The setting sun paints
all the clouds in pink
and I can feel the summer sound.
Sun on my skin. Music in my heart. Surrounded by people for one common purpose: To enjoy the moment, to feel the sound, to share a special connection. The line-up for this years MELT Festival *19-21 July 2019* is just so incredible: Bon Iver, Rakim Mayers alias A$AP Rocky, Jorja Smith, Modeselektor, Solomun, David August, HVOB, Bilderbuch, Bonobo, Dubfire, just to name a few and there are many, many more that we just can´t wait to see live.
Embedded within a beautiful lake and forest scenery in Ferropolis, Germany, the nowadays colourful festival place once had a totally different appearance and purpose. Before its closure in 1991 it used to be the center of the brown coal industry and those industrial machines are still there as a witness of their times and perfectly melt into setting of nature, music and culture.
And yay, we saved the best for last! We raffle 1 x 2 tickets for the MELT FESTIVAL 2019! To win this just send us an email to contact@c-heads.com with the heading MELT FESTIVAL and tell us who your favourite act to see is! Raffle ends on the 23th of May 2019. The winner will be randomly selected and notified via email. In the meantime we keep all our fingers crossed to all of you :)
“Tender skin. Soft lines. Little curves. Realistic forms. Delicacy and fragility. I am inspired by the small details and by the full image of a human body. Our body is the first thing what’s been given us. And it’s beautiful. Just look.” Enjoy this simply beautiful series photographed by Moscow based Eva Bukar starring gorgeous Elena Kantaria. We really love the attention to detail that goes into her work.
Project Stopshop is a visual exploration of fast fashion consumption by Elizabeth Illing. We sat down to talk about the powerful message of the anti-fast fashion project and what we can do to change for the better.
We love your project which is a visual exploration of fast fashion consumption. Tell us how this all started?
I began this project as part of my final project at uni, where I studied Fashion Promotion. I decided I should create a visually interesting anti-fast fashion campaign, I wanted to approach the topic from a new angle to grab peoples attention.
For this project you have also been interviewing people about different points. One was f.e. the value they place on their clothes. What was the outcome on that one?
As part of my initial research I surveyed peoples wardrobes and gathered data based on the actual numbers of garments they owned. This was split in to 3 categories: often worn, rarely worn and never worn. Seeing the figures often shocked people and they sometimes felt embarrassed by the amount of items only worn a handful of times! Pulling out clothes they had forgotten they even owned and making piles of things they no longer wanted. The sheer volume of clothes we buy means that so much of it quickly becomes less important to us – we think that its lifespan is limited.
What other important questions were you trying to figure out and what´s the outcome?
I was asking people how often they shop, where they shop and what makes them want to buy clothes. Coming from a fashion degree background myself and a lot of my friends had ridiculously unsustainable shopping habits! The quotes I gathered from these conversations are the alarming messages I portray on my garment label images.
“Since starting the project it’s pushed me to act more consciously and realise that even though I may feel like it’s not making a difference you have to start somewhere…”
It´s not a new topic – I think we know for a long time about how our clothes are produced and that we have too many of them etc.. Why do you think it is still so difficult for most of us to refrain from mass consumerism and buying cheaply produced clothes?
We are so used to the easy access to new fashion, online shopping means we can receive garments incredibly quickly and for low prices. Most people can afford to buy practically a whole new wardrobe from fast fashion brands every season and this is not seen as abnormal. We are constantly seeing images of bloggers, influencers, models etc on Instagram wearing new styles and fast-fashion brands will capitalise on this to persuade us we need more clothes too!
I also think that even though each one of us can do their part, are we as people really able to solve that problem without politics?
The two go together but people changing their habits one by one will prove that there is a demand for slowing down fashion and brands will have to respond to that.
Can you give three practical tips to someone who would like to change his habits and shop more consciously but still be trendy and look stylish?
– Invest in fewer items that cost more but you really love them and the better quality will make them last.
– Explore vintage shops, eBay, Depop etc for second hand garments
– Mend or alter clothes that you already own to extend their lifespan
How did your own shopping habits change once you started Project Stopshop?
It’s changed how I buy clothes, because before I was the complete extreme of buying new items every week and not thinking about the repercussions of my actions! Since starting the project it’s pushed me to act more consciously and realise that even though I may feel like it’s not making a difference you have to start somewhere..
Whatever happens in life, you might reach and you might earn, in the end it´s all about love! This is the positive message of “Highness” whose sound dissolves in good mood beats mixed with the catchy vocals of Donata and Daim.
The Berlin based music duo NOSOYO explain that through the track they want to communicate the old adage of finding your high from what truly matters. Their interesting band name stands for “I am not me – I am everything” and is pronounced N O-SOY-YÓ.” tell us Bonn born Donata (vocals, guitar, songwriting) and Daim (vocals, drum) who has Dutch and Turkish roots. They both first meet at the Conservatory in Amsterdam, felt an instant “attraction” to collaborate but it took more than three years before they ended up performing as a duo. Putting them into a genre box might be tricky and is not necessary. “We do not like dividing genres too much, we think there is a lot of great music out there that fits into the genre ‘pop’ and could be alternative – or the other way round. We like to cross boundaries and our lyrics have become bold and courageous.”
“Happiness we get from external factors like money, having high positioned jobs or drugs etc. don’t last forever. Putting work into learning how to truly love yourself and others is timeless.”
Every artist has his own way of being creative; almost infinite are the paths of inspiration. But often it is the spontaneous nature that gives the work something light-footed. Something unintentionally beautiful and not too constructed. “We were sitting at home one night, after a very long but fulfilling day, so we were feeling a bit “high” – then Donata said: “Well enjoy your highness” in a funny Majestic manner, as if she were from the British Royal family. Right after I shouted: “Enjoy! Your highness…” and then instantly we realized it should be our next single.” They just quickly recorded a phone memo, Donata grabbed a guitar and Daim started beatboxing and after 10 minutes they had all the ingredients they needed for the song. “The next day we went over to our studio and listened to our spontaneous recording from the night before. We recorded and programmed everything that we could phonetically translate from the phone recording and started arranging the track in Ableton from there, keeping it as simple and effective as possible. This is one of our favorite methods of songwriting and it is a lot of fun.” But there is not only one way. Being an artists means to be prepared when the inspiration hits you. “We don’t have a formula, so the process for each song is unique, but they all do come from the same place, from the heart. We write what we feel with whatever we have at that moment.”
We are happy to premiere their newest single “Highness” – and we hope you enjoy it! And most certainly you should take the message of the song with you: “Highness” shows us that the happiness we get from external factors like money, having high positioned jobs or drugs etc. don’t last forever. Putting work into learning how to truly love yourself and others is timeless.”
Their new album “Loud & Shameless” is due to be released Sept 27th
With our series “An artist´s life.” we want to share the stories of the people behind the art.
“An artist´s life.” The stories of the people behind the art #10 Mari Caldas
“I don’t think that being an artist is something you choose. I believe that at some point in life you just realize that your only choice is to express yourself. It doesn’t matter how. You just have to.
It’s the only way, a matter of pure survival. You have to create in order to live, to be, to love, to get through sadness, to feel the joy of being alive, to breathe, to share. Life can be too real and it can get really hard sometimes. But life is also magic, precious, and being alive is a gift that we don’t think about that often. And what is being alive if not feeling? In your guts, in your heart, in your bones. It is more than doing the stuff that we need to do. It is being what you believe. It is moving with love. It is feeling the love when something moves us. There is no glamour in being an artist. There is no recipe, there is no rules. It is just a way of existing in the world. You can’t just stop what you are feeling the same way that you just can’t stop the need to create as a way of keep going.
Being an artist is also having the possibility and the gift to make someone feel something. Making a stranger feel love, sadness, despair, joy, feel alive. Just feel anything.
I truly believe that there are somethings in my life that I just can’t express in words, or hugs, or long conversations. There are things that I feel so deeply inside that I can only see in colors, shapes and movements. They are landscapes that I carry within me. This is just the way I am. I feel in colors. And in the end we all have a special way of being and that is truly beautiful. It is you being unique. It is life. It is the perfection of nature. Thank god we are all so different.
We just need to be respected, and loved, because pain will get in your way somehow, and we are going to deal with it in our own way. I paint with light when I’m happy, when I feel grateful, when everything around me is sparkling, when I feel love, when I feel that I love everything and everybody, when I’m feeling inspired, but also when I’m feeling sad, lonely, when nothing makes sense, when I just want to get through something, when I want the present to be the past. Because that is the way life flows. And there is no problem to feel what you don’t want to feel sometimes. This is the balance of nature. And I’m sure that you are going to feel the joy again. We love, we get hurt, we love again. And that is maybe the only thing that we all have in common. We are fluid beings. We are all artists.
“I teamed up with Claudia Wilkinson of KULT Management AUS and we decided to visualise an ordinary morning for her. Her rituals, getting ready, whilst experimenting with the natural light her apartment boasts in a comfortable setting.” Sydney based photographer Norah Wells smiles with excitement when talking about her new series. “I however thought we should replicate a more pro female, dominant vibe towards the end of the shoot, so with my last black and white roll, we used her rooftop and some knee high boots to portray how routines and healthy rituals allow us to grow and feel more grounded.”
Anna of the North is a native of Gjøvik, Norway. She met New Zealand producer Brady Daniell-Smith at one of his shows while studying in Melbourne, Australia. They hit it off and recorded her debut single, “Sway,” over Skype, and released it in 2014. The song became an Internet hit, and got her record deals with +1 Records/Honeymoon in the U.S. and PIAS’ Different Recordings in the U.K. 2018 she put out her debut album, Lovers, which was led by the single “Someone” and the title track. In 2019 Lotterud released “Leaning on Myself.” Enjoy our sidewalk talk where she opens up about childhood, struggling with live performance and working with Frank Ocean.
Berlin based photographer Tiana Lenz teamed up with her favorite muse and creative partner Frankie Miles. Enjoy.
“My friend and I are always traveling together, and sharing the same passion for photography. We spend a lot of time away from our home base, so we always want to make ourselves comfortable in the cities and countries we stay. Thats why we always search for a hotel that feels like a living room. I wanted to create images documenting a fragment of our life in an aesthetic way without being too cheesy or too commercial. We always hope that people see in our photos that we are a harmonic team and that we feel so connected and inspired by what we show.”
Inspired by antiquated art genres and the polar nature between darkness and light, photographer Marta Syrko is an ambassador of creation. Balancing an abstract aesthetic with humanly elegant finishes, the Russian visionary is a pioneer for the new age of photography. Despite her minimal interest in claiming fame, Syrko is summiting a mountain of popularity with each shoot. Capturing the gravity of life’s most mystical substances, Marta Syrko is a modern day nouveau pioneer.
It started 6 years ago. I was working as a portrait photographer.
Many of your pictures seem to draw influence from surrealism, how do you incorporate that artistic genre into your photos?
I don’t believe that my photos are surrealistic, when I create them I am inspired by renaissance, realism and my favorite art nouveau.
Tell us about some of the struggles you faced when learning the technicalities of photography.
In any kind of jobs you faced difficulty organizing things. You need to remember all of the settings on your camera and lights for each photoshoot. The more experienced you get the more you have to carry around.
How do you choose your subjects?
It depends on the photoshoot. In most cases I have models that I usually work with. Sometimes the photoshoot is built on the subject, their appearance inspires me.
Some of your portfolio includes moving graphics to compliment the photo you have taken, how do you make that happen?
It was a collaboration with a friend, I created the idea and then shot the model, we made it for a girl blogger. The main idea of this shoot was facing the girl’s fears. She was afraid of fish and snakes. This moving graphic is called “cinema graph,” it’s a social media trick.
In a sea of photographers, how do you think your photos stand out amongst your peers?
I think light makes my works stand out, it’s like my signature.
“There is no shadow without light, so I use the shadow to emphasize the picture and atmosphere.”
Did you struggle developing the following you have gained now? Did you ever expect the mass following you have now?
I didn’t develop the following on purpose I was just working hard. Sometimes creative photoshoots only for myself, and then there were a lot of people who liked them. I never expected people to follow me.
Do you have any mentors that have helped you get to where you are now?
No particular person, I just get inspired by some great artists.
As a visual artist, do you draw inspiration from any writers that help define your visual style?
I don’t read fiction, I’m more visual person.
If you could choose one novel that parallels your photography style, what would it be? Why?
My photoshoots are very different in their stories. That’s why I cannot choose one book or author which would represent my style, but for now the novel ”Perfume: The story of Murderer” is living in my head and my photoshoots are influenced by it.
Living in the digital age of social media “influencers” would you consider yourself one? Do you care to be an “influencer?”
I’m not the usual type of influencer, I don’t write about my life or promote social projects. I create, like doing photoshoots with stray dogs (and cats) for the dog shelter, I also worked for the first time with people with downs syndrome.
How have you utilized Instagram to share your art?
I just put my work out there and the public shares them and talks about them.
“Beauty starts when you stop focusing on the outside, and instead focus on making yourself beautiful from within and making your intentions and your thoughts beautiful.” When Desiree Yuzon says that you can feel each word of it, and you can feel that it´s not just words to her. Since having overcome breast cancer this was her very first full set shooting photographed by Thomas R. Wood that we are more than happy to present here today. Talking to her about how the relationship to her own body and her view on life have changed have left us thoughtfully and stoked.
This was your first full set after making it through the breast cancer illness that you were fighting. How do you feel when you look at this set?
Honestly, I was a little shocked at how good they came out considering I hadn’t modeled in over a year and Thomas and I hadn’t seen each other for quite some time. Before the shoot I was a little worried the chemistry might have been off or I would be very self-conscious, but I couldn’t have had a better photographer and friend to shoot this with other than Thomas. He has always inspired and challenged me to be a better model in so many ways, that I think this set truly captures our energy together. We wanted to do something very natural and simple, yet confident and daring. And I think we accomplished that!
Obviously when you get such a diagnosis, especially at such a young age, that must be devastating. How did you find out about it, was it during a normal check-up?
It was about 2 weeks after my 26 birthday when I found out I had breast cancer in 2018. I had found a small lump in my breast 2 years prior, and when I went to the doctor they told me it was benign and just a fibroadenoma (growth of excessive tissue, non-cancerous). However, over the next year and a half it continued to grow almost tripling in size, and after I noticed the skin around it starting to dimple, I knew I had to get it checked out again. It was after an ultrasound and biopsy when I found out the lump had become cancerous and was actually much larger beneath the breast tissue. So I had to start treatment almost immediately.
“Home is the people that make you feel at home- safe, loved, supported, and protected.”
What has helped you the most during that time to stay strong?
Above everything else, I’d have to say my immediate family and friends who were so supportive in every way imaginable– from taking me out to get my mind off things to my brother and dad who watched over me like hawks to make sure I was eating extra healthy! I’ve always believed in mind over matter, especially with something like cancer, which most people think is a death sentence. So from the beginning, I was determined to keep a positive mindset. I never wanted to think of myself as sick or defeated, so I just told myself my body was fighting against something and I needed to do all I could to take care of it and get better. And meditation and yoga helped me do that by training my mind and body to heal itself from the inside out.
And how did you deal with the weak and difficult moments?
I don’t know if you can call it dealing with, but anything negative or stressful that came my way I just had to shut down or block out, especially during treatment. I felt that my body was already under a lot of stress that it didn’t make sense to add anymore that was unnecessary. Getting diagnosed with a serious disease like this reminds you of your mortality, and there’s no better way to put things into perspective than that. Any problems, financial, emotional, or relationships, seemed so trivial in light of what I was dealing with. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the drama around me soon faded once I stopped paying attention to it. That is a lifelong lesson I will carry with me forever.
“…my body is so much more than just something meant to be pretty or sexy. My body is a symbol of strength and resilience. It´s ever-changing and always repairing and rebuilding and I wear it so proudly now.”
You look very confident and at ease with your body on the images. Has the „relationship“ to your body changed because of the illness?
Absolutely! For me, my relationship to my body has shifted from the physical to the metaphysical. As a model that is only 5’7 and not a size 0, looking back I realized how insecure I was because of those things. Constantly being surrounded by beautiful women at castings and now on social media, it was almost impossible not to compare and criticize myself. Either I wasn’t tall enough or skinny enough or didn’t like my lips or nose. But after going through chemo and losing my hair- and I mean all of it, my eyelashes and eyebrows, etc- it made me appreciate what I have now. I went over half a year not having hair, and all I could think about then was how much I had taken for granted before. Seeing how strong and resilient my body was during treatment made me feel guilty to have judged it based on the physical. I’ve come to realize that my body is so much more than just something meant to be pretty or sexy. To me now, my body is a symbol of strength and resilience. It´s ever-changing and always repairing and rebuilding. It is a projection of everything inside me, and I wear it so proudly now. Of course, it’s a work in progress….like me.
And also has your approach to life changed and in what way?
In some ways yes and in some ways no. I wasn’t jumping out of any planes or making a bucket list lol But in small ways, I think a lot about me changed and so did my outlook on life. For a while, I think I was stuck in a comfort zone with relationships and work. I was content, but I wasn’t taking full advantage of my potential and I found myself settling. I was comfortable. But there’s nothing like hearing the words “you have cancer” to really make you think about what you’ve been doing with your life and what you want to do with it going forward. I believe me being diagnosed happened for a reason, and that reason was for me to take my life more seriously. I had to learn to let go of things gracefully, including people, and in that way, ironically enough, cancer saved me. It brought me closer to myself, and it gave me courage to do things I probably would not have done otherwise. It also made me realize that life is short and there were still a lot of things I wanted to do like travel and start a business. So since last year, I started an online fashion brand and have been building it. I have since also travelled to Europe, including a lifelong dream of going to Paris. And most importantly, I’ve come to profoundly appreciate the little things in life from hanging out with friends and my cats to my health. And to never take those things for granted as I have in the past. I’m still learning the delicate balance between work and pleasure.
“I believe me being diagnosed happened for a reason, and that reason was for me to take my life more seriously…”
When did you initially start modelling and was it something you really wanted or it just happened?
I think it was a combination of both. I started modeling in 2014, shortly after I graduated from UCLA. It’s something I always admired from afar while going through my mom’s Vogue magazines and growing up in the 90s I was in love with Cindy Crawford. But minus a few people casually telling me I should get into modeling, I never thought I could do it professionally. By the end of college, I realized I didn’t want a regular 9-5 job or to work for someone else and I became increasingly intrigued with the entertainment industry. By chance, the person I was dating at the time was a producer and asked me to be the lead in a beauty spec for Olay. I think it was after that project that I realized this is what I wanted to do for a living. I wanted to feel that same excitement every time I went to work getting to meet new people and seeing different environments and sets. It’s not always easy, but if I could go back I would not change the decision I made.
“Beauty starts when you stop focusing on the outside, and instead making your intentions and your thoughts beautiful.”
Beauty means…?
Being authentic and confident. Especially these days people try so hard to look perfect on social media and portray themselves differently. But I think true beauty lies in those who are comfortable in their own skin, however it may look. Effortless beauty has always been my motto. Beauty starts when you stop focusing on the outside, and instead focus on making yourself beautiful from within and making your intentions and your thoughts beautiful. All of that radiates to the outside.
What means „home“ to you – where or with whom do you feel most at home?
Ah, my answer to this question probably would have been much different had you asked 2 months ago before I travelled across the globe. I was born and raised in LA, and always thought I would want to live in France as soon as I got there. But having been, and only for 2 weeks, I missed home like crazy. I missed my 3 cats, my brother, my best friend, and my family. Although I was in this dream place, it just wasn’t the same without them. So for me…home is the people that make you feel at home- safe, loved, supported, and protected. So maybe I’ll just take all of them to France with me (laughs)
Happiness is…
Being healthy, financially stable, and surrounded by like-minded, loving, and supportive people. And also, happiness is laying in a bubble bath with a glass of wine…and maybe in Paris!
Your advice to your younger self…
You don’t have to have it all figured out. Take more risks and try new things all the time. Don’t focus on the wrong things and don’t get attached to things or people so easily. You could lose what you have so make sure you don’t take any of it for granted.
Photographer: Thomas R. Wood
@Thomasrwood – www.thomasrwood.com
Model: Desiree Yuzon – @desiicat –
Agency: M Model Management
@mmodelmanagement @mydeardesire
Dreamy, soft and natural. Welcome Marc Aurelius on C-Heads with his new series starring lovely Sabrina Ebel. “I love to create something beautiful. Beauty for me is versatile and can be found at the weirdest places. I want to discover them and have a great time. I love to travel, get in touch with new people who have the same passion – photography. The natural sensuality in its purity is my greatest inspiration and at the same time greatest motivation. To catch the diverse beauty of various people and freeze the moment in a picture is the goal.”
All Lollapalooza Berlin fans heads up! The awesome festival *7-8th September 2019* goes into the next round, celebrating its 5th birthday! Yay, we really do want to celebrate this together! With a fantastic line-up again such as Kings Of Leon, Swedish House Mafia, Twenty One Pilots, Martin Garrix, Billie Eilish, Khalid, Rita Ora, Alan Walker, Sigrid, and many more incredible acts our festival and music hearts have every reason to be happy.
This year it takes place at the Olympiastadion and the Olympiapark Berlin. And what else can you expect ? A wine garden to chill out and listen to local and international singer-songwriters, Fashionpalooza where you can get inspiration from the latest trends and lifestyles and be creative, the Lolla Fun Fair that offers street theater, acrobatic and a space for innovative concepts about sustainability and social responsibility. And: You can even bring your kids with you as there is a Kidzapalooza, a little festivalworld to enjoy for them and their parents. And last but not least Aquapalooza, because some refreshment is never wrong, right?
And because we love to make others happy we are giving away 1 x 2 tickets for the Lollapalooza Berlin festival! Just send us an email to contact@c-heads.com and tell us who you will take with you if you win :) The winner will be selected randomly and notified via email. The raffle ends on the 2nd of June 2019. Best of luck to all of you!
A trip to San Fransisco only with a 35mm analog camera – by Pauline Gallot
Time is dancing.
Colours, places, smells, time makes everything fly around, everytime.
We move away in a fistful of seconds from present.
Few minutes and we change mood. From laugh to tears in the snap of our fingers.
«Clac» gone. You can decide to resist, to fight as hard as you can, try to keep those moments, those strong happy times. But time is nagging you, smiling at you from its lips corner, it really knows : you will always run out, a sad loser in vain. Love goes. Tied hands untie. Mouths move away from eachothers. Hearts too.
Colours ted, cold turn warm and even cries eventually dry up.
Your clock knows it too well.
San Fransisco, Christopher, last November.
Perfect picture of the past to the future in action. A summer love from precisely few summers. Tender looks. Red texan nights. Bars, so many bars, full of dances, of lurching nights. Full of overturned elotes on taxi floors. Some «Stay gold forever» inscribed here in the heart forever.
Then time slips away, flights we had to catch, ways crossed we had to uncross. We changed. Colours are different. Melody doesn’t sound the same way as before but it’s okay, we are fine.
San Fransisco isn’t Austin. Despite the same stars in the eyes, the hourglass has been there. We can see its trace.
I discovered San Fran as a first time, soft and exciting. Colourful and magic.
Chris made me laugh as always and I sewed the clock, backed up the clock, changed cape.
Follow the flow, let yourself be carried away, do not strive to go upstream, you do not go up a river at arm’s length.
Every minutes slipping away, leaving you no respite, only the possibility of weaving and reweaving again and again. New looks, new caresses, other breaths in the neck, new indelible inks in the heart.
Wild and helpless, free only from our own choices and our own time.
Spending some time at the seaside, eating fresh and juicy fruits is always a great idea! Because it makes us happy to enjoy all the fruits of summer. Photographer & Stylist Daniela Gerosa did exactly that and teamed up with Photography Assistant Sarah Scheinfeld, Makeup artist Mar Farreras and Hair Stylist Eduardo Begué Calderón to shot model Carla Peters at Blow Models at the beautiul beach of Tossa de Mar, Spain. We are already under the charm of Carla´s infectious laugh, what about you?
Atlanta based musician Faye Webster, who is also a passionate photographer, has just released her third studio album ‘Atlanta Millionaires Club’ . The songs on it deal with the feeling of loneliness in the middle of an existing community. “I spend most of my time alone and that’s where these songs come from.” explains Faye to us. Her music spreads a melancholic charm and there is something truly unique about her sound and her music videos tell their own intriguing stories. We talk to her about the inspiration her dad gave her for the album´s title and her main reason to make music.
Tell us about your musical beginnings, did music already play a big role in your life as a child or did you discover your passion for it later on?
I just grew up around people who played music in my family so I was always exposed to it.
The main reason for you to make music is…?
To make other people feel what I feel.
Your new album is called „Atlanta Millionaires Club“ –the name inspired by your dad´s group of friends, right? How come?
My dad and all his friends used to call themselves that, even to this day when I meet one of my dad’s friends they will still say they are one of the Millionaires and that instantly means to me that they are a good friend. I don’t know I’ve always found that very special.
With your third studio album you wanted to get to the bottom of this feeling of loneliness in the middle of an existing community. I believe that is something you experience personally, right? And what does that feeling do to you?
I spend most of my time alone and that’s where these songs come from.
What other topics do you sing about on your new album?
I sing a lot about my dog. It’s almost unnoticeable but it’s there.
“The main reason for me to make music is to make other people feel what I feel.”
It´s important to you to develop and refine your own sound, without being too influenced by current trends. How can one picture your song-writing process?
I always write songs in one take, I never do revisions or think about it too hard I like to keep my songs raw and imperfect.
Do you anyhow have a few role models in music, people you admire and that inspire you?
If you would have a huge amount of money and all the freedom, what would you do with your time?
I would move to Italy and buy my parents a boat and bring wine that I made from my vineyard to the boat and post up.
What was your favourite fairy tale as a child and why?
Do angels in outfield count? That shit had me *moved*.
“If I had a huge amount of money and all the freedom, I would move to Italy and buy my parents a boat and bring wine that I made from my vineyard to the boat and post up.”
Do you have a life plan or you take life as it comes?
Definitely take it as it comes.
The last book or movie that really moved you?
Kafka on the shore, I probably read 100 books last year and once I read that I couldn’t read for a long time.
my skin is breathing
the sun
and the happiness of freedom.
If you are loyal C-Heads readers, you know that there is nothing better for us than freedom and nature. This beautiful series combines both. Naturalness in its purest form. Being without “being something”. Enjoying being alive. Starring natural beauty and free spirit Hannah Shearrer photographed by Thomas R. Wood.
“Hi, I’m Unal. I live in Turkey and football is in the center of my life, because where I was born there is this huge passion for it.” introduces photographer and filmmaker Unal Usta himself to us. It is exactly this passion and furthermore his love for retro football shirts that made him start this project we want to show you today. “Football jerseys are usually worn by men and I used woman models to attract attention to that fact. My ambition is to include retro football jerseys into daily life and create a fashion trend with that. Maybe one day everyone will use it as a basic item.” Well, we certainly wouldn´t mind getting our hands on one of those.
It’s not raining anymore, but something is still pressing down on the city with that leaden type of grey. Technically, it’s a monolithic cloud-something and it’s moving almost imperceptibly, like freshly poured cement. It’s midday already, but the under the circumstances the light still remains muted. And this makes for the perfect moment to zone out to Keep On Running, the debut long-player from Swiss avant-pop-rock trio Vsitor.
Vsitor are Lea Maria Fries on vocals, David Koch on guitar (plus gadgetry) and Valentin Liechti on drums. Technically, they’re based in Berlin. Where they are at the moment, that I don’t know, because they’re on the road promoting this here release. But what I can tell you is that they have a thing for writing deeply nourishing, mildly melancholic and utterly gorgeous songs. And they do so in a way that comes off like they’re not out to please anybody with them. Call it a graceful type of nonchalance. Whatever this thing actually is, or the right term for it, it definitely makes this record even more addictive than the melodies that you might catch yourself whistling while you go about your day!
I reached out to the band to get their take on a few things. Here’s what David and Lea had to say. Keep On Running is out on Red Brick Chapel, a cozy home for some of Switzerland’s finest independent music.
Photography by Dario Kneubühler
Day one of the project, can you take us back?
David: I remember! Lea and I were still a couple and we had a very strong need to escape from the sheltering clutches of Switzerland and get out of our comfort zone. We moved to Berlin and Vsitor was born around then. We both dove into this project with everything that we had, and after a few months our debut EP was released.
The songs on your record sound like you’ve been playing together for ages – the way the instruments lock together seamlessly – what did it take to get to this point?
Lea: Thank you for saying that, it’s a wonderful thing to hear. It’s actually the result of several different things. We started the project with David, as a duo. This was back in 2014/15. And then I met Valentin at a friend’s place where we cooked fondue together. While taking turns at stirring cheese we talked about music. In a way, it was kind of like love at first sight. I invited him to join us for an upcoming gig, which he did. Playing together felt so natural. So in a sense we had this strong personal connection from the very beginning, which I think is something rather rare. Another thing that was an important factor was that the three of us toured throughout Europe a lot. Small cars, a lot of gear, small clubs. We often played under very bad conditions and lived through a lot of crazy things together. Because of this we go to know each other very well, in all types of contexts. And the last thing is how we work as a trio. We share sketches, sounds, text ideas very early on in the process. Because there is a lot of trust between us, we just send things back and forth. Somebody starts the sequence and the rest of us continue with it, and then we finish it together.
“We don’t let our egos interfere with our songs. We develop everything step by step and over time it becomes what it should be.”
It seems to me that, as a band, you revel in tricky song structures and that you love creating surprising emotional shifts – does this come naturally? Because it definitely doesn’t sound contrived which, of course, is a huge plus.
Lea: It comes naturally. We don’t think in terms of concepts or structures. We just take a sound or a riff or a sketch and develop it until it feels right to us. The only thing that matters is that it feels right. And we always work for the music or the song. We try to figure out what it needs, ie. what the mood or the story needs to come across best. We don’t let our egos interfere with our songs. We develop everything step by step and over time it becomes what it should be. It’s like a blurry picture of a landscape which comes into focus more and more, and becomes more detailed, gets sharper and eventually you start to see the things which are there clearly.
Keep On Running is such an eclectic record. On the one hand it’s very much cut from the art rock cloth, but then it ventures out into electronica and there are these soul overtones. So my question is: is this the product of mixing the sonic preferences of three very different individuals or is everyone in the band into all types of music?
Lea: It’s a bit of both. The three of us have very different musical backgrounds. We have a lot in common as well, but some of the things we have in our personal “musical backpacks” are very different from each other. But, because we all listen to a lot of different kinds of music, we are very open to all sorts of things. When I was as a teenager I was into grunge and punk, after that I discovered African American music and fell in love with jazz. And then there were all types of indie bands and, recently, I also got into classical music. And I still love it all. I know that it’s the same for David and Valentin. But our personal imprinting is very different from each other, so in the end each one of us has their very own mix of influences and brings that into the band. We just try to fuse it all together and create a unique Vsitor sound and translate it all with our peculiar sonic aesthetic.
In closing, how does it feel to hear your record as a finished piece? Do you hear it differently now?
David: Yes, I definitely hear it differently. We worked so hard on this record, over a long period of time. There were ups and downs, and sometimes we really didn’t know if this music is ever gonna be released. But we trusted each other and our feelings and worked on it with persistence. At some point, we had to let go of it, even if there were things that we could have changed, but we felt that this record needs to be finished. Now, after having some distance to it I can just relax and listen to the music and I have to say that I really Iike it! I’m looking forward to the next Vsitor release. Where will that one take us?
“Cinemas was one of the first tracks I wrote in my new studio, which is in my garden – surrounded by trees and plants. I would go outside sometimes for a break and be instinctively drawn to just look at my phone rather than all the beautiful nature around me.” explains Rondo Mo, aka Robbie Redway the inspiration to his lead single, a foretaste of his third EP that will be released around September. We talked to him about phone addiction, moving out of London and living by the sea and his new studio in the garden.
You wrote “Cinemas” in your garden, which is your new studio. The track is about that you were more drawn to look at your phone than to the trees and plants, realizing that you ( like so many other people) were addicted to your phone´s brightly lit screen. What did this realization evoke in you?
Yep, it was written in my studio, which is in my lovely garden, which I’ve filled with wildflowers and vegetables. The phone addiction… It’s a daily struggle isn’t it. We are so reliant on our phones for emails, messages, maps, social media, photos etc but it’s also so easy just to waste precious time scrolling through crap (not to mention the mental health issues which arise from social media). On that particular day that’s exactly what I was doing and it is still something I regularly find myself doing. I guess it’s just about awareness and realising it’s unhealthy, then getting back to whatever you are meant to be doing. Living your life, maybe.
“The phone addiction… It’s a daily struggle isn’t it. We are so reliant on our phones for emails, messages, maps, social media, photos etc but it’s also so easy just to waste precious time scrolling through crap.”
Have you since been able to reduce the use of your phone? And if so, how?
I definitely stop myself more than I used to, but I still find myself drawn to it. It’s mad. The thing that helps the most for me is meditation… it helps me channel my energy into more worthwhile things and stay more present. Also if I have a good book on the go, that will prevent me from picking up my phone because I read instead.
Is that the reason why you chose your garden as your new studio – to get back more to a natural feeling for yourself and your surrounding?
I moved house last year and the garden already had a kind of shed/office thing in it, so I sound-proofed it and put power sockets in it and now it’s my studio. It’s nice that it’s in my garden because it gives me that small amount of detachment from my house, but it does mean I will sometimes go a few days without seeing another person if I get really stuck in to some writing. The move out of London to a more rural area was definitely motivated by wanting to be closer to nature. I live by the sea now which is amazing in so many ways.
Did you use any of your garden´s noises or rhythms for your tracks?
Not for this EP, but I have sampled the magpie that lives in my garden and he will be on the next record! He’s not a very good singer but he’s got great style.
“The move out of London to a more rural area was definitely motivated by wanting to be closer to nature. I live by the sea now which is amazing in so many ways.”
What else can listeners expect from your new EP – soundwise, and also what other topics did you write about?
It’s a four-track and each one has it’s own little story. There’s a love song on there (a sad one), also a song about meditation (which is ironically the most up-tempo song) and a song that was inspired by the Californian wildfires last year. I’ve been sampling more natural-sounding drums and I only used 2 different synths and my piano and trumpet on the whole EP. I wanted there to be sonic threads running through them all and they were all written within a few weeks of each other, but people have been saying one of them sounds like a grime tune and one of them sounds like a disco tune so what do I know.
Role models in music?
Thom Yorke, David Byrne, Bjork, Beethoven – people who innovate but are still accessible. I just named 4 geniuses so it’s hard to aspire to that level but they are a few of the amazing musicians that inspire me.
When and how did you realize you wanted to be a professional musician?
I’m not even sure I have realised that yet. It’s something that if I didn’t do it I would feel like there was a huge hole in my existence. And I guess in order to have any level of success you have to treat it as a professional endeavour. Although you have to love doing it, otherwise there’s no point. There have been periods when I’ve lived solely off music but I do other things too – I teach music and yoga, which I love too.
“Everything is impermanent and even if you fuck something up you can still move on from it, even grow from it.”
Last movie you saw that has really left an impression on you?
‘The Favourite’ was brilliant. Olivia Colman is the hands down the best actor around at the moment. Right now I’m watching the series ‘Chernobyl’ and that is some harrowing shit. There’s a good Netflix doc about Robert Johnson the blues guitarist too. He sold his soul to the devil in order to be a better guitarist. That’s dedication.
What gives you strength and confidence when facing difficult situations?
The fact that everything is impermanent and even if you fuck something up you can still move on from it, even grow from it.
It has been too long we had something for you from Hamburg based photographer Daniel Menzel, So voila: here we go: enjoy this wonderful set starring lovely Jana Eberhart who studies software and information engineering.
“I’ve always been in love with the visual intensity a simple shadow can create – how the simple absence of sun rays can create ambiguity and purity within an image. It was quite a magic moment when Jana and me entered the location and the Sunday afternoon sun struck those unbelievably beautiful shadows around the room. One of those moments where everything you hoped and planned for just worked out perfectly. We made some coffee, put on some music and let our creativity flow – each of us doing, what we were best at. It was a beautiful day.”
artist: Jorja Smith
David August by Stefania-Rosini
artist: Bilderbuch
image by Frank Embacher
images by Annette Zer
images by Christian Hedel
DJ Hell by Stephan Flad
Who Made Who by Stephan Flad
image by Woodywoodsn
image by Frank Embacher
images by Woodywoodsn
images by Stephan Flad
