YEAH NAH YEAH X KING ST CRAWL SUN SEP 10

Facebook Event HERE

We are taking over Kelly's for this year's King Street Crawl 2017 and it's going to be a biggen. We will be bringing our usual mix of art and music to the centre of King Street.

Line Up: 
The Lazy Eyes
Johnny Hunter
Hector Gachan
Sloom
Aegean Sun
SCK CHX
King Colour
Triple One

Live Art Collaboration from:
Peter Fulker
James Lesjak-Atton - www.aquamanart.com

Visual DJ:
Prickly Pear VJ

So join us as we explore sound and colour in an enviroment where you can relax and be yourself. 

Thanks to our mates from The Music and Booze Company, Kelly's On King and Young Henrys for helping us get this together. 

It is going to be loose. It always is. See you there!

Lost in a dream with a Lorikeet

Jermaine caught up with Microsoft word champion and owner of an extremely cool name, Miranda Lorikeet ahead of her involvement with Yeah Nah Yeah #7. 

It's cliché, but lets start by telling everyone a bit about yourself. When and how did you start creating such beauty on MS paint?

Always a good idea to start from the beginning. I’m a Sydney-based digital artist with a penchant for drawing naked ladies and soothing pastel dreamscapes.

I’ve always had a soft spot for MS Paint. I used it a lot as a kid in the 90s, but returned to it five years ago when I started an office job. I started drawing on my lunchbreaks and whenever I got a spare minute at work, somewhere along the way it went from being stupid scribbles to proper artworks.

Do you make any other style of work or strictly digital?

Not anymore, I used to draw with pens, paints, water colours. Whatever I could get my hands on really. These days it’s just me and my true love, MS Paint

What does the death of MS paint mean for you? And are you okay? ☹

It’s OK, it’s not really dead! It’s just being moved to the Windows store where you can download it for free. The morning Microsoft announced MS Paint was being retired I was almost in tears. It’s not being totally sacked, but it won’t be included in any of the future Windows Software updates. Which is still sad. My favourite part about MS Paint is the accessibility! The fact that I could sit down at any Windows computer in the world - whether it’s in an Internet Café in Denmark, at the local library or a computer in my office - and know that MS Paint will be waiting for me in the start menu. It was sad to see my beloved MS Paint get side-lined.  

So your Instagram says you draw naked babes, but I see a lot more depth to your work than just nude chicks. How do you approach a blank canvas when starting an artwork? Do you conceptualise much?

When I start a drawing, the only thing I am sure of is the colour palette I’ll be using. A lot of my concepts are derived from surrealist artists like Rene Magritte, or French Cartoonists from the 1970s.  I generally have a vague idea of what I want to draw, but when I start drawing the art work takes on a life of its own and turns out being something completely different to what I initially sat down to draw. I find that when I am drawing, the way I feel that day will greatly influence the concept and colours. It’s become this weird unconscious thought process. I kind of just sit down and go “I wonder what I’ll draw today” and I only find out when it’s done.

Who are your 3 favourite visual artists and musical artists at the moment?

My favourite visual artist is Guy Billout, a 1970s surrealist French Cartoonist. I’m also a huge Rene Magritte fan. I’m a sucker for cheesy surrealism. John Wesley is another; he’s a minimalist pop artist from the 1970s who draws really bizarre overtly sexual images. All 3 are huge influences on how and what I draw.

I’m forever obsessed with Black Keys. No matter how much new music I hear I still go back to Brothers. Really loving Roy Ayers smooth seductive jazz lately. Tomppabeats has been making some really pretty stuff lately too.

What can we expect to see from you this Saturday?

Some bad dancing, an awkward side hug, some big pants, 6 ciders and maybe a cheeky cigarette or two.

Miranda will be displaying work at this weekends YEAH NAH YEAH #7 along with a bunch of other artists, musicians and great people. 

BUY TICKETS HERE

One on One with Dives and Dobinson

JD caught up with collage artist Grace Dobinson ahead of her involvement with this weekends, Yeah Nah Yeah #7. 

How long have you been experimenting with collage art and what drew you to this artistic format?
I only really started getting into collaging about six months ago. I’d been following a few collage artists on instagram like @10.years.time and @bethhoeckel and really loved their stuff, so one night without having any of the right tools, I sat down with a kitchen knife and a wooden chopping board and made my first (incredibly bad) collage. Wouldn’t recommend this technique. But there is something super therapeutic about sitting down with some good tunes, a glass of red and just cutting away.

I love how your house (my old house) is now filled with clippings of naked women from various magazines. What is it about nudity that you like to explore in your collage pieces?
I think the appeal of nudity to me is the rawness of it, and the ability it gives me to totally recreate what once was. The male gaze definitely dictates a lot of the older books and magazines I use in my collages, which is always gross and frustrating. I love being able to use this medium to challenge these representations of femininity, and reclaim the female form by completely flipping images on their heads.

Where do you source your visual material?
This is the funnest part - rummaging through second hand stores. It is pretty hilarious unearthing raunchy old books stashed in the back corner of a Christian op-shop. My boyfriend is much better at this than me - he always comes home after stumbling across a garage sale with some real gems.

What are you looking forward to most about Yeah Nah Yeah #7 this Saturday the 19th August?
I'm keen to have a boogie with everyone, hear some amazing music and froth over some incredible art. My best mate will be up from Melbourne so I’ll probably just be squeezing her all night. Cannot wait

Grace will be displaying work at this weekends YEAH NAH YEAH #7 along with a bunch of other artists, musicians and great people. 

BUY TICKETS HERE

Lilly Miranda and Her Colourful Mind. A chat with The Aged One ahead of Yeah Nah Yeah #7.

AJ: Hey lilly thanks for coming on board! Tell us about your work and what styles you are into these days.

Lilly: Hey my pleasure! Before 2017 I was really into intricate monochromatic illustrations where I’d just render patterns and textures into surreal compositions like illustrating dreamscapes, or animal dissections. Then I made a creative new years resolution to experiment with adding colour into my process which has been a heap of fun since it's added a whole new dimension to my work. I get to use a Wacom Cintiq at work everyday so I’ve also been using digital illustration a whole heap more, which sometimes feels like cheating but who can diss it when you’ve got every colour of the rainbow and brush in the universe at the click of a button?

AJ: Haha oh who doesn’t love a cheeky advantage from work. Do you have specific inspirations that you draw from or is it constantly changing?

Lilly: I’m always finding inspiration in nature, like patterns and textures in wood, plants, natural formations just tickle me the right way. I can get really excited over the colour-way and pattern of a tree trunk, which will eventually wind up in an illustration. But at the same time I do dabble in the realms of tumblr still. I’ve got a bunch of blogs that I follow who just dump beautiful imagery of the 60s & 70s, psych rock posters, sci fi film posters and book covers.

AJ: We’re big fans of the EP artwork you did for our besties Sloom. Tell us about your creative process and how would it change if you're creating something for friends rather than something for yourself?

Lilly: How good are Sloom?! I had a really fun time creating the EP artwork, its basically a visual aid to the title track ‘Super Juicy Yellow Starfish’. I followed their lyrics loosely to build a depthy oceanic environment that pays tribute to some of the tracks lyrics. Once I got the thumbnail sketch approved by the boys I set out to build a little reference library for colour palettes, patterns and imagery and I ended up drawing a lot of inspiration from Ernst Haeckel who’s a biologist and scientific illustrator from Germany. Once I had all that together I drew all the elements up in Photoshop with my Wacom Cintiq and coloured it all in! 

Honestly my creative process when illustrating for myself would probably involve about five more rough thumbnail sketches and ideas, a half assed attempt at creating a well composed scene, deleting the entire process, then regretting that and recovering the files from my trash, and finally figuring out something that works which most likely was the first idea I’d originally come up with!

Lilly will be displaying work at this weekends YEAH NAH YEAH #7 along with a bunch of other artists, musicians and great people. 

BUY TICKETS HERE

YEAH NAH YEAH #7

It is time again to let go of your inhibitions for one night and succumb to your desires. To enter a space of complete and utter bliss in which all we ask of you is to relax, be yourself and have a good time.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

Yeah Nah Yeah presents to you party number seven - a journey into the clouds. Join us as we explore sound and colour in a state of dreaming and comfort.

MUSIC:

Live Performance

Hector Gachan - https://www.facebook.com/hectorgachanmusic/

Jermango Dreaming - https://www.facebook.com/jermangodreaming/

DJ Set

Jon Bonsoyvi  (WAWA Records) - https://www.facebook.com/wawawoah/

Tobias Vogel (Ear to Ear) - https://www.facebook.com/eartoear.eartoear/ 

Yeah Nah Yeah DJs - https://www.facebook.com/yeahnahyeahh/

ART:

Mayume (Live) - https://www.instagram.com/imayume/?hl=en

Prickly Pear (VJ set) - https://www.facebook.com/josh.dives.music/

Lilly Miranda - https://www.facebook.com/lillymirandaillustration/

Grace Dobinson

Miranda Lorikeet - https://www.instagram.com/mirandalorikeet/?hl=en 

Sydney vs Sydney

Subculture through the eyes of Morus Quin.

From George street, the Ivy’s music bulges outward and rings against Sydney’s cityscape. Its a deadened Sunday afternoon but the Ivy presents us with a salvation, ushering us from street side to Pool Club. The ceilings are lofty and appropriate for lengthened humans 11ft tall and our presence does nothing to fill out the of hollowness of excess space. Every surface is shaved clean with the blades of Gillette; the rest of our senses are overpowered by the aftershave of glamour.

The Ivy and so many other fanfare driven clubs convincingly present themselves as an access card to the Sydney dream, the dream of an everlasting beauty. For $22.90 second release Pool Club tickets and a trip to the H+M uniform shop, the Ivy proves that dreams can come true, temporarily. Dress codes are one of the many props that set the mood of the venues glowing utopian stage. Under the guise of glistening pretty, the code seems to harmlessly slide it’s way into acceptance. Though, when looking at the dictionary expression of the word ‘code’ – “a system of words, letters, figures, or symbols used to represent others, especially for the purposes of secrecy” – and applying the word ‘dress’ to this, it makes you think about the idea a little differently.

From the emptying bowels of tabloid magazines and into the hands of a venue, a dress code smears a glaze of its ideals over the surface of an individual. These same polished dreams posted in magazines and by venues douse our city. From conveyor belts of advertising inside bus stops, to the lobotomised interior of Town Hall train station, to our clothing, our cafes, almost everything in our built environment, it is all interlaced with some kind of codified content. It comes with an intent to bring forth targeted emotions and with the choice to express or subdue. The Ivy hones into this idea by narrowly limiting expression to a specific social class, the bourgeois. The outcome of this regulation feels strangely familiar to a school uniform. The ingrained feeling of a potential detention looms. We wait abidingly by the Ivy Pool in our ‘Ivy-esque’ attire.

The gravitational pull of like mindedness draws clusters of similar people together. In this comfort it allows us to nest in suburbs and subsequent subcultures. Sydneys North shore – a part of town, yes, on the growing upper-middle class end of the city, is a place my partner in crime Liz and I grew up in. Westfield and popularised TV shows handed us iterations of a Vogue lifestyle magazine – countering, were glimmers of a world beyond. We moved into a very different area of Sydney later in a lives and into the inner west. To experience two of the many different ends of Sydney’s subcultures thoroughly, is a great gift. In both their claims of superiority neither are completely exempt from judgment of the individuals in the subcultures outside their own. It is a stand off between Sydney and Sydney. It was from our experiences between the two area dominated subcultures, that we hoped to exchange the tightly woven nature of these clusters with the stretchy fibres of our silicone caps and rash vests.

In the island getaway shell that is the Ivy, our crevices were beginning to puddle with sweat and form their own pool club, it signaled the need to slip into something more comfortable. With lipstick rubbed across the moustache line, strapped with floaties, caps and goggles, Liz and I were swept in with acceptance and love by the attendees. Around us we noticed a reluctant compliance with the dress code. More prominently, the people we met expressed the wish for an audacity enabling them to do something just as wacky. The dress code for Sunday is a little more relaxed though pressures still linger. There were many happy to wear their Sunday best on the occasion and thats when specifications work. But it is the censoring of anything else that makes us retract away from honest expression and our potential.

When an environment submerges us in its narrated identity it rushes us to an idea about who we are before we have a moment to look inwards and know it for ourselves. Walter Gropius, in reference to our built environment and its radiating culture in The New Architecture and the Bauhaus (MIT Press, 1965) phrases his observations as a ‘movement (that) must be purged from within if its original aims are to be saved from the straight-jacket of materialism and false slogans inspired by plagiarism or misconception’. His words continue to ring with a loudening crescendo so relevant to our world now.

To return true expression to the individual prevents us from hiding ourselves from ourselves and ourselves from others, it enables broad and honest connection. Through habit, we sink deeply into crowds of affirming similarities. Yes, subcultures attract people of similar political values, ambitions, cultural roots and aesthetics but there is more to human connection than this alignment. There are people of chamomile warmth and cold cubes of ice in each subculture, an important note that challenges stereotypes and segregation. The angsty battle between subculture vs subculture and Sydney vs Sydney is somewhat negating with the squashing of culture by the corporate world above us. If we want something done about the withering presence of culture in Sydney, it is with us that the responsibility lies. It is with the broadening of thought, that the utensils of creativity, humour and love will challenge our parameters and begin to revive Sydney’s culture. Keep Sydney open. Keep Sydney open minded.

Dives Catches up with Yeah Nah Yeah #6 secret headliners

JP caught up with the secret headliners for Yeah Nah Yeah #6 to discuss where their name is, where their sound comes from and what kind of musical fruit salad we can expect at the party.

Hey phan, first of all - working with you on the yet-to-be-released King Colour and SCK CHX Eps at Parliament Studios was a blast. In that time you showed us a preview of some pretty ridiculous Improvised jams from this project. How would you describe what we're all about to experience live at Yeah Nah Yeah #6 this Saturday?

Hey man I had so much fun making those records with all of you yeahnahyeah-ians… You guys are all far too talented at too many things!

Ben Dupree (bass) and I (Drums) have been playing together for over 10 years most recently with guitarist and singer Karl Fernandes as Colour Cage. Over the last year we’ve taken a hiatus so Karl could welcome his newborn baby Louis into the world.

I met Tim Coggins working on The Baldwins EP 2 years back. Since then he hasn’t stopped loitering around the studio. I can’t really name any instruments Tim can’t play. He’s even done his first production/engineering job with Cosmic Spice this past week. I like to think of him as a mad scientist of jazz and synths.

December last year we decided to have a random jam and recorded it all… 6 months later and we have a dropbox full or completely random improvised jams. They’re all pretty eclectic ranging from soothing ambient soul vibes to heavy mathy post rock numbers and even some spaghetti western… Badbadnotgood , Explosions in the sky, Flying Lotus, hiatus kaiyote, Go-Go penguin… the list goes on.

On describing what you’re about to experience this Saturday, you basically summed it up when you said ridiculous improvised jams.
Whether they’re ridiculously good or ridiculously bad is anybody’s guess.

Such a strong improvisational focus is pretty rare to come across in Sydney's live music scene, unless of course you're slamming whiskey at the Basement or chilling at Lazy Bones watching some jazz. How much does improvisation play a role in shaping the sound of this project?

I’m gonna let Tim answer the next question as he is the only one with an actual Jazz Degree from the Con, me and Ben are just posers… First of all, fuck jazz. Those guys mostly just repeat pre-rehearsed phrases over a series of pre-determined structures. To me improvisation is about experimentation and creating a unified sound in the heat of the moment. There is no ego and nothing is off limits. There is of course an element of danger when performing such music. Some ideas come in an instant, some take longer to unfold and others simply pass by. We can not be too attached to any single idea and must follow the ebb and flow of what happens around us.

Would you say you guys draw creatively more from the past or the present?

I'd say we draw mostly from the present, but of course things that are influencing us heavily in the present like badbadnotgood's album IV and childish gambino's awaken my love both draw heavily on sounds from the 70s and 80s so it all comes back around in the end.

So... do you guys have a name? Or is this a special one-off performance for us lucky Yeah Nah Yeah-ers?

This is our first gig and very well could be our last… We couldn’t dream of sharing it with a better host, group of people or a lovelier venue. We’ve been toying with the name Monochrome Freedom (as the counterpart to Colour Cage) to mixed reviews (not unlike the probable reception to our performance on Saturday night).

Catch Phan and the dudes as well as King Colour, Jon Bonsoyvi and art from Yossi, Aquamumma and other amazing artists at Yeah Nah Yeah #6.

Tickets Here:

https://www.theticketfairy.com/event/yeah-nah-yeah-6-20may2017/

Rimbombo know what's up.

The legends from Rimbombo have curated a playlist to get you on their wave length for Yeah Nah Yeah #6. The collective including: Declan Esau, James Greville, Adi Toohey, Earl Grey are self proclaimed party starters and be back them, hard! They keep the dance floor a place of comfort and groove like no other.

Sami – Sickos
New offering from Future Times for all the sickos out there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xm7ulPN8fU

Shut Up & Dance – Lamborghini ft. Ragga Twins
A tasty flip of an overplayed 80s classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxjMR1Sb6xQ

Anixus - Everybody
Early 90s Italian garage house that warms the blood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAVlgTJdphA&index=41&list=PL8jDZ-CjZPtmg8VRwhE_XDDg1Awp-1k8d

Wolfgang Maus Soundpicture* ‎– Children Of The Universe
Stinky cheese from 1970s Deutschland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eB1ljWttec&index=272&list=PL8jDZ-CjZPtkA0igrdPf5Xd6dYmOMs8UA

Blood Sisters - Ring My Bell
A reggae take on a teenybopper classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xm7ulPN8fU

Dizy K. - Baby Bilode
Impossible to find boogie from Nigeria about wanting a kiss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr730JxuXYg

Back from Berlin and into your Brain

Danielle Johansen has been off in Berlin the past few months developing her art, and Jermango asked her a few questions in the lead up to Yeah Nah Yeah #5, where we'll have some of her pieces up for show.

Jermango: First off its great having you back in Sydney, it’s been what, over a year now since you left for Berlin? What sparked the move?

Danielle: Hey hello! it is actually so great to be back home! -

Berlin was basically an idea between my friend Nick Gauci and I who were about to start our Hons/MFA, and I suppose we just weren't ready. I wanted to pursue my practice in new ways and explore my work to its fullest potential before continuing with my studies.

So we applied and were accepted to the 'Institute für Alles Möglich' residency in Berlin and it basically all started from there!

J: What differences have you found within the art community in Sydney and Berlin? Is there anything we could learn from the strong art scene over there?

D: To be honest I was a little apprehensive with Berlin's reputation for such incredible talent! But after a few gallery hops here and there I found a lot of similarities with the Sydney art scene. You'll find a lot of spaces and events run with the idea of promoting emerging artists - sussing out local talent in all areas of the art world.

J: So for those who don’t know, you and Nick Gauci actually did live art at our first YNY event in 2014. I remember lots of un-realistic beings on a soft purple background which set a beautifully creepy scene; how would you say your art has developed since then?

D: Definitely! It's currently in limbo waiting to be hung very soon! A lot has changed since then - I suppose I was working predominantly with drawing back then.. and i still do with sketches. but lately i've moved into painting acrylic studies, on canvas and perspex - playing around with colour and surface texture.

J: Ive noticed a strong focus on female nudes with lovely soft pastel colours. What is your mindset like when approaching such works?

D: This particular series you're talking about was influenced by collected images of myself, friends and lovers, to explore the female experience of sexuality and identity.

J: Do you have a personal connection with these subjects? How do the subjects affect your work process?

D: Yeah definitely! I've always been drawn to making figurative works, even when it doesn't involve people it seems to always be discussing our existence within a space. So having a close connection with the subject always makes for better work. For example the studies of my acquaintances will differ from that of a self portrait or of a close friend, naturally.

J: Without giving too much away, what can we expect from you for YNY #5?

D: Think layers and linear scapes... ink splashes.

J: Finally, what are you plans while you’re in Sydney? Can we expect any shows?! (please say yes)

D: YNY will be my Sydney show for now, but I'm super excited to get back into work when I'm home. Hoping to work messier and larger!

Immersive Live Visuals with Alex Stevenson of ZENDER BENDER

"Hey I'm Alex. I'm a projection artist and animator. Through my work I like to explore the relationship between sound and moving image and notions of Aussie identity. Check out more of it here @alexisoninsta or at YEAH NAH YEAH events.

Dives: Working with you and Gen French on the Dives and SCK CHX music videos was rad. Can you tell us a little bit about the different projection styles you worked with on those sets?

Alex: Yeah it was sick! For your Dives clip I used a technique called liquid light projection. Working on an overhead projector I mix food dye, oil, water and other materials to create an oozing psychedelic visual. It's a really nice technique because it's hands on and is different every time. For the SCK CHX clip I used a digital projector and live video feed to make infinite looping trails. It's also very psychedelic but a more modern approach. I really like using a mix of old and new.

Dives: What drew you to visual projection work within the live music world?

Alex: It happened pretty naturally. From loving live music and studying digital media it just made sense to try live visual mixing. It's pretty funny looking back to the first Yours and Owls festival where I was using a ripped program and projecting onto a roof above the stage in Wollongong Uni. I hope now that my visuals can make the live music experience a more immersive and enhanced one.

Dives: Zender Bender collaborated with famers and owls at their last two festivals, how was that??

Alex: The Yours and Owls festivals are great! And they keep getting better and better every year. This year I got to mix side of stage for Stonefields, Sampa the Great, Hockey Dad and lots of other amazing bands.

www.instagram.com/alexisoninsta

Who’s your Aquamumma?

When you meet Aquamumma (James Lesjak-Atton) you are pretty quickly absorbed into a level of chill that you thought was reserved for fictional characters like Hyde from that 70’s show. He is a relaxed dude who talks about his art in a way that makes you understand why he does it. He speaks with passion. For him it is about the expression of oneself. And like all dope artists he was covered in paint. Aj caught up with him to find out more. 

Thanks for coming on board for this party dude. Tell us about your creative process.

Do you enjoy working on spontaneity or is your work well thought out beforehand?

Hey mate no problem at all; stoked to be involved!

Pretty much all of the work tends to be spontaneous with a hint of Mr. Squiggle and a love of Dr. Seuss brewing in a pressure cooker.

The odd exception of this is choosing colour palettes beforehand and some cartoonish linework I’ve pick up along the way.

I've noticed you've done a bit of work with sculptures as well as painted pieces. Do you enjoy doing both or do you have a focus on one of those outlets in particular? 

Yea love them both! I studied sculpture at uni and it felt real groovy making big ass works, but over the past couple of years I have been mainly focusing on my paintings both indoor and out, due to the lack of a suitable studio and tools.

Only in the last couple of weeks have I exploded into combining the two together and I’m real excited about where its headed.

So you have a range of different styles or vibe you put across. Can you give us a hint as to what you'll be doing for us at the party?

So for the night I am AQUAMUMMA, so I’ll be mixing up a storm with whatever is leftover in the pantry…

TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST

GET EM HERE

https://www.theticketfairy.com/event/yeah-nah-yeah-5/

The Captain and Dives

If you’ve have been pretty much anywhere in the inner west and had your eyes open, you are probably familiar with the work of Daniel O’toole who also goes by Ears and Captain Earwax. The local legend who also not only does art but also makes his own music caught up with Dives in the lead up to his involvement with Yeah Nah Yeah #5

For those unfamiliar with the in’s and out’s of the wonderfully colourful street art scene, can you educate us a little regarding Sydney’s local street-art scene and your involvement in it?

I’m not sure how much I can educate people on the topic of street art, but I have been involved with making public artworks in the form of murals and street installations since around 2007. I used to run a gallery space with Jamie Nimmo, and Max Berry on Enmore rd from 2008 till 2010. We did a lot of grass roots shows for local street artists and others, live music and live painting were a monthly affair for us, in the form of an event called Culture Jam. There are too many stories to tell really.. its been a wild ride..

What do you look for in a street setting when scoping out a place to paint? Location, space available, surface…?

I suppose I look for spots that have maximum exposure and longevity where possible. Painting up high, on a roof top, or multi story buildings is always a good thing

Berlin’s cityscape blew me away when I visited there last year with some of the YNY crew… The sheer amount of graffiti and art that covered the city was mind-blowing! Where in the world is your favourite street art?

I saw some mad stuff in Berlin, but the impressive work was large scale murals, I didn’t see so much small scale Artworks on the streets in unexpected spots, I find a lot of street level graff in Europe is pretty raw, Chrome throwies and what not. Seems like there is a bigger divide between the graff scene and the Mural painters / Street art scene. Im only speculating though. My favourite city for Street art is probably still Melbourne to be honest, I mean Berlin is pretty incredible obviously, but more as a place for Art in General. In Melbs there is a super healthy mix of styles co-existing on the street, and a sense of community that I find unique.

Just noticed you directed the latest Jonti video! We love Jonti. How was that experience?

Yeah! The Jonti clip was super fun, I’ve been working with him for many months now and we’ve formed an awesome friendship through the whole process. He has inspired me musical for years, so its a rad experience to meet someone I look up to creatively and find he is a super humble down to earth guy who has time to hang, and Jam out ideas. He ended up doing vocals for me on one of new tracks for my upcoming album ‘Delicate Empires’.

What can we expect from Ears at Yeah Nah Yeah #5 on the 8th of April??

I’m going to be showing some recent photography work on the 8th at Yeah Nah Yeah, and doing some sort of live improv painting..I’m not sure how that will turn out! haha

CATCH EARS DOING SOME LIVE ART AT YEAH NAH YEAH #5 ON APRIL 8. TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST

GET EM HERE

https://www.theticketfairy.com/event/yeah-nah-yeah-5/

Real Guy. Real Photos. Real Good.

Since the start of Yeah Nah Yeah we have had a strong tie with Melvin Berzamina. He takes photos that show what is really going on at parties. He does it so well, by being apart of the fun. He isn’t the kind of photographer who asks you if you want a photo and gets a shot of you and your friends arm in arm smiling. That’s what your mums for. Melvin gets a photo of you and you don’t even know until you see it on your screen the next day. The shot of you and your mates dancing with your eyes closed, your arms in the air, smiles on your lips because you haven’t felt so good from the music you’re hearing in your life. The shot of two people hooking up while someone else is throwing up behind them. Real shots, of real people, doing real things. Andy caught up with Melvin ahead of Yeah Nah Yeah number five to get some insight into his style and what he’s about.

Why do you do photography?

Ever since I was a kid I’d enjoy documenting everything my friends and I would do, either through video or photos, making sure that the memories will never be lost. I guess the reasons for doing photography today still stands consistent to the reason I had when I was younger.

You have a really good mix of travel, event and everyday shots which really highlight that. What exactly would you say your style is? Do you hope to see this style heading in any  particular direction in the future?

I am a pretty messy photographer. I wouldn’t say my photos are traditionally beautiful but I would like to say my style would be more into the documentary/street photography category.

I would really like to stick with a documentary photography style in the future, improving with techniques. In order to continue pursuing that doco style I’ll have to wait till I finish my uni degree. As soon as I finish I want to get some cash and travel so I’ll have more interesting content to shoot.

What is your favourite thing to shoot?

There are a lot of things that I like to shoot and I couldn’t just pick one. I love taking photos of my friends getting smashed at parties and benders. I love how raw and authentic it can be. It may sound heaps lazy, but I really enjoy shooting anything that is memorable to me. Whether it be a specific moment or just something that pleases my eye.

What is your favourite Camera at the moment?

My favourite camera right now is the one I’m using now. It’s the Yashica T3 35mm film camera. It’s a sweet point and shoot with a Carl Zeiss lens. That may mean shit to you but any camera with a Carl Zeiss lens is tasty.

If you could be invisible for one day. What would you shoot? And you can’t go for the sleazy girls change room option. Well you can if you want. Is that what you want Melvin? Naked girls unaware of you being there? Cause that’s creepy. 

Funny that you ask me that question. I recently saw a photo series on Vice Magazine of a photographer shooting organised motel orgies in Manchester UK. And no, I’m offended that you thought I would be keen to creep in female change rooms.

If I were to be invisible for one day, I would like to take photos of gangs in ghettos like Compton or the favelas. Documenting their ‘day in life’ taking photos of them doing gangster shit like putting rubber bands around fat stacks of money, cutting up kilos of coke or doing drive bys . It would be pretty cool to document and present considering how taboo it is.

CATCH MELVIN AND HIS PHOTOS AT YEAH NAH YEAH #5 ON APRIL 8. TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST

GET EM HERE

https://www.theticketfairy.com/event/yeah-nah-yeah-5/

Ceramics and live pottery with Ed Whitelock, self-confessed Pot-ed

Ed Whitelock is a Sydney-based ceramics artist. He works within the traditional practice of pottery, making a majority of his works using a throwing wheel and firing them into a reducing atmosphere. His works aim to discover new and innovative ways for people to interact with a material they use everyday.

Andy Ripped Jeans: Ceramics is quite a unique creative output particularly for someone our age. What drew you towards it initially?

Ed: I began working with ceramics in high school and never really thought much of it at first. However after working with the medium over a year I found it so relaxing to be able to work with your hands to create something that transformed from soft mud to stone-hard forms. I was then introduced to glaze making, the chemistry behind it and the primitive firing technique of Raku, an ancient Japanese style of firing where the piece is fired to 1000 degrees, taken out at this temperature and placed in a container lined with sawdust. I feel it was this technique that really created my passion for working with ceramics.

Andy Ripped Jeans: Your work is an exploration of both the creative aspect of ceramics and the science that goes into glazing. From your works I've seen you tend to experiment with different colours and patterns in this way. How exactly does science play a roll?

Ed: Science comes into play with my practice whilst making glazes, and hopefully in the future my own clay recipe. It isn't highly technical chemistry but the basis of it is that the shiny surface over ceramics is melted glass. However glass (silica) melts at around 1600 degrees, a temperature that most ceramics cannot withstand. So you have to add different elements such as sodium, potassium and boron to lower the melting temperature and fit how much the work expands and contracts whilst firing. These substituting elements also have different effects on colour, finish and texture.

Andy Ripped Jeans: As well as ceramics you're a pretty creative dude. You've dabbled in trumpet and bass and I've seen some of your drawings. They are dope. As well as this you're a mean cook. I can still taste that honey chicken you made for me in year 11 in my mouth. Do these other creative outputs influence your work with ceramics at all?

Ed: I think that these outputs have influenced different works I've created, such as my installation "You're the Voice" which used compressed air to create and audience interactive sculpture that created sound. I have also drawn on some vessels using the inlay technique and am currently working with James Lesjak-Atton to do a collaboration that will probably utilise this technique as well.

Andy Ripped Jeans: What can we expect to see from you at Yeah Nah Yeah #4 on the 17th Dec?

Ed: I'll be working on the potters wheel for a couple of hours, starting with some smaller cups and bowls and then moving to a larger platter and vase.

www.instagram.com/pot_ed

Come check out Ed's live pottery at YEAH NAH YEAH #4 on the 17th December!

TIX ON SALE NOW: https://www.theticketfairy.com/event/yeah-nah-yeah-4/

Psychedelic GIFs with Oliver Ryan

Graphic designer currently stationed at Leuver Design, a studio in Potts Point. Lover of all things wonderfully weird. Avid 70s and 80s sleeve art enthusiast.

Dives: Hey Oliver! I've seen you at enough Pond and King Gizz concerts to know you're a bit of a psych-lord... What is it about psychedelic music that inspires you visually?

Oliver: The sensory onslaught, the mind-bending qualities of improvised sounds.

Dives: I really dig your textural/shape-based poster work. Does psychedelia inspire a lot of this work?

Oliver: Definitely. Where I can, I try to make something that you wouldn't see in nature, convey a different way of looking at things.

Dives: I was super surprised to learn that you're only new to making gifs. What is it about the medium that has led you to experiment with them lately?

Oliver: Animation is where I'd like to go creatively, static imagery is cool, but why not make it move if you can?

Dives: Are you excited for Yeah Nah Yeah #4? Any hints at what we can expect to see flashing about in gif world there?

Oliver: Keen as a jellybean. A lot of colour and rapid movement.

www.instagram.com/oliver.au

Come check out Oliver's work at YEAH NAH YEAH #4 on the 17th December!

TIX ON SALE NOW: https://www.theticketfairy.com/event/yeah-nah-yeah-4/

Morus Quin's Undeniably Cool Art

When you meet Aquamumma (James Lesjak-Atton) you are pretty quickly absorbed into a level of chill that you thought was reserved for fictional characters like Hyde from that 70’s show. He is a relaxed dude who talks about his art in a way that makes you understand why he does it. He speaks with passion. For him it is about the expression of oneself. And like all dope artists he was covered in paint. Aj caught up with him to find out more. 

Thanks for coming on board for this party dude. Tell us about your creative process.

Do you enjoy working on spontaneity or is your work well thought out beforehand?

Hey mate no problem at all; stoked to be involved!

Pretty much all of the work tends to be spontaneous with a hint of Mr. Squiggle and a love of Dr. Seuss brewing in a pressure cooker.

The odd exception of this is choosing colour palettes beforehand and some cartoonish linework I’ve pick up along the way.

I've noticed you've done a bit of work with sculptures as well as painted pieces. Do you enjoy doing both or do you have a focus on one of those outlets in particular? 

Yea love them both! I studied sculpture at uni and it felt real groovy making big ass works, but over the past couple of years I have been mainly focusing on my paintings both indoor and out, due to the lack of a suitable studio and tools.

Only in the last couple of weeks have I exploded into combining the two together and I’m real excited about where its headed.

So you have a range of different styles or vibe you put across. Can you give us a hint as to what you'll be doing for us at the party?

So for the night I am AQUAMUMMA, so I’ll be mixing up a storm with whatever is leftover in the pantry…

TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST

GET EM HERE

https://www.theticketfairy.com/event/yeah-nah-yeah-5/

Salmon Pink and Hyper-feminity: What we love about Cream & Bone's installation art.

Paloma Grace Maine (Cream & Bone) is a performance & installation artist based in Sydney.

With an undeniable love for Salmon Pink, Cream & Bone creates life-size works that take you to a fantasy land, incorporating natural and human-made elements.

J - So I know very few people who make installation art in comparison to other mediums. What compelled you to pursue performance and installation art?

P - The physical and imagined boundaries that we as humans place on ourselves are the blueprints for the constructs we call space. For as long as I can remember I have always loved playing with space. I love the tactility of performance and installation, it allows me to exist in, physically experience, interact with and make real my imagined spaces. When I was young I was constantly rearranging the layout of my bedroom or building an elaborate sheet fortress that spanned from one end of our house to the other (our house was small but my mum used to make it fun and tell us we lived in a dollhouse). When I finished high school I completed my studies in Interior design and decoration, however I needed something that allowed me to push my boundaries a little further.

J - The majority of your works contain salmon pink, is there any reason why this pattern occurs?

P - My addiction to this yummy 1950's dusty salmon pink colour isn't something I have ever been able to give reason for. The closest Freudian excuse that comes to mind is possibly this toy I had when I was really young. It was a plastic jar of cherries that came with a mint coloured spoon with a retractable cherry (that contained an artificial flavour) it would snap back when you applied pressure to the utensil. It was everything you would want to eat, but you couldn't eat it. I don't think I've figured out why that's so important to me yet.

J - You tend to focus on female beauty and grooming, where does this stem from?

P - There is a power in taking care of yourself, bathing and hygiene. I am specifically interested in the psychology behind the deliciously manipulative aesthetic of female-targeted product packaging. My most recent inspiration came from cold power sensitive touch washing powder. When I saw the pale blue and pink packaging, a completely resolved conceptual work came to mind. I like to re-imagine the roles that are placed on women and place the audience in a context that demonstrates the absurdity of those roles. The aesthetic of a space has the ability and the option to superficially disguise or reveal the truth about a space (a person or a place). For example what I'm working on at the moment is a performance that will include a group of my closest girl friends that I will quite literally be ironing out. The set that this will take place in is imagined from elements that relate to the domestic laundry setting. Dreamlike and metaphoric, my hyper-feminine spaces are a depiction of the double standards placed on women by society and those we place on ourselves.

J - Does music play any role in your creative process? If so, how?

P - Music sets the atmosphere for my spaces. It plays a crucial role as a means of inspiration but I also use it as a sort of metronome to set the pace for my body movements during performances. If I can choose a song I feel like listening to, often I will wear headphones and this keeps my movements natural and honest. I try to avoid performing and am constantly practicing the art of being. When you place yourself in the spotlight without a routine it is an honest thing.

J - Who is currently your favourite Sydney-based artist and why?

P - Hayden Fowler is my biggest influence in terms of Sydney-based artists at the moment. I've been working for him these past few weeks, installing for the recent upcoming show at the MCA - New Romance: Art and the Posthuman. The reason I like Hayden's work is because his practice combines and blurs the lines between the natural and the artificial. In my opinion he has the ability to see things as they are or better yet as they could potentially be. There is honesty in his work that both repels and satisfies the primitive.

 Check out Cream & Bone HERE

Introducing YEAH NAH YEAH!

Us six Sydney mates have just launched a fresh new label showcasing our own various psych, garage and hip hop projects.

To celebrate we threw a massive warehouse party launch in Redfern last weekend with King Colour and Betty & Oswald, DJ sets from Apache and Lars and the Stars as well as art pieces from Owma Vajayjay and Vishma (large-scale live spray-painting piece), Jared Leibowitz (photography), Jermango (collage pieces), Campbell Henderson (psychedelic prints), Paloma Grace Maine (installation art) and Alex Stevenson (visual DJ). Was hectic

Soon, we're also releasing an 8-track mixtape with contributions from every YEAH NAH YEAH member. COMING SOON!