Cool, edgy, playful – Sofia Hensler´s illustration are a real eye-catcher! No wonder that even Top Shop asked her to design some T-shirts. We think that´s pretty cool and asked her for an interview where she tells us what inspires her, what she is working on at the moment, and why she left vibrant London for lovely Cornwall.

It is really cool how you mix colors, shapes, techniques etc. How did you find your very own and unique style?
Naturally; I never really think too much about it, its just comes, I’ve always been interested in many techniques. When I first started studying I wanted to do everything: etching, painting, fashion, computer design, make up etc. I had to unfortunately choose just a few things, which was old traditional printing but I couldn’t resist combining it with the other areas of art that I had explored.

You have already done a collaboration with Topshop, Coco de Mer and many more. Well done! And since I am a big Topshop fan, can you tell us a little bit how this came about? Did they approach you or did you apply? And how does it feel to see people wearing shirts with your illustration on it?
I had a phone call from the agency to make an illustration for TopShop. I created three images which were accepted. I love my illustrations on t-shirts, they look great and I’m still printing them all the time for myself.

Where did you study or are you self-taught?
When I was small, I always knew I would go to Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland (as my mother did). I studied MA for 5 years and graduated in 2007. I also had a scolarship for 5 months in University College in Falmouth, Cornwall.

What or who inspires you?
My mother, my boyfriend and father of my 2 babies, people, fashion, joie de vivre, places, Pierre Gagnaire and victorian houses.

How long does it usually take you to do an illustration?
It ultimately depends on what kind of illustration is being produced. It takes lots of my energy which I think is the most important. After I’m very tired and need my Pj and a sleep.

What are you working on at the moment?
I am always busy. I just finished the illustration for Birth Kuwait and Engaging Birth which are two amazing groups that help to promote natural birth in Kuwait. I am also working for a private client designing bespoke wallpaper for her master bathroom.

You are originally from Poland but live in London now. What do you embrace most about living in London?
I used to live in London for 5 years, but now I have 2 babies (1 and 2 years old) so I moved to Cornwall (where my boyfriend is from). London is a fantastic place to be when you are young and free; there are lots of inspiring places and people, but it is all too busy for me now. I love the idyllic english coutryside, the sound of the sea and lack of distractions, which is very good for my designing.

In 5 years you want to be…?
I will be a loving mother, lover, friend, artist and happy as I am now.

5 things you cannot live without?
Family, pencils, Mac, good food and Annick Goutal perfumes.

www.soniahensler.com

Interview by Sigrun Guggenberger

Here comes another great music tip from me – made in Canada this time – The Fight. The band is made up of Bradey Daeland Feil – Vocals, Todd Andrews – Bass / Drums, Devin Fortier – Guitar / Vocals / Bass, Erik Grice – Drums / Vocals / Guitar / Bass. For me they do have this sort of British rock sound that I love so much – the sort of music that makes you feel all free and happy.

With the help of plenty of beer beating the Canadian coldness they recorded and released their debut album New Young Electric last January. I had the pleasure to ask them about the album, what inspires them and what life without music would be like for them...

Hello guys, thanks for the time to answer a few questions to us:) Hope you are well?
B: We are very very good.  Staying warm. We just went through a bout of -40 Celsius weather so that was pretty hellish. We’re surviving though.

Your songs sound very positive, which is great- they make you feel really good listening to it. What or who inspires you in writing your music?
B: I write from experience, I write a lot about my own life.  I think that if you’re writing a song it should have a message, a sort of lesson or meaning.  I’d like to think we write positive songs, I know lyrically I have a tendency to come back to a struggle between good and evil, as well as overcoming ones reservations or fears.  I hope our music inspires people more than anything.

T: Writing in a positive way can do so much more for the people listening to the songs. I hope they can feel the messages we are sending out, and feel the love we have to give through every songs. Inspiration comes from any situation, any feeling, any words, and anybody.

D: The overcoming of problems or set backs in your life, the fight to get through all of the shit that gets you down!  Many of the songs come with a lesson along with a positive message.   And dancing, making people move just means their having a good time.

E: Bradey writes all the lyrics and I think a great deal of his inspiration comes from his personal experiences.  When the band formed we started listening to more soul and motown.  I suppose the style of writing (music and lyrics) is inspired by artists like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and David Ruffin – minimalist but meaningful.

Your debut album is called New Young Electric and was recorded live off the floor in Calgary in the loft of a warehouse over a cold week last January, with the vocals being tracked in the spare bedroom of a house. Did you stay warm with a lot of beer?:)

B: Oh yes.  We did.

T: Yes in fact, Beer really helped to keep productivity levels high. we ended up getting a few free cases from a beautiful beer company called Steamwhistle!

E: The record was recorded in the upper loft of a backline warehouse in Calgary.  The producer, Robbie Josh Gwilliam, had access to the space during their off hours, so most days we spent recording from about 5 PM to 3 AM.  We did all the music live off the floor, as well as overdubs and additional percussion from Jan 1-5, 2011 and came back the following week and recorded the vocals in the spare room at Robbie’s house in Calgary.  Funny you ask about beer, and the cold.  The drive to Calgary on New Years day was white knuckled to say the least.  We experienced one of the coldest recorded winters that year and it was a near blizzard that day.  What is normally a 3 and half hour drive from Edmonton to Calgary took almost 5 hours.  When we arrived we set up and recorded around 5 or 6 songs and departed for Bradey’s brother’s place (where we often bunk when we’re in Calgary).  The second day Bradey contact Steamwhistle (a Canadian brewer based in Toronto, ON) on a whim asking them about supplying us with some beer.  Not expecting much, a Steamwhistle rep emailed back saying he’d be happy to come and pay us a visit.  We arrived at the warehouse the next day and waiting in the parking lot for Robbie.  After maybe 20 minutes of waiting a green Mini Cooper covered in Steamwhistle decals pulled around the corner like something out of a 007 movie.  It was the rep.  He hopped out of the car, greeted us four, and proceeded to unpack not one, not two, but six cases of Steamwhistle for us, free of charge.  So to answer your question – yes, we were perfectly warm with plenty of free beer to last us the week…and then some.

How come you were so fast with recording all?

B: Because we recorded most of the record live off the floor it allowed us to move quickly.  I don’t think we did more than four or five takes a song for the most part.  We funded the album ourselves as well, so we could only afford so much time.  We were lucky to work with really kind people that gave us more than our moneys worth but we didn’t have too much money so we tracked everything in about a week and Robbie spent about another week or so mixing it.

T: I for one don’t enjoy really long periods of time in a studio. Working fast is whats natural for us.

E: Because we only had the week in the space we wanted to move quickly; however we had planned to do the recordings live as that is what we had done in the past with our EP and with the demoing of the album a few months prior in Edmonton.  On top of that we had spent the weeks leading up to the trip rehearsing quite a bit so we were able to play as tight as possible.

Are you working on a new album now?

B: We’ve been writing quite a bit, I’d like to record another record in the fall if we can.  At the same time, we’ll do it when we have a good batch of songs ready.  If it takes awhile, no sweat.

T: We’ve just been focusing on writing songs for now. We’ve been working at our own pace and we will have to wait and see what comes out of it.

D: More in a pre production stage, demoing new songs in my basement and always writing and working on new songs.

I read that when you guys met there was an instant good vibe, but Todd (the bassist) , you wanted to leave the band at one point-how come? And what made you come back?

B: The rest of the guys had played together in another band.  I kind of stole them.  When Todd left for awhile I think we were just wound up a little too tight, it was good to take a break and ease back into things.  I was stressed out and stressing everyone else out.  We had put a lot of pressure on ourselves and something had to give.  He needed time, I needed time, we needed time.  I’m glad he’s back.

T: I wanted to leave because I felt very overwhelmed with everything at the time. We had just come back from a 2 week trip and i was really burnt out. I came back because I realized how hard it was at the time to not be making music. My equilibrium felt off because playing live and jamming was something I had been doing for years. We’ve worked out some stuff with traveling and shows so that now we are all on the same page.

E: Yea, I met Bradey in 2007 working at a music store in St. Albert, AB.  All four of us lived there and myself, Todd, and Devin were playing in a band that broke up shortly after the Fight started.  When the idea to start a second band with Bradey came up in February of 2010, we got together and played some songs that Bradey had written on his own.  I don’t know if there was an instant chemistry but there was definitely something there to explore.  We kept jamming, got together about 5 or 6 songs and played our first show.  In the summer of 2010 we started doing more out of town shows and recorded the Birds EP.

You are doing some gigs around Canada right now -are you planning on a Europe tour as well?

B: We’d like to make it out that way, we’re just not sure if and when it will happen.  Hopefully within the year but we’ll see. There’s a lot of logistics involved in flying four guys to a different continent.

E: As of now we’ve only toured Western Canada but have tossed around ideas of heading east into Toronto and Montreal in the future.  Europe would amazing! None of us have ever been so it would be an amazing experience.

Life without music would be?

B: Death?

T: Empty

D: Impossible, not worth living!

E: Weird?…Boring?…That’s a good question. The last 5 or 6 years for Devin, Todd, and I have been nothing but playing music together and Bradey spent a great deal of his teen years promoting and touring with other bands.  It’s hard to say what it would be like because it’s something that’s always just been there.  I suppose we’d have more time on our hands but I don’t know what any of us would do with that time….maybe break the law?

5 things you cannot live without?

B: Oxygen, Food, Water, Shelter, Clothing

T: 1.Love, 2.Coffee, 3.Working, 4.Guitars, 5.Rice

E: Hm…I feel like I’ll answer this and then think of better answers later – like I’ll say something like Avocados right now because I’m thinking of making guacamole later…but I won’t.  So I guess here’s the first 5 things I can think of…1. a creative outlet, 2. a schedule, 3. good movies, 4. music (others’ or my own), 5. close friends. I guess I can’t think anything that doesn’t make me sound like a sap….I have a girlfriend who is more lovely than these things…but I’ll include her in #5.

B: Keep your head up.

D: I’m not a very religious person…

E: Same as the last question…I know I’ll use something now because I have to but I’ll think of something later that’s better.  But I’m a big worry wort and get stressed quite easily…so my hypocritical answer is don’t sweat over small shit, it’ll just make you fucking depressed.

Interview by Sigrun Guggenberger
B = Bradey, T = Todd, D = Devin, E = Erik

newyoungelectric.com/web/

Photo Credit: Chelsee Ivan

Interview by Sigrun Guggenberger

Photography: Elizabeth Butner  www.elizabethbutner.com
Model: Lorelle Crawford @ Tamblyns
Hair & Makeup: Tracie Weaver
Styling: Saskia Wotton

Our own sofa is already something like a really favorite spot. Cozy reading hours, chilling evenings watching movies or just taking a break from everyday life. Yes, yes. Therefore we really like the idea of ​​”Abandon series 2011″by Australian Photographer Paul Batt and the interesting perspective to deal with such an everyday piece of furniture. Paul has shot several couches in front of houses or stored on sidewalks.

Also die eigene Couch ist schon sowas wie ein Lieblingsplätzchen. Gemütliche Lesestunden, spannende Fernsehabende oder einfach mal ausgstreckt die Seele baumeln lassen. Jaja. Daher finden wir die Idee der Serie ” Abandon series 2011″ von Photographer Paul Batt witzig und eine interessante Sichtweise sich mit einem so alltäglichen Möbelstück auseinanderzusetzen. Der Australier hat dafür etliche abgestellte Couches vor Häusern oder an Gehsteigen fotografiert.

What does photography mean to you?

Photography is both my means of creative expression as well as the way I make sense of day-to-day life, while trying to create an expressive record it.

What do you want to capture in your pictures?

I’m somewhat obsessed with the subtle variations of a subject and the different forms they exist in. Things that go unnoticed or unseen coupled with this quality of collecting and categorizing, has always defined my approach to photography.

I have discovered your “Untitled Abandon Series 2011″ and love it! What’s the story behind?

Thanks! Truthfully, the series had its origins in the way my friends and I would abandon our own couches, as young students years ago. Recently I began to notice more of these abandoned couches, looking lost and strangely beautiful round my home city of Melbourne. I wondered about the stories contained in these intimate pieces of furniture and how they had once shared a person’s life but were now just left in the street.

Which camera do you use?

I use a number of cameras of different formats, both film and digit, depending on the subject or series I’m working on. For the ‘Abandon Series’ I started using a Nikon D200 and later upgraded to a Nikon D700 with either a Nikkor 24-70 F2.8 or a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens.

Most of the time I can be found?

Wandering the streets with a camera, lecturing too my students or thinking of creative ways to be better at both.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Shooting more and pushing the development of my work as a photographer.

The most important thing in life is?

Humour!  Generally world is quite insane but take a longer look atlife’s absurdities and it becomes oddly hilarious. That said, of course family, friends, love, peace and all of the typical clichés, are clichés for their total truth.

www.paulbatt.com

1 - Untitled #1, 2011 (from the Abandon series 2011) Type C Print, 90 x 130 cm.

2 - Untitled #2, 2011 (from the Abandon series 2011) Type C Print, 90 x 130 cm.

3 - Untitled #3, 2011 (from the Abandon series 2011) Type C Print, 90 x 130 cm.

4 - Untitled #4, 2011 (from the Abandon series 2011) Type C Print, 90 x 130 cm.

5 - Untitled #6, 2011 (from the Abandon series 2011) Type C Print, 90 x 130 cm.

6- Untitled #7, 2011 (from the Abandon series 2011) Type C Print, 90 x 130 cm.