many ideas on the wall .

ANGUS: We got to the point where there was so much we thought we needed to ask another ar t is t to make somet hing. Jul ian cal led up Bea Sc hl ingelhof f ,whohaddoneacoupleofourlast albumcovers,andaskedherforsomeideas.Shesentusonewit hashoeoni t andi t blewever yt hingoutof t hewater.

JULIAN: We loved i t but at the same t ime we were shoc ked.Ashoe?!C’mon.[ laughter]

AARON: We were al l in here banging our heads against the wall and tr ying to get to a place where t he stress was of f t he decis ion-making process. Ithought us agreeing on the shoe image was going to pacifyever yonebut i t createdsomuc hanger!

JULIAN:Asweweresaying,youcandoever yt hinginaband;t herearesomanyavenues.Sometimeswhenyou’re doing t hings internal ly i t ’s almost impossibleto agree. When you get a third par ty to do something you can’t real ly argue wit h him or her wit h as muc hintensi ty as you can with each other.

What ’s l i fe l ike in LA for The Liars?

J U L I A N : I g r e w u p h e r e s o I s p e n d a l o t o f t i m ew i t h m y f a m i l y.

A A R O N : I k i n d o f g a v e u p l i f e o u t s i d e o f t h e b a n d .[ l a u g h t e r ] B u t r e a l l y, I ’ m k i n d o f r e a d y t o g e t o u tb u t w i l l d o w h a t ’ s r i g h t f o r u s .

You al l have an af f ini ty for Ber l in correct which is a lot l ike LA in some respects?

ANGUS: I t ’s c heap as c hips for one. When we f irs tmoved t here we were exci ted about doing a lot ofEastern European tour ing. When you’re in Ber l inyou’re as close to Poland ever yt hing in t hat area asyou can get. We could get in a van and go to Slove -n ia i f wewantedto,whic hwedida lot.

I loveAmer icabutI gettoapointwhereI feelal i t t leover whelmed wit h t he cul ture in Amer ica, whic h canget pret ty over whelming. The commercial, in -your-face vibe gets to be a bi t muc h but I might feel t hesame way i f I l ived bac k in Austral ia. Ber l in is t heabsolute reverse of t hat. I t ’s a place where we canshutof f andconcentrate.

To a cer tain extent, L A has t hat too wit h a mult i tudeof opt ions to go to t he deser t as wel l as go to t hebeach.

Visi t l iars l iars l iars.comformore info.

TEXT/PHOTOS : DUS T IN A BEATT Y

1716

RVNG INTL .RVNG INTL .

MATT WERTH OF RVNG INTL.

There aren’t many independent record labels l ikeRVNGInt l . , but, t henagain, t herearen’t manyown-ers as dedicated to their s ingular vis ion and i ts ex -ecut ion as Matt Wer t h, who’s operated t he impr intfor over a decade. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, butraisedinL i t t leRoc k ,Arkansas,Wer t h,now,af tertenyearsint heBigApple,considershimself aNewYork-er.Hemovedtot hemetropol isfromPhi ladelphia,in2002, where he played bass in bands and operatedFi leThir teen,asmall punk label, or iginal ly foundedin 1989 by a fel low Arkansan. “I t had been aroundpr ior to me taking i t over but i t had t his tradi t ion ofbeing passed along from, l ike, one mico-generat ionto t henext,”saysWer t h.Hegot t hemusicbugfromhis fat her, t hough;“hewasanFMjoc k turnedradiostat ion manager. Music was al l around, especial lyroc k music. When I was seven, I was gif ted Van Ha-len’s 1984 - t hat was my f irs t album, and I t hink i twasper fect lynormalformydadtogivet hattome.”In Phi ladelphia, Wer t h met Dave Pianka, af fect ion-ately cal led Dave P., who, at t hat point, had justs tar ted his regular dance music par t ies, MakingT ime. Wer t h and Pianka hi t i t of f and decided tojoin forces to create a more cl ient -or iented compa-ny, whic h eventual ly became RVNG Int l . “ We wereworking with other record labels to promote their ownalbums, l ikeHef ty Recordsanda lotofelectro-clash stuf f t hat was happening at t he t ime,” ref lectsWer t h. “A bi t of a hodge-podge of hired event andpromotionwork. I t wasanokayrespi te forme,hav -inglef t runningarecordlabel, but, ul t imately, I fel tunful f i l led.” Wer t h t hen turned bac k to physical re-leases to combat his inabi l i ty to not cont inue on as a

“c hampion of t he par ty,” whic h he warmly descr ibesPianka as. “ We wanted to produce a mix to send topotent ial event cl ients so we could prove to them that we knew what we were doing and could select good DJs or whatever.

So Jul ian Grefe put toget her t he f irs t RVNG mix;RVNG PRSNTS MX1, whic h was basical ly a spray -painted CD in a spray -painted case.” Grefe woundup working on t he second one, too, and New YorkCity f ixture and radio host of Beats In Space, T imSweeney,wasbroughtonfort het hird.I t wasaroundt his t ime t hat a job in t he publ ishing sector broughtWer t h to NYC i tsel f , whic h was also when he star t -ed releasing vinyl records, s tar t ing wit h t he NRDS12”s.“It hink[mytakingont helabelalone]just k indof happened as I s tar ted actual ly running t he busi -ness operat ion of Rvng. By vir tue of t ime and t imeinvested, t he label aspect became my focus.” RVNGgrew quic kly, never looking bac k or second-guessing

i tsel f . Wer t hbeganoneofhismostlauded ser ies; FRKWYS, in whic hhe pairs an older ar t is t with one or more new talents; and begans igning bands in a more tradit ional fashion, foster ing t heir careers asheunleashedsingles,EPs,andful l -lengt h long-players. Take, for ex-ample, Blondes, t he lef t - f ie ld elec-tronic duo on RVNG: “I guess youcould consider me being very present in their ear ly days of playing out l ive and control l ing t he base-ments and gal ler ies t hey were playing,” reminiscesWer t h. “S talking t hem a l i t t le bi t . There’s cer tainlyanA&Raspect to i t .”

We r t h h a s p l e n t y m o r e e x c i t i n g y e a r s a h e a d o fh i m , a n d h e e a g e r l y l o o k s t o t h e f u t u r e . H e r e -c e n t l y s h a c k e d u p w i t h S w e e n e y h i m s e l f t o b r i n gt o l i f e t h e m u c h - t a l k e d - a b o u t a n d l o n g - o v e r d u eB e a t s I n S p a c e l a b e l , w h i c h j u s t s a w i t ’ s f i r s t r e -l e a s e . T h e h a n d f u l o f r e c o r d s t h e y ’ l l b e p u t t i n gf o r t h i n a d d i t i o n t o a l l t h e RV N G o n e s h e h a so n h i s p l a t e w i l l k e e p t h e m a n m o r e t h a n s u f -f i c i e n t l y b u s y f o r a l o n g w h i l e . “ M a y b e [ RV N G ]i s a b u s i n e s s b u t r e s e m b l e s [ a ] f r e e - f o r m i d e a o rc o n c e p t . T h a t i s , t h e c o n c e p t u a l i n t e r f a c e i s al i t t l e m o r e a b s t r a c t . ”

S t o p b y i g e t r v n g . c o m f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n .

TEXT : N IK MERCER

THE DEUCE

Street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey’s

über secret studio known as the Deuce, is where he and

his assistants work on his fine art and large format

projects. In these exclusive pictures, we get a peek

into the working space of one of the most groundbreak-

ing and influential artists of the last two decades.

PHOTOS: JON FURLONG / OBEY

f o r OBEY

Gener i c Su r p l u s

Ava i lab le Fa l l 2012

B U KOW S K I ’ S G U I D E T O DT L A

3130

THE POET LAUREATE OF SKID ROW

BUKOWSKI’S GUIDE TO DOWNTOWN

LOS ANGELES

C O L E ’ S F R E N C H D I P S A N DW I C H

W H Y: S a i d t o b e L o s A n g e l e s ’ o l d e s t p u b l i ch o u s e , C o l e ’ s c l a i m s t o b e t h e o r i g i n a t o r o f t h eF r e n c h d i p s a n d w i c h ( h o w e v e r, s o d o e s i t s l o n g -t i m e r i v a l P h i l i p p e ’ s d o w n t h e r o a d , b u t t h a t ’ sa d i f f e r e n t s t o r y ) . A f r e q u e n t l u n c h s t o p f o r t h eB u k e , w h o u n d o u b t e d l y a p p r e c i a t e d t h e F r e n c hD i p ’ s a b i l i t y t o c u r e a n y h a n g o v e r, n o m a t t e r t h es i z e o f i t . C h e c k o u t t h e d i m l y l i t s p e a k e a s y t h eVar n i sh a t t he bac k t oo (a l t hough t he s imp le man B u k o w s k i h i m s e l f p r o b a b l y w o u l d n ’ t h a v e t h e w a l -l e t o r i n t e r e s t t o s e t f o o t i n t h e r e ) , t h a t s e r v en e a t l y t a i l o r e d , a m a z i n g l y t a s t i n g c o c k t a i l s t h a tsu re l y l i ve s up t o i t s name .

WHERE : 118 Eas t 6 t h S t ree t L o s A n g e l e s , C A 9 0 014

THE K ING EDDY SALOON

W H Y: K i n g E d d y ’ s t a g l i n e , “ W h e r e n o o n e g i ve sa s h i t a b o u t yo u r n a m e : S e r v i n g yo u a s s h o l e s f o r3 0 ye a r s ” , s a y s i t a l l : T h i s S k i d Row d i ve b a r wa sa s a n c t u a r y f o r t h e h a r d - d r i n k i n g B u kow s k i . T h ec e n t r a l h u b f o r i l l e g a l a l c o h o l b o o t l e g g i n g i n t h ep r o h i b i t i o n e r a o f t h e ‘ 3 0 s , K i n g E d d y ’ s wa s p a r to f a n e n o r m o u s D ow n t ow n t u n n e l n e t wo r k . H a v i n gr e s i s t e d t h e “ h i p s t e r i z a t i o n ” o f m a ny o t h e r d i veb a r s i n t h e S k i d Row a r e a , t h e 9 0 - ye a r - o l d s p e a k -e a s y i s s t i l l t h e p l a c e t o g o i f yo u wa n t yo u r d r i n k sc heap and your su r round ings somewhat ske t c hy. A b l o c k a wa y, o n E a s t 5 t h a n d L o s A n g e l e s S t r e e t ,a yo u n g B u kow s k i wo u l d , o f t e n o n a d a i l y b a s i s ,g o t o c h e c k o u t t h e j o b b o a r d s a n d o b s e r ve t h es k i l l e d wo r ke r s s n a p u p o d d j o b s , a s t h e u n s k i l l e dw r i t e r s e l d o m h a d m u c h l u c k h i m s e l f . WHERE : 131 Eas t 5 t h S t ree t L o s A n g e l e s , C A 9 0 013

LOS ANGELES CENTRAL L IBRARY

W H Y: F i n d i n g r e f u g e f r o m a r a t h e r g r i t t y h o m el i f e a n d h i s f a t h e r ’ s a b u s i v e t e n d e n c i e s i n t h e P h i -l o s o p h y s e c t i o n a t t h e l i b r a r y, B u k o w s k i w o u l dw r i t e m a n y o f h i s p o e m s a n d s t o r i e s s i t t i n g b yo n e o f t h e m a n y d e s k s o b s e r v i n g h i s s u r r o u n d -i n g s . I t w a s a l s o h e r e S k i d R o w ’ s u n o f f i c i a l Po e tL a u r e a t e d i s c o v e r e d f e l l o w L . A . - w r i t e r J o h n F a n -t e ’ s 19 3 9 n o v e l A s k t h e D u s t , w h o s e m a i n c h a r -ac t e r A r t u ro Band in i wou ld become an impor t an t f i g u r e i n B u k ’ s l i f e a n d w r i t i n g , a n d s u b s e q u e n t -l y re su l t i ng i n a Fan t e rev i va l among Bukowsk i reade r s . Desp i t e hav i ng gone t h rough seve ra l re -f u r b i s h m e n t s , t h e C e n t r a l L i b r a r y i s s t i l l o n e o fD o w n t o w n ’ s f i n e s t a r c h i t e c t u r a l b u i l d i n g s , d a t i n gb a c k t o 19 2 6 . T h e b o o k s e l e c t i o n a i n ’ t h a l f b a d ,e i t he r.

WHERE : 630 W 5 t h S t ree tL o s A n g e l e s , C A 9 0 071

3332

SHOP TALK

ORIGAMI V INYL

T h e s t o r y o f O r i g a m i V i n y l i s a c l a s s i c c a s e o f t h ea g e - o l d a d a g e t h a t t h i n g s a l w a y s h a p p e n f o r ar e a s o n . T h e s e e d w a s p l a n t e d e a r l y f o r f o u n d e r,Nei l Sc h i e ld a s he exp la i n s t he d ream to open a reco rd shop was one he had s i n ce c h i l dhood . I n -c u b a t e d b y t h e r e v o l v i n g d o o r o f t h e m u s i c i n d u s -t r y a n d a h a n d f u l o f p o s i t i o n s t h a t m u z z l e d h i sc r e a t i v i t y a n d c u r a t o r i a l v o i c e , S c h i e l d s e t t h et a b l e f o r h i s n e x t m o v e u n i n t e n t i o n a l l y b y s e l l -i n g o f f a h a n d f u l o f h i s u n w a n t e d c o l l e c t i o n t of r i e n d s . A f t e r t h i s , t h e l i g h t b u l b w e n t o f f a n d t h ec h a i n o f e v e n t s t h a t l e d t o t h e o f f i c i a l r i b b o n -cu t t i ng s t a r t ed t o s t ac k .

W h i l e a t t e n d i n g a s h o w a t T h e E c h o , E c h o Pa r k ’ sq u i n t e s s e n t i a l i n d i e v e n u e , S c h i e l d w a s h a v i n g adr i nk ac ro s s t he s t ree t a t E l P rado when he go t t o t a l k i n g w i t h a n o l d f r i e n d a b o u t h i s l i f e - l o n g g o a lt o s c h l e p t h e o t h e r ‘ b l a c k g o l d . ’ A s l u c k w o u l dh a v e i t , t h e s t o r e f r o n t s a d j a c e n t t o T h e E c h o w e r e

PERMANENT RECORDS

T h e c r e a t i v e c l a s s h a s a t e n d e n c y t o f o l l o w a f -f o r d a b l e r e n t , w h i c h s o m e t i m e s c o m e s w i t h s e e d ys u r r o u n d i n g s . T h a t ’ s b e c o m i n g r a r e r f o r m o s tn e i g h b o r h o o d s i n E a s t L o s A n g e l e s . E c h o Pa r k ,S i l ve r lake and now even H igh land Pa r k and Eag le R o c k h a v e t u r n e d i n t o h a v e n s f o r t h o s e w a n t i n gt o p lan t roo t s i n an a r t smar t commun i t y w i t hou t d o d g i n g t o o m a n y b u l l e t s . I t m a k e s p e r f e c t s e n s et h a t C h i c a g o - b a s e d Pe r m a n e n t R e c o r d s w o u l do p e n a n o t h e r l o c a t i o n i n t h e s l e e p y s e c t i o n o fE a g l e R o c k . O w n e r s , L a n c e B a r r e s i a n d L i z To o l -ey boas t an exce l l en t s e l e c t i on i n t he i r budge t b i n s a l o n g w i t h c a r r y i n g n e w r e l e a s e s f o r a n y o n el o o k i n g f o r s o m e t h i n g l e f t o f c e n t e r.

Permanent Records is located at 1583 Colorado BLVD. Lo s Ange le s , C A 90041. V i s i t pe rmanen t reco rds la . com f o r more i n f o .

VAC AT ION V INYL

When Vaca t ion V iny l moved t o S i l ve r lake t hey were no s t range r s t o reac h ing t he reco rd love r s i n Eas t Lo s Ange le s . The reason t o re loca t e was c a l c u l a t e d , a s t h e i r p r e v i o u s s t o r e f r o n t w a s n ’ tn e c e s s a r i l y t h e b e s t h o t b e d f o r a c t i v i t y. N o wcen t ra l t o mos t eve r y t h i ng i n t he Sunse t J unc t i on a r e a , Va c a t i o n h a s s e r v e d a s S i l v e r l a k e ’ s p r e m i e rd e s t i n a t i o n f o r a u d i o p h i l e s o v e r t h e l a s t t h r e ey e a r s , e s p e c i a l l y f o r p a s s e r s b y a n d t h e l o c a lc o m m u n i t y w i t h a n a t t u n e d e a r. M a n a g e r, Pe t eM a j o r s p r o u d l y s t a t e s t h a t Va c a t i o n w a s o n e o ft h e f i r s t r e c o r d s h o p s t o o p e n s i n c e t h e d e c l i n e

SHOP TALK With vinyl sales up it’s no wonder indie

record stores are still thriving cultural

bastions. Here are a few of our favorites.

TEXT & IMAGES :DUS T IN A . BEATT Y ( L A ) N IK MERCER (NY)

v a c a n t w i t h p l a n s f o r a p i z z a s h o p i n o n e a n d t h eo t h e r t o - b e - d e t e r m i n e d . T h e n e x t m o r n i n g h e h a dk e y s i n h i s h a n d . “ W h e n y o u p u t t h e e n e r g y o u tt he re t h i ng s some t imes come t oge t he r i n a way y o u w o u l d n ’ t e x p e c t , ” h e r e m e m b e r s .

T h r e e y e a r s l a t e r, O r i g a m i i s a p e r m a n e n t f i x -t u r e i n E a s t L o s A n g e l e s ’ E c h o Pa r k n e i g h b o r h o o dw i t h d i g g e r s t r a v e l i n g f a r a n d w i d e t o r u m m a g et h r o u g h S c h i e l d ’ s w a l l - t o - w a l l s e l e c t i o n o f i n d i e ,p u n k , p s y c h a n d e l e c t r o n i c — y o u n a m e i t ; h e ’ sg o t i t . A d d t o t h a t , u n f o r g e t t a b l e i n - s t o r e p e r f o r -m a n c e s f r o m t h e l i k e s o f S i g u r R o s ’ o w n , J o n s i ,F l o r e n c e a n d t h e M a c h i n e a n d l o c a l f a v o r i t e s l i k eB lac k F lam ingo and Or igam i seems more and more l i k e a p i l l a r o f t h e c o m m u n i t y t h a n j u s t y o u r t y p i -ca l v i ny l vendor.

Or igami V iny l i s loca t ed a t 1816 Wes t Sunse t BLVD. Lo s Ange le s , C A 90026 . V i s i t o r igam io r igam i . com f o r more i n f o .

o f t h e i n d i e i n d u s t r y t o u t i n g t h a t t h e r e i s s t i l l ac u s t o m e r w h o s h a r e s a s p e c i a l a f f i n i t y f o r a n a l o gf o r m a t s . Va c a t i o n n o t o n l y c a r r i e s r e c e n t r e l e a s -e s b u t a l s o d i s p l a y s a v a s t , w e l l - c u r a t e d u s e d s e -l e c t i on . S im i l a r t o Or igam i V iny l— t he i r ne ighbor down t he road—Vaca t ion a l so ex t ends se r v i ce s l i k e t i c k e t s a l e s t o f a n s p r i v y t o b i g b o x r e t a i l e r st a c k i n g o n u n j u s t i f i a b l e f e e s . N o w t h a t ’ s p u n k .

Vaca t ion V iny l i s l o ca t ed a t 3815 Wes t Sun se t B l vd . Lo s Ange le s , C A 90026 . V i s i t vaca t ionv i ny l . com f o r more i n f o rma t ion .

SHOP TALK

OTHER MUSIC

O t h e r M u s i c i s a r e c o r d s h o p t h a t ’ s s e e n i t a l l .F o u n d e d i n 19 9 5 , t h e s t o r e , l o c a t e d m e r e b l o c k sf r o m N Y U , s t a r t e d o u t w h e n “ i n d i e m u s i c h a dk i n d o f g o n e t h r o u g h a b o o m , ” o n l y t o e n d u r e “ ab u s t a n d , [ f i n a l l y, ] a s o r t o f r e v i v a l , ” s a y s J o s hM a d e l l , w h o o w n s i t a l o n g s i d e h i s p a r t n e r, C h r i sVa n d e r l o o . B a c k t h e n , “ t h e r e w e r e a l o t o f n e wl abe l s i n t he U.S . t ha t we re pu t t i ng ou t s i ng le s and new bands . And t he re was t h i s exp lo s ion i n t h i s , l i k e , u n d e r g r o u n d e l e c t r o n i c s c e n e , ” n o t e sM a d e l l . “ T h e r e w a s n ’ t a n y s t o r e i n N e w Yo r k t h a tw a s c a r r y i n g a n y o f t h a t s t u f f . We s t a r t e d t h em u s i c s e c t i o n a t K i m ’ s [ i n t h e E a s t V i l l a g e ] a n dw e r e d o i n g r e a l l y w e l l , b u t w e r e s t i l l w o r k i n g f o rs o m e o n e e l s e a n d c o u l d n ’ t d o w h a t w e w a n t e d . ”M a d e l l a n d Va n d e r l o o o p t e d t o f o r a g e a h e a do n t h e i r o w n , o p e n i n g t h e i r s t o r e f r o n t a c r o s s t h es t r e e t f r o m To w e r R e c o r d s , w h i c h s h u t t e r e d i n2 0 0 6 . “ J u s t b e i n g n e a r t h e m s e e m e d l i k e a g o o dt h i ng . . . and be ing r i gh t by NYU and t he Eas t V i l -l a g e , w h i c h , a t t h e t i m e , w a s w h e r e a l l t h e b e s tm u s i c v e n u e s w e r e . ”

O t h e r M u s i c h a s a d o p t e d t o t o d a y ’ s m u s i c a l l a n d -s c a p e j u s t f i n e , t h o u g h . “ We d o l i v e m u s i c p r o m o -t i o n s o m e t i m e s a n d p u t t o g e t h e r s h o w s , b o t h h e r ea n d a t S X S W a n d o t h e r f e s t i v a l s . We a l s o h a v ea l o t o f p a r t n e r s h i p s . L i k e , w e h a v e a g o o d r e l a -t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e A c e H o t e l ; t h e r e ’ s a k i o s k r i g h tb y t h e c h e c k o u t a n d a l o t o f t h e r o o m s h a v e t u r n -t a b l e s i n t h e m , a n d w e s t o c k t h e m w i t h v i n y l . ”A l s o , a s o f t h i s y e a r, M a d e l l a n d c o m p a n y r u nO t h e r M u s i c R e c o r d s “ a f t e r m a n y y e a r s o f t a l k -i n g a b o u t i t , ” h e a d m i t s . “ We p a r t n e r e d w i t h F a tPo s s u m t o m a n u f a c t u r e a n d d i s t r i b u t e t h e l a b e l .

O u r f i r s t 7 ” j u s t c a m e o u t a f e w w e e k s a g o . I t ’ sf r o m a l o c a l b a n d c a l l e d E x - C o p s . We h a v e t h r e ea l b u m s c o m i n g o u t t h i s s u m m e r. I t ’ s b e e n r e a l l yf u n a n d k i n d o f a b i g d e a l . ”

Other Mus i c i s l o ca t ed a t 15 Eas t 4 t h S t ree t New Yor k , NY 10003 . V i s i t o t he rmus i c . com f o r more i n f o .

HALCYON

“ H a l c y o n w a s l a u n c h e d i n 19 9 9 , p r e t t y m u c hb y a c c i d e n t , ” a d m i t s o w n e r a n d f o u n d e r S h a w nS c h w a r t z . A t t h e t i m e , S c h w a r t z h a d “ b e e n w o r k -i n g i n t h e m u s i c i n d u s t r y, f o r c o r p o r a t e r e c o r dl a b e l s , w h i c h w a s d i s s a t i s f y i n g , ” a n d w a n t e d ac h a n g e . H e m o v e d t o B r o o k l y n , w h i c h , “ a t t h et i m e , w a s c o n s i d e r e d , l i k e , a n o t h e r c o u n t r y b y

C O - O P 87

“ I t ’ s n o t o n l y t h e m o r e e s t a b l i s h e d b o u t i q u e s t h a ta r e d e f i n i n g t h e r o l e o f r e c o r d s t o r e s i n t h e s et u m u l t u o u s t i m e s , t h o u g h . O n a s m a l l , m o s t l y r e s i -d e n t i a l s t r e e t i n G r e e p o i n t , C o - o p 87 i s m a k i n g ab o l d e f f o r t t o b r i n g r e l e v a n c e b a c k t o t h e t r a d i -t i o n a l r e c o r d s h o p . T h e o w n e r s , B e n S t e i d e l , M i k eS n i p e r, a n d M i k e C a t a l a n o , c a m e t o g e t h e r i n J u l yo f 2 011 t o p o r e t h e m s e l v e s i n t o t h e i r b r i c k - a n d -mor ta r a sp i ra t i on s .

“ We a l l h a v e b a c k g r o u n d s i n b a n d s a n d i n d e p e n -d e n t m u s i c , p e r h a p s m o s t n o t a b l y S n i p e r, [ w h o [o w n s t h e l a b e l C a p t u r e d Tr a c k s , ” s a y s S t e i d e l ,h i m s e l f t h e b a s s i s t i n L e m o n a d e , a n N YC - b y - w a y -o f - S a n F r a n c i s c o t r i o . “ T h e i m p e t u s f o r t h i s p a r -t i c u la r shop was t he oppor t un i t y t o t ake ove r t he s t o r e f r o n t i n t h e b u i l d i n g o w n e d b y t h e M e x i c a n

m o s t p e o p l e w h o l i v e d i n M a n h a t t a n , ” a n d , i n a ne f f o r t t o r o u s e c u r i o s i t y a n d e x c i t e m e n t i n h i s r e -l o c a t i o n , s t a r t e d h o s t i n g S a t u r d a y a f t e r n o o n m u -s i c s e s s i o n s f o r h i m a n d h i s b u d d i e s . E v e n t u a l l y,s o m a n y p e o p l e f l o c k e d a c r o s s t h e E a s t R i v e r t oe n j o y t h e l a t e s t i n d a n c e m u s i c t h a t t h e y r e q u i r e dm o r e s p a c e , a n d t h a t ’ s w h e n H a l c y o n o p e n e d .

“ O u r s h o p w a s o f a d o z e n o r l e s s t h a t c a t e r e d s p e -c i f i c a l l y t o t h e DJ m a r k e t , ” b u t “ a l l o f t h e m w e r ec o n c e n t r a t e d i n l o w e r M a n h a t t a n , s o , w h e n w eo p e n e d u p , w e w e r e t h e o n l y t h i n g i n B r o o k l y n , ”wh i c h gave Sc hwar t z an advan tage and he lped h i m w e a t h e r t h e m u s i c i n d u s t r y ’ s b u s t i n t h e e a r l ya u g h t s . “ We ’ v e a l w a y s b e e n e x t r e m e l y c o m m u n i -t y - o r i e n t e d , ” h e a d d s . “ We ’ v e a l w a y s d o n e s t u f fw i t h t h e i d e a t h a t a r e c o r d s h o p i s v i t a l , s o w e ’ v ed o n e s t u f f t o e n g a g e w i t h t h e c o m m u n i t y o u t s i d eo f t h e s t o r e a n d m a k e s u r e p e o p l e a p p r e c i a t e t h ev a l u e o f w h a t w e b r i n g a n d u n d e r s t a n d w h a t w eo f f e r. We ’ v e p r o d u c e d a n d p r o m o t e d a l l k i n d so f d i f f e r e n t e v e n t s , f r o m i n - s t o r e t h i n g s t o l i v ebroadcas t s t o podcas t s . We r un a s i t e whe re we r e v i e w r e c o r d s , i n t e r v i e w a r t i s t s . We w o r k c l o s e -l y w i t h a l l t he p romo te r s i n t own t o coord ina t e con t en t w i t h even t s t o he lp d r i ve i n t e re s t t o t he s c e n e . We d i s t r i b u t e l a b e l s . . . a l o t o f l o c a l N e wYor k l abe l s . . . e spec ia l l y guys t ha t a re rea l l y D IY o r o f a y o u n g e r g e n e r a t i o n . We w o r k w i t h e v e r y -b o d y. Yo u c a n ’ t r e a l l y b e i n v o l v e d i n t h e s c e n ea n d n o t r u n i n t o s o m e t h i n g t h a t H a l c y o n h a s n ’ thad a t l ea s t some par t i n .”

Ha l cyon i s l o ca t ed a t 57 Pear l S t ree t New Yor k , NY 11201. V i s i t ha l cyon l i ne . com f o r more i n f o .

S u m m e r / Ke m a d o l a b e l s , ” h e s h a r e s . “ T h e y h a dp r e v i o u s l y u s e d t h e s p a c e f o r a m o r e b o u t i q u e -o r i e n t e d s h o p , b u t t h e i d e a o f u s t a k i n g o v e r t h es p a c e f o r a m o r e a l l - i n c l u s i v e n e w a n d u s e d r e -co rd s t o re was some t h i ng t hey were ve r y recep -t i v e t o , a n d t h e t i m i n g w a s r i g h t f o r u s . ” S o h o wdo t hey keep t he i r heads above wa t e r i n t he se c razy t imes when eve r yone seems obse s sed w i t h s o c i a l m e d i a , I n t e r n e t c o n n e c t i v i t y a n d p r o m o -t i o n , a n d d i g i t a l r e t a i l i n g ? “ T h e r e ’ s s e v e r a l w a y st o ‘ d o i t r i g h t , ’ o b v i o u s l y, b u t , f o r u s , w e s i m p l yw o r k e x t r e m e l y h a r d t o b e a s t o r e f u l l o f q u a l i t yr e c o r d s a t g o o d p r i c e s , a n d t h u s f a r i t ’ s d o n ev e r y w e l l f o r u s . Pe r h a p s b e t t e r t h a n e x p e c t e d . ”A n d t h e y ’ r e n o t t r y i n g t o g r o w a t a n o v e r - a m b i -t i o u s s p e e d , e i t h e r ; s a y s S t e i d e l , “ a s f a r a s t h eg r e a t e r f u t u r e o f t h e s t o r e , w e ’ l l l e t t h i n g s g r o wa t o u r o w n p a c e . ”

Co-op 87 i s located at 87 Guernsey S t . (be tween Nassau Ave & Norman Ave) in Brook lyn, NY 11222. V i s i t coop87.o rg f o r more i n f o .

MARIACHIELBRONX’VISUALTOURDIARY

Mariachi el Bronx’ Visual

Tour Diary

Just returning from accompanying the Foo Fighters on

their Wasting Light World Tour, the Mariachi el Bronx

is the alter ego of Los Angeles-based punk band the

Bronx, yet now fusing the latter’s trademark punk

sound with traditional mariachi music. The band re-

leased their eponymous debut in 2009, and another

self-titled LP followed last summer.

ALL PHOTOS: MARIACHI EL BRONX

MARIACHIELBRONX’VISUALTOURDIARY MARIACHIELBRONX’VISUALTOURDIARY

f o r OBEY WOMEN

Gener i c Su r p l u s

Ava i lab le Fa l l 2012

Inside the Haring Archives

The legendary street artist and social activist Keith

Haring has had an invaluable effect on the cultural

and artistic landscape that has followed after his

first success in the early 1980s and premature death

in 1990, aged 31. Proving that art isn’t reserved for

the privileged, nor for established art galleries,

Haring has been an inspiration to many contemporary

artists, including OBEY’s Shepard Fairey.

OBEY Clothing visited Keith Haring’s studio to re-

search and document for an upcoming project. Here’s a

glimpse into their visit.

TEXT: SHEPARD FAIREY

PHOTOGRAPHY: JON FURLONG/OBEY

All photos taken with kind permission of The Keith Haring Foundation, New York.

1

KE I TH HAR ING ARC HIVES

T h o u g h Ke i t h H a r i n g d i e d o n l y t w o y e a r s a f t e r I s t a r t e d m a k i n g s t r e e t a r t , h i s

a r t a n d p r a c t i c e h a d a l r e a d y m a d e a p r o f o u n d i m p a c t o n m e . A t a r t c o l l e g e

a n d o n t h e s t r e e t s o f N YC i n t h e l a t e 8 0 ’ s a n d e a r l y 9 0 ’ s , Ke i t h ’ s r a d i a n t

b a b y a n d o t h e r i m a g e s c o u l d b e s e e n o n t h e t e e s o f a l l t h e f l y e s t h i p s t e r s .

Ke i t h H a r i n g w a s a p r o l i f i c a r t i s t w i t h a d i s t i n c t s t y l e o f d r a w i n g a n d p a i n t -

i n g t h a t w a s s i m u l t a n e o u s l y r e f i n e d , b u t p r i m i t i v e , d e l i b e r a t e b u t l y r i c a l a n d

e n e r g e t i c . H a r i n g b e l i e v e d “ t h e p u b l i c h a s a r i g h t t o a r t ” a n d t h i s p h i l o s o p h y

i n f o r m e d h i s p o p u l i s t a p p r o a c h t o s p r e a d i n g h i s a r t a n d m e s s a g e s . H e p u r -

s u e d h i s a r t w i t h a d e e p l y p e r s o n a l v i s i o n , b u t a l s o a s a c h a m p i o n o f s o c i a l

j u s t i c e a n d a b e l i e f i n t h e i n t e r c o n n e c t e d n e s s o f h u m a n i t y. H a r i n g d e m o n -

s t r a t e d t h e p o w e r o f a r t o n t h e s t r e e t s , b u t h e a l s o p u t h i s a r t o n t - s h i r t s a n d

reco rd cove r s . He even opened a re t a i l space i n NYC ca l l ed The Pop Shop .

E v e n t u a l l y H a r i n g ’ s a r t w o r k b e c a m e w i d e l y r e s p e c t e d , d i s p l a y e d , a n d s o l d a s

“ f i n e a r t ” . H a r i n g r o s e f r o m t h e 8 0 ’ s N YC g r a f f i t i s c e n e t o n o t o n l y a f f e c t t h e

a r t w o r l d , b u t t o d r a m a t i c a l l y i m p a c t p o p c u l t u r e . I n s p i r e d b y Ke i t h H a r i n g ’ s

a c h i e v e m e n t s , I p u r s u e d m y a r t c a r e e r w i t h t h e o p t i m i s m t h a t m y g o a l s c o u l d

be a t t a i ned .

Shepard Fa i rey 2012

THE GNRC EYE

Previous Page:01-OrigamiVinyl’s,NeilSchieldandartist,StevenHarringtonatthe‘SunDunes’partycelebratingHarrington’sbootcollaboration.02-Musician,GerryBeckleyathomeinhisloafercollaborationwithGenericSurplus.03-UnknownMortalOrchestraattheSXSWThrowdown.04-WriterattheSXSWThrowdown.05-LightAsylumattheSXSWThrowdown.06-FidlarattheSXSWThrowdown.

This Page:07-WhiteArrowsattheSXSWThrowdown.08-HenryClayPeopleatourRecordStoreDayeventwithOrigamiVinylandTheEcho.09-TheAllahLasattheSXSWThrowdown.10-Race’ssetlistatourRecordStoreDayeventwithOrigamiVinylandTheEcho.11-RyanfromNOatourRecordStoreDayeventwithOrigamiVinylandTheEcho.12-AtTheDriveInatOrigamiVinylpickinguptheirnewpairsofGenericSurplus

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This Page:01-StevenHarringtonfullyzenondaythreeofTrippyTriptychMural.02-StevenHarringtonondaytwoofTrippyTriptychMural.03-QuestloveholdingitdownatDo-OverTheAceHotelPalmSprings.04-Artist,StevenHarringtonstartingtheTrippyTriptychMuralaspartofourcollaborationwith The Ace Hotel Palm Springs. 05-FlorenceandtheMachineprivateshowatTheAceHotelPalmSprings.06-Ourown,JulieBuchserandcomedianFredArmisenattheWayyyOutpop-upshopat The Ace hotel during Coachella.

StevenHarringtonandhisassistant,BrandonnexttothecompletedTrippyTriptychontheAceHotelgrounds

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