Introducing Mr. Stef Siepel, EVBs newest contributor and magnet for shit-hot bands that you’ve either just heard of, or maybe never heard of, but in either case, will likely be hearing much more about in months to come - likely on these pages.

We met Stef a few weeks ago at a Snowden show here in the East Village. We hung out, talked about music, complained that Suede was never as popular here as they should have been, he showed us his, we did the same - our iPods I mean, though if I remember correctly Stef had something definitively not iPod. We quickly learned that this man with the fucked-up hair visiting from Holland was a musical force to be reckoned with, decided our meeting was fate, and promptly signed him up.

We thought the best way to introduce him, was to have him put together a mixtape of whatever he’s been dancing too all summer, so here it is. Enjoy!

PUSHING BUTTONS AND KNOBS

Heartbeat - Late of the Pier / Wires - Dead Kids / Folio - Model Horror / Money on the Fire - The Ghost Frequency / Blackout - The Whip / Ghostdance - Lesser Panda / Love is a Boat and We’re Sinking – Dinosaur Pile-Up / Red Socks Pugie - Foals / Strobe - Friendly Fires / Wolfgang Bang - Mirror! Mirror! / Disneyland Part 1 - Get Shakes / Young and Stupid - Dreamer / Dark Skies - The Electric City / Canape of Love - We Smoke Fags / British Mode - Goose

Their official bio says it well: “40 years after The Summer of Love (and 30 years after The Summer of Hate), MGMT is celebrating the grand re-opening of the third eye of the world with the duo’s much-anticipated first full-length album, an enigmatic and prophetic collection of hallucinatory sounds and hook-riddled pop tones for the new millennium. MGMT is Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, two psychic pilgrims whose paths first intersected in the green pastures of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, circa 2002.”

Eventually they migrated to Brooklyn, did some home-studio Mbox recordings, finally recorded Oracular Spectacular (easily one of our favorite albums of the year), and became accidental rock stars, touring, it seems, everywhere - forever.
Richard and Weston caught up with Ben over the phone, somewhere in the UK, to ask as many inappropriate questions as they could. Luckily our newest EVB music guru Stef Siepel stepped in and gave us some serious questions to ask, you know, about music.

EVB: Where are you right now?

BEN: On our way to, umm, Scotland.

EVB: What day of the week is it?

BEN: Um, it’s [laughs] oh man… it’s Friday.

EVB: What did you do yesterday?

BEN: We were in Lisbon doing a festival. It was our first time in Portugal. It was really fun - cool place. There’s not too much of an attitude there.

EVB: Where are you playing tonight?

BEN: In Scotland. We’re playing tomorrow night at a festival called “T in the Park”, about an hour outside of Glasgow.

EVB: There’ll be a lot of seriously wasted people there, I can tell you that.

BEN: Yeah, well, judging from the other festivals…

EVB: You’re touring like crazy - you just did Glastonbury. How does that compare to the Princeton show you did a couple years ago that we saw online? It looked like a bunch of douche bags with bottles of beer?

BEN: [laughs] That was a kind of a one-off show. We hadn’t been playing for very long and someone just set the show up for us. It was called Field Days or something - basically every fraternity had a band playing in their backyard - people were falling into garbage cans. So that show - we totally made it up on the spot. We had no idea what we were going to do. Lately we’ve been playing with a five-piece band. We’ve definitely improved. It’s been less of an unstructured mess and a little bit more of a band getting up on stage and playing.

EVB: I presume, as you’re on tour, you have a tour bus?

BEN: Yeah. It’s definitely taken some time to get adjusted to it. Some things I don’t like about it, some things I do. It’s nice to fall asleep in one city and wake up in another and start your day out there, walk around, see the city.
EVB: I’ve been on a few tour buses in my time, and I know the sleeping arrangements can be kind of interesting. Who sleeps on top, and who’s on bottom?

BEN: [laughs] Um… I’ve got a top bunk.

EVB: Andrew is on bottom?

BEN: [laughs] uhh… I don’t… I can’t remember. He may have a top bunk too.

EVB: So you’re both quite versatile?

BEN: [laughs] uhh… you could say that.

EVB: We read in an earlier interview that you guys thought your live performance was still a bit dull and you wanted to make it more theatrical and liven things up. What plans crossed your minds?

BEN: For now it’s still pretty much the same as it has been, except that we’re getting better as musicians - more practiced at getting up in front of people. We’re taking a break at the end of this year and I think we’re going to try some new stuff - hopefully work on some sort of stage presentation.

EVB: I guess there’s got to be a difference between doing a small gig, and playing huge venues with Radiohead or Beck for example, both of whom you’re scheduled to soon be opening for.

BEN: Yeah, I think we’re starting to get over the awkwardness of walking up in front of a crowd. We used to be really nervous because we’re just playing instruments - we don’t really have anything to look at on stage, but I think we’re getting a little more confident about that.

EVB: You need to recruit a Bez - like from the Happy Mondays.

BEN: Yeah, yeah, yeah!

EVB: A guy who just takes loads of drugs and dances like a fool.

While we were doing some research we found a bunch of old tracks from when you were still called The Management. Really minimal, drum machines - most of which we’ve never heard before and was never re-recorded.

BEN: Yeah, yeah - that was the kind of stuff we were making in college.

EVB: There were a few musical references to what’s going on now, but what happened to all that early music.

BEN: It was a lot more kind of goofy, nonsense songs. Kind of pop-satire almost. We weren’t much of a band at that point. We definitely weren’t taking it seriously.
EVB: People are always talking about the “Brooklyn school” - a “school” that includes, Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, Boy Crisis, Gang Gang Dance. Does that diversity make the whole idea of a “Brooklyn school” bullshit, or is there something real to that?

BEN: There’s definitely something real to Brooklyn being an influence to certain kinds of bands that live there, in terms of the experience of potentially being an outsider coming to Brooklyn. It would have been much different for me if I had grown up in Brooklyn. I moved there at the end of 2006 and lived there for about a year. I live in New Jersey now, but…

EVB: Oh, we’re not going to print that [laughs]. Do you guys both live in Jersey?

BEN: Well, I live in Jersey but Andrew is homeless right now. He lives on the bus. I do too, mostly. I think being in Brooklyn for a year definitely influenced the way I thought about music and being in a band and being in a big city for the first time in my life. But we never felt attached to the other Brooklyn bands that were coming up at the same time as us - the ones who all started getting buzz at the same time - other than, I guess, Yeasayer because they’re friends of ours, and we maybe have more of a musical connection with them, stylistically.

EVB: We just saw an interview with you where you actually wished bad Karma on Vampire Weekend…

BEN: Yeah, we wanted to start a fake feud with them [laughs]. The British music press got all over it and started spreading around that we were talking shit about Vampire Weekend. We’d never even met them before, we just thought it would be funny. We ended up meeting them and they’re really nice guys and we became friends with them, so any bad karma is gone now.

EVB: It seems the longer you guys play, the richer the music gets, and the more eccentric you seem to get. Usually eccentricity hits when you get older but are you guys are going to be a huge beautiful mess before you’re 30.

BEN: I think we’re uh… I think a couple of things have been happening to us. Since we’ve been on the road we’ve gone a little crazy. I think we’re also getting more confident, which kind of encourages us. We realized nothing bad is going to happen to us if we act like crazy people - at least for now. As long as we don’t develop hard drug habits we’re mostly alright for now.

EVB: About the album - the first part of the album, up to ‘Kids’, has a very poppy sound with catchy choruses and all. The second part is a lot more experimental, and psychedelic, and the lyrics turn from verses with choruses into a more narrative structure. Was that a conscious dividing line on the album?

BEN: Well, it didn’t really start out like that. The “catchy” songs were originally more scattered around the album, with the other stuff in the middle. We ended up changing the order because we had a meeting with Rick Rubin and he strongly suggested we move the single tracks up to the beginning of the album. We weren’t crazy about the idea, but we ended up doing it.

EVB: Have you been asked to remix anyone?

BEN: I did a remix for Black Kids but I used a Kate Bush sample and it didn’t get cleared. I think a rough version leaked out online but we couldn’t release it. We do have a several people who have remixed us, or are working on remixes for us, which is weird because we think of ourselves as more of a rock band, but I guess a lot of people think of us as someone you play in a club - we don’t even go out to clubs much.

EVB: Anything you’d like to tease us with about your side project with Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes?

BEN: He and Andrew have been talking about doing something together for a while. It was before we got a record deal, we weren’t doing anything as a band, and Andrew thought it would be cool to do something together. But now Andrew’s busy touring and I think Kevin is making the new Of Montreal album, so I don’t really know when that’s going to happen.
EVB: Do you guys think that being hot actually makes the music sound better?

BEN: [laughs] I wish it did! There are definitely people in our audience you wouldn’t think would normally be listening to the music we’re playing if people weren’t talking about our band in terms of a style. I also think some people come to the show because they think Andrew is hot. They probably like the music too, but it’s definitely a factor.

You guys probably know the term cryptogay…

EVB: What? No.

BEN: We did an interview in Paris a couple days ago and the guy brought up crypotgay culture, which is where people appropriate popular culture - superheroes for example - and use them in gay sex scenarios. Apparently there’s a movement that’s doing that with music. It’s crazy, but we can’t really read our French press to figure out what’s going on and what people are saying about us over there.

EVB: Wait, so you guys are subjects in some sort of cryptogay fantasy culture?

BEN: Yeah, apparently. We just found that out.

EVB: We’re definitely going to research that. While we’re on the subject, do you have any particular fetish?

BEN: I don’t know, I’m pretty boring in the sack [laughs].

EVB: Do you believe sexuality is fluid? If so which fluid best describes your sexuality?

BEN: [laughs] Yes, I believe it’s fluid, and I would say these days it’s kind of like a fruity, strawberry, champagne drink. With a lot of Vodka in it.

EVB: What’s the golden rule of management?

BEN: Have fun and don’t take yourself to seriously.

EVB: Since Andrew’s not on this call, do you want to start a rumor about him?

BEN: [laughs] He’s probably doing a good enough job on his own.

EVB: He has “Real” tattooed on his chest. What’s the story behind that?

BEN: Yes he does, I saw him get it. I don’t know how long he was thinking about it, but we were hanging out in Athens Georgia, living there for the summer, and he started talking about getting a tattoo, walked in and picked out, like, a cursive font.

EVB: Yeah, but what’s it mean?

BEN: I’m not exactly sure what it means to him, but it seems like [laughs] having a logo that says “Real” on yourself might be life-affirming in some way.

EVB: It seems like Andrew is more of a twink - do you think of yourself as more of an otter?

BEN: [laughs] Did you say otter?

EVB: Yes, thats what I said. Or maybe a mink.

BEN: I don’t understand [laughs].

EVB: What was your earliest gay experience?

BEN: Umm, it’s hard to say what counts as gay when you’re a REALLY little kid, but…

[laughs]

… I made out with a guy in college [laughs].

EVB: We know you guys aren’t gay, but what would it take to recruit you?

BEN: What would it take? Man, that’s a good question. What are you offering [laughs].

EVB: Well, we’ll see you at McCarren Park Pool so we’ll show you then.

BEN: Alright!

MGMT (with The Ting Tings and Black Moth Super Rainbow), plays McCarren Pool in Brooklyn, Sunday July 27. Hot. Sweaty. Love it.

Big thanks to Pavla Kopecna and Phil Ogynist for the photography.

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To help get the boys excited about their gig at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, Sunday the 27th, MGMT gave us a couple of their 7″ singles. We only have two, so if you want one (along with a 7″ from The Ting Tings, also playing on Sunday), be the first two people to send us a pic of your 7″ with “MGMT” written on it, and we’ll send you one of ours.

Send your pic to EDITOR@EASTVILLAGEBOYS.COM

We just adore Rufus Wainwright here at EVB, especially when he gets all pantomime, as he did at his recent Radio City Music Hall gig, dressed up in lederhosen, and slapping his thighs with gusto.

So you can imagine our feverish excitement when we watched Teddy Thompsons new video for “In My Arms”, and found our favorite pantomime queen dressed as our favorite pantomime king, and in roller skates, banging on his organ somewhere near the middle of the video. Enjoy, boys!

Here’s a life plan: Travel the world, get naked with your hot friends, set up photo shoots with them, have the time of your life, document it all. Lather, rinse, repeat. In between making a name for yourself as one of the most respected photographers of your genre and generation, fuck around and shoot some videos. No reason. And before you start to get pinned down as just a great photographer, produce some brilliant sculptures. And hell, take up painting. Keep them guessing, keep moving, and live life in a fantasyland of your own making. Such is the enviable life of Brandon Herman. Or so it seems - which is partly the point.

Weston Bingham: Your bio simply says where and when you were born. Care to elaborate?

Brandon Herman: Sure. I was born in a suburb of San Francisco.I have a brother and sister whom I adore. I hate people who wear their pajamas in public. I hate cats. I hate candy corn. I love burgers. I hate being bored. I love having sex. I hate Broadway musicals. I hate Starbucks. I’m lactose intolerant. I wear boxer shorts to bed but boxer briefs in the daytime. I think sirens are really annoying. I’m a pisces, but I don’t really believe in astrology. I think Kimora Lee Simmons is the biggest piece of shit to ever walk the Earth. I’d rather drink tequila than beer. Actually beer is annoying because I can’t get drunk off it. I love sleeping. I hate watching TV. I want a Porsche.

WB: You were just on the cover of Kaiserin, “a magazine for boys with problems”. What are your problems?

BH: I can’t sleep while spooning - I guess that points to intimacy issues. I drink to deal with social awkwardness. Wow, dumping your problems on a complete stranger can be so cathartic. I feel better already. Oh, I have a really bad memory. To be honest, I drink too much. I’m only attracted to people who seem like they could care less if I live or die. The moment someone shows interest in me, the magic is gone.

WB: Your website is brandonhermanland, your blog is brandonland. What goes on in Brandonhermanland?

BH: Brandonland refers to the idea of controlling one’s surroundings, creating a fabricated world for oneself. In Brandonland there is always a DJ handling the music, and you’re always doing something that makes other people go, “I wish I had thought of that.” Most people interact with a preexisting world, but I want to create one for myself and whoever else wants to join. It’s about making things interesting, making things fun. There are a lot of bizarre things about life and the world, and if you start to look for them and engage with them, then everyday becomes sort of like a game of figuring out how to live in a way that is continually new and exciting.

WB: A lot of of your peers are photographing themselves to a great degree through their subjects. You don’t necessarily seem to be. What attracts you to the people you shoot? How do you choose them?

BH: I cast people the way a director would, according to concepts that I have been working with long before they entered into the project. There’s no formula though. The notion that someone is right for the part is mere instinct. Or they’re hot.

WB: A lot of your work is very snapshotty, a lot looks more carefully planned. Do you value those approaches differently?

BH: All of the work is pretty elaborately fabricated. The snapshotty looking stuff sometimes more so. The difference is in the inspirational material. Every project starts with research - sometimes months worth. Once I have a concept I’m really into and start making work, I piece together whatever visual material I’ve found during my research period - be it film stills, porn, classical paintings, etc. - into the resulting work. A lot of the stuff I was making used to be heavily inspired by imagery that was taken from film, and I think that naturally gave it a more planned look.

More recently I have become increasingly interested in the internet and especially sites like YouTube and MySpace and the videos and photos people post of themselves. I’ll pick specific elements of their images that make them look snapshotty such as someone holding the camera at an awkward angle, or the flash being caught in a mirror behind, and I will use those deliberately, constructing images that are intentionally fabricated but because of the inspiration source may look more haphazard.

WB: Every photograph looks like a great time. Are you ever not having fun?

BH: Honestly I think I actually enjoy myself more than most people, but partly because I live my life in constant terror of being bored and will do whatever it takes to avoid it, like the plague! Even if that means saying really inappropriate things in front of my grandma, or breaking stuff, or doing impromptu personal scavenger hunts. The end justifies the means though, ya know? My assistants could tell you. I think they’re subjected to it the most.

WB: How do you get all of your friends to strip down, play around naked, and let you photograph it? Seriously?

BH: In the beginning they wouldn’t. When I was first taking pictures in college I had to beg people to be in them. By the time I was ready to graduate I pretty much had a waiting list, and people would also ask to come and watch shoots, so sometimes we would have like 20 people as an audience. It made it really fun - like we were doing a live show.

WB: What is it you look for in naked boys?
BH: I think that if I was able to communicate that clearly then I would be at the point where I wasn’t interested anymore, you know? Once I’ve figured something out I move on. Then the mystery is gone.

WB: What sort of cocks do you think are the most photogenic?

BH: Uncut definitely. Hands down. I think uncut cocks deserve to win some sort of competition

WB: What would the rules be for that competition? What would make a winner?

BH: [laughs] I don’t know, be uncut and you get a prize?

WB: What’s the story behind the title of your most recent show, “My Vacation With a Kidnapper”?
BH: When I was a little kid the thing that I was afraid of more than being eaten by a shark or crashing in a plane or anything else was being abducted out of my bedroom in the middle of the night by someone who came in through the window. Then when I was nine years old this girl named Polly Klaas was abducted in that exact way from a town not far from where I grew up, and I became obsessed with the story. I had never been in the habit of, or even interested in, reading the newspaper, but I read everything that was printed about Polly Klaas. She was eventually murdered before her abductor was caught. It was really sad.

Reflecting on it years later I realized that even though I would never wish harm on her or anyone else, I had gleaned a sort of pleasure from her story, a shot of adrenaline akin to the experience of watching a horror movie. The idea occurred to me of the possibility of something being simultaneously a fear and fantasy. I think this concept is really telling of the complicated nature of the way that the human psyche deals with its emotional reactions to the world, and that’s what the show is about.
WB: Do you have a larger agenda as an artist?

BH: I just kind of want to do crazy shit and have fun and make money from it and then die.

WB: How would you define the photography genre you are a part of?

BH: I don’t really consider myself to be a part of any genre necessarily. I usually get grouped with the likes of Larry Clark, Slava Mogutin, Marcelo Krasilcic, which is fine with me because they’re all friends of mine and I love what they do, but I never think about them when I’m making my own work. I also don’t really consider myself a photographer, per se. Most of what I’ve shown so far has been photography, but I think that will change. I spent most of last year working on a sculpture and right now I’m doing a large-scale painting.

WB: What’s the subject-matter of the painting?

BH: It’s three Laker girls dancing so that their skirts are flying up and they’re not wearing underwear.

WB: Speaking of sculptures, I love your cartoon cat head sculpture - what’s the story behind that?

BH: The cartoon cat head was part of the “Kidnapper” show. I’m really interested in the way that the memory sort of plucks things out of our daily lives, sometimes seemingly arbitrarily and decides that those will be the things that we keep and the rest it just forgets. The cat head is larger-than-life (six feet tall in person) so it’s a giant icon, the way that images can be in our minds sometimes, and it’s only the head because the rest didn’t make an impression for some reason. It also looks like a lot of cartoon cats but isn’t any specific cat, because the memory is unreliable and can get kind of fuzzy after a while, and even merge separate memories into one memory accidentally. I know it works because I have the cat’s face tattooed on my calf and every time I wear shorts someone will ask if its Felix or Heathcliff or whatever cat was the one they remember from their era. I also wonder what things might have become larger-than-life icons in Polly Klaas’ memory right before she died, or what the last cartoon she watched was.

WB: What cartoons do you watch?

BH: None. I hate TV.

WB: Are you working on any other sculptures?

BH: Yeah, I’m in the mock-up stage for a six and a half foot tall Teen Wolf. Like when high school kids turn into werewolves in movies. It’ll look like that. It’s gonna be sweet.

WB: Any interest in doing commercial work?

BH: Yeah, I do some commercial work. I like big photoshoots sometimes. It’s crazy how many people will be standing around doing nothing but for some reason HAVE to be there. And I like working with other people. It reminds me of when I was in art school and we had to do group projects - and I always had the best idea! [laughs]

WB: You said you’re obsessed with early Corey Haim. You and me both! Now that hard living has taken it’s toll how do you feel about him?

BH: I think the tragedy of how his life has turned out is sort of my favorite thing about him. I think for him to have aged gracefully would have undermined how amazing he was as a kid. But to destroy his looks, his career and his life seems like going out in a beautiful blaze of glorious anti-glory.

WB: How was Corey Feldman ever considered even close to as hot as Corey Haim?

BH: Was he? I thought it was sort of a package deal. Haim was always my fave though.

WB: Let’s talk about your video work. What are you doing in video that’s different from your photography?

BH: I’m basically just fucking around. Right now video for me is more about the experience than the product. With my photographic work I definitely have a conceptual concern that I want to share, but every medium takes a while to get used to and I’m not really there with video yet. There are too many choices and I don’t have the discipline to make many of them yet. So the videos are more a good time than anything else, and that’s why I’ve only ever exhibited one. I doubt that I will have a video in any of my shows anytime soon.That being said, I like for there to be other levels to the work outside of what sits in the gallery, and that’s the reason for the blog, for doing interviews, for crank calling people and hiring people to start rumors about me. Video would fit in that realm right now too I guess.

WB: What’s your best crank call?

BH: Oh no, I’m not saying anything self-incriminating!

WB: You’re 24 years old, so presumably your work is still evolving. What has it been evolving towards recently?

BH: I think my concepts and they way that I communicate them has become increasingly complex. A few years ago the work was more illustrative. Now I think I spend more energy deciding which details I want to leave out instead of trying to make sure that every point is clear and easy to understand. Part of that is gaining more confidence in my audience and understanding the work as actually being viewed rather than just created in a vacuum.

WB: What do you wish you were working on?

BH: A feature film that would be a filmic interpretation of the entirety of Trent Reznor’s musical work, with every song he’s ever written as a continuous score playing in chronological order throughout the movie.
Brandon Herman is represented by Envoy. All images and artwork ©Brandon Herman

Ronke Osinowo (pronounced ron-key) is a hip London dyke, but her latest works will speak to any fag who’s ever been stuck in a depressing rainy port town – literally or figuratively. I Bring You Tilbury Town is a collection of her poems, lists, and verbiage, with illustrations by Damilola Odusote, that conjure images of breaking free from societal and familial entrapments alike. Being born to Nigerian parents and raised by Romany gypsies, Ronke’s experience in this place may just be unique.

Joe Eardly: What did you do over the weekend?

Ronke Osinowo: I was supposed to get out of London and head down to Rye for the weekend, but it was pissing with rain. I didn’t fancy tussling with soaked old dears at the bric-a-brac shops so I had a clear out at home instead. Some shocking stuff came to light - judging by the clothes I threw out, I’m not as stylish as i’d like to think.

JE: Is anyone really? Where do you hang out in London, when you are stuck there?

RO: Well, I live quite close to Vauxhall but rarely hang out there. It’s queer heaven apparently, Fire, QN, Hoist, The Tavern, Chariots. I do like popping by Horse Meat Disco once in a while. Otherwise I’m over in the east-end since most of my friends live there. I was born in Hackney and it’s changed so much demographically. Being brought up in a council house, I see no charm living in the inner-city. Some VERY interesting people walking the streets though.

JE: Ah, our mates from Horse Meat were over here in the East Village recently. Always a good time! So where exactly is Tilbury? I imagine it’s one of those depressing minor towns where the drizzle only stops for one hour a year and everyone rushes away from their pint to have a picnic of cold roast beef sandwiches, only to find that when they arrive at the park it starts drizzling again.

RO: You’re right about depressing, for sure! It’s about 25 miles east of London and it’s a dock town. It had chronic unemployment in the ’70s and ’80s which fuelled petty and violent crime. As for being born in Hackney it was a case of out of the frying pan into the fire. There used to be huge cruiseliners docked at the port every couple of months - that’s about as close to glamor as it got. The trade sailors often got robbed and beaten by the skins whilst on shore leave and there was a safe house (knocking shop) called the Stella Maris where the sailors could stay. There were no gays in Tilbury - far too much machismo - but there were quite a few sailors and a fair share of working men’s clubs. You decide.

JE: I’m starting to understand where you got your inspiration! Did you start writing as a kid?

OR: I recently found some old letters and cards and stuff from school. Amongst the crap and the gold I found a short story I’d written about a boy who got his heart broken. It was just short of one page - I’d dated it September 1981 so I guess that’s when I started.

JE: Still into boys then, eh? How did you come about putting your book together?

OR: From the outset I always knew my family set-up was unusual but not necessarily in a good way. Growing up it was a massive hindrance because there was so much negativity thrown at you on a daily bases - whether through physical or verbal abuse, being singled out as trouble or less intelligent, being poor, being black in a white town, being black in a white town with Romany parents, not accepting what the overwhelming majority thought. It can lead you down a very rocky road and put you in a very vulnerable position.

When one of my foster brothers came up to London to study illustration I was really inspired by his work. I dug out some things I had written in Tilbury and wrote a few new things. I thought Dami’s illustrations would enhance the words I had written and give them a greater sense of atmosphere, so I showed him a few lines and he came back to me with what he thought I was trying to get across.

JE: It makes sense that the poems and illustrations were conceived and created together – they’re beautifully interwoven throughout the book. I especially like ‘Woodland’ – it’s something everyone can relate to, but especially growing up a poof!

RO: It’s true what they say: you can’t escape your past - but I’ve found this expression applies largely to people who have experienced something in their past that was particularly unpleasant – people with pasts they want to escape from. If your memories of the past are rosy, this kind of phrase wouldn’t necessarily be in your consciousness. My past haunts me because the things that happened shaped me, but they were not things that I would ever like to experience again. The thought of returning to that state has not been fully exorcised from my mind.

JE: What is your relationship like now with Tilbury Town? Do you visit there often? What is it like?

RO: My relationship with Tilbury stopped when my foster parents died in 2006. They did an amazing job with such little resource or support. Tilbury is unique and an Everytown at the same time. Seeing some pictures recently, it was difficult to distinguish when they were taken – it could have been the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s or ’90s – turned out they were taken just a few weeks prior. That pretty much sums up Tilbury for me – its insularity makes for slow progress. There are some pictures at damilolaa.com - you can see for yourself.

JE: Are you reaching out to other kids in towns like Tilbury?

RO: I think some of the stuff is very personal yet at the same time very accessible to anyone who has felt like an outsider. I wrote the book to try and make sense of things that were going on in my life at the time and to prove that something creative can come from a rubbish situation. What I’ve been hearing from people who have read the book is that they can relate to what is being expressed even though their situations may be very far removed.

JE: I’d say that’s accurate – there is a real sense of trying to break free or escape throughout the book, and who hasn’t felt that when growing up? I got a kick out ‘Rules’ – it pretty much sums it all up.

RO: ‘Rules’ originated because I had to have some kind of mantra for surviving (that wasn’t drug or alcohol related). I tried to fit in (impossible), tried to be “good”, tried to be what I was told I should be and none of it worked. I was despairing and felt like I was being slowly crushed. We learned to fend for ourselves at a very early age and ultimately for me, things became easier to deal with when I followed rule 1.

JE: So speaking of all this escape, is there somewhere you would like to go?

RO: Space would be nice, but I’d prefer to be teleported than sit on a shuttle going stir crazy. That’s outer space by the way, not the club in Ibiza – though that would be a laugh as well. That was a random question!

JE: Are you a poet? Do you know it?

RO: I wouldn’t be so bold as to call myself a poet. Maybe one day. I’m more of an observer. I’m particularly fascinated by what motivates people. I always want to see behind the veil.

JE: Or through the glory hole?

RO: Well everybody loves cock, don’t they?

JE: What does cock culture mean to you?

RO: As far as cock culture goes, I think it’s in a period of transition. In my world, cocks are not synonymous with men, though I do have friends who would (and do) bend over backwards for it.

JE: For an East Village boy?

RO: Hot hot hot!

12 quick questions for Rodrigo Novaes,
Editor of WLTF (where these images came from).

What song would you like to accompany this interview?

“Holding out for a Hero” by ­ Bonnie Tyler.

What’s your story?

Born in Brazil in 1971, grew up in London, became an artist, moved back to Brazil, created WLTF, trying to make it work, and living life as well as possible. It’s funny when I think of it that way.

What’s your favorite city, and why?

London. Memories of growing up.

Who is your alter-ego?

His name is Roger Ego and he does most of what I would never dare. He was born from a misspelling of my name (Rodrigo) by a bewildered office clerk many years ago. From then on Roger has appeared from time to time to save the situation.

What was your most recent jerk-off fantasy?

Gorgeous black man at the back of the cinema. Amazing what we got up to, and nobody saw us!

Shave your balls, or free and wild?

It’s relative… depends on the mood one needs to achieve.

Street, bar, or internet cruising?

Parks!

Is your body a dumpster or a temple?

A dumpster turned temple, with kick-ass lighting.

What was the best thing you’ve ever stolen?

Someone’s boyfriend.

Describe “cock culture” in 5 words.

Small is better than nothing.

What’s your next big thing?

I can’t remember his name… but it’ll be next Tuesday.

Write your own obituary.

Today at 12am Roger Ego died quietly in his sleep. He fucked his way to glory, and he was the most glorious fucker, but now he’s dead, dead as dodo, and without a dildo.

Images, from top left, by Luizo Cavet, Leonash, Gowa, Aaron Krach. All images © the artists.

So it’s summer and the heat is upon us here in NYC, the AC in our office crapped out, and even our mighty editor Weston was sighted donning a pair of cut-off jeans!

We’ve shut the office for the weekend (for heat and sanitary reasons) and retreated to our friend Peter’s lovely rooftop deck. A gimlet in hand and some juicy sausages on their way… life couldn’t be better.

To share our heat and affection for you all, I knocked out a little summer rooftop playlist. It’s a mix of old and new, fast and slow… just how we like it at EVB… I hope you all enjoy it, and thank you for the wonderfully supportive emails you’ve sent us recently.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR AND WE LOVE IT!

Gobbledigook - Sigur Rós / I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids / My Mistakes Were Made For You - The Last Shadow Puppets / 24k - The Whitest Boy Alive / Pocket - Sam Sparro / Kids - MGMT / Kids In America - Kim Wilde / Rich Girls - The Virgins / Charmed Life (Frases’ Jacked Up Mix) - Pig Out / Strings - Assylum / Can You Feel It - Mr. Fingers / Radio Edit - Studio / Go Bang (François Kevorkian Mix) - Dinosaur L / Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears / Zenophile - Mylo / Club Tropicana - Wham!

We received so many emails after our interview with Luis Venegas about his new Electric Youth! magazine (above), we’ve decided to carry it ourselves. Issue #2 is due out soon, but you can pick up the premiere “I Love Spain” issue in our store now. Hot hot hot Spanish boys on nearly every page. I’m just sayin…

We’ve also got a very few copies of Luis’ first-ever issue of Fanzine137, the “Anything Goes” issue, (below) from way back in September 2004, also in the EVB store.

By the way, if you’d like to hear about things like this before we make it public and sell out of everything, sign up on our mailing list.

Over the years, the international art world has been enriched by the collaborative work of many artist-couples. Examples include the work of pairs such as Mike and Doug Starn (identical twin brothers), Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (husband and wife), and Jake and Dinos Chapman (brothers).

Some same-sex partners, of course, round out the list. From England, there is the provocative work of Gilbert & George. From France, the homoerotic photography of Pierre et Gilles. And now, from Argentina, artist-lovers Leo Chiachio and Daniel Giannone, collaborating since 2001, are bringing change to art and culture in Buenos Aires, where some traditional sexual taboos persist.

I spoke with Leo and Daniel about seduction, embroidery, self portraits, Asian influences, love, ornamentation, Kabuki theatre, porno mags, Farrah Fawcett, art, queer culture in Argentina, Madonna, Mishima, toilets, their son-dog, and of course glitter. Read the Spanish version here.

Rafael Esquer: So, the first thing EVB wants to know is, who picked up who?

Daniel Giannone: It was 2001 in Argentina, and the country was going through a devastating financial crisis. Everyone was affected including, of course, the art world. It was then when visual artist Chino Soria had the idea of transforming his home into an art gallery. He invited 40 guest artists to exhibit. One weekend Leo’s piece “Happy” was on display. And I attended…

Leo Chiachio: First, we checked each other out, then, on a balcony I kissed Daniel. Apparently, it was a kiss that left a lasting impression.

DG: I was hooked. I wanted a second meeting, for a second kiss. Days went by. Our second date was at the Rojas Cultural Center. This time I was ready to jump Leo!

LC: Our rendezvous was Bar Cipriano, where we drank and listened to music. We ended up at my place. We’ve never been apart since.

RE: So, what came first?

D&L: In this order: seduction, sex, love, art.

RE: How do these things influence each other?

D&L: The love we feel for each other feeds us, thus nourishing the creation of our art. It’s all in a constant communion.

RE: When you were ten years old, how would you have answered the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

DG: What I told people was either a lawyer or a veterinarian, but secretly I wanted to be a classic dancer, a painter, a movie star or a soap opera actor.

LC: An artist, a veterinarian or a singer (a famous one, obviously!)
RE: As your artistic medium, you chose needlework, stitchery, and embroidery — all traditionally feminine pursuits. Why?

DG: We are interested in rescuing those activities that slowly have been relegated to the feminine world. We’d like to show that, as two men, we are totally free to enter and inhabit such a world.

LC: Also, after many years of being indoctrinated by academia, we now want to ignore it and bring to our work as painters, materials that belong to the crafts – those materials we used as children (glitter, embroidery, etc). As adults we want to play like children.

RE: Daniel, you started embroidery at a young age, taught by the nuns in your Catholic school. How did you start embroidery Leo?

LC: When I was very young I started making art on t-shirts and old shirts handed down by friends. Even though it was a time of economic crisis, the desire to create was even stronger, so I started making art with the materials I found around the house such as thread, clothes, buttons and so on. I used to like buying useless stuff in American flea markets. I would carefully save them as if they were treasures found on a deserted island.

RE: Well, not all your work is made of fabric and thread. I’m intrigued by “Collectable Throne.” Tell me about it.

D&L: We made it for the Cultural Center Recoleta in Buenos Aires. They invited selected artists to make an art piece using a toilet, so, we covered it with glitter, which we’ve been using in our work for quite some time. Our idea was to transform the toilet into a throne through beauty, with imagery from an imagined paradise where fire rises from beneath. It culminates as a paradise inhabited by us, surrounded with flowers. Love prevails in paradise - a world of flowers and love.

RE: Looking at your work and its use of atypical “artist’s tools” or materials makes me wonder what kind of stuff you collected as a child?

DG: Dolls, the same that my sister Nora had. I loved the ones made of velvet and glitter. Also, I collected postage stamps and art magazines. And as a teenager, I had a crazy collection of Farrah Fawcett photos.

LC: Tons of figurines, cars and any kind of magazine. And as a teenager, gay porno mags!

RE: What do you collect now?

D&L: Contemporary art created by our friends, art and design books, DVD collections (Sex & The City, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under) and Italian music.

RE: Diana Vreeland once said that we all need a splash of bad taste. What’s yours?

D&L: We are not sure if we have one, too many, or whether our life is full of splashes! We love Brazilian soap operas, B-movies, gossip magazines, American Idol auditions, reality shows…

RE: A few years back, EVB discovered some of Leo’s pieces – homoerotic images created by penetrating paper with a needle. Daniel, what were you doing back then?

DG: Acrylic and oil painting.

RE: Your opus is primarily self-portraits, right?

DG: Yes, but in addition to our self-portraits we also paint “Piolin”, our son-dog.

RE: Who else would you like to do a portrait of?

D&L: Saint Sebastian, the nudes of Botticelli, Andy Warhol, Marie Antoinette, Joan of Arc, Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Robert Downey Jr., Daryl Hannah, Ney Matogrosso.

RE: I see Asian influence in your work…
D&L: Yes, what’s interesting to us about many very traditional Asian cultures is how, from the very beginning, love stories between men (samurais, actors) get told despite the cultural taboos against them. In Japan, for example, in traditional kabuki theatre, women’s roles are played by men who start at a very early age. For many, this becomes their sweet sentence.

RE: Tell me about your interest in queer culture.

D&L: The interest has always been there, but it’s becoming increasingly stronger since we got together. We let art take total control of our lives, and we live our love freely. We value being part of this grand movement, increasingly growing, that is bringing change to a traditional society strongly rooted in Catholicism. Being openly and visibly gay means to be alive, to belong and to be protagonists of change, of history.

RE: Speaking of… can you share your impressions of queer culture in Argentina?

D&L: Since Argentina is a big country, we will speak mainly of Buenos Aires. In the last few years there’s been more acceptance of everything queer. That is, the creation of civil unions for same-sex couples, gay film festivals, many groups and organizations, gay pride, gay cruise ships that stop in Buenos Aires, more visibility of gays and lesbians in the media, even an exclusively gay five-star hotel. Lately, Buenos Aires has become an important gay-friendly destination.

RE: Is Argentina or South America ready for Leo and Daniel?

D&L: In Buenos Aires, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Down here being homosexual is still a big taboo. It’s not common to see two men living together. It’s still not accepted that two artists publicly create together using themselves as the subject of their work. A public gay relationship is not fully accepted. But we feel change is in the air.

RE: When you work and live together, what happens when you fight? What’s happens to your collaboration?

D&L: We discuss, talk and constantly speak up. We don’t always agree on what we want, but we’ve learned to listen to each other. This has made our relationship richer. It empowers the creative process. The diversity of thought makes us stronger. Fights slow down the creative process. Synergy is always present. Constant dialogue is indispensable to grow.

RE: Have any of your pieces caused controversy?

D&L: Often people are interested in knowing who made what, or they want to know the intimate parts of the creative process - the intimacy of our lives. Other times, controversy happens when questioning the conceptual part of the art. The interest lies in wanting to know the creative universe inhabited by two gay artists sharing their home and their art. Society has trouble understanding that it can be possible - but IT IS.

RE: Saint Sebastian, Yukio Mishima - what other gay characters influence your work? Who will show up in the future?

D&L: Our world is influenced by many disciplines like fashion – John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood. Cinema – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Gregg Araki, Takeshi Kitano, Bruce LaBruce, Rosa von Praunheim. Music – Rufus Wainwright, George Michael, Madonna, Grace Jones, Ney Matogrosso. Literature – Yukio Mishima, David Leavitt. And urban legends like Irupé’s Love and El Pombero.

On the other hand, we are interested in how throughout history the roles or men have changed. Unlike the animal kingdom, men’s ornamentation in every civilization has changed. Historically, men have been more exotic in their adornment – hair, jewelry, make up – than women. However, this tradition has been relegated to women, demanding of men a universal image that is supposed to be virile and uniform. Globalization has contributed to make this tough male image universal. It is an aesthetic that has taken over the Western and Eastern worlds alike.

RE: How do you want to be remembered one hundred years from now?

D&L: As two men who learned how to transform their art into a way of living.

RE: What is your next adventure?

D&L: We are creating an embroidery series where we depict ourselves as aboriginals of every civilization. We dream of showing our work around the world. We’d like to have a show in New York, to have Galliano commission us to do an embroidery piece, and to have Madonna come to us for her portrait.
All images © Leo Chiachio and Daniel Giannone.
Click “more” for the Spanish version of this interview.

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