Peaches on Her New Album, Working With Yoko Ono, and What Normalcy Looks Like for Her

Who loves iconoclastic musician and inimitable performance artist, Peaches? Basically everyone. Especially if everyone includes Yoko Ono, R.E.M front man, Michael Stipe, and actress, Ellen Page -- all of who wrote an essay for her heady photography book, What Else is in the Teaches of Peaches, released in June. 

The monograph is a lovely springboard for the release of Rub, her fifth album, following up from 2009's Cream, out tomorrow and featuring collaborations with Kim Gordon and old roommate and longtime bud, Feist. The record, a beat-thumping album full of Peaches' signature self-aware lyrics, has already been teased out with music videos for songs "Light in Places" and "Close up" (which saw Peaches and Kim Gordon playing wrestler and coach, respectively, in a raunchy Lucha Libre-themed clip) and will continue to release conceptual videos for each track. 

We recently spoke with Peaches from her home in Berlin to talk about her approach for What Else is in the Teaches of Peaches and Rub and what normalcy looks like for an artist like her. 

What Else is in the Teaches of Peaches, your new photography book, captures many "off-duty" moments in the life of Peaches, such as bathing with two women, laying on the couch in a cast, and walking alongside your sister.  What was the impetus to share such intimate, everyday scenes in this book?

It's funny, because Holger [Talkinski,Peaches' tour photographer] approached me a few years ago to take photographs, and he was just a really nice, nonchalant guy. He took really good pictures and never got in the way, and after four years he said, "Maybe we should make a book out of this." At first he made a dummy book -- and of course me being a complete micro-managing control freak, I told him I understood what he was getting at, but I really needed to be involved with the editing process and help craft. So we began to collaborate and understand each other's aesthetics. It took about two years to edit all those pictures! And for me to see myself -- as you say -- during the more banal moments, and not be afraid to just hang out, and "so what ift I don't have make up on?" -- I think that's important, because I always try to be a grounded person off stage and a superhero on stage. It's a constant struggle of me being able to survive, you know?

Completely. Trying to stay humble during the day, but aiming to be larger than life while performing.  

Exactly -- so for this book I like that you can see I'm a human and have a duality. A lot of "rock" books have photos onstage and backstage. Well, backstage for me is the same sort of feeling as being onstage, because you're still in that heightened moment; you think you're the queen of the world -- I mean it's your backstage. But maybe on another day I'm just on a ferry ride to another country just like everybody else. And you have to embrace that.

You said that "things sort of just happen to you" and you tend to stumble into things. Are you a believer that what you put out to the universe you receive?

Yes -- that and I try to not "get in" somewhere else or be opportunist in any way. I just want to do my thing and be a part of a community of like-minded people where I can share my ideas. It's very important for me to share ideas and know that I'm part of that world, too, because I don't ever want to feel isolated.

Right. And as an artist you've truly blazed your own path in the face of a built-to-please music industry. How were you able to stay true to your own ideas and craft your image as you please?

The first song off my first album is called "Fuck The Pain Away." If people weren't down with that, they wouldn't get much out of me. I just established early on that I'm the producer, I'm the writer, I'm on my own terms, and I say what I want to say -- are you with me or not? If you're not with me, forget it. So, I went on an independent label. And in the beginning they were sort of just taking a chance because they heard I was "cool," but then things began to shift and it doesn't feel like I should even have a label anymore. Now I can find a way to do it on my own, which is always how I wanted it to be. It's an exciting time for me because I can express myself in videos and not feel like I have to worry about being on a big channel. I can share my music with people online and really make what I want. I'm using my own money towards my videos, and now instead of someone at a label saying "Um, I don't think we can show this on MTV," it's like, no, people want to see this and they can. 

For your new album, Rub, and with your other records, do your visions for concept videos come before you write or after? 

It's always the music first and then everything comes after that. It's usually during writing that some new conceptual project or a video comes to be. I don't write everyday. Writers always say, "write everyday," and that's fine, but for what I'm doing I prefer not to write everyday so that I'm excited about what I'm doing again. When I start an album I start from scratch. And it's painful and it's exciting. It's all of those things. I don't want to have a pre-conceived notion of what I wrote four years ago or last year, I want to be in the moment. My attitude for this album was post-ageist and post-gender celebration. There's a song called "Mean Something," that says no matter how old, how young, how fit, I mean something. It's about checking privilege, assessing where you're at, and reminding yourself that you matter. 

What would you say about being in your 40s surprises you most?

That it doesn't really matter. All that I have is more experience and more confidence, and I'm just excited to continue with whatever happens. I don't feel restricted and I don't feel "oh, I'm too old for this," I just feel excited about learning and about being me.

Lastly, what was it like developing a personal and professional relationship with Yoko Ono? 

First of all, I think why John Lennon loved her so much is because she's just such an incredible, influential artist. The more I found out about her the more I couldn't believe how basically all contemporary art is inspired by her, and even how music is influenced by her. She was never afraid to expand. Even at 80 years old, she's still open to experiment and say how she feels or create projects that are politically relevant. I also love how she has these seemingly simple ideas that are so complex once you execute them. When I collaborated with her for the Cut Piece that was the most powerful thing I've ever done on stage, and the first time I was ever totally still and at the mercy of my audience. They became the performers and I watched. There were so many things I would have never realized had I not done that.  

Permalink: PAPERMAG
 

How to Wake Up in the Morning When You Don't Feel Like It

In an ideal world, I would wake up each morning like one of those peppy, naturally enthused people ready to take on the day. Sort of how I’d imagine a white male CEO of a media company might be on any given day in Los Angeles. Or maybe Audrey Gelman of The Wing. The reality is, I identify more with Cinderella when she throws a pillow over her head in protest to the morning sun (unfortunately without the cute animated birds in bonnets pulling at my non-existent pigtails). Some days the culprit is pure malaise, and other days it’s not having something exciting enough to look forward to. But on most tired mornings, I just blame it on the melatonin hangover. (Or on weekends, as T-Pain says, the al-al-al-al-al-cohol.) 

Luckily, there is a way to make the morning more tolerable! So, let me play nutritionist for a minute:

Drink coffee with blended coconut oil in the a.m. 

I wouldn't say to do this EVERY morning, but when you're feeling extra tired/blah, it helps. You may have heard about this buzzy diet, The Ketogenic Diet, which was first introduced to the world in the 1920s as a dietary treatment for epilepsy. The idea is that you can lose weight and gain increased mental clarity and energy from eating a fat-dominant, moderate-protein, low carbohydrate diet in which your body runs on ketones for energy instead of glucose (SUGAR). In layman’s terms: your body is essentially switching to a new fuel source.

After complaining about brain fog to a doctor once, she suggested the Ketogenic diet and I tried it for about 2 weeks. It can take up to a month for your body to reach a true state of ketosis and reap the benefits and that’s why it’s so tough to stick to it. Before you reach goal ketosis, you’re simply hungry AF and craving carbs desperately. Peeps call it the keto flu. It’s also really difficult to maintain a social life when you’re on the keto diet. It involves a shit ton of meal prep—which can be really fun or really annoying—depending on what type of human you are.

SO, I decided to add more fats to my diet and try and eat as balanced as possible. Blending coconut oil (which has this type of fat called MCT) in your coffee is simply getting a burst of energy and mental clarity in the matter of minutes. Coconut oil’s fatty acids are also superb for maintaining your immune system and fighting against colds.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS:

1. Get a blender or a Nutribullet or whatever trendy mixing machine exists

2. Add a tsp. or two (depending how lit you want to be) to freshly brewed coffee (I dig the Capresso coffee maker ($79.00), although there are tons).

3. Blend.

AND VOILA. Tired girl, meet energy in the form of frothy goodness.

Make sure you buy unrefined coconut oil! This just means that it’s less processed and better for you in the long run. I’m partial to the Spectrum Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil ($10), but anything will do.

SHY GIRLS

Dan Vidmar a.k.a. Shy Girls made a name for himself in the Portland music scene during a period in his life when he was choosing between two completely divergent paths: music or medicine. Simultaneously working in the ER and recording under multiple pseudonyms, Vidmar dropped his soulful, electro-pop EP Timeshare in 2013, and the rest is history. Having collaborated with electro heavyweights such as Cyril Hahn, ODESZA and Jagwar Ma over the past three years, Shy Girls’ debut album, Salt, marks a new phase in the avant-soul singer’s musical orbit. As the musician’s first non-collaborative, completely self-produced LP, Salt stuns with its moody, stirring energy and existential lyrical motifs about living in a technologically-saturated age, all the while wrangling with the notion of turning 30.

Jillian Scheinfeld: When did you move to Los Angeles?

Dan Vidmar: I moved in February. I had been coming down here on and off for a month at a time for the last two years, so the move has been a long time coming. I still go back to Portland all the time, but my lease is here now.

JS: Seems you have the best of both worlds. What are the biggest differences for you between the creative communities in Portland and LA?

DV: To me, Portland is where Shy Girls took off and where I really began. There’s a real scene there—like any smaller city, there’s an identity and a scene of people where everyone really supports each other’s art. It feels tight-knit. But there’s minimal access to the international machine. So, there are pros and cons to that. I think it’s been a great place for me to do my thing because I like feeling a bit separated from the pop machine. But also it’s good for me to tap into that and be in Los Angeles more. There’s so much more opportunity here and I’ve met so many insanely talented producers, writers and artists in LA. And it’s the same in New York I’m sure. But there’s a give and take to both.

JS: You’ve collaborated with many artists in the past, but on your new album Saltyou chose to do it completely on your own, from the production to the songwriting and vocals. What’s that sense of accomplishment feel like?

DV: It’s been a long time coming. My EP Timeshare came out in 2013 and the 4WZmixtape dropped in 2015, so Salt is my debut album. I’m over three years into my career, so it’s a little weird but really exciting for me. The mixtape I did with a bunch of collaborators, which was awesome. I feel like after that, I really honed in on what I wanted to do. I tried collaborating with a bunch of different people when I start writing Salt, but the tracks didn’t make it on the album. But it did really help me develop my voice and figure out what I wanted to say. I stopped listening to all the outside voices and just did my thing in my home studio.

JS: Is working in solitude what comes most naturally to you?

DV: Yes, it’s kind of my personality type, which isn’t to say that I don’t like collaborating. I just have such a specific vision in mind when I want to accomplish something that sometimes it’s hard for me to compromise with other people. Instead of having a whole roomful of people’s opinions and diluting other people’s opinions down, I find I do better on my own. And I think you can hear that, for better or worse, in these songs.

“I FIND I DO BETTER ON MY OWN.
AND I THINK YOU CAN HEAR THAT, FOR
BETTER OR WORSE,
IN THESE SONGS.” 
— DAN VIDMAR 

JS: I’m a huge lyrics hound. That’s where my mind frequently goes when I hear a song. Listening to this album, it sounds like there’s a lot of heartbreak, longing and disillusionment, but also this strong focus on the passing of time. Were those things on your mind?

DV: Yes, absolutely. I’m in my late 20s now, so I feel like I’ve lived a couple different lives at this point. I had no idea I would be making music as my career in my early 20s. I almost went to medical school. There was a time I was working in psych hospitals in the ER and was on that path. I went to college for psychology and then I got a job in Portland at a psych ward and worked there for a few years, which was crazy! No pun intended. And then I started working in the psych ER and fell in love with medicine. I became close with a lot of doctors and started applying to medical schools. At the same time, I was writing the very first Shy Girls stuff. Eventually I got into a bunch of schools and started releasing Shy Girls stuff simultaneously. I had a really big decision to make. There was a month there when I was going back and forth with two completely different roads I could take.

JS: I’m sure that experience informs your perspective when writing now. You recently released the first single, “Trivial Motion.” Is that song about going full-speed with someone and then getting weird about it and emotionally shutting down?

DV: It’s a lot about that. There’s this weird thing that’s happening for me as I get older where I feel more precious about the relationships I get involved in. I think that’s a societal pressure, but the more precious I feel about things the more magnetically I’m either drawn or repelled by that person.

JS: Are you always writing about your own personal experiences or do you also feed from other people’s stories and your imagination?

DV: A lot of it is personal, especially on this album. I think I’m an empath. I like to experience my emotions from the perspective of someone else. So some of my music is written from the perspective of someone else or looking at myself and talking to myself like a therapist. But the majority of it is from my own experience. A lot of what I’ve been thinking about has to do with time and growing up and feeling like my generation is approaching this next phase—the 30s—and that’s scary.

JS: It is. Let’s talk about the album art. There are these beautiful, vibrant flowers ensconced in this massive chipped ice cube. Where did that visual come from?

DV: When I finished the album, I sat down and listened to it front to back and asked myself cohesively, “What does this mean to me?” What came to my head immediately were thoughts of time and decay. The first thing I envisioned was a huge ice cube melting in the desert. I spoke to my creative director about it, and I was sort of joking; I thought he would immediately shut me down and say that idea would be way over budget. But he was open and said we should just do some version of that. As the idea progressed, I wanted it to be a little bit more complex than that, so we thought of freezing something inside of the ice cubes that was more representative of what happens over time. As we were working on it, the ice cube broke and became this perfect circumstance. It needed to be broken. Then it started to make more sense.

JS: Are you comfortable in the limelight?

DV: I’m not someone who is super comfortable in the limelight. I was talking to my team the other day about social media stuff, and they told me I have to post more. It’s totally not my thing at all. I keep myself out of the limelight in that sense. I don’t like to be doing a ton of press photos or posting a lot on social, but I do feel comfortable on stage. That’s my home. I love performing and going on tour.

JS: What is behind the name Shy Girls?

DV: When it first started, it was a hobby. I had done a couple different solo projects under different pseudonyms and would send them to friends, but everyone knew they were coming from me because it was from my email. Shy Girls was the one that people reacted to most.

Permalink: ISSUE MAG

Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino on Astrology, Jealousy and Insomnia

Vocalist Bethany Cosentino, known for her fuzzy ’90s tenor, is one-half of the California indie outfit Best Coast. Cosentino and her musical match, Bobb Bruno, first met when she was 18 years old before quietly developing into the Rock ‘N’ Roll goddess she’s proudly become today.

Best Coast’s third studio album California Nights dropped this past May, supplying listeners with plenty of surf rock sparkle. According to Cosentino, the LP is easily the most “her” of the band’s complete discography—a happy marriage of shoe gaze and Sheryl Crow.

We recently caught up with Cosentino before Best Coast headlined a set alongside Built to Spill, Alvvays, and Bully at Northside Festival’s 50 Kent; she spoke of her existential woes, learning to be her biggest fan and having a soft spot for astrology.

Best Coast has been in the spotlight for about five years now. What’s it been like to evolve as a female in the spotlight?

“In the beginning of my career it was very stressful because I was 23. I was at that peak age of awkward and trying to figure out who I was. When people started criticizing my looks and style, I took it really personally. Over the last couple of years I tried to stop paying attention to it all and actually just deal with it. I realized people were going to criticize me regardless of what I do, even if I wasn’t a musician. Also, within the last two years I started taking better care of myself [and] eating healthier; I don’t drink as much anymore; I exercise constantly. When people criticize you it also makes you reevaluate ‘what’s my deal and what do I stand for?’ I spent the last two years figuring that out and I feel like I’m finally in a place now where I feel pretty good.”

I read that you’re into astrology—what’s your sign and what’s your connection with the cosmos?

“I’m a Scorpio. My mom is a Scorpio, my ex-boyfriend is Scorpio and so is one of my best friends. Anytime I meet anybody—not even just a guy, but anyone—I ask them what their sign is. Then when they tell me, if it’s a sign I know I’m not necessarily compatible with, or if I’ve had a bad experience with, then I’ll back off. If there is ever a person who tells me they don’t know their sign or blow off my question, I think to myself, ‘never mind this relationship isn’t going anywhere.’ I’m obsessed with astrology and totally believe in it. I also totally don’t understand how people couldn’t believe in it.”

 A lot of your albums talk about relationships and all that comes with it: fixations, jealousy and infidelity. What’s your current take on relationships?

“Right now I’m definitely more about working on myself. I don’t disbelieve in love or relationships. I think that being in an amazing relationship can be the best thing ever, but I’m more realistic now. Relationships are never perfect—even if you meet your soul mate—you’re still going to have ups and downs. And it’s not just romantic relationships, also relationships with your parents and friends. It’s always up and down. I have an insane year of touring ahead of me, so I don’t even have time for a relationship. But I’m also a firm believer that what’s meant to happen will happen.”

You said in regards to the creation of your new album California Nights, “It’s about dealing with life as an adult, and at the end of the day, reminding yourself that there really is no reason to be sad and you have every right to feel okay.” Do you feel sometimes you have to give yourself permission to be happy?

“You just reach this point where you ask yourself, ‘Am I just causing all this weird anxiety and drama on my own?’ Obviously there are outside factors, but I think you also get to a point where everything that’s bothering you doesn’t really need to be bothering you. Like, I’m actually okay. And it’s okay to be okay. There are some days I wake up and feel amazing, and then two hours later I’m like, ‘Ugh, I can’t take it,’ but I try and just embrace the ‘I feel great’ moments and make them last as long as they can. I also know that we all have highs and lows and that’s just life in general. People who don’t get that or can’t relate to that sentiment must be lying to themselves. Now, at 28 years old, I’m trying to be less of my own worst enemy and more of my own support system.”

What’s your relationship with Bobb Bruno like?

“Bobb and I really understand and respect each other so much. We have a ton in common; we love the same TV shows and the same movies, a lot of the same food. He’s known me since I was 18, so he’s been around for all of my awkward haircuts and stuff, but he’s also really just someone that I trust. He’s a lot older than me, but he just gets it. When I write songs, he’ll listen to the lyrics and he’ll be like, ‘Man, I also understand this.’ I feel truly blessed to be working with someone like him—it’s just easy. I’ve been in bands before and worked with people that are just nightmares, so I know from experience. I don’t think Bobb or I have big egos; we check it at the door. We never go into a studio or a show setting with a hot head. We’re both sort of like, ‘Are we even really good at what we’re doing?’

 I also read you have insomnia? What do you do to sleep?

“I used to take Ambien for years and then I realized it was probably not the best thing for me. So, I stopped taking Ambien and I take melatonin now, which I know also isn’t the best for you, but it works for me and at least it’s not a pharmaceutical. I smoke weed sometimes to help me sleep because it really does help. One hit and goodnight. Sometimes when I’m trying to sleep is when I get most inspired to write my songs. Most of my music comes from all the shit I think about when I can’t sleep. It’s still really hard for me, but I’ve learned more methods to help. I have an aromatherapy diffuser at my house, but I also bought one to bring on tour that is a USB and plugs in to my computer. I’ll diffuse some lavender and peppermint and spray my bunk with rose water. I just feel like if I can make things as serene as possible, why not?”

Permalink: BULLETT

Spotlight On: Alana Haim

The band Haim may have stepped onto the music scene in 2012, but its members have been playing together for literally their entire lives. The Los Angeles-based group is composed of the three rock star Haim (rhymes with ‘time’) sisters: Este, 27, Danielle, 24, and Alana, 22. Born into a musical family, their father placed drumsticks in the girls’ hands when they were toddlers, and they’ve been playing non-stop ever since.

The sisters have been recording together for the past five years, and released their EP, Forever, in February. Their sanguine yet dreamy sound is a blend of classic rock, 80’s R&B, and pop, with a bit of folk melody in there as well. They’ve toured with Mumford and Sons and recorded a track with ASAP Rocky, and are heading out on tour with Vampire Weekend later this month.

With an album dropping early this summer, the band is well on its way to mainstream success, staying characteristically humble in the process. I spoke with Alana, the youngest of the three Haim sisters, who said she’s ‘pinching herself’ with disbelief.

I’ve heard your parents are very musical. Tell me a bit about your childhood and how music became such a big part of life for you and your sisters.

My parents were in a band with another couple when we were babies. They would play at Club Med, so Club Med would pay for our family vacations. We didn’t have a lot of money, so we couldn’t really go to these exotic places, but our parents would play in Mexico and around the U.S. When we got a little older the gig fizzled out, but one night my dad woke up from this dream—like Moses, or Jacob who woke up from the dream?—It was Jacob. In the dream he played music with us, and soon after that we just started playing with our parents.

Our first song we learned was “Mustang Sally” and then it just brewed from there. Our first gig was at Canter’s Deli in L.A., and I think I was about five or six. Every weekend we would practice; we’d play country fairs and charity gigs. My parents never let us play for money, but believe me if we got money from the amount of gigs we played, I’d be rolling in dough right now. I wouldn’t have to be in Haim, I’d be chilling in Barbados.

So one day you all just decided to start a band?

A couple years ago we kind of just broke off and started our own band. We had begun by playing covers together, and then when we formed Haim we started writing songs. We always basically knew we wanted to start a band together, we just never really said it out loud. It was an unspoken thing that one day we’d just try playing music together. Finally we were like, ‘We probably should do it, we’re getting kind of old.’ So we wrote a song in a day, probably the worst song ever, but it was a song. Then from there we just kept growing and playing shows out in L.A., and now I’m here! It’s almost been seven years since Haim started, so it’s pretty crazy!

There have been comparisons made between you guys and artists like Fleetwood Mac and John Waite. Do you find it annoying when people try and categorize your music or do you find it flattering?

I always find it flattering. How can I ever say, ‘Ugh, oh my god, we sound like Fleetwood Mac.’ I’ve wished on every star that I end up as successful as Fleetwood Mac. I grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac; I’m obsessed with them. I never get mad about those things, I just think its hilarious because when I listen to my music I hear harmonies, so maybe that’s the Fleetwood Mac vibes.

I think we’re such different songwriters, but I feel like people need to categorize bands. Every band has been ‘the next this’ or ‘the next that’, so we’re just kind of following the path of being a band. I welcome any comparison. I think they’re always hilarious and amazing, so I’m down.

I saw your tweet the other day asking for album name suggestions. Did you get any good ones?

Oh my god! That was the best and worst idea I ever had. I think my favorite was ‘Haim a little teapot.’ A lot of people have play on words of Haim, like ‘Scene of the Haim’ or ‘Haim Time.’ I think it was funny because a lot of people still don’t know how to pronounce our name. We can literally see the difference in rhymes from people who knew our name and didn’t know our name.

Doesn’t Haim mean ‘to life’ in Hebrew? Maybe you could do a play on words with ‘to life,’ or something like that.

It’s all welcome. There are some really good ones we have that involve the word life. I’ve always had a really strong connection to my last name. I think it’s very powerful.

Have you been to Israel?

Of course! We have to go to Israel for the occasional family wedding. There are some crazy Israeli weddings! I love Israel; I think it’s such a beautiful place. A lot of people think ‘Oh you go to Israel because you’re Jewish.’ I encourage my friends who aren’t Jewish to go to Israel because it’s such a beautiful place, and it’s such an important place. There’s so much history there, and it doesn’t matter what religion you are. I’ve always felt like a deep connection to the country. Especially living in LA, we don’t really have any history. Our history starts with Hollywood.

Which of your sisters writes most of the songs, or is it mostly collaborative?

Our song writing is very collaborative. Usually one of us will come in with one element, whether it’s a guitar line or a melody. We just all come together and whatever inspires us takes its own journey. We don’t have a set formula yet, so whatever works that day, we kind of just go with it.

It must be fun to collectively share your musical experiences with your sisters, like if one boy breaks your heart, I feel like you may all hate on him equally. Do you think this shared feeling of heartbreak or love heightens Haim’s emotional performance?

Oh yeah, definitely. And there have definitely been some moments that I regret singing songs about my exes. I’ve written songs and sang them to them after we break up, which I mean, is horrible. I had way more angst as a 16-year-old than I do today. I’m more poetic with it now, but it was very different back in the day. It’s definitely gotten better. We all tend to break up or we get broken up with at the same. Once it happens to one of us, it usually happens to the other. It’s been the perfect time to write a record.

Having two of my own, I know sisters are usually pretty similar but also really different. What’s your dynamic like? It seems like Danielle’s a little reserved, and you’re more outgoing. Can you tell me about your personalities?

We are three puzzle pieces, really the counterparts to each other. Este is the first child and is the rambunctious, always wants attention-type of person. Not in a bad way, she’s just always been super outgoing and has always loved talking to people—she’s been that way since birth. Having a sister like Este and coming into the world you have to be quiet, so Danielle was always the sweet, internalized child. The way she is the onstage is the way she is in real life.

I’m a weird mixture of both of them. I’ve taken the good things from both. Its easier being the baby because you see your sisters going through the craziest times in their life and you make a mental note like ‘OK, when I’m 16 I won’t make that mistake.’ I’ve seen my sisters make mistakes and I’ve been able to not do that. It’s easier for the baby!

Agreed. What’s your favorite spot you guys have played and what’s your dream venue?

AH: We were on tour with Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) when I was 17, and we played this venue in St. Louis called The Pageant. I don’t know what it was about it but it was such a cool place to play. It was the biggest place we had played at that point, so we were completely starry-eyed. In the artists lounge area, there are pictures of the owner with every band he thought was worth taking a picture with, and that night he asked us to be on the wall. It was our ‘made it’ moment.

We’re about to go on tour with Vampire Weekend for a week and a half—I’m literally pinching myself. I’m so confused about my life! It’s crazy. We’re playing at Red Rocks in Colorado soon, and it looks like the most amazing place. I’ve always wanted to play there and I was so excited to see it on the tour schedule.

It sounds like your life is pretty awesome.

I pinch myself everyday. We have been working so hard for the past seven years to get out of L.A., and it really has been the most amazing ride. My fear before was that nothing was going to happen, and my fear now is that it’s all going to stop.

Permalink: Jewcy

Spotlight On: Rachel Antonoff

I sat down for a latte with Rachel Antonoff at Café Grumpy in Chelsea on a Wednesday afternoon. Antonoff has been busy preparing for her Spring 2014 fashion line and video, traveling back and forth to Los Angeles, and generally being a busy, young fashion designer.

Antonoff grew up in central New Jersey, and attended the Professional Children’s School in New York City. After realizing at a young age that theater wasn’t her calling, she went on to pursue writing, and soon after that she began to dabble in fashion. She sent some photos of her and a friend’s designs, wide-eyed and naive, to Teen Vogue, and the rest is history.

She greeted me with a hug. We had both just attended weddings with no plus-one invite, so the conversation began from there. We went on to discuss siblings (her brother is Jack Antonoff of Fun, who happens to date Girls’ Lena Dunham), neighborhoods, and her likes and dislikes.

Her Spring 2014 lookbook will premiere on Style.com’s Video Fashion Week, next week, and her video for the line will be available on her website.

Were you always into fashion? What led you to become a designer?

Not at all. I actually always and still do have a list of things I want to do and be. And weirdly enough this was not even on that list. I fell into it really late, sort of, in terms of when people find their careers. I really wanted to be a writer, actually. I was freelance writing around the city, and of course, I always loved clothes. Now I know that I was always designing, I just didn’t realize that’s what I was doing.

I design best when I’m jogging, usually, when I just daydream. And what I’m wearing in the daydreams is what I try to extract and make. And now I know that that’s my process.

What’s your favorite article of clothing?

I am drawn to dresses because they’re easy, and I’m actually not a great stylist, which is interesting. I really don’t have a solid idea of what to put with what. I don’t ever feel like one of those people who looks put together, so a dress is an easy way to accomplish that. But really, especially now that I work in this field, I mostly want to be really comfortable all the time. I don’t do well with middle ground. I either go all the way with something or not at all. So I’d rather not try at all and wear sweats, which is why our sweatshirts came out and it’s working out well.

They are super cute. What’s the vision behind your Spring 2014 collection?

Thank you. Spring 2014 is themed “crush” and we are editing the video right now which will premiere on Style.com’s video fashion week, next week. I’m really excited about it, and my video as well. It’s all sort of inspired by the feeling of having a crush and how you think about what you want to wear for your crush.

There’s a song “He’s a Rebel,” by The Crystals. Maybe it’d be a good fit for your video.

Sounds amazing. I’m going to write it down. We’re actually scoring this right now so maybe it will work out.

Your collections are inspired by a variety of eras, most notably the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. If you could go back in time, which era would you live in and why?

Style-wise or life-wise?

Both.

Well life-wise, to be honest, as a woman, I think you’d have to be insane to live in any other era than this one. Or if I could choose the future, then hopefully that. I certainly wouldn’t want to go back in time when it comes to general civil rights and stuff like that.

But style-wise, I may have to continue with this time, only because it seems like in so many past eras, while the style for women was really fun to look at, it may not have been as fun to wear. I feel like it’s a common answer to say women just looked better, and you were expected to dress up. That’s exactly why I wouldn’t want to live there. I’d like to look at pictures of it, but I don’t think I’d want that responsibility everyday of having to.

You and Jack are a power sibling team. Is he your number one go-to for advice?

Always, yes. We’ve always talked about everything and advised each other on everything for as long as I can remember. So there’s extremely few things I can imagine in like that I would not seek out his advice on. If there is advice to be sought, his would be the first. He’s great.

What made you switch from runway shows to video?

The shows were getting really expensive and over the top, and again with not wanting to have to half weigh things, I would rather not do one, then to compromise. I guess that’s not my best attribute, but I know that what we were spending was a fraction of what most people spend on presentations, and it was still through the roof. We had to realistically look and ask, are we increasing sales by having these? What really is the value? How else could we accomplish this? And Lena [Dunham] had the great idea for the video, and I loved the idea. And so at first I thought maybe I should do that and a show, but we should definitely do that. But then the more I thought about it, I figured we should take our funds and use them in one place and really make it great. I felt really disappointed at first, sort of like it was admission to failure. But then as we filmed the video and then when I saw it I realized it was actually, a video is a presentation that lasts forever.

I love that you use your mom, grandmother, and friends in your videos and presentation as models, displaying all shapes and sizes. It brings a realism to fashion that most people designers don’t. I wonder if you did runway still, if that would be different.

Thank you. Right, I don’t know, I mean I have a lot of issues with that. I feel like fashion is the same as any other creative art and for some reason its one of the only of the creative arts that’s viewed in this totally eye roll inducing fluffy, stupid way. I think a lot of it is unwarranted, but then there’s so much that goes on within fashion—for the most part we’re not doing ourselves any favors, to dispel this “Zoolander-ish” persona. And obviously it’s an age-old thing with the weight and size issue, but it is such a problem; it’s so gross, and I just don’t want to play any part in it.

Describe Rachel Antonoff’s “girl”?

I think she has been every girl, which kind of ties in to what we just talked about. I really like the idea that there are things my mom could wear, my grandmother could wear, and more specifically, I think the Rachel Antonoff girl definitely doesn’t take fashion too seriously. It’s not an elitist thing, its just fun, and about feeling good about yourself, as well as dressing for yourself.

What music are you into?

So much! I’ve always loved Broadway musicals and still listen to a lot of that. You know who I just discovered? Sky Ferreira. Have you heard any of her music?

Ummm…heard of her, but not really.

I know! I hadn’t either, because, exactly. That was my thought on the way to this wedding last weekend. It wouldn’t have even occurred to me to listen to her songs, and then for some reason it did. I listened to two of her songs, an old single and a new, and I don’t understand why she’s not hailed as a genius artist of our time!

What’s your favorite Broadway show?

Pippin. What’s yours?

Gypsy.

That’s probably my second favorite.

Favorite designers?

Miu Miu, Mary Benson, Melissa Coker for Wren, Band of Outsiders and Chanel.

Are you spiritual, and what’s your relationship with Judaism?

I am spiritual, I have to say, though, I’m not very religiously inclined, specifically. I guess I have to affiliate myself somewhere between agnostic and a humanist. I think whats here on the planet is magical enough and amazing. I don’t know what I believe regarding other things, but I feel so open to it. I do love the culture of Judaism. We observed holidays and went to Solomon Schechter. My mom grew up “Conservadox” and my dad grew up Reform, and we were somewhere in between.

Permalink: Jewcy

Men Should Practice Transcendental Meditation and More Things I Learned At The Festival of Disruption

David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption began with the director featured on screen drawing a line graph in Magnum Sharpie against a piece of science-fair-style poster board. As he described "oneness" with each lingering, squeaky drag of the marker, Lynch cultivated an experience I deem even more relaxing than the process of Transcendental Meditation itself. “This here represents the surface of life,” he instructed, illustrating a flat horizontal line which specified a section for mind and matter. Sitting atop a desk in what appeared to be a college classroom, Lynch delved further into scientific evidence that supports the technique, reminding his audience that TM is not a hokey hippie byproduct of the ‘60s, but a thing that can be described in the language of molecules, atoms, and unified fields. Sonics of his celestial synth-infused background music— which was of course too integral to the experience to be considered background music—led us throughout, only to be eclipsed by two in depth conversations with comedians Pete Holmes and Bill Hader.

As Lynch described, Transcendental Meditation is “to go beyond the field of relativity to experience pure, unbounded consciousness.” In 1973, the “Twin Peaks” auteur began practicing TM and hasn’t missed a day of sitting twice a day since. 32 years later, he founded the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace to bring relief to children and adults everywhere who suffer from the hellscapes of post-traumatic stress disorder and domestic violence. Following in the footsteps of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the guru credited for founding the mantra-based meditation technique that popularized after the Beatles joined the bandwagon in the late ‘60s), Lynch is after one thing and one thing only: world peace from the quantum level.

I showed up to the meditation session at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Theatre at Ace Hotel under the impression that we were actually going to meditate. Considering the session was titled “Meditation: Bob Roth with Pete Holmes,” I hoped to be summoned into a group odyssey towards inner peace, picturing myself moseying out of the auditorium feeling ten pounds emotionally lighter. I can describe this #goal mood as pleasantly alert; a bit like when your body buoys to the top after swimming under water. I even wore flower-printed bell bottom leggings. A) because I wanted to be comfortable, since I thought we were going to meditate and B) because I love to dress in harmony with my environment. While we did jointly participate in a 2-minute breathing exercise towards the end of the hour, the majority of the meditation symposiums were elaborate elevator pitches espousing the benefits of TM while learning about Pete Holmes and Bill Hader’s experiences meditating, creating, and generally becoming less anxious and more focused individuals. For those seeking a free TM informational session sans upwards of $250 ticket prices, please do contact your local center. I was really lucky to have acquired a press pass.

To witness the sanguine comedic anomaly Pete Holmes, creator of HBO’s “Crashing,” describe feeling like he’s “wrapped in marshmallow” every time he meditates—in addition to being reminded that famous, funny people suffer too, was still pretty cool. Pete got into TM five years ago because he desired to get in touch with “something.” As he described, that “something” is where the joy is. Pete grew up a fundamentalist Christian with a bout of childhood anxiety that once left him with a bald spot (SAME!), and he still wrestles with his own fraught relationship with religion. The comedian’s fascination with connecting to a higher power seems to have been *sort of* replaced with the relaxing vibrations of TM. “Meditation is turning the volume down on your thoughts, and you experience God by lowering your brain,” he remarked, before code-switching into philosophical stoner parlance about how amazing it is that we humans can see, hear, memorize, and breathe. I’m not being sarcastic when I say, I agree, although I think it can be easy to dismiss how miraculous basic mortal functions are when the world seems to be raging in disaster everywhere we look. And let’s not forget the mindless distractions we numb ourselves with every day: I.E. the damn Internets and other people’s lives.

Bill Hader, who has the demeanor of a reptile-human-hybrid (because he’s really nice and warm but I bet when nightfall hits he turns into a lizard), began meditating again on the morning of November 9, 2016. Trump’s victory (and probably other things) was the deciding factor. He first began practicing TM following four years of “can’t breathe, can’t speak” panic attacks that haunted him each Saturday evening as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Throughout the whole festival, even before angel empress Laura Marling took to the stage, there were testimonial videos on how TM has helped tons of kids in inner-city high schools find moments of peace in their lives. This year, the University of Chicago Crime Lab began studying the effectiveness of “Quiet Time,” a benevolent Lynch Foundation-funded program. It tugged at the heartstrings and made you want to start meditating and donating to the cause as soon as possible; but when you’re privy to endless testimonial videos and speakers on one subject, anything can start to feel cultish—even if the people behind it have incredible intentions. Disclaimer: I’ve taken a TM course and it is in no way a cult. Still, I got the chance to ask Bill if he had any fears before committing to the method and he said, “The thing that helped me out of that was listening to Howard Stern talk about it. And there’s so many comedians who do it. For me personally, just because you can perform doesn’t mean you have the capacity to get up in a front of a room full of people like I am today. If I didn’t meditate, I couldn’t do this.” I mean…if Howard does it…and if it cured Bill Hader’s panic attacks…there’s definitely something to it.

Even though I left the room feeling just about the same as when I entered, I thought to myself, if we can use TM as an instrument for emotional transformation, we can definitely use it to evoke social and political revolutions, too. It all starts with one reactive person with power simply calming down. Take a look at Donald Trump. If someone (Ivanka?) could get that man to meditate twice a day for 20 minutes, I bet we’d see far fewer reflexive Tweets and maybe he would even recall some more nuanced vocabulary from a book or two I suppose he read at Wharton. And that bloated monster Harvey Weinstein could learn a great deal about sitting with himself, facing his personal demons and learning some fucking impulse control. Maybe that's what he's doing holed up in Arizona. ONE CAN ONLY HOPE. Alas, an evidence-based prescription for immoral, power hungry men everywhere: just sit with your fucking mantra for 20 minutes, twice a day. I surmise the world might be a far better place if you did. And I assure you, you can still curse if you meditate. The two are not mutually exclusive.

P.S. Although the title is exclusionary, I'm not gender-biased when it comes to meditation. Of course women will benefit! We all could use the escape.