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Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:01:00 +0000

I've been playing with photoshop and have also discovered AnOther Magazine's awesome Loves section, where I got most of these images from.

Clockwise from bottom right: Pumpkin, 2014 by Yayoi Kusama; untitled, incredibly dreamy pink trees; the coolest place to get your potions; Mia Farrown with a Jack O'Lantern; a scary shark dressed up as a goldfish; and the Addams' family's living room in colour.

Chincha Films Korea Burn AND The Creators Project

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 01:01:00 +0000

Following on from the Future Shorts video, I decided to carry on with the Chincha Films series by ~~forcing my boyfriend to make~~ commissioning videos of Korea Burn, a regional version of Nevada's epic Burning Man festival, and The Creators Project, an annual Seoul music and art event.

Korea Burn was the second event of its kind on the peninsula, although this one was decidedly larger, with hundreds of people flocking to Gijipo beach, 3 hours from Seoul, for the overnight extravaganza.

The Creators Project was awesome. I was invited as press, representing Chincha, and interviewed the global manager of VICE magazine and the creative director of Intel for the film. The team also interviewed IDIOTAPE, the Korean electro rock band who headlined the concert.

Videos by Mike Beech

Chincha Films...FUTURE SHORTS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:03:00 +0000

My very talented, wonderful boyfriend made a film for Chincha this week, documenting the hugely popular Future Shorts Seoul festival, a pop-up film fest at Platoon Kunsthalle, Gangnam.

Future Shorts liked it so much that they put it on their YouTube channel!

Here it is on Vimeo, just because it's a cooler looking platform.

Images: Screenshots from the film.

Little Biarritz

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 05:18:00 +0000

Clearly I'm on a French vein right now, having just returned from the Basque part of the country where the above video was filmed. I probably would have posted the film anyway, though, having spent a glorious month in this part of the world when I was 19. It was during the summer holidays, there was a huge group of my friends, and we camped at Fontaine Laborde - definitely the coolest campsite I've ever been too (although it's unfortunately closed now). I'm pretty sure I saw Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson eating at the site's restaurant. For realz!

Yeah, my friends didn't believe me either.

Video by Christophe Roberts via Cooler Mag

French Graffiti

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 10:06:00 +0000

France is a beautiful but battle-scarred country, which makes me assume that the above ruins are connected with WWII. Then again, perhaps I'm totally off the mark since no pomp surrounds these broken down buildings. They're covered in graffiti and seem to have been plonked unceremoniously in the midst of holidaymakers, making for an incongruous backdrop to one of Capbreton's pretty but otherwise unextraordinary beaches.

All pictures by me.

Dreaming of Capbreton

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:07:00 +0000

i wanna live here

and here

and i want roses in my front garden

a view of an archaic water tower and jagged trees when i look up

i want a vintage vehicle to meander through french towns in

to pass surf shops galore reminding me to get in the water

i want rivers to jump in when i'm sick of the waves

i want to be constantly inspired

i want to eat fresh bread and fruit on a daily basis

i wanna wear miss-matching clothes because it's sunny and i don't care

to read vivid road signs with romanised words i might eventually understand

and pass sunbleached shops i'm so used to, i ignore

give me a boat so i can dream of escape on duller days

and let me sneer at the tourists, all porcine pink skin and outlandish parasol shades

maybe i can be a lifeguard

ride a bike all day

and stuff myself with tart au citron

living life under constant sunshine rays.

WITH LOADS OF CAMEMBERT.

Photos are all by me and are not from Instagram, for once. Taken in Capbreton, France.

Out of Print

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:51:00 +0000

The ever-present bookworm and smartie-pants in me is absolutely in love with these products by Out of Print.

I particularly like that the duo behind the designs have plastered my favourite covers from two of my favourite books onto these comfy-looking jumpers.

AWEH.tv have an interview with the guys where they talk about their mission plus the work they do for charity.

Buy their stuff here.

July in Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:26:00 +0000

Bit late but I've been on holidayz to France. Had a blast - pics coming up soon. For now, though, here's July in Korea. If the photos are anything to go by it seems I did nothing much but eat.

I found a micro brewery in my city that does Pilsner and stone baked pizzas. Nom.

A particularly good week of half days I had in which I explored Seoul's Dongmyo Shrine area and stuffed myself at a buffet.

I know it's cheesy and shit but I love the astro turf stuff they sometimes put outside cafes and restaurants. Fake summer in the city, oy.

It rained a bit. There be a puddle.

Ahhh, Hongdae. You are still the coolest.

I decided this plastic bag vase is totally ingenious.

Proper waygook meal at Kraze Burger. I know how to live.

Toy model aeroplanes in my fave Cheongju cafe.

A mural in Cheongju's downtown area.

Super, super, super Shabu Shabu.

Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.

Birdbox art display in Cheongerrs.

A vintage shop near Dongmyo Shrine.

Rain against my window.

One of the extraordinarily funky establishements in Jukjeon's European-style 'Cafe Street', Yongin.

Post-it notes acting as a window blind.

Fireworks topping off the infamous annual Mud Festival at Boryeong beach.

A night out at the GS25 convenience shop.

Delish gamjyetang (pork spine soup).

All pics by meeeee on instagram @tallullahelle.

Jisan Valley in Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:30:00 +0000

This past weekend I went to Jisan Valley Rock Festival in Icheon, Korea. Radiohead, James Blake and The Stone Roses headlined and I took some Instagram pictures for Chincha. Here are some of my favourites.

Radiohead on the Big Top Stage.

They weren't selling them at the festival, but heart-shaped sunnies seemed to be a trend this year (and one I accidentally got involved in).

Daum Music and Dr. Marten's promotional balloons against a beautiful, sunny sky. The weather was so hot.

Lomography promotional merchandise. Jisan is far too commercially-biased.

Another Radiohead shot. I took this just before having to stumble out of the crowd due to feeling faint :/

Brittney, Rina and Tonya.

Kimchi pots outside my friends' pension (a room with a bathroom and floorspace for plenty of people to crash).

Decorated bollards.

A pop-up cocktail bag stall from the famous Vinyl bar in Hongdae.

Wristbands. One for entry, one for camping, one for alcohol.

Gorgeous flowers and a naked-seeming man in the corner who looks like a nude pixie.

The crowd at emo pop rock band Motion City Soundtrack's main stage set.

All pictures by me @tallullahelle on Instagram.

A Day at the Han

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 04:17:00 +0000

I've been learning Photoshop. Or rather, my boyfriend has and I've been watching him miraculously transform my dull photography with a few clicks of a mouse.

All these photos were taking at the Han River Park in Seoul, near Yeouido Station. My friend and I spotted the pool on a tandem bike ride beside the river. Can't wait to go check it out once it stops pouring with rain.

Hong Kong Timelapse

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:07:00 +0000

I have a mini addiction to timelapse videos, particularly when their focus is on a specific city. I like the way you can almost soak up the atmosphere of a place, in just a few minutes, by whizzing through time videographically (yeah, I made that word up) on screen.

Since Hong Kong is on my must-travel list this film really resonated with me.

I'm getting itchy feet.

See more of Lam Ho Tak's videos here.

2NE1 I Love You

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:08:00 +0000

I can't stop listening to this song. It's pure, unadultered pop music. Delicious for the ears.

2ne1 are seriously making waves outside of Korea with their Korean language tracks. When I was in South East Asia in January Kpop was everywhere.

June in Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 02:45:00 +0000

June flew by. The weather was perfect and I spent my weekends either chilling or exploring.

July's monsoon season has now begun, as regular as clockwork, and I already want to go back to last month.

A collage of a sunny Sunday in Hongdae.

The last day of June brought miserable weather, making me cancel my beach trip : (

This is a new outfit I bought that cost me about 12 quid. Shoes included.

Mandu (Chinese style dumplings) at the takeaway restaurant near work.

Delicious ice cream at a Patbingsu shop. The packaging lies: it wasn't really strawberry flavoured.

I went on a three day course to the mountains east of Seoul. I managed to get in a tiny hike so it wasn't all bad.

Boyfriend outside a coffee shop.

A neon picture I took of a condom/ sex shop in Hongdae for Chinchagram.

A display at ALAND, the best chain shop in Korea.

My absolute dream bike.

All pictures are from my instagram @tallullahelle.

Wagwak

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 10:12:00 +0000

British readers! One of my favourite bands, Wagwak, are leaving Korea for London soon, with their last gig in Seoul happening this Saturday night. I can't make it because I'm going to stay in a Love Motel by the beach in Busan. I'm not too bothered, though, because I'm conveniently coming home for August, which is when Wagwak are hopefully going to be touring around the UK. Yay.

We just did an interview with Wagwak on Chincha, ahead of them flying the Korean coop. See it after the poster:

Dressed smartly in a clean button-up, suspenders, grey shorts and a Noah and the Whale bag, lead singer of Wagwak Daehyun Kim met up with us last week to talk about his upcoming travels across Europe, Canada and the States. With Wagwak’s last gig in Korea happening next Saturday night, it was great to get a chance to talk about his influences, his aspirations, and the reactions he gets to what ‘Wagwak’ really stands for.

What are you most looking forward to while travelling throughout Europe?

We are hoping to get signed and just travel around Europe. And go to New York or somewhere in the States to just play at shows, of course. We want to play as many as we can. We don’t play that many shows like we used to, right now. In October we played like nine shows. I want to do that again in Europe. When I finally get to perform at a festival, I’m going to cut off my Glastonbury Festival 2009 bracelet!

Why are you playing less shows?

We were mostly playing in Hongdae and the crowd was always the same. So we just started to play less and less shows. Now, we are leaving.

What places will you be heading to? Any particular countries you’re excited about?

We’re going to start in Stockholm. But, it’ll be like a holiday; we’re just going to relax. Then London and then we’re going to Montreal, Canada. I played in Montreal in 2009. I played some songs at Pop Montreal Festival, but back then it was just me without my drummer. It’ll also be easy to go down to the States in November and then maybe back to Europe. The city I am most excited for is London. Of course, I want to live there. The music scene is awesome.

You’ve been to Europe before to promote your music, so what do you think will be different this time?

This time I’ll be with my band. Also, my music is different from two or three years ago.

What made you decide to leave Korea?

I grew up with your (Western) music, not Korean music. Maybe listening to bands from the UK has influenced me? I always wanted to go Europe anyway, so it was good to start from here (Korea). But now it’s time to leave. This isn’t a last minute decision; we’ve been preparing for the last two years.

What music influences you the most?

I listen to so much music. Mostly indie folk like Mumford and Sons. I’ve been to many of their concerts and I’ve met one of the members. When I was at one of their shows, he (Marcus Mumford, the lead singer of Mumford and Sons) remembered me. He was like, “you’re Darren, right??” Darren’s my English name. I’ve also seen Laura Marling play many times. I want to ask her, like, “oh my God, can I buy you a beer??” I’m also friends with a band called Slow Club from Sheffield and they’ll be supporting Mumford and Sons this summer.

Will you be meeting up with them when you’re in Europe?

Yes, of course. I just sent them my new demos so they can help us book some shows.

Where is your first show?

We haven’t booked any shows yet. We’ve just finished our demos, which we are going to sell at the shows. I’ve been sending off demos in the last few days to book shows with. In Europe it’s Summer festival season so it’s difficult to book local shows right now. Maybe we’ll have to wait till Fall.

What do you hope to accomplish abroad?

Get signed to a label and play and support some bands. By supporting and touring with others we won’t have to try so hard to get our own shows. And it’ll be good to meet so many people.

When will you be back?

We won’t be back for at least a year. We’ll go there and we’ll try our music out. It’s possible that we might not feel like we’re that good, that our music isn’t working out. So we’ll tour around for a year, come back and try to work on our music.

How has your music changed over the years?

We are still folk. Before we formed Wagwak we were actually a four-piece band band, but two of the members left for reasons like work, etc. We are still folk, but our sound is getting heavy; heavier than before.

What will you miss the most about playing gigs in Korea?

Friends. Friends. We will miss friends.

What are key essentials from home you can’t leave without?

Just instruments. I don’t have anything that I feel like, “I have to keep this”.

In a previous article in UNSCENE magazine the meaning behind your name, Wagwak, was brought up. Wagwak stands for We-Are-Not-Gay-We-Are-Korean. How do you think this will be perceived in Europe?

Sometimes people get really offended. But we don’t mean it in a homophobic way. If they know the background, people laugh about it. If they just don’t know, then people are like, “oh, they are homophobic”. We were originally called 20th Century Boys, you know, because of our long hair and style. People would ask if my bandmate and I were together and we would say “no, we are not gay”. One day, we were talking to our friends about coming up with a new name because when you google 20th Century Boys so many different things come up, like the Japanese animation. Our friends said to make “we are not gay” our band name, but longer – “we are not gay, we are Korean.” So we just took the first letters of each word and made Wagwak.

I was on a music forum and someone wrote about us, saying we were a homophobic band. I was like, “What! Really??” But minutes later, I forgot about it. It’s okay because it’s not true and those people who said it listen to K-pop, shhhh!

Thanks for meeting with us, Daehyun!

Wagwak will be playing their goodbye show at Freebird in Hongdae from 10pm on Saturday 30th of June. Entry costs 10,000 won. Listen to Wagwak on SoundCloud.

Interview by Brittney Wilson and Rina Kim.

Images courtesy of Daehyun Kim and Brittney Wilson.

..........................

I'll keep you posted on when Wagwak will be touring. Make sure you listen to their music and go see them.

VLUF Party Video

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:29:00 +0000

Yeah, I know I'm like a broken record about all this VLUF party stuff at the moment. This video is very groovy though, as well as informative, giving the background information behind all the playas that make up the V.L.U.F in VLUF.

You can catch a glimpse of me in it, furiously grinning for a photographer while sitting on a dirty, vintage sofa.

Which is totes how I roll. Nahhhht.

VLUF

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 01:14:00 +0000

VLUF is one of the coolest parties in Korea. Held in a warehouse in East Seoul, the organisers always put on such a good night.

All pictures from Tororo on Chincha.

Vintage Hawaiian Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:53:00 +0000

Thanks to one of my favourite blogs, Double Takes, I got introduced to these gorgeous vintage photographs dug out from a Hawaiian attic. They depict the beautiful Waikiki from 1954-7, pre abundant tourism and digital photography.

When I first saw these images I spent some time lamenting the lack of beach life in Korea, wishing I could exchange city living for a shack near the ocean. It's now a few days later and I'm in the middle of booking a week surfing in Biarritz in August with one of my best friends.

^_^

Images: Ian and Helen Lind

Hongdae Graffiti

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 11:46:00 +0000

Graffiti in Hongdae, known as the artistic, hedonistic area of Seoul. Also known as my favourite place in Korea.

IAM/ STAR CROSSED TATTOO

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:57:00 +0000

Ollie Walker is a talented friend of mine who co-started the wicked website AWEH, an online portal connecting you to cool creatives from around the world. Since Ollie resides in Seoul but is South African, much of the content that he creates and curates for AWEH is based on people of interest who are living in Africa and Asia - two highly undervalued continents when it comes to worldwide recognition of their contemporary art scenes.

With the advent of the internet - and therefore sites like AWEH, Durban is Yours and (hopefully) Chincha - the global, English-speaking audience is recognising that worthwhile art is not limited to European and American cities.

This video by AWEH has just been released, and is part of a new collaboration with South African clothing company IAM. The video follows two SA tattooists Rich Phipson and Ross Turpin, who own a studio in Hong Kong called Star Crossed Tattoo. It follows their mission as tattooists and shows some awesome shots of the tattooing process, as well as the pair's intensely unusual designs.

If you're ever in the Hong Kong area (come to Asia, it's amazing), you should definitely swing by the shop to see these guys in action. I'm already planning my trip.

May in Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 05:16:00 +0000

An Americano outdoors. Trying to recreate some European vibez in my hood.

The quaint boat I had to get for my trip to Muuido, a sweet island off the west coast of Korea.

A shot of the audience absorbed in one of the films at a Future Shorts Film Festival some friends of mine put on in Gangnam, Seoul.

The river in Cheongju, the city my boyfriend lives in.

A shot of the river from another angle.

A faux vintage phone at Bar 14 in HBC, an expat village in Seoul.

A popping candy Korean ice cream and a glimpse of my friend Nick.

Suwon, the city I live in, from far away. I chose a filter which makes it look like the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz (still one of my favourite films).

A bright green bridge in Chuncheon, North of Seoul. This is a beautiful area.

I found these birds outside a bike shop on a dusty day. They didn't seem to have any purpose other than as a shelf for some cardboard boxes that had been laid on top of them.

Groovy sixties style tiles at Namtaeryeong Station, slightly outside of Seoul. I love how this feels like a futuristic shot from an old film.

Can you see the rainbow effect in the sprinklers?

The cutest coffee cup you'll ever see.

Summer clothes are finally in the shops! I've gone a little crazy with my money lately.

Meat on the BBQ. Korea has an abundance of indoor BBQ restaurants where you cook your own meat.

Muuido at dusk.

Graffiti in Hongdae, my favourite area of Seoul.

Roses in full bloom. Summer is definitely in full swing.

BTSU

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:14:00 +0000

I only got introduced to this recently but I feel like I'll never get tired of it. I have nothing more poignant to say than this.

Double Exposure

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:55:00 +0000

I recently introduced my boyfriend to smartphone photography apps. This was a mistake. My entire life now feels like it's being documented in a hazy, otherworldly glow. Every time I look in the mirror these days I'm surprised I'm still a solid entity.

UNIQLO ON CHINCHA

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:58:00 +0000

So, I've sort of hit the big time. My main website has it's first sponsor and it's only bloody UNIQLO.

The ad is for a free alarm clock app which wakes you up by telling you what the forecast is for the day. I think the Japanese must have been thinking of us Brits when they designed it, it's perfect for our weather-obsessed national constitution.

Click here to read all about it and for a link to download the app itself.

Loose Union Presents

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:25:00 +0000

I recently wrote a post for Chincha about Loose Union, a new record and videography company that a friend of mine and some other creatives have started up in Seoul. The objective of Loose Union is to make live music videos of Korea-based bands, in order to capture the current Seoul music scene.

Loose Union held a launch party a couple of weeks ago where I was introduced to a friend of a friend, an event photographer from Durban, South Africa He offered to send me some pictures (seen above) to put on Chincha. I gladly obliged and asked if I could share them here too. I love them - especially that last one of the sneaky tattoo. I'm not usually a body art fan but there's something about that rose peeking out from underneath the girl's skirt.

The photographer's name is Matthew Stroud. You can (and should) 'like' him on Facebook to stay up to date with his work.

Here's the original post on Chincha.

Images: Matthew Stroud.

SuperColorSuper

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 May 2012 04:30:00 +0000

SuperColorSuper are a small, indie booking agency with big ideas, located in Korea. Unfortunately, because of the passivity of the prospective audience in SK when it comes to subcultural, international music, the collective are currently in dire straits financially and have warned that they may have to shut shop on organising gigs using foreign bands.

A poster for an Asobi Seksu gig, which is potentially the final international act SCS will be bringing to South Korea.

Some of my best nights out in Korea have been at events SCS have organised. Jeffrey Lewis, Gold Panda and No Age (who I saw just last week) were all particularly impressive live, and I hope SuperColorSuper get the support they need to keep bringing incredible acts to this country. The music scene here needs them.

The group made the inspirational video above as a call to arms to get the population of Korea interested in backing their collective.

If you live in Korea and want to support SCS, check out this post on their website. Scroll down for English.

Images: SuperColorSuper