-Photographed by Elizabeth Rechter
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart & Twin Shadow
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Tag Archives: young and pretty photography
Beach Fossils, Craft Spells, The Drums, and Crinkles at Music Hall of Williamsburg [Photos]
Y&P Exclusive: EULA Stampedes the Stage!
Alyse Lamb, the lead singer and guitarist of the band, EULA, is petite with striking white-blonde hair and has a glistening, girlish smile. She began dancing ballet when she was four years old and it was during this time she learned about music. She fell in love with Stravinsky, Satie, Debussy and Tchaikovsky. But don’t let her Black Swan background or her music preferences fool you—she is one angsty rocker with ceaseless energy and focuses more on her slam dancing than her pirouettes.
EULA, a trio from New Haven, CT, in addition to Lamb, consists of: Jeff Maleri (bass, vocals) and Nate Rose (drums, vocals). Their sound is sexy, rough, and wild. Onstage, they are full of vigor; like a teenage garage band playing louder after their mom yells at them to unplug! After EULA’s show at Union Hall, Y&P caught up with EULA to talk about the band, fashion and pizza.
What does EULA stand for?
[Alyse] Everyone always asks us that and I wish we had a super cool answer. We just like the way the word sounds. Open vowels are fun. It can mean anything to you. It’s a town in Texas. It’s my friend’s Greek Aunt’s name. It’s a licensing agreement. I just read that the word itself means “optimistic, easygoing, spontaneous and humorous” – that definitely sums up our personalities.
Which artists have influenced your sound?
[A] Pretty much any music we hear or live show we see influences us, good or bad. Sometimes a small part gets subconsciously incorporated into EULA. We’re exposed to a wide range of music, new and old, because Nathan (drummer) DJ’s a lot, thus forcing us to listen to everything he finds. From northern soul, to post-punk, to be-bop…everything.
What inspires your lyrics?
[A] Life, death, excitement, scary news, happy news, relationships, restrictions, loss…I like to think of myself as a filter, and my lyrics are the gunk that comes out.
Where did you film your music video for Texas Stampede?
[A] ‘Texas Stampede’ was filmed at Yale in New Haven. We have friends that go to school there, so we had the run of these huge, gorgeous Yale buildings. The actual shots of me took place in the black box theater. Very generous of them.
What time of day do you find yourself writing your songs?
[A] Weirdo times. Sometimes a melody hits you, and you have to run to the next room to find a pen before its out of your head. Sometimes it spills so fast, like 15 minutes fast. Other times a song could take a year to finish. Nate is more of a daytime writer. I like nighttime or post-midnight writing.
Do you have day jobs?
[A] Unfortunately yes, we all have day jobs. I long for the day that I can answer “no” to this question!
What are the top five albums on your play list right now?
[A] Body Language’s Social Studies EP, Toro Y Moi’s Underneath the Pine, PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, MT Bearington’s Love Buttons, and Fake Babies’ We Started Blues.
Who influences your fashion style?
[A] My mother is a Costume Designer so I grew up surrounded by lots of different fashion – and I understand the amount of time and hard work that goes into designing and creating. After each of her shows, I would get to choose 1 piece/costume that I could keep. She’s a great lady! I have some really kick ass vintage pieces and also crazy stuff like a huge snuffaluffagus-looking body suit with a big bug-eyed head that I have yet to wear. I like weird and exciting things. I am all about creativity and originality. I make a lot of my own shirts to wear on stage. If I had to guess, I would say that EULA’s style is a throwback to the punky-spaz dance groups of the 80’s.
Tell us about your plans for the next couple months and what you are looking forward to.
[A] Our new album, Maurice Narcisse, will be released on April 26th. Getting back on the road. We took a break to finish the album, and we’re looking forward to getting lost on side roads, eating too many unhealthy things, drinking too much, and rocking out every night. Oh, and of course the warm weather.
Who was the first band you saw live? When and where?
[A] Nate’s first concert was Phil Collins with his parents. My older sister took me to see Tiffany at Lake Compounce (CT) when I was 4 or 5. I just recently found out that the Sugarcubes & New Order played like a couple weeks later. I’ve since asked myself, “Why couldn’t my sister have been cooler?”
What kind of pizza do you order?
[A] I’m down with any kind of veggie topping. Nate & Jeff would probably order “Meat Surprise” or something like that.
You could never leave home without…
[A] Chapstick.
Where is your favorite place to shop in NYC?
[A] When I have extra money I’ll either spend it on food or instruments. I haven’t really been food shopping in NYC, I go in Brooklyn or New Haven. Shout out to Romeo & Cesare’s Market on Orange St!
You are stranded on a desert island, what do you bring?
[A] Can I re-work this question? If I were stranded on a DESSERT island, I would bring lots of peanut butter cookies and banana bread. YUM!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_18AX5MXcs]
-Reported and Photographed by Elizabeth Rechter
Y&P Behind the Scenes: A Perfumephile’s Xanadu
Le labo, a perfume shop on Elizabeth Street, has one goal: “to help you open your nostrils in the same way good books open their readers’ eyes to life.” Their fragrances are created right in the shop where they import natural essences from france’s perfume capital, Grasse. I met with Mackenzie at Le labo, and asked her a few questions about perfume.
[Y&P] What is your current occupation? [Mackenzie] I work for one of the largest fragrance production companies in the world, at its creative headquarters in Manhattan. I also work occasionally as a fragrance-compounder at Le Labo, a fragrance brand “born in Grasse, raised in New York.”
Tell me about your first encounter with fragrance. I remember watching my mother put on Shalimar (Guerlain) before she would go to formal events. The fragrance, named for an ancient Indian love story, had a hypnotic effect on me. Since then, I have regarded particular scents as talismans—able to bring luck, provoke memory and emotion, and conjure magic, whimsy and imagination. I try to incorporate scent into my daily rituals as much as possible. Whether cooking with new herbs and spices, adding orange blossom or rose water to tea, burning sandalwood before bed, or keeping lavender sachets with my linens, I find new ways to incorporate fragrance into my life and make every day a sensory adventure. Human beings are very sensual creatures, something that is easily forgotten in this day and age when speed and efficiency seem to be the priority. I believe it is the small details that make the world so incredible, and there is an infinite amount of beauty in present in nature if you only look for it.
Which perfumers do you most admire? Bertrand Duchafour and Olivia Giacobetti. I find myself consistently surprised and charmed by their creations—often without knowing that I’m smelling their work. I particularly like that their fragrances tend to reference specific times and places, creating a multi-dimensional experience and transporting you somewhere else entirely. I believe that perfume is like architecture, so I connect with their work on this level.
What is your favorite smell? This is a difficult question to answer… Some of my favorites are labdanum, honey, monoi, soil after it rains, amber, rosemary, pipe tobacco, burning maple leaves, and rose cut with black pepper. Lavender incense, coffee grounds, Coppertone sunscreen, the ocean, lapsang souchong tea…I could go on forever!
What is the most seductive fragrance? The seductive power of a fragrance has a lot to do with how it is worn. When worn close to the skin, fragrance has the ability to draw people in. When worn in excess, it has the power to repel! No one likes to be suffocated by someone else’s perfume. In general, the ‘oriental’ fragrance family is regarded as sexier than its counterparts. This family consists of spices and resins, warm, rich notes like vanilla and amber, often blended with floral notes. L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Dzongkha, Guerlain’s Shalimar, Le Labo’s Labdanum 18 and Fragonard’s Reve Indien top my list.
What fragrance exudes whimsy? L’Artisan Parfumeur does a great job creating whimsical fragrances. Dzing! and Mure et Musc are two of their most spirited and spritely. Serge Lutens’, Miel de Bois, and People of the Labyrinth’s, Luctor et Emergo, are two unique, cult fragrances. CB I Hate Perfume is great for unexpected scents, like Wet Pavement, Doll Head, You Know This (Play Doh) and even Gasoline… some being more wearable than others.
What fragrance exudes confidence? I would say a brighter, lighter fragrance with citrusy top notes is most confident due to its energizing properties. Krigler’s America One and Hermes’ Terre d’Hermes are great examples of confident, masculine fragrances. Of course, wearing an unusual aoud-based or animalic fragrance could also be viewed as bold. The important thing is to wear your scent with confidence.
The scent that relates to my current state of mind: This is a fragrance that is definitely not finished yet!
And finally, if you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring one fragrance, what would this be and why? I’d bring the smell of autumn- that combination of wet leaves, dry wood and fireplace smoke that blooms around October. On a desert island I think I’d really miss the changing seasons we get up north.
-Elizabeth Rechter
30 Portraits in 30 Days
Last Thursday, a beautiful lady invited Y&P the opening reception of Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo’s “30 Portraits in 30 Days.”
During the month of September, Fantauzzo painted a portrait each day, carefully choosing subjects who have contributed to the artistic and cultural fabric of New York City. Fantauzzo photographed his subjects first and then worked from his photographs to paint them– the result is a portfolio of photo-realist paintings that could be compared to the early works of artist Chuck Close (in technique, not so much scale).
The National Arts Club hosted the reception in its intimate nineteenth-century clubhouse on Gramercy Park. The dimly-lit wood-paneled walls of the foyer and parlors were crowded with antique paintings and drawings, and many of the rooms were capped with elaborate stained glass ceilings designed by John LaFarge. A DJ spun hip-hop and electronic remixes in the ballroom that had once hosted JP Morgan and Henry Frick– that night it was packed with young and beautiful people, including Chanel Iman, Jessica Hart, and Mark Ronson, whose portraits were included in the exhibit.
The walls sparkled with the flashes of photographers who had come to capture the celebrities alongside their portraits. Our favorite sighting of the night was legendary rock-n-roll photographer, Mick Rock, who ended the conversation with, “please excuse me, I’m going outside to smoke a marijuana joint.”
-Elizabeth Rechter & Taylor Colantonio