A few months back Dan Boud and I worked together on a shoot with Cloud Control and Leader Cheetah. We had a make-up girly on board so at the end of the shoot Dan jumped on the opportunity to do something a bit fun.
Al from Cloud Control was roped in for some face painting and I threw a Cheap Monday shirt on him.
The pics turned out beautifully, Dan and Al nailed it. Above is my favourite from the bunch but to go see more check out Dan's website: http://www.boudist.com/
My good friend Ceris came over the other day and he never fails to show me something cool on YouTube. This time he showed me a couple of amazing video clips from The Knife and Karin's side project, Fever Ray.
Truly crazy and totally inspirational.
I love the kitsch feeling in The Knife's clip for 'Pass this on'. I have a strange attraction towards wooden wall panels like that.....it's a little unsanitary I know but I just can't shake it. And Ceris told me this is an especially interesting and unusual clip as it actually features Karin and Olof, i.e. the dude dancing with the hot tranny and the bug eyed girl at the table. Great song too, I especially like the steel drum sound, it takes me back to music classes in England (it started off as a bunch of us taking the piss but we actually ended up playing the steel drums in a piece at our school's music night, haha).
The other clip I popped the link up for is Fever Ray's 'Seven'. Dude. I love me a cool pensioner....and people....this one is pretty special. The entire clip is stunningly beautiful with, I feel, the perfect amount of creepy. This seems to be a trend in Fever Ray's music vids, a perfect compliment to the haunting sound of her music and lyrics.
Press Play is currently available for free at these cool Sydney stores:
Cream on Crown
Zoo
Grandmae Takes a Trip
Dorby Den
Somedays
Bourke St Bakery
It features interviews with fantastic photographers, Thom Kerr, Jeff Yiu and Adam Custins plus 6 of Sydney's best up-and-coming musicians....and some pretty cool photos to look at.
I have been lucky enough to get to work with this superdooper Sydney band over the past year on a couple of projects. Although, the highlight may have been when asked to tag along to their performance on the KERRI-ANNE show one Monday morning. In tow with only a few bits and pieces to style them in (I'm not really needed, they got some mean threads), I got to see for myself that KAK is a red hot Fox, capital F baby.
These cats (yes, cats) will have any self-aware scenester shaking their bums. Having something for everyone with their killer catchy tracks that are each a treasure of an indie anthem in themselves, hot girls for the boys and hot boys for the girls. Throw in some well-worn animal print and Ken Done, and you've got a winning combination. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next!
Above are a couple of press shots I worked with them on and their network television debut on Mornings with Kerri-Anne. Amazing.
Catch Lions at your Door December 10 and the Annandale Hotel for a Youth Off The Streets benefit, playing with Bird Automatic, Parades, Ghoul and The Winter.
And in the meantime you can go listen to them here: www.lionsatyourdoor.com
Press play is a project I directed and styled for the purpose of my uni major work. The course I took was a BA of Design majoring in Creative Direction and Fashion Styling at the Whitehouse Institute of Desgin.
The project revolved around creating a series of images for 6 of my favourite Sydney based musicians; Lions at your Door, Richard in your Mind, Tennis, Cloud Control, The Spirits and Decorated Generals.
I wanted to create press shots for each of the bands (all shot by my friend and talented photographer Jeff Yiu) and involve them all in a crazy and unexpected photo shoot.
So who do you get to photograph something like that? I have been a fan of Thom Kerr's work for ages. It's so inventive and unlike anything I have ever seen a fashion photographer attempt to do. His eye, not only photographically but as an art director and graphic designer is nothing but inspirational. And as a stylist I just LOVE the stuff him and MsFitz (truely amazing....big fan) do together.
So this is a perfect example of 'if you don't ask you don't get'. I emailed Thom in a moment of stress with a formal proposal and as much information I could give him about the project at the time. I honestly didn't think it would be something Thom would want to be involved in or even have the time for, but to my shock and delight Thom emailed me back within 15 minutes with a yes.
Dude.
Working with Thom on this project was such a dream. He made it FUN and boy did he come through with goods. He's fantastic. Seriously.
The shoots are featured in a zine I published going by the same name, Press Play. You can pick it up in cool sydney stores like Cream, Dorby Den and Zoo. GO GET!
Photographer : Thom Kerr
Lighting Director - Adam Custins
Creative Director and stylist - Viktoria Ing
Art direction Assistant - Alana Wilson
Hair and MUA - Natalie Dufton, Maree Spagnol, Audrey Lim
The video I styled for Cloud Control's latest single, Gold Canary, came out recently. I love the song so much, It's one of those tunes that you just can't get out your damn head! I am over the moon with how the video turned out.
Knowing the concept I thought it best to keep the styling simple and make sure the band stand out from the craziness going on around them. Most of the gear the guys are wearing is from Cream and we mixed up Heidi's look with some Stolen Girlfriends Club jeans and a Topshop silk top.
I'm pretty stoked the crazy hats I got for them made it in.
It was a really enjoyable day with no faffing around. The director, Sam Bryant, and the band nailed every shot requirement within minutes. Although, poor Ulrich and Al had to stay back to paint the black sync back to white (Ulrich works at the studio we shot at) after we wrapped at 8pm on the Sunday. Rather them than me!
Gold Canary is the first single from their debut album coming out early 2010. If you haven't seen these guys live yet, GO! Their music and vibe is nothing but infectious in the best way possible.
Press shots that I helped out with styling for came out last week. They were for the most excellent Leader Cheetah, from Adelaide, and local heros, Cloud Control!
They are about to set off on tour together to launch Cloud Control's new single, Gold Canary
Man, there are some absolutely wicked golden oldies photographed on here. It would be great to start a bit on how Sydney style only gets better with age. Check it out here http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com/
They are some pretty inspirational folks, much like Percy up there. Go check them out...and Jeff's page too!
Issue 3 of Academy for Men is out now! Hoorah! It's such a great magazine but ya know those talented lookers from Lions at your Door are pretty damn great too.
Their debut E.P of the same name is out now, go check them out at their launch tour August 6th at the Hopetoun. They certainly know how to get even the hippest of hipsters shaking their bums!
Music and fashion go hand in hand.
I style musicians for shows and shoots, direct creative for press shoots and assist some of my favourite photographers.