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Artist Spotlight: Buzzy Lee

Konstantinos Pappis
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Artist Spotlight: Buzzy Lee

Spoiled Love marks the debut full-length album from Buzzy Lee, the moniker of Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Sasha Spielberg, but it’s far from her first foray into music. She and her brother Theo have been making music with their indie-folk project Wardell for over a decade now (following the release of their debut EP, Brother/Sister, a New York Times article advised readers to ‘Forget Their Dad; Just Listen to Them’). Around the same time, Spielberg began collaborating with her college friend and renowned producer Nicolas Jaar, resulting in 2018’s somber and ethereal Facepaint EP. They’ve teamed up once again on Spoiled Love (out today via Future Classic), an album that feels like a natural evolution for Spielberg as musician, songwriter, and collaborator. Conceived in the aftermath of a break-up, the LP format affords the songs, as well as the reflective sentiments they tend to encapsulate, the necessary space to breathe and swell, with Jaar’s minimalist production serving as a guiding presence as it moves from melancholy piano ballads to more spacious and expansive compositions. If Facepaint saw Lee coming into her own as a songwriter, then Spoiled Love feels like a reaffirmation of her talents as an evocative storyteller, capable of not just crystallizing a memory but also turning it into something bigger than itself.

We caught up with Buzzy Lee for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about her earliest influences, collaborating with Nicolas Jaar, perfumes as a means of time travel, and more.

I read that watching Almost Famous was part of what made you want to be in a band. I don’t know if that’s true, but I recently rewatched the film, so I’m curious to hear more about your experience with it.

Oh my gosh, that’s so funny, I recently re-watched it too! I think I was sort of joking when I said that, but I also wasn’t. I was obsessed with classic rock when I was in sixth/seventh grade, and I was listening to like, Led Zeppelin and The Who and Rolling Stones, and I was just obsessed with collecting vinyl. I had a record player and I would just play every classic rock record I could find. So when I saw Almost Famous for the first time it just really fit; I mean, it was sort of mind-blowing to me, because I had been listening to all these artists and I almost was so possessive over the names, even – if anyone said they liked Led Zeppelin, I would almost get possessive over the bands that I was listening to. And I’d never felt that with music. And when Almost Famous came out, you know, they used all the bands that I’d been listening to, so I was just was blown away by it.

I don’t know if it made me want to be in a band; I feel like it made me want to be Penny Lane and be following a band. But because there weren’t any female characters who were in a band or musicians in the movie, really, and the females were just groupies, you know, it was hard to imagine. I wish I had seen a movie that was like Almost Famous but with female musicians, and then I think that would have made me want to be on stage.

At what point do you feel you grew out of it and classic rock in general, if at all? How did your music taste develop over time?

It’s really developed. I mean, I will forever love 60s and 70s music. I think that it grew in that I was so obsessed with classic rock, but my brother across the hall, he was two grades older –  two years older, I still think in grades – he was listening to a lot of indie bands like The Strokes, and so then my music tastes pivoted to sort of the indie world of music when I was in ninth grade. And then I started really discovering independent artists through blogs. I was looking at, you know, My Old Kentucky Blog was one of them, Gorilla Vs. Bear, I was always on that. I was on these blogs, like, you know, downloading every new artist, and then I would see them in LA, if the shows allowed under 21. And then I got to college and I met Nico, who produced my record, and his music taste was so expansive, so he introduced me to a lot.

I was wondering if you could talk a bit about your collaborative process. Whether you’re working with your brother Theo with Wardell, or with Nicolas Jaar for your solo project, what do you feel makes for a good collaborative relationship?

For me, I think that I have to obviously know the person very well to feel comfortable and safe. Nico I’ve known, you know, 12 years, my brother I’ve known for 30. I think knowing someone really well opens up – you know, even one of my closest friends, her name is Greta Morgan, she’s an amazing musician and she also plays in Vampire Weekend. And she and I are so close and we collaborate. And so I find that the people I collaborate with are all just best friends, really. And that intimacy, the intimacy of best friendships, is unbeatable. You really can’t get better than that in a room.

How do you feel that those collaborative relationships have evolved over time, especially with Nicolas Jaar on this new project? Has the process changed at all?

Yeah, definitely. The EP was sort of more off the cuff, like, “Why don’t you come to New York and let’s record the songs that you’ve sent me.” And we did, and it was so fun. It was very relaxed, you know, I was staying somewhere else and he was living in the city. So we would go to his place at 10am and leave at 10pm and then go to the place I was staying. And you know, I was drinking, I was having fun, it was like, fun summer in the city. And this experience was way heavier – it was really just us in northern Italy, like we were even staying in the studio. You can’t get closer than that, so it was really, really close. And I think what comes out of that is just a really intimate record, because you have no choice but to really just be with each other and be with the music and then be with food. That’s it, that’s all.

The songs on the EP were already quite personal, but in many ways, Spoiled Love to me feels even more intimate. Not just in terms of the lyrics, but also just the presentation and some of the more stripped-back songs. Do you feel that’s come as a result of becoming more comfortable with vulnerability?

Well, it’s really easy to become comfortable with vulnerability when it’s just you and a piano. And so I find that that’s not the hard part. When I first write down the songs, they’re just for me. So the hardest part is then playing them in front of someone else. And then you realize, “Oh god, I’m gonna have to play this in front of – ” well, hopefully, one day, but you know, crowds of people, and then, “Oh, god, this is going to come out and people are going to hear what I’ve written.” So up until the part where it comes out, I’m actually fine with being vulnerable, because no one’s hearing it except Nico and me. So this is the time where I’m the most anxious a bit in anticipation, and I’m feeling so seen. I don’t know, it feels very naked.

There are moments where I write lyrics that just sound good with the melody, and that’s when Nico will challenge me and push me further to actually write lyrics that mean something. And so with Spoiled Love, that’s what happened. There were totally different lyrics there that were sort of just easy, like I wrote them when I was on tour in Europe, and I just wrote them at a cafe really quickly, because I was like, “I have to write these before I go to record with Nico.” And he could immediately tell that they were just swiftly written. So he looped ‘Spoiled Love’, the piano part, and I wrote for like, two hours, I just sat and wrote new lyrics.

What’s going through your head, when you’re in that process of, “Okay, this doesn’t really work, I’m going to have to try to write something that feels more thoughtful”?

I put a lot of pressure on myself and then I become perfectionist. I don’t think I was very happy with the lyrics that I wrote, and I kept writing new lyrics and scribbling them out and then I start to get really frustrated. And in that frustration, I think, comes the emotion, which almost doesn’t make sense, but it does, and then I’m able to write really simple lyrics. Like, ‘Spoiled Love’ is pretty simple. It gets pretty direct. But it’s not about a partner or breakup, it’s actually just me cradling my own neuroses and singing them to sleep. So it’s actually not about any person.

I wanted to ask about the sound of the album as well; there’s kind of more of a cinematic feel to a lot of the tracks, especially the instrumentals, like ‘Brie’ and ‘Mendonoma’. What inspired you to go more in that direction with this album?

I think sometimes songs with no lyrics paint a brighter picture than songs with lyrics. I’ve always believed that, and I think growing up with just being inundated with movie scores, I found that because I started picturing – you know, if I heard a composition that had no lyrics, I would just paint the picture myself. And so I feel like sometimes I can get more across through instrumentals than through my own lyrics.

Another thing that I love about the album is the progression of it, especially from the first few tracks to ‘Strange Town’ and then when that groove kicks in on that track. Could you walk me through, if you remember, the process of making that song, and how you decided it would build like that?

So, we were having trouble with that one because it’s a big song, it’s a journey in itself. And Nico had to kind of conceptualize how to record that, because we tried doing the introduction. And then Nico was like, “You know what, no, let’s go to this little room, off the studio.” It’s like a tiny little room, there are all these synths. And he took out the Hammond. And he was like, let’s start with the melody, that piano melody. So that’s what we started with. And then he put a beat to it. So we actually started with the drop, and then around it recorded the softer parts. And that took a different day. So one day was dedicated to the choruses, and then one day was dedicated to the more emotional sides. And that was an interesting one, because I did a take where I did the opening very emotionally, where my voice was almost breaking, because I was, like, reliving it again. And he said, “Okay, we got the emotional take, beautiful, you can do that. You can do that 1000 times, you’re great at that. Now, let’s do a take where you’re just telling a story to your grandchildren of this great love you had, and this weird little town you’d go to with him. And just tell the story, no emotion, just tell it.” And I did that. And that’s the take we used. And so that was sort of the motto of the whole record, which is not to get lost in the emotions again, and not to get overnostalgic where I lose myself in my past, the ghosts of my past, but it was more just, “Here’s what happened. Here’s what I felt. Here’s what I feel now. And I’m gonna continue to grow.” So it’s sort of like a cliffhanger, almost. There’s not even an ending, really.

Which, I mean, you finished the record in 2019, so it’s kind of already or even more in the past for you.

Yeah, and I went through another breakup over quarantine, and now I’ve met the love of my life. [laughs] So I don’t even – so much has happened since.

Do you still feel attached to the songs, though?

Yes. I think my biggest crux in life is that I am attached to memories in such a crazy way that I have a perfume collection of 80 bottles of perfume, because every three to six months, I assign a new scent to that period. So that when I’m 90, I can time travel, so I can smell it and say, like, that was the summer of 2013, that was when I fell in love with this person. I’m like a memory hoarder. So these songs still mean so much to me. I mean, it’s impossible for them not to.

I don’t know if I’ll steal that idea, but it sounds amazing.

Take it! It’s time travel. It’s setting us up for time travel.

At the same time, do you feel eager to pursue new projects and explore different sounds and ideas once the album is out?

Yeah, oh my gosh. I start recording my second album in three weeks.

Wow, so it’s already –

Yeah, it’s already happening. Because also, I came to Nico with about 25 finished songs. And we could have picked 12 and made a 12-song album, but we were really, really picky about what would breathe on this album and then what can go on the next. My plan was to do the next album immediately after, but then COVID. So I was going to tour this album and then record immediately and then tour that, you know, so it was going to just keep going. But hopefully if all goes well, I’ll be recording in three weeks.

So these are songs you wrote at the same time as the ones on Spoiled Love?  

It’s funny, there’s still some remnants of Spoiled Love. And I don’t know if I’ll change the lyrics, I don’t think I want to – again, it’s like my perfume collection. The songs that I didn’t record with Nico, if they exist in that time capsule, it’s okay that I pull them out like my perfume collection. It really is the same. So I don’t mind that I’m going to be singing about, you know, an ex who already had a baby in quarantine. [laughs] You know, it’s okay that that’s happening.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Buzzy Lee’s Spoiled Love is out now via Future Classic.

Watch the First Trailer for Tsuburaya Productions’ Shin Ultraman

Christopher Stewardson
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Watch the First Trailer for Tsuburaya Productions’ Shin Ultraman

Tsuburaya Productions has released an early teaser trailer for Shin Ultraman.

Hideaki Anno, creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion and co-director of 2016’s Shin Godzilla, is producing and writing, with Shinji Higuchi (special effects director for Shusuke Kaneko’s ’90s Gamera trilogy) in the director’s chair.

Footage in the trailer will surely excite fans of the 1966 series with its updated designs of classic monsters (Neronga and Gabora), along with what appears to be a redesigned Science Patrol badge. Most of all, the familiar look of Ultraman (sporting his C-Type mask) is a sight to behold.

Both the monsters and Ultraman are rendered in CGI, a departure from the practical special effects which not only brought the original characters to life, but which also put the series and its creator, Eiji Tsuburaya, on the map. Nevertheless, the digitally-rendered Godzilla of Shin Godzilla managed to dazzle and impress – so hopes are high for Ultraman’s new look.

Shin Godzilla is also brought to mind by the visual style shown in the trailer, with vivid urgency from striking close-ups and gliding movement.

Tsuburaya Productions has also released two new posters for the film, one of which is featured below. This particular poster seems to feature a redesigned Beta Capsule – the device Hayata used in the original series to transform into the titular hero.

We anxiously await more news, footage, and the film itself. Shin Ultraman is set for a summer 2021 release.

Property of Tsuburaya Productions and Toho Company Ltd.

Album Review: Palberta, ‘Palberta5000’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Album Review: Palberta, ‘Palberta5000’

Palberta know their way around a hook. This might sound like a strange thing to say about one of the scrappiest and most experimental punk groups around, but knowing your way around a hook means more than just being able to craft it: when the New York City trio covered Bee Gees’ ‘Stayin’ Alive’ all the way back in 2017, they dismantled everything that makes it the sleekest of disco tunes and warped it into a minute of harrowing cacophony. With their fifth studio album, Palberta5000, they bring together their natural propensity for dissonant guitars unconventional song structures with a sincere appreciation for mainstream pop artists like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, two names you’d probably never expect to come across in a Palberta review.

But if the primary purpose of a pop collaboration like Grande and Bieber’s ‘Stuck with U’ is to get a hook, well, stuck in your head, the members of Palberta – Ani Ivry-Block, Lily Konigsberg, and Nina Ryser – seem more interested in joining forces with the intention of drilling as many of them into your scalp as possible. That is certainly the case with ‘Big Bad Want’, which is one of the longest cuts here yet consists primarily of the lyric “Yeah, I can’t pretend what I want” repeated dozens upon dozens of times. Unlike other tracks on the record, Palberta offer virtually no twists and turns or subtle embellishments; the repetition becomes less of a musical tool than a weapon aimed back at oneself, less an affirmation of the narrator’s presence or desire than a reflection of the kind of perpetual anxiety that grows harder to ignore the more you try. Even as the prime candidate for the most frustrating song on the album, the way it manages to creep under your skin is a testament to the group’s ingenuity.

Palberta’s ability to convey such primal experiences partly comes down to the fact that it feels like the three women “share a brain in a lot of ways,” as Konigsberg put it in a 2018 interview. Besides taking turns on bass, drums, and guitar, the way they trade vocal duties on the album also leads to some of its most vivid and layered harmonies, which feel not so much like agents of chaos as much as the only unified force capable of navigating it. The conditions under which Palberta5000 was recorded also help amplify the group’s dizzying intensity; the 16-track album is the result of a four-day recording session at engineer Matt Labozza’s Hudson Valley studio, with no track captured in more than three takes.

That the album contains Palberta’s tightest arrangements and most accessible songs to date should thus come as no surprise, but it’s also a point that also does little to describe the actual music. Clocking in at almost four minutes, ‘Big Bad Want’ is one of the record’s obvious outliers; the three-piece still specialize in short bursts of unruly energy, even if this time its thornier edges are tempered by a more straightforward pop immediacy (‘Corner Store’, ‘Red Antz’).  But the track is also an example of how the album’s longer cuts tend to be its most impactful, not just because of the fact that they take up more space but also because they find more interesting ways to explore it. ‘All Over My Face’ pulses with scuzzy, offbeat defiance, while ‘Fragile Place’ melds delicate melodies with a propulsive heaviness, and ‘Before I Got Here’ brings the album to a close with a militaristic kind of splendour that seems to carve out diverse paths for the group going into the future.

It’s when Palberta push their sound to its outermost limits that the result feels not just playful but also challenging and evocative. If pop songs strive to present a firm case for the structures that uphold them, a song like ‘Fragile Place’ works because the way it builds tension serves to underline the brittleness of those same structures to disqueting effect. Unfortunately, some of the album’s absurdist lyrics often do more to alienate the listener than leave a lasting impression or meaningfully contribute to those dynamics. But when it spends less time paying tribute to hot breakfast dishes (like on the sonically dextrous ‘Eggs n’ Bac’) than it does approximating the messiness of the human mind, its more difficult qualities can feel like an extension of sympathy: “I will be there with my hand on your chest,” they sing on ‘Cow’, “I feel your rumbling internal mess.”

Jonny Greenwood to Score New Princess Diana Biopic ‘Spencer’ Starring Kristen Stewart

Konstantinos Pappis
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Jonny Greenwood to Score New Princess Diana Biopic ‘Spencer’ Starring Kristen Stewart

Radiohead‘s Jonny Greenwood is scoring Spencer, a new biopic about Diana Frances Spencer, better known as Diana, Princess of Wales. The film is directed by Pablo Larrain and stars Kristen Stewart in the titular role. According to IndieWire, the film is expected to arrive this fall, just before the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death in 2022.

Spencer is set at Christmas 1991 and focuses on Diana’s decision to leave Charles during the royal family’s getaway to the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. “Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life,” Stewart said in a statement. “It is a physical assertion of the sum of her parts, which starts with her given name; Spencer. It is a harrowing effort for her to return to herself, as Diana strives to hold onto what the name Spencer means to her.”

In addition to scoring four films for Paul Thomas Anderson, including his Oscar-nominated score for Phantom Thread, Jonny Greenwood also recently soundtracked 2018’s You Were Never Really Here. Pablo Larraín’s 2019 film Ema was scored by Nicolás Jaar, while his last English-language film, the 2016 biopic Jackie, was soundtracked by Mica Levi.

 

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Top 6 Books Adapted on Netflix

Our Culture Mag & Partners
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Top 6 Books Adapted on Netflix

If you are a fan of a particular book, you cannot stop thinking of it. You start playing slts about it on Bet22, search for news and movies. And these 6 series are books adapted on Netflix. 

Cursed

A unique interpretation of the legend of King Arthur by a world-renowned graphic novel and comic book author Frank Miller. The series premiered in 2020 on Netflix.

Nimue is connected to dark forces, which is very frightening to those around her. As the years go by, the girl grows up. Her village is attacked by the Red Paladins, and destroys all dreams and hopes. In search of revenge, the girl meets the mercenary Arthur. And this meeting changes their lives forever.

You, Season 2

It’s a sequel to the exciting story of the most romantic serial killer. Lifetime adapted the first part of the novel. And in 2020, Netflix released a second season.

Bookstore salesman Joe Goldberg continues to search for his true love. The previous four attempts have been unsuccessful. But he’s sure he’s not wrong this time, and this girl is just the right one for him.

Ghost Bride

The Lim family is one of the richest in Malacca. When Li Lan Pan is asked to become the bride of the deceased heir of Lim Tian Ching, the fate of the 17-year-old girl from a poor family seems to be sealed. In her dreams, she plunges into the world of the dead, but in reality, she meets in the noble house of Tian Bai, a cousin of her betrothed. But an affair with the living instead of a marriage to the dead is an entirely different story. 

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares

Dash hates Christmas. But he loves books and on the eve of the Christmas holidays doesn’t get out of the bookshop. On one of the shelves, he unexpectedly finds a red notebook. In it, a mysterious stranger has left some fascinating puzzles. This stranger turns out to be Lily. She will spend the New Year vacations all alone. So, she is looking for a friend. 

Thus, an exciting game begins. Dash and Lily solve riddles and share their secrets in a notebook they hide in different places in New York City.

Stranger Things

The 1960s, U.S., the main events are moon landing and the Vietnam War. Student Terry Ives sets out to change the world for the better. She becomes a participant in a large-scale government experiment. But behind the walls of the National Laboratory, something strange is going on. And the girl is determined to find out what’s going on.

Here is the first official novelization from Netflix on the acclaimed series. Here are new details about the characters of the series, and at the same time, you will see an independent intriguing story.

Trinkets

It seems that the reclusive and quiet Elodie, the well-to-do school queen Tabitha, and the cheeky honor student Mo have nothing in common. But they don’t. They attend the same school and go to the same kleptomaniac anonymous meetings. Attending court-ordered group therapy because of the charges of theft, the girls unexpectedly become friends. It’s up to them to help each other cope with their problems and curb their addiction to stealing everything they can’t get their hands on. 

Top 4 Hardest PC Games

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Top 4 Hardest PC Games

Do you think gaming is only for relaxation? If so, you are wrong. It can be for getting money like with slots at CasinoChan or improving your concentration and reaction. And these 4 PC games will surely help you get more skillful.

Dark Souls 

The Souls series has become famous for its complexity. Are you used to that in modern blockbusters the rules are explained to you, you can change the difficulty settings and save yourself at any moment? Things are different in Dark Souls.

Here even the simplest enemies can kill you with one or two blows, and you can only save yourself at the campfires. As a result, you’ll have to search for them while you’re chased by hordes of fierce undead and severe warriors in heavy armor. The amount of healing options is limited, and traps and ambushes lurk at every turn.

Bloodborne

Bloodborne resembles Dark Souls mechanically, but there are significant differences: the pace here is much faster. You get caught up in a frantic and aggressive battle with crowds of opponents, where you have no chance to retreat. Your Hunter only has a melee weapon, a nearly useless musket good only for parrying enemy attacks, an overcoat and a triangular hat.

The developers of Bloodborne were obviously inspired by the Van Helsing movie. The action is off the charts, the imagination of the developers who created the monsters knows no limits, and the level design is a real delight.

Demon’s Souls

Despite its considerable age, Demon’s Souls still looks interesting and fascinating. You become a nameless warrior who must free a distant kingdom hidden by mists from evil demons and a possessed ruler.

Many players will tell you that Demon’s Souls is more difficult than the following Souls games. There are only two save points per level, the ability to heal is limited, enemies are strong and are reborn after each of your deaths.

Demon’s Souls remains one of the most addictive games on the PlayStation. Grim Middle Ages, dragons, evil undead, and huge dangerous demons will appeal to fans of dark fantasy.

Cuphead 

Here you will control two cup-headed brothers, who have lost in the casino to the devil and now have to extort debts from other like-minded troublemakers. But the latter are not going to part with their souls. So, it won’t be easy for the brothers to complete their mission.

Cuphead is mostly the boss fights. Here they are so tough, that you will need to react fast, have a solid keyboard, and a lot of patience to fight them. And of course, you’ll need a lot of luck because the enemies are often attacking in an unpredictable order. Make no mistake and don’t hesitate, or you will have to start the fight all over again.

Artist Spotlight: Lande Hekt

Konstantinos Pappis
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Artist Spotlight: Lande Hekt

With Muncie Girls, the indie punk band Lande Hekt formed as a teenager in her hometown of Exeter, the singer-songwriter has been as open about the frustration of living in an unjust world as she has been about the crippling uncertainties that come with growing up. Her lyrics are both direct and relatable, but the music’s vulnerability never undermined the uncompromising force of her political conviction – in fact, it often had the opposite effect. From the group’s acclaimed 2016 debut From Caplan to Belsize to its intensely personal follow-up Fixed Ideals in 2018, Hekt learned to lean on that vulnerability even more, before coming through with her debut solo EP, Gigantic Disappointment, in November 2019.

Her first full-length solo album, Going to Hell, released last Friday via Get Better Records, sees her revisiting a lot of the same themes and styles while expanding her scope. Written while Hekt was in the process of coming out as gay, the album centers on her typically diaristic lyrics and clear-eyed performances as she discloses familiar feelings of anxiety, doubt, and internalized shame. There are a lot of unanswered questions running throughout the record’s 10 tracks, but none of them negate the sense of relief that comes with laying it all out. “You can find me under the table, I’m not coming out,” she sang on 2016’s ‘Gone with the Wind’, “I’ve had too many beers and I’ve got nothing to be happy about.” It’s obvious a few things have changed since then, but Hekt’s voice is as loud and clear as ever.

We caught up with Lande Hekt for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about her earliest musical memories, the process behind Going to Hell, and more.

What role did music and songwriting play early on in your life?

I started playing bass when I was 10 years old and started a band with my friend back then. And then I think maybe when I was about 17, I started writing songs, and that’s when I started my band, Muncie Girls. But I’ve always been massively into music. I think as soon as I started playing music when I was like, 10, it kind of took over my life. I was only interested in music and skateboarding.

I’ve got older siblings, and when I was younger, I used to borrow their CDs and listen to bands, like loads of punk rock and emo, when I was eight or nine. I remember being really into like, like ska and pop-punk and stuff when I was kid, and I remember just getting really obsessed with certain songs. And so obsessing about bands is kind of something that made me want to be in a band.

You’ve talked about how growing up, you didn’t always feel like there were enough queer role models in the music that you listened to. Were there any artists that you feel like had a positive influence on you in terms of your identity?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, my favorite band of all time is Sleater-Kinney, and they’re a queer band. So they’ve always kind of had that. I’ve always felt that that’s the kind of platform to work towards. And I think artists like Patti Smith and Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna, those kinds of bands are super feminist and just do exactly what they want. And that’s really inspiring, especially when I was about 18 or something. I think it was important to have those kind of – I wouldn’t say role models, because I didn’t necessarily want to be exactly like that. I still had my own kind of thing going on. But I think to be able to hear bands like that when I was a bit younger was really helpful.

Do you have any specific memories of when you first came across these bands?

I remember when I was 18, me and my friend went to New York on a little holiday to see some bands play that we really liked from there. And when we were looking around some really old book shops, there was like a book on riot grrrl, Girls to the Front. I’d never heard of – I was familiar with Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, but I hadn’t really looked into that whole scene. And although I don’t tend to really idolize riot grrrl as a thing now, because I know that it actually turned out to have had a lot of issues with it itself in terms of its community back then. But at the time, I was really into the idea of this kind of secret society of feminists, and they’re making zines and having secret meetings. So I remember reading that book and then getting way more into Bikini Kill and that being a really exciting time.

You released your debut solo EP in 2019. Why did you feel like this was the right time to make and put out your debut solo album?

I had enough songs, is the main thing. Because it’s quite hard to get enough songs together to make an actual whole album. But it was kind of down to timing, really, like I’m normally playing all the time with Muncie Girls. We just had a year off from really touring and I had all these songs that just so happened to be all written around the time that I was coming out. So they kind of all had this theme that didn’t really represent the band. It represented me, but it didn’t really represent the band because that’s not the whole band’s experience. So it kind of made sense to record all of those songs at the same time. And at the beginning of last year, while I was in Australia on tour, my friend basically just has a recording studio and was like, “Oh, why don’t we just do the whole album?” And then kind of everything went from there.

With this album, I’m kind of trying to be more outwardly a queer artist, because this is the right time for me to do that. And I wasn’t ready to do that before with Muncie Girls. And plus, like, Muncie Girls aren’t a queer band as a whole. Like, that’s not been what we’re kind of trying to do with our project. And a lot of the songs are quite personal, and then Muncie Girls, songs are really political – not all of them, but a lot of them kind of have that undertone.

I was wondering if you could talk more about the album’s title. What has the phrase Going to Hell come to mean for you, particularly in the context of the album?

I hadn’t that title I’d planned out for ages. I had the whole record recorded and everything. And then I was trying to think of a title for the album and I knew I wanted it to either be a lyric or the title of a song, just because it’s kind of the easiest way to do that. And then I think it just made sense because that’s the only phrase within the album that kind of encompasses the idea of a few things that might be really going through my head at the time that I wrote it. Like I was saying, it’s about coming out as gay, so this whole thing about going to hell was in a way kind of over the top, you know, in terms of, like, imagery. But at the same time, I think a lot of people kind of forget that coming out is a really huge thing for some people. I’m not personally involved in any religious communities, and I grew up in an atheist family, so I don’t have any religious pressure or anything like that. But I did – I can’t remember why, but I did end up thinking about it, because it’s obviously a completely different story for people who do have those pressures and those really uncomfortable situations with their family or their community.

As well as it being that, I thought it would be kind of cool, because if only queer people go to hell, then at least they’re not stuck in heaven with, like, only straight people. [laughs] So I thought that was kind of, you know – not so much reclaiming it, because I don’t particularly want to be associated with that. I’m not goth enough to get away with that. But after I chose it, at first I was like, “It’s kind of a cheesy name, I don’t know.” But I think the more I’ve sat with it, the more I think it suits the record.

Moving on to some of the songs in particular, I love how ‘Whiskey’ sets up the whole theme of the album, how it builds and builds, and the series of questions feels almost, like, stream-of-consciousness style. It made me wonder whether you wrote that in one go.

With songs that have quite a lot of lyrics in them, I tend to not be able to revisit them and finish them. So if I’ve written a song and it’s got one really long verse and a decent length chorus and then leave it, I’m not going to be able to come back and add more lyrics, because normally if I’ve got loads of words down it’s because I’m in a sort of headspace to just do that. And that song, I don’t even remember writing it. There’s a song that my band have which is called ‘Locked Up’ up, and in the same way, it’s just loads and loads of lyrics that sort of run along the same theme but also completely don’t at all. They’re just literally things that – you know when your head is just full of stuff? Sometimes it’s so helpful for me to just put it all down into a song and then be like, “Right, probably makes no sense, I’ll come back to it later.” And then, if I’m lucky, it makes a bit of sense. But it definitely is – not even a stream-of-consciousness but like, a stream-of-subconsciousness, almost, you know, just literally getting any words down.

That makes me think of the next track, ‘80 Days of Rain’, which is like, a song about climate anxiety, but it doesn’t really start as one. Which I love, because it gets at how all these personal fears and insecurities can suddenly become enmeshed with an almost existential kind of dread. Is that a result of that process?

I don’t know, I think it’s just a result of maybe being, like, millennial. I think it’s really hard for people in our generation to worry about one thing at a time, because there’s so much going on. And I don’t even know that people who live before us didn’t feel like this, maybe they did. But I think because of everything that we know, it’s impossible not to get completely overwhelmed. And for me, personally, it always comes at a time when I’m looking at my stuff and thinking about like, Okay, this is actually quite stressful right now. And then, as things kind of snowball, I’m like, Oh my god, and the planet’s about to burn into flames. And like, capitalism is ruining our society. And the more you worry, the more things add into your brain. And some people really have proper breakdowns over this kind of thinking. So I’m really lucky that I have songs to be able to put these thoughts into, because I think it’s really important to get thoughts down and figure out what you actually feel about certain things. But for me, definitely, once I’m worrying about one thing, like where I’m living or what I’m doing, then I’m suddenly like, wait, this is definitely the time to worry about climate change as well. [laughter] So I like to just pass on that worry, so I can worry about it a little bit less.

With that in mind, what do you hope listeners take away from this album?

That’s kind of a difficult question, because this album’s already completely surpassed what I thought was going to happen with it. I was literally just going to put it online and then ended up making friends with Get Better Records and now they’re putting it out. So I’m already surprised that anyone’s even listening to it. But I guess if I think about that now that I know that a few people are listening to it, I think what I really hope is that, because of the prevailing theme of coming out and entering into being a queer artist and really, really liking it – like, this is exactly what I want to be doing – I think that I just want anyone who is in a similar situation, who hasn’t got to the point where they realize that being queer is amazing, like, coming to terms with that. I think I just would love it if someone needed a bit of affirmation in that area and they found that in this record or in the things that I’m talking about, just because – they might not, you know, or the right person might not listen to it or might not take that from it. But I think that’s my intention for being kind of open about what this record is about. Because if more artists were that vocal when I was younger, and I was kind of starting out writing songs and like, just being in a band even, if I just heard more about what it was like to be gay, and just to be happy about it, and to be in a space musically where you’re actually loving it, then I would be like, “Oh, no way, being gay is really cool!” And maybe it’s not this terrible thing that I was taught when I was younger. I think that would have been really helpful for me, so that’s probably my biggest hope for it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Lande Hekt’s Going to Hell is out now via Get Better Records.

Some Methods to Make Extra Income as a Graphic Designer

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Some Methods to Make Extra Income as a Graphic Designer

Graphic designers are in demand. However, this demand creates a saturated market, and not everyone is capable of finding a stable job. That is why some graphic designers are looking for new ways to make money and improve their financial situation.

Even if it is a simple side gig or a venture that could potentially become a profitable project after some time, making the most out of the available opportunities is one of the best ways to get some extra income.

If you are in a similar situation and would like to put your graphic design skills to good use, the methods in this article should give you enough inspiration.

Method #1 – Print on Demand

Being a graphic designer gives you an advantage if you want to start a print on demand store. Or, as an alternative, you can get in touch with already established stores and offer them your services. POD store owners are regularly looking for fresh ideas for their merchandise.

Usually, t-shirts are the go-to product. Printify has the T-Shirt business explained on their website, and they happen to be one of the best print providers at the moment. 

But what drives people to try their luck with print on demand, and t-shirt in particular? Well, according to ecommerce statistics by Printify, the global t-shirt market is projected to pass 10 billion dollars by 2025. With such growth, there is still room for new entrepreneurs to join and profit as well.

Of course, you can look to scale the business later by introducing merchandise other than t-shirts. Phone cases, hoodies, key chains, calendars, and face masks have a place in the market, giving you more opportunities to make money. 

Method #2 – Photo Editing

Not every professional photographer is keen to edit their photos. The work is monotonous and time-consuming. They would rather hire someone who can do the work for them. And that is when you come in as a graphic designer.

Graphic designers should have little trouble editing photos, particularly if they have used tools like Photoshop before. Adding new effects, zooming in and out where appropriate, and removing unnecessary elements from pictures are what the majority of the job consists of.

Method #3 – Book Covers

More and more writers are sticking to Amazon’s self-publishing program because they do not wish to deal with traditional publishing agencies. However, it is harder to advertise your book on Amazon because of all the competition.

An outstanding book cover is one of the best methods to catch the attention of potential readers. Even if they say that you should not judge a book by its cover, people still do. An e-book cover is the first thing they see while browsing through a collection of available books they may or may not purchase. 

Get in touch with writers and tell them that you can create catchy book covers that will increase book sales right away. Even if it is just a few writers you collaborate with, they are still good enough. You can start making money by designing book covers.

Method #4 – Streaming

Join Twitch TV and start building your channel. As a graphic designer, you can show viewers your skills by designing something they ask for or having fun with whatever you feel like doing at that time. Of course, having an entertaining personality helps. After all, you will be sitting in front of a camera and entertaining an audience.

As for monetization, streamers can make money from multiple sources. Some stick to donations and subscriptions. Others expand their income sources by promoting various goods or services. Creating a YouTube channel and posting stream highlights is also a popular method nowadays. 

Method #5 – Social Media Content

Brands are looking to increase their social media presence. Attractive content is one of the social media marketing cornerstones. Expecting engagement on lackluster posts is futile, particularly if there are hundreds if not more similar profiles.

Graphic designers can elevate a brand’s social media by producing high-quality visual content, such as infographics. Refurbishing a profile picture and a banner would help as well. The bottom line is that graphic designers can provide new and improved looks for those who want to take their social media standing to another level.

Method #6 – Online Education

Creating a video tutorial series and posting them on YouTube or platforms like Skillshare and Udemy could also prove quite useful. You can sell courses on these platforms and create yourself a passive source of income. Keep in mind, though, that the competition can be pretty fierce. Succeeding with mediocre quality is quite a challenge. If you decide to get serious about online education, make sure that you emphasize the quality of your content.

Netflix Present Trailer for a New Drama Series ‘Ginny & Georgia’

Modestas Mankus
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Netflix Present Trailer for a New Drama Series ‘Ginny & Georgia’

Adding to their diverse catalogue of films and series, streaming giant Netflix has unveiled the official trailer for a new drama series Ginny & Georgia. The show was created by Sarah Lampert and in its cast hold Brianne Howey, Antonia Gentry, Diesel La Torraca, Jennifer Robertson, Felix Mallard, Scott Porter, Raymond Ablack, and Mason Temple.

The show follows fifteen-year-old Ginny Miller, who alongside her brother Austin and mum Georgia, settle down in New England in hopes for a better life. However, challenges arise from their past, threatening their new life.

Ginny & Georgia is available on Netflix from the 24th of February, 2021.

Album Review: Kiwi Jr., ‘Cooler Returns’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Album Review: Kiwi Jr., ‘Cooler Returns’

Too much has changed since Kiwi Jr. issued their full-length debut Football Money in early 2019, or even since the record received a wider release from Persona Non Grata in January of last year. The fact that the Canadian power pop outfit have managed to stick to their guns on its aptly titled follow-up, Cooler Returns, is an impressive achievement in itself – one could argue they’re simply applying the same formula, but making dependability part of your brand while unfailingly retaining the music’s most enjoyable qualities – in the midst of a global pandemic, no less – is certainly no small feat. Fans can rest assured that everything that made their debut so instantly likable is readily available on their latest effort, though “effort” feels like an ill-fitting term when their knack for delivering easy hooks and witty one-liners seems to come so naturally.

That seemingly endless supply of hooks and snappy melodies should be more than enough to render Cooler Returns an indisputably fun listen, but Kiwi Jr. also prove they’re capable of evolving their sound while very much leaning into their strengths. The quartet is still far from shy about wearing their influences – most obviously Pavement, but nods to acts like The Strokes and R.E.M. are also prominent – on their sleeves, nor do they manage to distance themselves from contemporaries like Parquet Courts, but their attempt at refining their craft is both palpable and largely effective. The songs here are bejeweled with subtle touches of piano, harmonica, and organ that lend them a wonderfully organic feel while augmenting their mid-fi slacker rock aesthetic. Songs like ‘Dodger’ and ‘Waiting in Line’ rely almost exclusively on a variety of acoustic instruments that are both richly rendered and refreshing, as if to remind us there’s nothing manufactured about the band’s approach no matter how neatly tailored it may sound.

When those electric guitars do kick in, they ring out with the sort of effervescent clarity and coolness that’s made their music so irresistible in the past. As the title track moves into its final segment and layers of guitars begin to stack on top of one another, you can track almost exactly what direction each of them will take, but they’re so exquisitely blended that predictability becomes a non-factor. There’s enough colour in the album’s light, jangly arrangements to prevent them from coming off as bland, but its scruffier moments also offer a glimpse into what the band are able to achieve when they loosen their grip and allow a song to breathe for more than two and a half minutes. Those tighter structures can make for an invigorating pop song, but they also can have the effect of stifling their more playful and rambunctious tendencies.

Such a move would also help elevate frontman Jeremy Gaudet’s wry storytelling, which remains one of the group’s strongest assets. His acerbic sense of humour leads to more than a few quotable lines: “I was falling apart in the green room/ While you drank half the headliner’s rider,” he recalls on the opening track ‘Tyler’; ‘Nashville Wedding’ has him wanting to “strangle the jangle pop band,” and he makes sure the irony escapes no one. Kiwi Jr. seem to be hyper-aware of what they’re doing at almost every moment, which makes even the most absurd lyrical turns land better than they otherwise would. But as gifted as the group might be in stringing together catchy yet endearing jangle pop tunes, and even if their sound continues to show subtle signs of maturity as it does here, a little risk-taking would go a long way to amplify the unique elements of their songwriting that are too often buried under its sleek veneer.

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