Who is Tight Silk?
Tight Silk is the platform where I’ve placed my obsession with disco drum beats and pounding house pianos!

How did you come up with the name and how does it reflect your music?
A couple of years ago I was DJing a lot with two friends, and we actually called ourselves Tight Silk. So while thinking about names for this project, it suddenly came to me that I could re-use the name. I guess my idea of the music I’m making is rather straight up stuff, no arty/complex shit, just some dancey beats with a touch of freaky sexual tension which I think that the name somehow reflects.
And what about the other two poor guys in the dj trio of which the name I stole, well they’re now in my live band.

When and why did you form this outfit?
I’ve been playing in different bands for about half my life and I have always known that I wanted to do stuff by myself at some point. I started making this music about a year ago, a month prior to the birth of my little son. My plan was to work with this music during my maternity leave, while the kid took a nap. And that was kind of what happened, and now I guess the music will continue to grow in parallel with the kid.

We love the disco type of sound you are pursuing. Since you are background is in indie pop we would like to know how you changed your music focus to disco?
I ‘ve always loved music with good beats and great melodies. An important moment for my interest in chicago house was when I found two full crates of 12″s dirt cheap at a yard sale here in Stockholm. The crates contained a lot of records from the Trax label, one of them actually being Donell Rush’s Knocking At My Door (found on the mixtape). During the last, say five years I found myself listening to and dj:ing more and more disco and house music, which made it kind of a natural thing to get in to making that kind of music myself.

What do you like to sing about? 
Oh, nothing in particular really, most often I just sing words that sounds good with the phrasing and then put it into an interesting context from my day to day life.

Is there a scene for disco and house music in Stockholm? Any acts you would like to recommend?
There’s a big scene for house music, but not really in the vocal way that I’m doing it. And there’s really not alot of clubs for straight up disco. I don’t really even know what scene I might be a part of. But I sure feel a musical connection to stuff like Familjen and John Dahlbäck.

Who were your first idol? 
Being born in the early eightees, obsessing swedish pop-mag OKEJ, my first idols were Lili & Susie and Roxette. Big fat reverby drums and good melodies, that’s still a winning concept!

Who are your favorite artists right now?
Right now I listent to Azari & III, Lindstrøm (especially his Quiet Place To Live Disco Remix!), Hercules and Love Affair and Midnight Magic to name a few. I’m also looking forward to Familjens new release.

What’s in the pipeline for Tight Silk this year? 
Right now I’m finnishing up a bunch of new tracks, with the plan to record and release them continously. I’m putting out Like a Feahter with a couple of remixes on my own label. I’m currently also getting together my live set up, and will be hitting every major and minor stage with my pulsating madness within weeks!

http://soundcloud.com/tight-silk

TRACK LIST:

Donna Summer – Take Me (RIP Donna!)
Kevin Irving – Children Of The Night
Celi Bee – Blow My Mind
Azari & III – Reckless With Your Love
Donell Rush – Knocking At My Door
Sarah Dash – Low Down Dirty Rhythm
Lindstrøm & Christabelle – Music In My Mind
Trinita – High Feeling
Diana Ross – Living, Loving & Giving

Where are you now?
Brooklyn, New York, US.

First thing you do when you wake up?
Pushing the snooze-button.

What has inspired you lately?
The music and album art-work of Perfume Genious.

And what never fails to inspire you?
Really old photographic portraits from like the 1800′s.

What city inspires you the most and why?
I’m mostly inspired by cities I haven’t visited yet – they trigger my imagination. So at the moment I’m really inspired by Tokyo because I like to go there.

The best part of being a photographer?
That I have the freedom to do whatever I like and that I can work with whatever subject that interests me.

What is your favorite object to photograph?
Right now: athletes.

Your favorite photographer?
I can’t say one, but Sally Mann and Richard Avedom pops up in my head more than others.

Your favorite type of weather?
The moments just after it rained. And fog.

Oceans or mountains?
Seeing the ocean from the top of a mountain.

Nightfall or sunrise?
Sunrise.

What is art?
Art is what makes life something more than just days passing by.

What is love?
Combined with passion, it’s something I try to incorporate in all I do in some way.

http://www.agneskarin.se

The Geometrical Construction collection, available on the Nakkna website right now, is comprised of five simple tops, all inspired by a geometrical shape. Favorites include the silk Pyramid Dress and the cotton Circle Tee. All cotton tees are unisex, so man or woman, everyone has a chance to get their hands on a piece of downtown Swedish cool.

NAKKNA Geometrical Construction. Triangle from Thomas Brown on Vimeo.

NAKKNA Geometrical Construction. Circle from Thomas Brown on Vimeo.

http://nakkna.com/

By Laura Housgard

Most of us know her as the Swedish-born, berlin-based DJ. La Fleur is most recognized on the dance floors by her self-produced, soulful, feel-good house tracks. Flowerhead Revisited EP landed # 32 in DJ Mags Top 100 Singles. Followed by the Defected Records Low:Rise label release of Petals on Fire EP this past February. She was also recently invited to guest DJ at Berlin’s infamous Panorama Bar, La Fleur is definitely getting the media attention she deserves.

The beauty behind Power Plant is that it is actually much like the electrical generators we use to supply power into our cities. Replacing electricity for creativity, Power Plant produces in three forms. Music, Art, and Fashion. The three are natural complements to each other and hold a special interest to the artistic DJ. Starting with the first record released on Power Plant, La Fleur has combined inspirational art work with music.

Taking in a new piece, illustrated by well-respected artists, the Power Plant record covers are unique and distinctive to each release. La Fleur pointed out how searching for a piece that brings out a track’s emotion, is a timely process. “I’m not in a hurry to find the right artist, I like to take my time to make sure everything is right. Each record is like my baby, it requires a lot of preparation before it’s birth”.

A powerful and precisely fitting illustration created by Sweden’s Hans Arnold was exclusively selected for and shares the name to La Fleur’s Eavesdropper EP. Released on April 25th, Eavesdropper was celebrated with two memorable release parties (Stockholm and Berlin) followed by the inspiring Hans Arnold retrospective exhibition -”From horror to fairy tales” at Steinsland Berliner in Stockholm.

The Eavesdropper EP contains two warm house tracks, Tjuvlyssnerskan and Eavesdropper. Both include nostalgic french vocals but are entirely free from one another. Tjuvlyssnerskan -defined by piano keys and a softer bass line while Eavesdropper -combines a bolder bass line and soothing melodies. The two tracks are easily favorites on the dance floor. Remixes by Ian Pooley and Jordan Peak are scheduled to be out beginning of June.

This coming fall brings us Power Plant Elements. An exclusive, androgynous, fashion line created in collaboration with American designer Stacey De Voe and La Fleur. The all-black, 8 piece collection combines delicate jersey, leather, and wool and will be available for purchase online and in selected stores.

Power Plant flourishes with creativity this year. We look forward to more new releases, launch dates, label nights, and art expos powering up in Stockholm, Berlin, and possibly New York.

www.djlafleur.com
www.power-plant.se

By Vanessa Gil