Douster has been hiding amongst the masses of music for me but when I recently watched his latest promo video for his Triassic EP release I was impressed and immediately went on the search for more. A series of remixes and original tracks have been produced with more to come, defiantly one to watch. His remix of ‘Da Style Deh’ has a tropical dancehall/dutch house fusion sound and is sure to get many feet moving.
Busy Signal -- Da Style Deh (Douster Dagga Remix)
I have been wanting a Teasmade for a while, they were popular in the 1940’s and were seen as a quite up and coming thing. They’re an electrical contraption that you have by your bed with an alarm on, and then when it goes off in the morning you have a lovely brew waiting for you. That was until I saw this…
Yuri Suzuki’s breakfast machine was featured in most of the London papers today and I happened to catch a glimpse as I was traveling through on the underground. Yuri and another chap, Masa Kimura, spent 3 weeks building this and it’s mostly built from recycled parts and cost a total of £900. This machine is rather splendid, not only can it make you a tea, it can also whip you up a omlette and even put jam on your toast. I just wish I had room!
Go see more at Yuki’s website.
Andrew Rae is a London based illustrator/film maker who’s lovable character heavy work many of you will recognise from the genius BBC series MONKEY DUST back in 2003.
Andrew began his illustration career back in 1998 producing flyers for 333 club night Perverted Science in Shoreditch, since then he has grown into one of the most succseful illustrators working today, building up an impressive portfolio and producing illustrations for big name clients including The Guardian, Sony, Orange, MTV, DC shoes, US Esquire, The Mighty Boosh, Penguin, The BBC and E4.
I’ve been a fan of Andrew Rae’s work for years now, and was lucky enough to meet the man a few months back, so it is with great pleasure that we present to you our exclusive interview with one of the most impressive and in-demand artists working today:
Do you listen to music when you work? If so what has been keeping you going recently?
I’ve been listening to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I saw them last night performing and doing readings from Nick Caves new book which was amazing they’re incredible performers..
How does working for a company differ from your private work? How is your work process different?
I enjoy both for different reasons when you’re working for a client you have a clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve set out in the brief so the joy comes from answering that brief with a good solution, of course the problem arises when they disagree with you on the solution. Private work however is a chance to play and experiment without a specific outcome being necessary but then it can be hard to find the time to fit it in especially when I could be playing my piano.
Have you ever turned down work due to a lack of creative control?
I turn work down if it doesn’t interest me and if I think it’ll bore me to do it, creative control isn’t something I particularly crave as a lot of good work comes out of collaboration and I can always have complete creative control on my personal work, and in fact my personal work generally informs the kind of commissions that I get. However the bottom line on creative control seems to be that the more you’re being paid the less control you have, particularly in advertising were they’ll often get me in because they love the bizarre things I draw but then want me to tone it down when they need to show the client. This isn’t always the way however.. for example I did a job for Perrier where they gave me keywords to illustrate and gave me free rein to do it as I wished (as long as I included the Perrier bottle somewhere) I came up with loads of bizarre responses and then they chose their favourites.
What are the benefits of working within the peepshow collective? Do you get more work offers from being part of a group? Do you share resources?
Being an Illustrator can get pretty lonely without a studio of people to work alongside so Peepshow is great for that, we’re all really good friends so it’s great to work alongside people who’s company I enjoy. We share a studio and shopping bills and printers etc. and we try to set ourselves projects i.e. exhibitions and animations to keep us working outside of our commercial work. As to whether we get more work cause of it is hard to say as I’ve never not been in Peepshow but I don’t imagine it does any harm.
A large proportion of you work includes animals with many species making frequent appearances, what’s your favorite animal and why?
I’m pretty fond of Cuttlefish since I saw some while diving in Australia and was really impressed by the way that they chance colour. There’s a great sequence in Blue Planet showing their mating dance where they use pattern and colour to attract a mate or repel an enemy.
How would you normaly produce an animation? Is the process done on your own or do you get outside help?
I do sometimes animate a little on my own but generally I prefer to get an animator in so that I can concentrate on creating artwork. Pete Mellor is the Peepshow in house animator so he tends to head up any animation projects we get in.
Who are your favorite artists or illustrators working today?
I’m a big fan of Chris Wares book Jimmy Corrigan the smartest Kid on Earth.
Do you have any plans to produce more animations either on your own, for a TV show or for a company?
I have a personal project that I’m currently working on which will involve illustrations, characters, narrative music and maybe some animation and we have a group animation project ticking over at the moment but it’ll probably take ages to get off the ground and I can’t say anymore than that right now I’m afraid.
Do you have any exhibitions planed for the near future?
I’m planning a night in conjunction with Heavy Pencil at the ICA but at a more intimate venue with bands and live drawing, we have a new Peepshow website on the way, I will have some new drawings available in the Peepshop soon and we have a Christmas sale planned with Garudio Studiage, watch the Peepshow blog for more details http://peepshowcollective.blogspot.com/.
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I went to my local Sunday car boot yesterday and spent £1 on these fine visual treats! Two feature dates of 1938 and 1939 and the place name of Wales.
[ Draft drawing by Jennie Webber for Lee Rosy's piece ]
Jennie Webber is a massively good friend of mine, she’s an all round good egg and shares a mutual love for glitter. But more importantly she is also a crackingly good illustrator and is really making a name for herself amongst the Nottingham art circuit. I have to admit to being slightly biased as she is one of my dearest friends, but there is no denying how bloody beautiful her drawings actually are.
At the moment she has a lot of fingers in different pies, and is not only producing work to be screen printed on t-shirts, taking part in live illustration events but is also organising and contributing to some massive events.
Today for example if your about in the Nottingham area you will find her screen printing some limited edition Tees down at the Hockley hustle (A wonderful musical event which takes part yearly down in Hockley, city centre). Joining her are other talented artists/graphic designers which are also printing t-shirts with other splendid designs. Jen Mchugh and Nick Cobby are two which really stand out for me, both very different from one another, but equally lovely. All three have produced some beautiful t-shirt designs especially for the event which you can purchase right now!!
[ Top Left - Jennie Webber | Top Right - Nick Cobby | Bottom - Jen Mchugh ]
If you want a slice of Webber’s work but are not currently in Nottingham and can’t not shimmy your way down to the hustle today, you can also get a fix from various other Nottingham locations. Webber has recently done a full wall piece for Lee Rosy’s cafe on broad street which is still up and looking glorious.
[ Work at Lee Rosy's ]
Jen specializes in illustrating animals, sometimes mounted on wooden plaques and other times arranged with objects, like monocles or umbrellas. She also does a pretty mean stag.
What’s nice about Jen’s work is her use of line. In her previous work, such as her Pug featured below, the line was purely descriptive, but now in her newer work (lee rosy’s wall drawings and hustle t-shirt) the line has become more rhythmic, still descriptive, but now forming shapes and patterns within the design. These create texture and a kind of movement, which is really rather nice on the eye.
[ 'Pug with Monocle' printed on t-shirts for 'Floodit' ]
If looking is not enough for you, which it certainly isn’t for me! You can get your hands on some Webber originals down at Cow in Nottingham, where she has two super t-shirts for sale, one of which is featured below with the lady herself. She is also selling some lovely framed illustrations in Lee Rosy’s alongside her wall piece which need loving homes.
So if you are about in the Nottingham area you should absolutely go and check out some of her work, it is a real treat.
[ The Lady herself with one of her t-shirts currently on sale at Cow, Nottingham ]
A fusion of styles in this remix by Switch. The intro clearly relates to his recent Major Lazer work but is soon accompanied by twisted high pitch sounds reminiscent of the early days. Quite simple, maybe too much so for leisurely listening, but I envisage it to be quite enjoyable on many a dancefloor.
The Big Pink – Dominos (Switch Remix)
Thanks Mad Decent.
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve seen this before or not, its easily repeatable and will bring some joy to any day. An aural and visual treat in one!
Felix’s Machines are music making sculptures. They exist to facilitate music by translating rhythmic audio structures into a three-dimensional visual show. Felix aims to exploit the complexity found behind the workings of most digital music and present it as a more accessible equivalent. These Machines do not intend to match human potential. Instead they exist to test the advantages of mechanical instruments alone.
Yes you! This is a catchy belter, one that I’ve been listening to a lot over the past few days. It’s a jump up party remix by Crystal Fighters, who bring some big bass to a piano plentiful french pop summer tune. The original video is quite a delight too, featuring what looks like homemade videos of an adventure to a foreign land.
Pony Pony Run Run -- Hey You! (Crystal Fighters Remix)
Hailing from a small town called Oundle near my home city of Peterborough, Fenech Solar have produced this new video to accompany the songs release on November 2nd. Poppy party with synths, guitars and squelchy electronic bass!
Photograph by Jess Gough
Just heard my good friend Ashby drop this tune in a mix on his show Underground Resistance on lsrfm.com.
Big big tune. Claude VonStroke doing his thing, cutting up samples of vocals in the inventive way he has proven to be a master of time and time again, in tracks such as ‘Deep Throat’ and ‘Chimps’. This time constructed into a beautiful arpeggiating and entrancing melody. Off of his forthcoming release ‘Bird Brain’ which will definitely be one to listen out for.
Claude VonStroke – Vocal Chords
Enjoy xx