I met you.
I saw you.
I knew you.
I liked you.
I wanted to…So I did.
These are Pictures of You: Part Deux.

Photos and Words by Carlos Detres

Yeah, I was excited to see Paris-based band, La Femme play at an obscure-looking loft space in Williamsburg. Their lead singer bailed to Paris on an emergency, leaving three of the band’s members behind to tear into 285 Kent. They looked like mechanical droids, pounding at keyboards, drums, and guitar string. Maybe the switching around they did with the instruments was unnecessary and distracting, but they were having a good time. The audience was most likely there for the Crystal Stilts. I was there for La Femme.

One of them said into the mic, with a Parisian accent “Tonight, we bring to you music for your pleasure.”

The rest of the night swarmed with life and energy so that’s why this isn’t a typical show review. It’s not even a show review. It’s a night of joy review and it’s dedicated to all of the people I met that night who never gave me shit for asking to taking their portraits. In fact, they seemed pretty glad about it.

Photos by Carly Sioux

Dead Leaf Echo
Truth
Custom Made Audio

Within the last decade or so, Brooklyn has become the music capital of New York City, as many of the critically acclaimed acts that you’ve read about in alternative weeklies, blogs, and music magazines have claimed Brooklyn as their home – the majority coming out of Williamsburg, East Williamsburg/Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Gowanus and so on. I could go on for quite some time name checking bands that many of you fellow audiophiles gush about. And when Dead Leaf Echo’s latest album, Truth came through in my inbox, I was pleasantly surprised. Like several other bands I’ve reviewed lately, the blogosphere has been buzzing about them so it should be no surprise to you, fellow audiophiles that they’ve done some CMJ-related shows in anticipation of their new release.

From the album’s first track, “Half-Truth” to the album’s sixth track, the songs are densely layered shoe gaze rock full of guitars that gently chime like bells. But through repeated listens there’s something hidden and new – most of the guitar playing is played with a bit of reverb and delay pedal, creating the sense that the chords are somehow simultaneously floating and crashing into each other. It’s quite enchanting frankly. But as hauntingly beautiful as this album is, sadly it’s not anything novel. The songs will remind erudite listeners of great British New Wave and Brit pop acts like the Verve (think of their amazing debut, A Storm in Heaven), the Smiths, the Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen (think of Ocean Rain without the string orchestration) and others. Even the remix of “Truth,” called “Act of Truth” sounds a lot like a drum and bass heavy Depeche Mode or New Order. Indeed, for those of us who grew up and started to love music in the 80s and 90s, a lot of Brit pop formed the soundtrack of our lives – and there’s a warm and fuzzy nostalgia for times that seemed simpler, for music that seemed more meaningful, for fading youth and lost loves. In some way, it makes some inherent sense because life can break your heart.

Now I have to admit that I love this album as it reminds me so much of the great music and great acts I’ve loved since I was a teenager, and the music that spoke to me as though it understood my life. But there’s a difference between influence and imitation, and it can be a subtle line. In the case of Dead Leaf Echo, that line is a bit hazy. Hopefully they can expand their sound and lift some of the weight of their influences off them. Until then, they’re a welcome trip down memory lane for those who truly remember New Wave and Brit pop and for a welcome introduction towards some great music for those who will hopefully discover it.

Release Date: October 12, 2010

Track Listing

1.    Half-Truth
2.    Dance In the Light
3.    Act of Truth
4.    Grey Town
5.    Woolgathering
6.    Trial
7.    Act of Truth (Ext. Truth Mix)

Designs by Mia Hebib (Picture by Joel Weber)

Mia Hebib, curator of the Salon exhibit is no stranger to the world of design. Born in Bosnia and then raised in Croatia where she attended the School for the Applied Arts and Design, it was only a matter of time before fate carried her over to the United States where she continued her education at the Savannah College of Art and Design and received her B.F.A. in Metals and Jewelry in 2001.

Shortly after she came to New York City and worked for a variety of design companies from Liz Claibourne to Henri Bendel and Tory Burch before she started her very own jewelry studio under the name of Oblik Atelier (“Oblik” being a Croatian word translating to the English “shape”.)

Her exquisitely detailed jewelry uses repetitive lines in silver to create emblematic shapes and patterns and her impressive work never ceases to amaze.

The Salon project is one she has been working toward for some time and has been a long awaited labor of love. This talented and driven group comprised of mostly Brooklyn-based art and jewelry designers have shown that with a little bit of ingenuity, collaboration and hard work, anything is possible.

Interview Questions with Mia Hebib:

A.G.: What do you love most about designing and creating your own jewelry?

M.H.: I really like the freedom of sitting in my studio and seeing a 2 dimensional idea take shape in 3 dimensional world. It is the most satisfying feeling. Being that for many years my designing was only on paper, there is something so remarkable about using your hands and bringing a shape, a wearable piece of art to life

A.G.: What was it like spearheading an event with such a talented group of artists and designers?
What inspired you to go through with it and do you think you will organize one again in the future?

M.H.:  It was challenging, but I learned so much. I think I timed it right and i have to say without sounding too proud that everything went so well. There was not a single glitch in the process, I believe that I was ready to take this challenge on and see it through. This idea came because thus far I have not found “the perfect” space to showcase my work, and this search finally led me to create one.  It was wonderful to work with my friends and colleagues. They were eager to help and they trusted my vision. I am honored that they believed that I can pull this together without having any prior experience. Their belief and help made this possible. I also could not have done it without my partner in crime, Kevin Grevemberg. He is a furniture designer and has an engineers mind. He helped me bring my sketches and thoughts to life. I am so grateful that for the last 10 years he has collaborated with me on all of my projects. He is also the first person to stand behind my crazy ideas! I am not sure what my next plan is, perhaps taking the show on the road if there is an opportunity. For now I need to focus back on Oblik Atelier and also take a bit of rest before I embark on the new project. Being that this was so successful I am sure there will be some new incarnation of this type of event.

A.G.: What are some of your favorite materials to work with and create with?

M.H.:  Well I have grown to like silver, as much as it is messy and dirty and takes time to get it to look good. I like that I have established a relationship with silver. It is an on-going dialogue and I am persistent to continue.

A.G.: How did you get your start in jewelry designing and what have you learned over the course of being a designer?

M.H.:  I started in Croatia, I was 15, so that was 16 years ago. I got into the jewelry and metals program because it was the smallest in the design school and people did not covet the limited spots. I found that painters and sculptors were slightly snooty, so I looked for a more laid back place. Honestly I am not sure how I even got in there. My first love and passion in life was music and I sang professionally since childhood, art school just happened, no intentions and no plans. I am a bit of a perfectionist and I want to see something through when I get started and this happened with metal. I have been working on it off and on for the past 16 years and I believe that only recently I feel comfortable and confident in my work. I hope that will inspire me further and bring my creations to the next level, whatever that might be.

A.G.: If you could sum up your look and aesthetic in three words, what would they be and why?

M.H.: Modern, architecture, rhythm. My pieces are clean, modern, sometimes inspired by architecture, but mostly driven by simple desire to play the basic elements of design; dot, line, shape form. My designs tend to revolve around repeating one simple element and that creates rhythm and brings my music background as an essential element of my life.

A.G.: Was there apiece from this exhibition that you’re most proud of? If so, why and what doesit mean to you?

M.H.:  I was very pleased with “It looks like unknown pleasures”, albeit not perfect and not as long as I wanted it to be, this piece is where I find Oblik and my expression to be at its “almost” best:). It is one of those rare pieces that I look at and am completely inspired by its existence. I think it also opens a new direction which I will most likely be playing with going forward.

To learn more about Mia and her spectacular line of jewelry as well as other projects please click on the links below:
www.oblik-atelier.com
www.salon-nyc.com/mia-hebib/

Amalgamation: Eddie Ochoa @ Pandemic Gallery, 37 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY
Through September 18

Pandemic Gallery, in South Williamsburg, bears the evidence of a recent volley of arrows, with about 9 or 10 of them stuck in its Eastern wall.  The culprit, Eddie Ochoa, hailing from San Antonio, Texas, is featured here this month in “Amalgamation”, his first solo show in New York.  The images Ochoa is re-creating in “Amalgamation” represent a web of suspended disbelief in which he has captured various mythological images and formed them into his own system.  They nearly read like Tarot cards, each representing a message of warning or destiny.

Also on this Eastern wall is a portrait series of mostly mythological female characters and goddesses, each seemingly captured in a moment of leisure or ceremony, with translucent far-away eyes.  The Goddess of Justice is absorbed in a book whose octopus arms are reaching out for an embrace; A Goddess is both coming and going from her pillar of smoke, her body angled in a backwards arc. A Wonder, the standout among these, is a waif-like woman in the fetal position, with long blond hair floating all around her, whose only mythological feature is her hooves for feet.  She is suspended in the desert night sky, a cosmic figment, her chin tucked into her knees with an expression of either fear or fulfillment, and has captivated a few spectators from the mortal world.

The male subjects of Ochoa’s work sit poised and proud always without real faces, looking directly at you with the same translucent eyes as their female counterparts.  A King and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, seem like gangsters with imposing postures, as though they were holding court.  Songsinger, the standout piece of the whole lot, is playing his guitar and dancing, immersed in a whirlpool of movement so engaging, you feel as though you’ve been singing and dancing with him for hours.  Each of the male figures is nearly throbbing with energy, ready to pounce, while Songsinger is virtually made of contagious endorphins.

There is a compelling gravity and sturdiness to Ochoa’s work, despite the ambience of his characters.  Nearly all of them draw in with their crystalline gazes wearing elaborate costumes, against bold, stark colors.  This weight is emphasized by his use of collage, using layers upon layers, each little bit creating a bigger mass.  Nearly every line and pattern of the wardrobe of his characters is a separate piece of paper, as though they were paper dolls.   Each layer of would be textile – a shawl or pair of trousers in Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, a pair of socks in Raven Daughter – feature neat, flat, geometric patterns, creating a rhythmic embrace for each figure. Real beads, which are not without their sacred allusions, are used as jewelry and accents.

And then there are the Blue Bones, of a land-beast; painted blue and encased in glass display shells as though they were artifacts, or clues to what lies in the soil of Ochoa’s work.  But these bones, as I learned from Ochoa himself, were in fact those of a deer found in the woods in Pennsylvania, far from his home in Texas.  The Blue Bones along with the arrows, which were found at a friend’s apartment in Brooklyn, all came together as a segue for Ochoa’s artistic journey from San Antonio to New York.  Ochoa took aim, fired, and has hit the bull’s eye in New York with this intelligent and emotionally impactful show. The Bones, the arrows in brick, the layers, the beads, the deities, all suspended here, in “Amalgamation.”

When you hear band Pet Ghost Project‘s newest album, Winter Variations, you will understand the buzz on Brooklyn’s newest musical treasure.  The band, originally a west coast creation, has a sound so rich in layers upon layers of sound that you can’t help but be quite taken with it. Justin Stivers (original member and creator of PGP) creates these musical compositions with an intense amount of thought. What a concept right?  An artist who creates his art with the utmost determination, consideration, and imagination.  Whiskey Dregs had the opportunity to hear more about the band with the melodic architect himself…

Ellen Donbeck: What’s the history behind Pet Ghost Project? Was the band originally a solo project?

Justin Stivers: Well, it started as a recording project right after high school.  I began experimenting with sounds, song structure, musical ideas, and things of that nature. I was always in other bands, so Pet Ghost was really something on the side at first. Over time, it slowly morphed into something I wanted to invest more and more time into, running with different ideas and concepts seemed endless.

EB: When did the other members become involved?

JS: Justin Gonzales and Jacob More joined the fray about 3 albums in, over 2 years ago.  Chris Patin moved from Austin, Texas earlier this year and has been with us for about 6 months or so.  Things have changed quite a bit over the last couple of years and definitely for the best.  In the studio and on stage, these guys are tops.  They push the songs in so many different directions, and our live show is a totally different beast. I got really lucky meeting these fellows…but that’s why I moved to Brooklyn, to meet folk like this.

EB: Your sound, undoubtedly developed with each move — from Seattle to Portland to now Brooklyn, does your music feel experimental in its composition or do you feel like Pet Ghost Project calls home to a particular sound?

JS: Yeah, Pet Ghost Project certainly changes things up on the listener an awful lot. But that’s something I really want in my “ideal band”, not to feel tied to anything. As I’ve moved to different cities, I’ve absorbed new influences and new sounds. I’m in a constant state of change (as we all are), and I guess the music reflects that side of me.  Again, it’s just really nice to not be pinned down to a particular sound or style.  It gives us more to work with and a lot more places to go musically. Sometimes not having a particular direction in mind is a good thing; it opens up many possibilities.

As a producer and recording engineer, I’m finding my sound a lot more, getting the science and math of the whole thing down pretty good. That’s always the struggle, capturing the sounds how you want them, though we’re also getting better on that front too.  I wear many different masks in this band, as you can tell; I guess we all do.

EB: In your Bio you call Brooklyn the ‘promise land’, how was living in Brooklyn influenced your sound?

Brooklyn has been pretty kind to me. Lots of opportunity here, something I was not really accustomed to.  Over the last couple of years, to be surrounded by the sheer amount of stimuli swirling around, it’s hard not to be inspired. Pretty awesome.

EB: The album is hard yet sentimental and very beautiful, you shift from such a diverse group of sounds over and over within a track, where does that inspiration come from?

JS: Hard to say exactly where.  We are influenced by so many things, whether it’s all the madness shakin’ down in our lives, or just the bands and music we love. Combination of the two, I suppose.
EB: Your vocals are really good and used sparingly, do you feel too many vocals takes away from the music which is already so full and rich in its composition?

Thanks.  This particular album was done in one session. We had to execute around 40 minutes of music as best we could, and having the least amount of vocals made sense to us. This started as a “live in the studio” session for BreakThru Radio and accidentally turned into an album.  I took the tracks home, messed with them, and it morphed into what you hear before you.

EB: What’s your favorite track on the new album?

JS: I’m pretty happy with how “drunk and smiling at heaven” turned out. We took a 2 minute song I recorded way back and turned it into a 7 minute extravaganza.

EB: What has been your experience playing the album live?

JS: The tracks on winter variations are pretty much entirely live.  The songs grew from the rehearsal room to the stage, and they happened to find a home on this album.  It’s been fun seeing these songs progress and morph into something completely different, and I’m glad we captured some of that energy on these recordings.  Believe it or not, this is more or less how we sound live.

EB: What’s next for the band?

JS: We have a lot on our plate, including our big record release show at Cameo Gallery Sept. 10th, with our good friends Quiet Loudly, MiniBoone, and Gunfight!  We’re really looking forward to that. Shortly thereafter will be our little east coast tour (dates to be announced on our site very soon) occurring mid-September. We also have another tour plotted for mid-October.  It looks like we will be pretty busy this fall. And we’d have it no other way.

Sophie’s choice

That’s how I felt selecting these pictures — should I go with movement, action, and mayhem? Or should I go with cookie cutter pictures of a band, whose sound deserves more than concert portraiture. There’s the right way of doing things and then there’s our (The Whiskey Dregs) way of doing things. I guess maybe it wasn’t Sophie’s choice after all. When you’re getting smashed between the stage, girls fighting to kiss each other, and legs kicking the body of your camera, you realize real quick that photographing a show like this one isn’t going to be about about photography at all, it’s going to be about freezing the moment so everyone can experience some semblance of quite possibly one of the best shows this year.

Fuck cookie cutter concert portraiture.

Lost Coves most recent set at Public Assembly.

The final day of the Northside Festival shook it’s hot head in disapproval at my neglect of its eclectic variety. I had spent the past three nights staining my right hand with stamps of approval from a blur of venues – Musical Hall of Cameo Spike Public Knitting Hill Gallery Assembly Bowl. My right wrist was raw with pulling off multiple colored bands all at once, while my fingertips were cut up from digging for my ID every thirty minutes or so. No more music. Not for now.

It was time to expand my horizons, quite literally, as I followed Bedford Avenue down to Broadway, where I found Pandemic Gallery. Pandemic, which is mainly devoted to street-art, was hosting a live silk screening event – BYO-Tee. The DIY punk-rocker within just had to, while the consumer in me wanted to get something out of the only gallery visit I had time for during, and have it be worth the 20 minute walk it took for me to get there.

Many of the screens were variations of the works on display for Pandemic’s current exhibit, Shock Therapy. The screens certainly lived up to this name, and for a moment I thought I may forgo the screening on account of how disturbing they were. One was a distorted close up of a fish-head, and another a cracked out cat head with huge fangs. Finally in a more remote corner of the shop, I spotted a sweet Piggly-Wiggly logo, which had been slightly altered by Thomas Buildmore. I was prepared to have my own tote bag screened, but then spotted an awesome short sleeved hoodie on their rack, and with the help of gallery founder Keely Brandon, selected a bright pink for the paint. Within minutes, I had an original work of wearable art for the modest price of $20. Brilliant! It was well worth the walk indeed.