"This is the PEN Story in stop motion. We shot 60.000 pictures, developed 9.600 prints and shot over 1.800 pictures again. No post production! Thanks to all the stop motion artists who inspired us.
Some of the comments we have read here suggest that we should mention the creator of "A wolf loves pork", Mr Taijin Takeuchi. While we were looking for a way to realise a story describing "a journey through time" based on printed images, we were inspired by Mr Takeuchi's brilliant work. For this reason we intentionally quoted his work in our little movie while showing full respect to his original idea."
Thanks to Lloyda Valencia for showing me the video!!
A brief chat with American drum & bass duo Gein (aka Adam Darby and Ronny Eremija) leads us through their new release with Dieselboy's Human Imprint, touches on hometown scene politics, introduces their label Bad Chemistry and the whole thing comes together with an exclusive mix packed with new music.
Adam was living in Atlanta about a year and a half ago, and started collaborating with a good friend, Mayhem. Together they got the tune Ghetto Dope rolling and when Adam moved back to Milwaukee we took it from there. Around the same time, Silent Killer and Breaker sent us a start to the tune 6 Feet, and after a few months of fine tuning both tunes were finished.
Dieselboy caught wind of Ghetto Dope and wanted it for the relaunch of Human Imprint and after hearing 6 Feet decided that they would fit perfectly together for an EP on Human. And seeing as how Human Imprint is one of the biggest drum & bass labels in America, we were happy to work with them on it.
Your tracks are well known for their dancefloor appeal while maintaining a strong dose of darkness, with new subgenre names popping up every other day, what do you call your own stuff?
Simply put, our music is drum & bass. We really do not like to get involved in all the separation of styles, because the more divisions and subgenres you have, more thought goes into what to name the new subgenres than actually listening to the quality of the music. If you had to actually put a name to our music, drum & bass will suffice just fine because our style is changing every day with every new influence we gain from life's daily complexities.
The blending and evolution of music styles is an ongoing process, and drum & bass has been at the front of the pack in that regard for the past ten years, where do you see it going in the next ten?
Drum & bass, to us, has always been a very fast growing style of music that has progressed considerably in the past ten years. It seems that this style of music fits well with all sorts of influences, so we see the next ten years as being basic limitless. We've seen artists use techno, minimal, dub, reggae, hardcore, hip hop, dubstep, and rock 'n' roll influences over the past ten years, and there have been some amazingly groundbreaking tunes coming out. We believe that the next ten years will be very interesting to listen to, because it could go anywhere.
A large chunk of your catalog includes hip-hop / rap vocals, so how do you choose the samples you use, and what other influences do you pull from when working on beats?
Our samples, as a group, come from our individual influences. We all listen to different styles of music on a day to day basis, so when we all get together we draw from each other, expressing where we want a project to go, and work from there.
The name Gein has some pretty dark connotations, how did you choose it, and why does it fit you guys so well?
The name "Gein" comes from a well known serial killer from an area near our hometown, Ed Gein. The name wasn't necessarily chosen to represent death, darkness, etc. but more to represent the complexities and unknown brain patterns involved in such actions, which when transformed into music gives you the power to really explore the direction your music will take, without much outside interference.
We felt the name gave us the ability to basically do whatever we feel is right with our music and not worry so much on what people wanted us to do.
Six years of working together in the studio and playing shows all over is no small feat, have you had any trouble balancing your friendship with the work involved?
Of course. We have been friends for a long time and nerves tend to flare up at moments, but somehow we always tend to work everything out for the best.
What kind of reception do you get playing out in your hometown, and has it always been that way? Where are the best crowds you've seen, and what are your favourite places to play?
When we speak about our hometown, Milwaukee, there are some positive and negative things about it. It's a small city, which helps when you look at things like people knowing what you're doing in the music world, and local support for shows you play at. The past few years though, the scene has become somewhat divided and local support is very hit or miss, which is very disappointing, but at the same time it's okay because we are not confined to our hometown. Gein has toured all over the United States multiple times, and the European tours have all been amazing. Some of the greatest crowds we've seen in the USA have been in LA, Atlanta, and Portland, and Europe as a whole has been pretty amazing, with unbelievable responses in Russia, Portugal, Serbia at the Exit festival and countless others.
Do you have any side-projects or alias stuff we should be watching for?
We thought about side projects and naming them different things, but we decided to stick with the name Gein for any projects we do together in any style of music. So anything we do musically will be pushed on our Bad Chemistry Recordings imprint or on saintGEIN's Habit Recordings.
Thanks for putting together a mix for us, what can listeners expect?
First and foremost thanks for giving us the opportunity to do this mix. We are proud to represent our new label Bad Chemistry and the music on it, as well as all the artists we support and labels we are on worldwide. We have done this for a few years now with our Skinsuit Sessions mixes that have done quite well for us and, more recently, our Bad Chemistry podcasts have helped us really push our label's sounds. So for this, we fused all ideas together and came up with a mix that showcases upcoming Bad Chemistry releases, great music from our friends and, more importantly, what we believe is music that has staying power.
Graff legend, SEEN has just collaborated with KidRobot to create this 10-inch long Bronx Subway 6 Car. Limited to just 300 pieces and costing $100USD...
One of RETNA & El MAC's best collaborations to date....simply amazing!
RETNA and EL MAC have teamed up for another mural, this time in Culver City. Their newest mural, titled Of Our Youth, can be seen on the side of Graphaids art supply store, on La Cienega between Jefferson and Washington.
The imagery and text used in this mural was inspired by their time spent at Skid Row, while painting their previous mural. The artists met a man by the name of Ralph Woodruff aka Chato and were inspired by this man’s past hardships, experiences and overall outlook on life. His ability to recognize his mistakes and atone for his sordid past was something that resonated with RETNA. The text which reads, “So today I’m trying to change a few things to rectify the situation of my past. So today I’m looking towards the future (of our youth highlighted)” is a quote taken from their conversation.
Check out this new app for your iPhone, featuring the art of none other than Skinner! The super talented artist is going all sorts of high tech with this ever expanding amalgamation of art, music and video. The official description from The App Store:
This application is the first of its kind. A documentation of the strange and esoteric exploits of a psychedelic visionary. His music, paintings, and comedic commentary of contemporary life. Having shown his work in the museum of contemporary art in Rome to the world class gallery of White Walls in San Francisco, his bizarre installations and impressions of the tumult and horror of the convenience of modern life are now spreading at an exponential rate, to disturb all sections of the globe. This application will be updated as the exploits of Skinner expand, As the travels, shows, cartoons, and music evolve with the exploration he undertakes in his quest to journey further into the undiscovered realms of the absurd and challenging matter of reality.
To download your Art of Skinner app, go here. For even more info on the work of Skinner, check out his official site here.
Designed by Rost Niderehe Architects, this Houseboat is located on the Eilbek canal in the middle of Hamburg, Germany. It doesn't have any motors, but it can be pulled by a tug to another part of the canal if aren't happy with your current location.....
Andrew Bell's custom Misfortune Cat (originally designed by Playge) for the upcoming "Reconstructing Misfortune" show @MunkyKing, Oct 8th looks absolutely amazing.
The original, generic Misfortune Cat designed by Playge
This photo was taken by Ole Christian Salomonsen over Tromsø, Norway, using long exposure. That's why you can see streaks from satellites and an airplane crossing the firmament. [VIA]
