Pedestrian?

A driving force behind AM and Ksubi eyewear and now has his own self-titled sunnies label, Graz. With a true cult following, Graz Mulcahy’s sunglasses are in demand worldwide. Graz also graces the decks at many an A-List party.

Why are sunnies so important in the ‘Bondi wardrobe’? The sun is always shining in Bondi, haven’t you seen the brochure?

What would be the most popular styles? The KMC for the men and the EDEN for the ladies: two key styles of mine.

Some people say you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear or the bag they tote –what can you tell about a person by the sunnies they wear? Well, many would argue in this day and age sunglasses are far more form than function. People pay more attention to what they wear on their head than what they wear on their feet (some obsessive women aside). So in saying that, sunglasses definitely say more. People spend more time and effort on glasses, not only because they are on your head but because it’s harder to find a good pair that fits, that not everyone has and that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

How did you get into eyewear design? And your own line? I’ve been designing stuff for a while. It just came as an idea. So many sunglasses; not very many good ones. It was a ‘meant to be’ thing I think.

Tell me about your latest range. It was my first 100 percent solo project. I have collaborated with many people in the past, whether they be partners, another brand, or consulting. This is my first thing without other heads involved in any part of it. It’s been great; the luxury of doing what I want, how I want. The results showed that I operate the best this way.

Do you feel your habitat influences your designs? Of course I soak in everything around me; that’s what makes the landscape of my inspiration. I try to not make all of my influences and surrounds bias any particular geographical location or theme, but Bondi definitely has a lot to offer.

Describe the design and product development process – how do you go from original idea to finished product? Where does your design inspiration come from? First an idea; then a sketch. From that sketch it then goes into the computer. I develop a shape and then apply the appropriate measurements. Because my frames are made by hand they have to be cut from a sheet. So I do a front, top and side view with the specifications and then prepare the data for the factory. My inspiration comes from just about everything I do; everything is linked. How I feel, the work I do, the people who buy my designs – it’s all in the same system.

Where can we find your sunnies? You have to look, but they are not too hard to find. They are in 10 stores in the world. Also I have a group of people that get first dibs on my frames. They are shown and offered firstly to a global community of people who are friends or fans of my designs; they are then released to a small number of stores.

Do you feel you compete with the major global brands? Yes and no. Yes because everyone has a choice and some of the global brands make great sunglasses and if no one bought mine then I wouldn’t be able to do what I love. No, because I do it because I love it, not to make millions, so I don’t really care if they sell more than me, or have bigger posters.

Would you like to expand your collection to other products in the future? If so, what? Most definitely, I’ve always had my eye on luggage, perhaps some shoes and definitely some domestic household items, light covers, cups, etc.

And if you weren’t designing eyewear, you would be…? Dead.

Like a few other designers, you also DJ: what kind of music do you play/are you into? Everything. The last 5 songs I just played are Miles Davis, Faith No More, Larry Levan, Daft Punk and Wu Tang Clan.

What do you like most about living in Bondi? It’s pretty carefree. There are some great cities and places in the world, but I’ve realised nothing compares to the Bondi area. It’s pretty hassle free except the parking rangers. Trying to ruin people’s little lives.

What do you think it will be like in 10-15 years’ time? That’s up to the council I guess. If I was a betting man I’d say that it’ll either be like the Gold Coast (Queensland) or maybe the world is going to end before then in 2012 anyways…

Bondi Style is a self described "snapshot of life beyond the tourist clichés". An exploration of Sydney's most iconic suburb through streetscape photography, style snaps and candid interviews with local creatives and identities.

PURCHASE "BONDI STYLE" HERE

1 comment | Posted on November 17, 2009 at 7:23pm by Ash | Email article to friend | Back To Top

I'm not too sure what to make of Sonny Vandevelde when I first meet him for this interview. His salt and pepper beard, bucket hat and affable demeanor makes me think he once worked in a surf shop. The term "salty sea dog" seems particularly apt and I'm not too sure why. Surprisingly that assumption is only half true because (though he loves surfing and used to manage a surf shop) Vandevelde now documents some of the biggest fashion shows in the world.

Balenciaga, Comme Des Garcons and Alexander McQueen are the only labels to have eluded Vandevelde's lens thus far. I say that because it's far easier on my wrists, sanity and time to list the shows he hasn't documented backstage. As I'll learn over the course of our hour long conversation Vandevelde is warm (which may explain his easy rapport with the modelling set), an engaging raconteur and a photographer who's as prolific as he is talented. Read on to find out about Jean Charles de Castelbajac's reaction to Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno stunt, tips for getting backstage and why you shouldn't take Paris Hilton's picture.

So I guess we should start by asking you how you got into photography? I was always taking photos! Even before school… I’d be mucking around with my Granddad’s little Kodak and then when I was at school my Dad’s friend gave me a Pentax camera complete with a little light meter and stuff…it was really ancient! And then at school I did a photography class for two years – which was just the basic stuff like darkroom, printing and enlarging – which was good fun, and I think I got into it that way.

Did you know you wanted to do it as a career or was it just a hobby at that stage? I don't think I was really thinking about a career at that stage. I was just hanging out and taking photos of my mates riding their bikes off the bridge and into the river. Or just going for a bush walk with the camera and taking photos of flowers and waterfalls –whatever!

And when did you start to become more serious? It still isn’t serious mate (laughs) I guess when the processing bills started to build up from the labs and all the film I’d bought – realizing that working in nightclubs taking photos to earn money to pay for the processing bills wasn’t good enough, I had to do something about it. It got to the stage when I was trying to get stuff in magazines and get a bit of cash for it. I guess I got more serious when I didn't have to work at night-time anymore, and I was making money and didn't have to have a second job anymore to pay for the processing at the photo labs. And that would have been the early 90’s.

And how did your passion for images evolve to capturing fashion specifically? Well, I always loved doing, what I call a documentary lifestyle style because I lived on the beaches and people found out I was doing photography. I was managing a surf shop at the time for Mark Warren and from that I got to meet all the reps for Rip Curl and Quicksilver. And Quicksilver at the time had their head office I think in Mona vale or Newport, and I knew the woman who was in charge of marketing who would come to the beach where I was surfing so she got me to do some photos for their new ranges in the early 90’s and then I would shoot their new catalogues for all their snow gear.

At the time I was doing editorials for Dolly, Girlfriend and Cosmo…but there was a shift in the industry as Australia got more recognized overseas, and they liked the whole relaxed lifestyle, and at the time I was travelling overseas and they saw in my photography that lifestyle element. As soon as I went overseas I straight away got picked up by an agent who got me doing jobs for Tommy Hilfiger and also working for a lot of street mags and shooting hip hop scenes – it was a lot of fun!

But I was always coming back to Australia because I had a job with Harpers Bazaar, doing the Fashion Week shots for them, and I had an assistant who would sit on my podium and mind it for me. So while he’d be outside sitting on the podium, minding my spot, I’d be hanging out backstage because it was more fun. I would show [the photos] to the art director and then they started slowly incorporating that into the layout as well. After fashion week I took the photos into Marie Claire and they bought the lot. So that's where it all started.

With that reportage style photography backstage, was it hard earlier on to gain that trust and respect? At the moment there’s a photographer named Dustin Pittman who used to do all this stuff as well in the 70’s, and I just met him in New York recently and he told me he would be backstage at Yves Saint Laurent and the problem now is that backstage the popularity has grown so much. So the problem now in the past 10 years is that everyone wants to get backstage. I remember 5 seasons ago at Lanvin there was literally 60-70 photographers there, realistically there should be about 10 – you should get your Harpers Bazaar, Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and then some niche magazines and then you get me (laughs). Because if there’s going to a pecking order, I’m still pretty much at the bottom of the ladder because I don't work for a magazine that has huge advertising revenue.

In those early stages what did you do to get backstage? A lot of begging, a lot of pleading… I was really naïve because at the time I was working for Hint Mag in New York making their slide shows with Lee Carter, which was the first online magazine and nearly everything that’s come after that has modelled itself on the success of Hint Mag. But yeah, it was a lot of perseverance, and making a lot of phone calls. Everyday I would tell myself ‘don't take it personality’ but I’d still get really offended if I wouldn't be allowed back stage.

What’s the craftiest thing you’ve done to get backstage? The craftiest or shiftiest? (Laughs) I’ve done quite a lot of things that I shouldn’t have done but I did it because in my heart I knew that once the pictures would be published they would be happy that I was there. But you get [people like] Steve Wood and he’s in his 50’s and he’ll wear the typical black waiter pants and a white shirt, and pretend to be the caterer, walk around pouring drinks for the models but underneath his little white napkin he’s got a camera, so as soon as the show starts he’s like ‘sorry I’m not pouring drinks for you anymore, I’m taking pictures’.

Have you ever felt unwelcome? Yeah totally. Some designers to this day, like Veronique Branquinho is a classic case. I met her in Antwerp years ago while I was having lunch with an editor from a magazine, and we were creating this concept for a new magazine. We went ahead and produced this new magazine and it was just portrait shots of people in their homes. And as we were discussing the idea and the concept, Veronique Branquinho was sitting at the table next to us with her PA but I didn't realize it was her but she was dressed very well and she had Rayban glasses on and she looked uber cool. So I said to the editor ‘oh look at her, she would be perfect yada yada’ and so after we finished our lunch I went over to her and said ‘sorry to interrupt your lunch but I just really like your look and this is Emmanuel, the editor of the magazine and I’m Sonny and we’re actually working on this new magazine where we just photograph people’ and she was like ‘No I don't like getting my picture taken’ and ever since that moment when I’d arrive at her show I’d get the sense that she didn't want me there.

I guess it’s that sense of control. Because a designer’s visions is so particular - everything that happens once the model crosses that threshold is planned so meticulously… It’s different for different designers. I’ll be at Jean Charles de Castelbajac and he loves it when I’m backstage and up until recently I thought Karl Lagerfeld did as well but it turns out he doesn't like backstage photographers. And then you have other designers like Commes Des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto - you will hardly ever see any backstage pictures because, like you said, for them they spent so much money on producing a show and making a collection that is being out there, and there the image is controlled because that’s what they want to project. Whereas backstage they have the hair being pulled out of the models, and they don't want to show the chaos. But I never wanted to show the chaos; I liked showing the model sin the full outfit and having a bit of fun with it.

So who’s your favourite designer to shoot for? I’m going to be bias and say Bruno Pieters, because he’s become a dear friend of mine but even with him, for example, he hates having people backstage during the show. He hates it but he wants me there because at the same time he wants a documentation of what happens backstage as well. But I’ve always loved, without a doubt, the Galliano shows because Galliano would be up there with the amount of photos taken backstage. Vivienne Westwood is always fun but that's really hectic sometimes too.

Who is your favourite model to shoot? Iekeliene (Stange) because she’s become a really good friend of mine. And of cause you have a lot of Russian models. But like I said to someone the other day its more about who is my least favourite model… because pretty much with all the models if they’re going to pose for me and smile for me then they’re a favourite… but it's the ones that don't and actually when I ask them they say no. Some of them would say ‘I don't want my photo taken’ and I’m like ‘well what are you getting paid for?’ you’re about to walk out there and be photographed by the whole world. So the ones that are my least favourite are the ones that are uber uber uber beautiful, sublime to look at, they’re so pretty but at the same time they’re so ugly because they have this attitude.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen backstage? Bruno, well Sacha Baron Cohen, when he was in Milan and was causing a bit of havoc, that was funny and again at the at Jean Charles de Castelbajac he was there as well. And the security guys were onto him and they saw him coming a mile away and he still managed to get in backstage and the head PR went up to him and said ‘oh its Bruno he’s going to ruin your show’ and Jean Charles de Castelbajac just looked at him and said ‘uh let him do what he wants’ and he saw him (Bruno) running on stage and he was watching the monitor backstage and he just chuckled.

Has there been any shows you really wanted to see but couldn't get into? I’ve never been able to do Balenciaga, Commes de Garcons and I’ve been backstage but I’ve never been able to shoot Alexander McQueen properly. So yeah there’s still a few more I want to do. I’m sure there’s one more, because I’ve done Vuiton, Chanel, Lagerfeld, Fendi, Galliano, Dior, Prada and Balmain… Miu Miu, that's the other one I want to do.

That’s quite a list. So what is it about your approach that has afforded you so many backstage opportunities? With a lot of new photographers they’re treat it more like a paparazzi scene and take as many photos as possible and get in the way. They don’t give the designers that sense of respect and privacy which I’ve always tried to do. Madonna or Paris Hilton or someone might be standing backstage and I won’t pull out my camera to take a photo of them. Who knows? Maybe they went backstage to avoid their picture getting taken from all the photographers at the front of house. And I remember the first time I saw Paris Hilton, I wasn’t star truck, she was just standing next to me backstage with her agent and waiting til the very last minute to take their seats so they wouldn’t get swamped by the photographers. And she looked at me and smiled then noticed the camera and flash in my hand and all of a sudden I could read the horror in her face. Then it sort of turned into “why hasn’t he taken my photo, doesn’t he know who I am?”.

All images via Sonny Vandevelde

2 comments | Posted on November 17, 2009 at 4:40am by Ash | Email article to friend | Back To Top

If there is one label synonymous with Bondi, undoubtedly it is Ksubi. Co-founder and designer Dan Single is fashion royalty in Australia and has created of one of the country’s most successful labels and sub-cultures.
Ksubi currently sells in 18 countries internationally with three Australian concept stores and one in Soho, New York.

Dan, you’re originally from the Northern Beaches in Sydney… how is that different to Bondi? It’s quieter, the surf’s better, life is simpler.

What brought you to live here? Because the hour drive to work everyday is a killer. Two hours in total a day. That is close to 700 hours a year. That is 700 hours that could be spent enjoying myself.

How has the area evolved over that time? There are less bars and the streets are wider.

You have Ksubi concept stores and retailers internationally...what makes you choose to live in Sydney above somewhere like New York? Because I have a son, Justice. New York is a single person’s town.

Is your local area a key influence in your fashion design? If so, how? Maybe that it is pretty relaxed and not too serious.

How does that look appeal to overseas customers? It appeals because most people seem so uptight about stuff. We don't really take ourselves too seriously and I think that is refreshing for people.

What awareness or perception do you find people overseas have of Bondi? That it is a beach town filled with actors, models and photographers (and it’s true).

Your first concept store was in Gould St, Bondi. Why did you choose this location? Because at that time no one was selling our stuff in Bondi and it is also where we like to hang out.

How would you define Bondi style? Beachy with a bit of fluoro. Bad sunglasses and short shorts.

What changes do you foresee in Bondi over the next few years? Not much I hope. All the hotels will eventually be gone to make way for luxury apartments. I hope the whole place won’t be filled with luxury apartments that nobody can afford to live in.

Bondi Style is a self described "snapshot of life beyond the tourist clichés". An exploration of Sydney's most iconic suburb through streetscape photography, style snaps and candid interviews with local creatives and identities.

PURCHASE "BONDI STYLE" HERE

5 comments | Posted on November 16, 2009 at 5:46pm by Ash | Email article to friend | Back To Top

Steven “Pav” Pavlovic is founder and director of international record label Modular, which represents many of the names in the music industry right now: The Presets, Cut Copy, Ladyhawke and Van She, to name a few.


What does your company do? Anything and everything with any kind of questionable link to good music.

What is your background in music/business? I started out managing bands, then booking local venues around Sydney and then moved into promoting tours for both local and international bands, some of which included Nirvana, Pavement, The Beastie Boys, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and a host of others.

How did you start Modular? What was it like in the beginning? How has the business transformed? Modular came to life in 98 when I was receiving lots of demos from local bands that wanted to play with the internationals acts I was touring. I received one that was so compelling I decided to form a record label to put it out. That band was called Quentin's Brittle Bones, who later changed their name to The Avalanches.
In the beginning the label was a hobby and an adjunct to my touring business. With the commercial success of debut albums from The Living End, Ben Lee and The Avalanches I developed the confidence to focus solely on the recording part of the business. Over the next decade I signed lots of great local and international artists including Cut Copy, The Presets, Wolfmother, Jack Johnson, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Van She, Ladyhawke and Tame Impala.

Creatively not much has changed, people still send me good music and I still say ‘yes’. Commercially a lot has changed! People prefer to say ‘no’ to buying music legally and ‘yes’ to downloading it illegally. As such the label has become a hobby again and I focus mainly on the other areas of my business that have expanded to include a touring company, a talent booking agency, a new media/marketing agency and a merchandise company.

Was there a defining moment/period when things took off? I don’t know if there was a singular defining moment, more a series of opportunities that I said yes to. When I started promoting concerts I met the guys from Nirvana and asked them if they wanted to tour Australia. They agreed. From there I toured acts like the Beastie Boys and Beck. After those tours I developed a reputation and bands like Pearl Jam approached me. All I did was say yes. When The Avalanches sent me their original demos I was so deeply moved that I started a record label to release them. At the same time The Living End and Ben Lee were looking for deals and I signed them as well. After that I lost interest in things for a while and moved to NYC for a couple of years. When I came back a friend asked me if I knew of a good local record label I could recommend for Jack Johnson and I said “yeah mine.”

Similarly the opportunity to sign the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Presets presented itself and I said yes. All in all I’m a really lucky person that knows the difference between no and yes in my chosen vocation.

What are your greatest career achievements? From a personal point of view I’d say being able to do what I do each day and make a living from it. From an industry point of view I’d say the names of bands I’ve worked with.

Now that the business is successful, what does your role consist of? Can you chill out more? These days my role consists of rolling in the sand with my daughter, drinking fresh, young coconut juice, cheering for the Carlton Football Club and expanding my culinary artillery.

Where are you from? How long have you been in Bondi? Do you think you’ll be there in the long-term? I grew up in Canberra and escaped to Sydney when I was 19. I’ve lived in the inner city / eastern suburbs since then and moved to Bondi in ‘88. After 20 odd years it’s hard not to think of Bondi as home and it’ll always be a special place for my family and me.

What do you like about the area? When I first moved here it was a shit hole overrun by milk bars and hamburger joints. The water was dirty and during a good onshore the sewerage formed a noticeable slick just beyond the break. Rents were cheap and there was a real sense of community amongst the people I knew that lived here.

Most people I knew didn’t want to come to Bondi and thought it was a dump and too far from the city. I loved that it polarised people and I loved that I could hang out at the beach all day whilst those same people sweated it out in Surry Hills. There are not too many places in the world where you can be in the middle of a city and still be surrounded by so much nature. I love the fact that every day it gets a natural facelift and that on no two days does it look the same. It’s a constantly evolving place and now most of the milk bars and hamburger joints have been replaced by hipster cafes. The rents are anything but cheap, the water is cleaner than I can ever remember and the only community I’m a part of is my immediate family.

Living in Australia –does it have limitations in your industry? Yes and no. The world is a pretty small place these days and there’s something exotic about being from Australia that people respond to.

Would it be advantageous to live in a world capital such as New York or London? We have an office in NY and I've lived there for a couple of years. It's definitely important for us to have a presence over there but on another level I think the fact we're from Sydney is a plus for us and is a bit of a point of difference.

Why do you think your artists are so successful, both locally and internationally? Because they write great songs. Music's a pretty universal medium and if the artist has something genuinely unique and special then there's no reason they shouldn't be successful locally and internationally, provided they're given the right platform. Which is where we come in...

Is there an Australian sound – is Australian music discernable from other countries’? I don’t think there’s a particular sound as such; more just definable artists that come from here. Things like the Triffids or Nick Cave.

Does our geographic location (at the far end of the earth) bear any influence on local music or does the interconnectedness of the world – advanced communications etc – negate this? In a way yes to both. I think artists often take influence from not just the US, but the UK, Europe, Asia and so on equally and take on their own mutant shape. Being so isolated and far from any particular scenes that are going on, no matter how much you can listen to it on the internet and visualise it in your mind the interpretation that comes out so far away will often be slightly skewed.

What music did you listen to in the last 24 hours? The Pentagons, Unrelated Segments, Bag Raiders, Canyons, Wolfmother, Jonathan Boulet, Solid Gold.

Your prediction for next big Aussie music act? Jonathan Boulet.

Bondi Style is a self described "snapshot of life beyond the tourist clichés". An exploration of Sydney's most iconic suburb through streetscape photography, style snaps and candid interviews with local creatives and identities.

PURCHASE "BONDI STYLE" HERE

1 comment | Posted on November 16, 2009 at 5:27pm by Ash | Email article to friend | Back To Top

Central St Martins-trained Kym Ellery is herself becoming a local style icon, while her striking, sculptural fashion range carves out a rep as one of Australia’s best.

How did you get into designing? As far back as I can remember I've always wanted to design clothing. My mother is an artist and a sewer so my childhood was spent ‘creating’. It never wore off.

When did you start Ellery? In the summer of 2007. A stylist at Vogue, Trevor Stones, shot a pair of glitter tights that I had made for one of his main book fashion editorials. The shots were amazing and I thought that if Vogue was shooting my creations before I had even begun a brand, then I should start my label ASAP.

Describe your label in a few words. Chic, sculptural and fashion-forward.

What’s the profile of your typical customer? There seems to be a balance between women that just want beautiful, well-made clothing and the fashionistas who must have the most fashion forward pieces of the season.

How would you describe your own style? It tends to be a mixture of feminine/sexy and tomboy/cool but I would best describe it like a box of chocolates; you never really know what you're going to get.

Who are your muses? My mother and father. And at the moment Jerry Hall circa mid 80s; Mert and Marcus (Brazilian fashion photography duo – they are amazing and my absolute favourite); Ryan McGinley (also a photographer); Carine Roitfeld (Editor-in-Chief, French Vogue); James Harvey (Art Director and drummer in band ‘Hot Little Hands’); Susie McCallum (PR to the stars and good friend); Ilona Hamer (Vogue Australia and one of my best friends) and Kinga Burza (Director based in London and my greatest friend).

What do we have in store with your upcoming season’s range? It's a dark take on beauty pageants, my favourite pageant being an 80s ‘Miss Teen USA’ competition. Amazing.

How do you think being based in Sydney affects your design sensibility? It keeps me inspired by international fashion. This is important because I need there to be a higher level of something to aspire to.

What are your favourite things to do in Bondi? Snuggle up in my lounge room and watch the waves crash against the rocks.

Bondi Style is a self described "snapshot of life beyond the tourist clichés". An exploration of Sydney's most iconic suburb through streetscape photography, style snaps and candid interviews with local creatives and identities.

PURCHASE "BONDI STYLE" HERE

1 comment | Posted on November 16, 2009 at 5:22pm by Ash | Email article to friend | Back To Top

Moop Jaw is a collective of 4 artists (Rhett Wade-Ferrell, Warran Wright, Antuong Nguyen, Ryan Frazer) known predominantly for music videos but don't be fooled, they have their sights set on world domination. We spoke to one quarter of the collective, Rhett Wade-Ferrell, about his recent trip to America, stalking Jessica Biel, shooting a Christian Joy documentary and working with Neon Indian and Peaches. Also known as reasons this whole "world domination" thing might come to fruition.

Hey Rhett, we hear you've been working on the new Neon Indian video - how did that come about? We met Alan Polomo (Neon Indian) when he was here working on the Miami Horror album with Ben. Ben in turn was producing Alan's Vega EP. For those of you who don't know, Vega and Neon Indian are both Alan Polomo's projects. Anyway, we took Alan for a night in Melbourne while he was here knowing he wanted us to work on the Deadbeat Summer video, so I match made him up with Antuong. Antuong and Alan came up the concept which is basically a sunny day out in New York that is not as good as a day he had last summer. This is what Deadbeat Summer is about. It turned out Antuong couldn't come to the US with us cause he had a lot to finish off in Melbourne so he gave me his brief and I directed it. It turned out Alan was a bit more comical than I think Antuong had anticipated but he's a pretty fun loving guy so I just ran with it.

Still from forthcoming Neon Indian video "Deadbeat Summer".

We've also heard that you stalked Jessica Biel and Jin from Lost...Well we weren't really stalking. I guess when you are in the US you just see celebs around. It's kinda nice I think to see these people in the flesh. Living in Australia we only really see them in mags and TV and they are always on pedestals but in the US they are just bummin around. Jessica Biel was eating in a restaurant, Jin was walking through this market thing, Sofia Coppola was buying stuff on Lafayette st, Orlando Bloom was munching a bagel etc. I guess they aren't the kinda people the paparazzi chase down but New York is pretty level I think, no one really batters too much of an eye. Although when the Yankees took out the world series and Jay Z was playing at this thing for the Yankee Parade, people went pretty mental.

Still from Beni's "Maximus" video.

The Moop Jaw crew also have a Peaches video coming up. Has it gotten to the point where people are approaching you guys? The Peaches thing came about pretty organically. She had seen the first Hawnay Troof video Moop Jaw did and liked it, so she was familiar with us. When she was doing her DJ tour of Australia, she just called Antuong up a week before her Melbourne show and asked him if he wanted to direct a clip for Mommy Complex which is produced by Digitalism. Even though Antuong only had a week to pull it together Peaches isn't someone you say no to and I have been fans since her first tour with Cobra Killer in 2002 so its pretty bizarre to end up working with her. Antuong chose to make a clip that was quite reductionist, in terms of the narrative structure. and decided the most successful video would be one that brought her performance and power to the forefront. So he basically set up a scene where she was able to run amok and she just looked AMAZING! A Madonna for the underground.

Still from forthcoming Christian Joy documentary by Moop Jaw.

World domination seems imminent, what other projects are you guys working on? We are working on heaps of things at the moment. Antuong is shooting the new video for Sally Seltman this weekend and we have Warrick Baker doing Art Direction for the clip which is pretty exciting, we are big fans of his work and he's a fan of Moop Jaw so we are all really happy about the collaboration. I shot a documentary in New York about Christian Joy (costume designer for Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and her husband Jason which will come out next year through a new part of Moop Jaw called Moop Jaw Films (creative name I know). Warran is putting the final touches on the new Golden Filter Video for 'Thunderbirds' due for release in about a week and working on the artwork for the debut Miami Horror album with artist Ross Paxman (ex Young & Restless RIP bass player). We are also putting together an exhibition for next year. The exhibition is basically Moop Jaw and friends and it's planned to tour Australia, Japan and the USA. We are also working on something with a major sports brand but it's kinda top secret at the moment. Also we are developing a collaboration with Christian Joy for a series of art films in which she will do all of the art direction so its going to be pretty mental to see her costume ideas translate into an entire world. And of course the Peaches video will be coming out before the end of the year. We actually are also going to be welcoming a New York artist/director from to Moop Jaw this month so we'll be sure to let you know when we are ready to let the cat out. Last but not least we have decided to open a second office in New York in early 2010, crazy!.

Still from forthcoming Peaches video "Mommy Complex".

So the trip to America was fruitful one? We met a lot of rad people over here, it has been totally amazing and I'd be happy to stick around. We extended our stay in NY by an extra 2 weeks purely because of the amazing response we were getting to our work. Most of the time people don't return our calls in Australia but in NY and LA people were so positive and thanking us for reaching out to them, we even got approached by Playboy about working on something. We had drinks with Patrick Daughters (director for Feist, YYY's and Liars) the other day which was pretty rad cause he is such a heavy weight director. He had the nicest fedora I have seen in a while. I also had some apple pie at Jim Tozzi of PFFR's (one of the people behind Wonder Showzen and Xavier Renegade Angel) house which was great, he showed me the original paintings from Xavier and I got to play with the Wonder Showzen puppets. So there will hopefully be a collaboration with him very soon.

Moop Jaw's Rhett Wade-Ferrell with Jim Tozzi of PFFR.

4 comments | Posted on November 12, 2009 at 5:07pm by Ash | Email article to friend | Back To Top