INTERVIEW: AND SCARLET LEONINE

Dan Allen of And Scarlet Leonine is probably one of the coolest people I know.  He's a talented musician and an all around nice guy, too.  He's got the true spirit of DIY rock and never fails to deliver music that is at once delicate and bruising.  After reading the interview and listening to the tracks, make your way over to And Scarlet Leonine's Bandcamp site and support a true artist!

You’ve played in a few bands in your time.  How have your tastes and interests evolved since your early days as a musician and how has this affected the type of music you write and play?

I started out playing punk music as a teenager but even then I was into a lot of different types of  music.  I've always been pretty open to different styles.  I think over time I've just become more open to stuff.  A good song is a good song; it can come in any form.

Who are some of your main musical influences and what about their music do you find inspiring?

It’s hard to name anything that is a direct influence because I listen to stuff all over the map.  There are definitely certain aesthetics and ideas that influence elements of what I'm doing, but apart from that I'm not sure.  Little bits and pieces seep in from all over the place.  I sort of think of it like this: If you only listen to 2 or 3 bands then you're going to make music that sounds like those 2 or 3 bands, but if you listen to thousands of bands then you (hopefully) won't really sound like anything in particular. 

One of your more recent projects has been an E.P. of incredible Ace of Base covers. Where did this idea come from?  And why Ace of Base?

I did “The Sign” when I was working on the last record (The Night) – it’s a good pop song and it was sort of a joke, just sort of fun to do a version of it .  After that I thought “Don't Turn Around” would work well, too, and for that one I definitely put a lot more thought and time into it.  Ace of Base is an interesting band.  It’s total pop music but there is something a little dark there under the surface.

And Scarlet Leonine - Don't Turn Around (Ace of Base cover)

How have computers and the internet affected your approach to writing, recording, and releasing music?

It hasn't really affected the writing and recording side of things.  I've always been into the DIY mindset of recording, so before I had a computer setup to do multitrack recording, I was doing stuff on 4-track.  Now it’s just a lot easier.  I guess for releasing stuff the internet helps to get the stuff out there to people who may never have had a chance to hear it.

How do you see the album, as an art form, changing as a result of MP3s, filesharing, and the iPod?  Is it more positive or negative to you?

It’s hard to say if it’s positive or negative, it’s just different.  You can't fight technology so you have to sort of work with what happening at the moment.  In some ways it seems like album culture is dead or dying and things have moved back to the world of  “singles” rather than full records, but there are still a lot of people who appreciate a whole record.  Who knows; it still sort of feels like things are in a state of limbo in between the way the music world of the past was and where it’s all going to end up.

When you write a song, what comes first – music or lyrics?

It’s sort of weird.  I've never sat down and planned to write a song - that doesn't really work for me.  They really just happen when the moment is right.  I think every song I've ever come up with started with a guitar and some type of vocal melody.  The words seem to form after a bit of time as the idea comes more into focus.  I've never had a bunch of lyrics that I try to write a song around or the music of a song that I try and come up with vocals for. 

Describe your process from initial writing to finished recording.  How do your songs change throughout that process?

So after I have a song that is just a guitar and vocals, I'll usually have some ideas as to what else I'm going to add. A lot does happen in the recording process, experimenting with different sounds and ideas until it gets to a point that I think makes sense.

What instruments and equipment do you use to record and produce your work?

Mostly just the traditional stuff. 2 electric guitars (a hollowbody and a solidbody), 2 acoustic (a 12-string and a 6-string), 1 bass, 15 vintage keyboards, a few effects pedals.  I just picked up an old Traynor reverb unit, which I'm pretty happy about.

Sister Psych with And Scarlet Leonine - Attitude (Misfits cover)

Do you see any connection between music and other art forms?  In what ways do other, non-musical art or artists influence your work?

Absolutely, the whole “And Scarlet Leonine” project is very much influenced by silent era films. 

One thing I really enjoy about your music is that you use the languages of different genres and combine them to create something fresh and engaging.  There’s a familiarity to the music, but it doesn’t sound stale in any way; your music sounds very current and contemporary while also paying homage to the past.  Has the development of your aesthetic been a planned, “I want it to sound like this” sort of thing, or has it been a more organic process?

Thanks. It definitely wasn't planned.  I think it sort of goes back to what I said about listening to a lot of different stuff.  If you're drawing from a large pool of influences it sort of comes out that way.  The aesthetics of “The Night” were planned, in a way.  I wanted that record to sound as if it could have been recorded in the late 70's or early 80's, so apart from the computer at the end of the line, every single element used to create that record was pre 1985 technology.  I also wanted it to be raw, so it’s really noisy - most of the stuff was only one or two takes.  I really didn't want to over-think it, [so I] left all the mistakes in there.   The mistakes usually end up being my favourite parts because they are very natural and unplanned and generally not something I would ever think to do, but after listening back a few times, they seem to just work.

Tell me a bit about the Capohedz.  The Capos really got shit going in a town that is, at best, reluctant to accept new ideas or creative efforts.  How did it all start and where is it all going?

It started as sort of an artist collective as a way to try and get things done, help each other out and document what was going on at the time.  We never really believed in the attitude of “Why isn't anyone doing anything to help the bands out around here?” which seemed to be pretty common in Cambridge.  We thought more along the lines of, “If you want something done, then get to work and do it yourself.”  We put on a lot of shows, put out a lot of records and zines, etc.  It was good, but things changed when the Capohedz core members moved on to different phases in our lives.  So the Capohedz aren't really active anymore.

Where can people get ahold of your music?

You can listen to “The Night” in high quality at http://andscarletleonine.bandcamp.com/ and download it for a couple bucks if you have Paypal.  The Ace of Base stuff is on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObWwKn2sAfk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0_1IJxhHn0

POST-HISTORICAL SKATEBOARDING

Art critic and philosopher Arthur Danto argues that Western Art followed a stable trajectory from its earliest beginnings until the pop art movement of the 1960s.  Specifically, he claims that Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes realized the “end of art” – a notion intrinsically and admittedly rooted in Hegel’s philosophy that everything is in a process of unfolding and realizing an ultimate goal.  Up until Warhol’s Brillo Boxes, art could easily be distinguished from real things – it was paint on canvas; it was charcoal on paper; it was the representation of something real.  However, Warhol’s Brillo Boxes were indistinguishable from real Brillo Boxes; their status as objects of art was dependent on a philosophical understanding of art rather than their physical qualities.  At this point, art entered its “post-historical” period:  anything can be deemed art, and anything could be deemed good art, provided it has an aesthetic, philosophical justification for its content.

What does this have to do with skateboarding?  Well, although this is a subject of much debate among skaters (and most definitely among non-skaters), I’m going to go ahead and claim that skateboarding is an art form.  As Jason Dill said, “above all… it’s art.  It’s technique; it’s form.  And it’s just what looks good” (Transworld Skateboarding’s Feedback).  And like other art forms, skateboarding has followed a pretty stable path since its inception.  It has changed and developed, but those changes have always built on what came before.  Tricks became more technical; tricks were done on more difficult or dangerous obstacles.   In the late 90s and early 2000s, this progression reached its peak by splitting skateboarding into two camps:  you could be “hesh,” and skate 30 stair rails and two story drops, or you could be “tech,” and string together multi-trick sequences, including grinds with nearly mandatory flip-in, flip-out combinations.  These two extremes pushed skateboarding to its historical limits – the spectacle of hesh skating and the skill of tech skating worked together to realize pretty near everything that could be done on a board.  And a magical thing happened in the wake of all of this: people started to recognize, as Jason Dill had already claimed at the height of this era of “achievement-based” skateboarding, that it didn’t matter so much what you did on a skateboard as how you did it.  This mentality has influenced the development of what I refer to as “post-historical skateboarding.”  Like in art’s post-historical period, anything can now be deemed good skating, provided it has an aesthetic, philosophical justification behind it.

Another part of Hegel’s philosophy is that there are “world-historical individuals” – people with the foresight and creativity to help history realize its goal by coming up with new ideas, innovations, or inventions.  These people have a great influence on the development of history and the universe through their intellectual contributions to our collective spirit.  Skateboarding, too, has always had these figures; people like Mark Gonzales, Jason Dill, and Leo Valls have been able to push boundaries by taking what has come before and recontextualizing it and incorporating it with contemporary skateboarding. 

Most professional skaters (and many non-pros, too) will claim that the Gonz’s part from Blind’s Video Days is among their favourite skate parts, and it’s not because he does X number of kickflips or ollies X number of stairs.  It’s the way he skates – the way he interacts with his environment.  The footage of him cruising the streets is every bit as awe-inspiring as the footage of him boardslide front-shoving a horizontally double-kinked rail or indy grabbing over the Wallenberg Big Four.  And this was in 1991!  The part even includes a line in which Gonzales does a backside 180 to fakie manual, pivots back and puts his wheels down before riding off the curb.  By today’s standards, that’s not even a make.  And yet, it just doesn’t matter; the flow is perfect, and the skating is so good that it’s completely acceptable that he didn’t manual the full pad.  Gonzales’ Video Days part was a very early precursor to the post-historical skateboarding that is just now becoming more widespread.

Mark Gonzales - Video Days

Likewise, Jason Dill’s game-changing moment in Alien Workshop’s Photosynthesis was well ahead of its time.  It forced skaters to completely re-examine what is acceptable practice when filming a line:  after tre-flipping on flat and fakie front shoving over a barrier, Dill ollies up a curb, hops off his board and actually walks down a set of stairs before hopping back on his board to ollie another stair gap.  Up until this point, stepping off your board meant the end of a line.  If you couldn’t stay on your board, it wasn’t a continuous sequence, and therefore didn’t count as a line.  But Dill’s jaunt down the stairs to a different gap signaled another shift in skateboarding: it was becoming looser, more inclusive.  Dill would continue to push boundaries in popular skateboarding with his future video parts:  in Habitat’s Mosaic, his entire part was made up of lines, focusing on flow and eschewing the spectacle of single-trick skating; in Alien Workshop’s Mind Field, he worked hard to integrate older, simpler tricks like slappy grinds and wallies with newer manual combinations and tricks done on interesting and challenging terrain.

Jason Dill - Photosynthesis

There is perhaps no skater right now that better represents the idea of post-historical skating than Leo Valls.  His ability to access tricks, trends and aesthetics from both past and present in order to forge a style that is completely unique and contemporary is unparalleled.  His opening line in Yoan Taillandier’s Minuit sets the tone for his entire part:  right alongside a speedy and stylish backside nollie and switch 180, Valls throws a one-footed powerslide between the wheels and under the doors of a parked car.   He finishes the line off with a properly popped and flicked nollie flip.  The powerslide is innovative and fresh, despite that fact that it’s more closely related to the styles and aesthetics of the Z-Boys than to more recent skateboarding.  And when used in combination with more modern tricks like the nollie flip, the powerslide not only stands out, but also works to compliment the trick selection in the rest of the line.  This blending of eras is typical of Valls’ skating and is present throughout the part.  His skating helps to usher in an era of skateboarding in which (almost) anything goes; provided the style and creativity are present in the skating, exactly what is being done becomes secondary to the spirit and philosophy of finding new ways to negotiate our given environment through skateboarding.

Leo Valls - Minuit

What’s so exciting about post-historical skating is that it strips away the elitist, compartmentalized view of skating that has dominated recent years.  A three stair gap is just as valid as twenty-three stair gap; depending on how the skater interprets it, the three-stair gap can even be preferable.  It’s funny; as a past-time, skateboarding was born out of counter-culture and DIY mentalities – it has always been about personal progression and interpretation.  But somehow, somewhere along the line, skateboarding adopted the comparative, competitive attitude that dominates sport or commerce.  It seems like skaters are starting to embrace the fact that not only is skateboarding not a crime, but it is not a sport, either; it is an art, and as such, has followed a path similar to that of Western visual arts.  Enjoy the freedoms of the unfolded universe.

INTERVIEW: AARON WYNIA

I first met Aaron as a skateboarder.  You can tell when he skates that he has a keen eye; he's got good trick selection and can pick out spots that other people would either ignore or not even see in the first place.  It came as no surprise, then, when I found out he was a photographer - and a pretty damn good one, at that.  Aaron will have his work featured alongside other photographers at the 3rd Annual Photo-Op exhibition at the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto.  Check out the flyer at the end of the interview for more details.  Also, be sure to check out Aaron's blog.

Let’s start at the beginning: how did you get into photography?

It's weird how clearly I remember this, but it happened around the age of sixteen.  One day I was with some friends skateboarding and we found a bunch of praying mantises right by my house. We ended up putting them in a box and watched them fight. We were doing this in my backyard and for whatever reason my mom was outside with her camera taking photos and decided to take some of us. At the time I didn't think anything of it, then a couple weeks went by and my mom handed me some photos and said "hey, these are of you and your friends from the other day". I just remember looking at them and being so stoked. I think that was when I realized I wanted more photos of my friends and I to look at so I got a camera and started from there. 

Most of your early photos were done with Polaroids – what was it about Polaroids that appealed to you?

In high school I worked at Southworks Antiques. It was great and filled with old cameras. I remember seeing a Polaroid 600 and just buying it. I think I might've just bought it because it looked cool, but either way, I got a few packs from my Grandpa and started carrying it around with me. Also, I think I was pretty impatient and the idea of instant photos was so awesome.

Did shooting on this medium affect the way you approach photography with different cameras/film?

Yeah for sure, especially with polaroid film. I was buying packs for around $20 - 30 per pack so I would make sure I was taking something I thought would turn out. Even with 35mm I would make rolls last a while. I didn't have a lot of money to spend on processing, etc. So I would buy a roll or two and take them over the span of a few weeks. For the most part, anyways. But now I go through a lot more. I've realized over the years that if you're shooting something rad, you can't just take one shot. You have to take a few to make sure you get one that turns out. It sucks getting a photo back that's out of focus. You learn from it though. It's all trial and error.

What equipment do you use and why?

Lately, I've been switching between two 35mm point and shoots. The Olympus XA2 and the Olympus Stylus Epic. I like both of them because they're small and good for sneak attack moments where you don't know if the person you're shooting is going to freak out. Just makes it easier to hide. Also both lenses are pretty great and make nice photos. The Stylus is known for its very quick photo taking ability. It's good  when I wanna take a few very quickly. 

Which came first for you – photography or skateboarding? Do you see any similarities or relationship between the two?

Skateboarding came way before. I see some similarities. I mean, I'm passionate about both of them. I find I get the same feeling from seeing a good video part or trick and seeing an inspiring photo. They both make me want to skate or shoot photos. It's nice to know that once I physically can't skate I'll have photography. I also tend to nerd out on both of them. 

Who or what has influenced the development of your aesthetic as a photographer?

Currently I'd say this photographer Tim Barber. He takes a lot of cool stuff that makes you ask questions. His photos always seem to have a certain look to them, too, as if he's having a fun time shooting away, not really caring - but at the same time they seem so calculated. As far as more current photographers go, I'd say him. Also my roommate Nic, who curates the U of T darkroom, has in one way or another contributed to my photography. It's fun; we kinda feed off of each other's shots and get ideas from one another. We recently started a little photo zine called "brunswick". It's nothing serious, but fun little project. There are too many to name, but more classic photographers, I'd say Vivian Maier, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin. A good mix of street photography, drugs, intimate moments.

What relationship do you see between your photography and publishing your photos on your blog? Does blogging influence your creative process in any way?

Blogging helps my creative process quite a bit. It's just easy to get your stuff out there, and mainly 'cause you can get feedback and it's nice to know what people think. Good or bad. Maybe that makes me want to post more? If I know people check back to see.

How does photography influence the way you perceive or experience your environment?

At this point I usually have a camera with me at all times and ready to shoot if need be. I guess it makes me look at things different. Maybe I'm looking at people more for funny, weird things about them or interesting patterns in something. Or "the sun looks cool, try this!" Ha ha... I dunno. 

What is your primary interest as a photographer? Is there a certain subject matter you try to tackle in your work, or is it more rooted in the realization of an aesthetic?

I just want keep shooting and continue learning. It would be nice to eventually have some kind of show, but I think it's way too soon for that. Maybe just a couple in a gallery with a few other people.  I'm open to shooting anything, really. Whatever is around me or whatever ideas I think of. I find lately I've been shooting photos of people a lot. Friends and people I don't know. Living in a city, they're always around you; it's hard not to see something interesting in someone to shoot everyday. I try to avoid taking photos of homeless people, though. I have in the past, but on a rare occasion. Just something I'm not too into. Other than that, I just just plan to keep shooting and go with flow.

What makes a “good” photo, in your eyes?

Well, I guess a "good," textbook photo is well lit, nice composition, good framing, concept? I don't know. That definition changes for everyone. A lot of "good" photos can be boring to you, but not to me. It's completely subjective. You could look at my old family photos and say, "They aren't good." Which is fine, but obviously I would get more out of them, thinking, "I remember this day with my dad," etc. I think ultimately everyone can be the judge of whether a photo is good or bad. It's funny though, around the time I first got into photography, there were photos I was really stoked on - maybe it was a photo of an old man in a car - and later looking back on it, I think "Wow, this photo isn't great." It seems like that tends to happen after progression. So maybe in a year I'll be bummed on the photos in this interview.