Jelone
“You’ve got to not only be able to sing a song, you’ve also got to create an art and let your audience know what you visualize when you actually sing that song. It’s about giving a whole window into your world as an artist. That’s what everyone wants now… Even if it’s a persona, there is a concept behind it.” Jelone
occupation: musician
Sitting at a pub on Portobello road near Jelone’s home, I remember feeling very conspicuous with my nose in the blackberry. It was about seven at night, with another one-third of my work day to go (as usual), while everyone else was without a visible hand held device, clearly valuing their social lives with one another, not with the person on the other side of their phone. It appears that Jelone became enamored with this subtle, but important difference in the cultures on either side of…
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Samuel Hindes
“I limit myself on purpose, I am big into restraint. Your website says ‘less is more’…it’s the same thing with performing on stage. If you are not comfortable with the way that you look…you are going to feel awkward on stage…you want people to be able to relate to you.” Samuel Hindes
occupation: musician
Samuel’s first single, I Heart NY, is blowing up. When I went to the apartment where he grew up to interview him, he was still in the perfecting stages of tweaking the most recent mixes. He told me that the songs won’t be done until he can go out to the store and buy the album or download it on itunes, “because then everyone else will be hearing it.” So, I guess they must be “done” now. This is really the story of the “underdog” rising. Unlike high school, where Samuel was kicked out,…
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Oliver Short and Kira Panfilova
“Let your heart be your compass and be brave to ride the wave of your imagination.” Oliver Short and Kira Panfilova
oliver’s occupation: chameleon
kira’s occupation: fine arts student at Central Saint Martin’s
Lily and I met Oliver and Kira at a flea market in Brick Lane, while we were there shooting in London, for SLU. The exhuberant eclecticism of their imaginations meant love at first site for us. The two looked as if they had stepped out of a Russian 18th century countryside fairy tale, mixed with the late 19th century urban dark charm of Charles Dickens, and some free-spirited ’60′s/’70′s classic rock and roll. Oliver, ressembling a Rembrandt portrait, in Kira’s ruffled high collared shirt and Ammish meets pilgrim, hat. Kira, in Victorian layers of red velvet, fur trim and her signature white tights and slouchy socks. The two are actually living…
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Kelle Calco
“I’ve never traveled, only relocated. Portland made me a hippie. New Orleans, a pirate. Pittsburgh put me in denim. New York, a vampire.” Kelle Calco
occupation: singer, songwriter, DJ, and party host
Once upon a time there was a party, hosted by three people, sitting in three different spaces at a lounge with their three different groups of friends. I knew and was with two of the three, when my eyes suddenly landed and stayed glued to the third group, for their very atypical visual appearance on the New York City 2010 fashion landscape. There were maybe twenty or so people, not a black or flannel shirt in sight, but in eclectic and refreshingly colorful, ethnic patterns and captivating wide-brimmed bushman hats. But the one in the center, Kelle, who was clearly the host, threw me permanently out of what was the tale end of my “solemn-monk” phase and…
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Drue Kataoka
“I feel like I’ve always had one foot in the East and one foot in the West as well. Being biracial, being always between worlds, it’s a part of me, and so the core of my work is this concept of being a bridge, or the core to my art is idea of art as a social bridge.” Drue Kataoka
occupation: artist, musician, and blogger
I love how Drue approaches life with the feeling that “we have a limited time to create” and as a result, there is an imperative to act on our impulses and intuitions, instead of just theorizing them. At the end of her video, she graces us with one of her many talents, and plays her handmade gold flute. The moment and the music leave you filled to the brim with emotion and wanting more. The flute, like Drue, is a “beautiful instrument” with which…
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