MiLK & Fruit Juice in NYC!
November 9th, 2011 § 1 Comment
Photo by Anne Bourgeon
It started with a tweet, “When I am I going to see Corita play?” It seemed like a simple enough question, except that the author of the tweet was Michel, of the indie band MiLK & Fruit Juice and he lives in France. Unfortunately Corita did not have (and still does not have) any plans to play a show in France. Or anywhere else outside of New York. So I wrote back, “I don’t know, when are you coming to New York? I’ll set up a show.” Then I got a better idea, “Why don’t you play a solo show with us?” When Michel told me he was coming to NYC in September I wasted no time in booking a venue. However, I knew the other members of MiLK & Fruit Juice could not come to NYC and that being on stage alone in a new city is intimidating, and so I volunteered to be the backing band.
Photo by Anne Bourgeon
First of all, let me explain why I love MiLK & Fruit Juice: Michel writes catchy, dreamy songs that are full of heart. Some of them sound a bit twee, with with accents of toy instruments and excellent backing vocals from Marjorie and Sabine, but there’s also a twist of sadness, irony and realism. I am delighted to have met someone all the way across the Atlantic that shares so many of the same musical interests and passions as me. While that may seem like a small thing in this Internet age, when you meet in person, it still seems pretty magical.
Photo by Anne Bourgeon
On a rainy night in September at Spike Hill in Williamsburg the Pale Lights, MiLK & Fruit Juice and Corita shared the stage. Michel and I had one practice together under our belt and I was playing drums and singing back up on five of his songs. The day of the show I listened to the songs from his well-crafted album I’m Cold Handed Because I Have No Heart to Pump The Blood Through My Fingers on repeat. That night Michel debuted a beautiful, vintage Silvertone guitar he had found at Rivington guitars. I got to break out of my usual role as a guitar player and play drums, with drum sticks that Lisa Goldstein of the Pale Lights loaned to me for Michel’s set. Apparently I kept the fact that I play drums secret from my friends, but I actually took drum lessons for several years in middle school! I never really graduated beyond a 4/4 rock beat though. In any event, it was really fun (and a little nerve wracking) to be on stage playing drums supporting a friend whose music I love and who lives so far away. Anne, who co-runs the label MonsterK7 in Montreal and Paris, took these beautiful photos and video, and Sabine was kind enough to share with me. Enjoy and if you like Michel’s music perhaps you will set up a show for him in your town! Or at least buy his record.
Photo by Anne Bourgeon
Photo by Anne Bourgeon
Photo by Anne Bourgeon
Photo by Anne Bourgeon
The Dance Party That Will Ruin Your Life
October 31st, 2011 § 1 Comment
During the day on Saturday I received this Facebook message, “Halloween snow! A white CHERYLWEEN. The dandruff of the gods is beckoning us to have a shampoo ritual! See you tonight at the Bell House!”
Leopard coat bought when I was 20 at Magpie in Portland, Oregon
In my last post I promised to show you what my nice, black outfit with tasteful gold highlights turned into. That’s right, with the application of some goody “Wake Up With Curls” curlers I turned into PRELLRAISER. What? Prell shampoo + horror movies = Prellraiser. That is, if you are CHERYL, the notorious, Brooklyn-based dance party put on by museum educators who love cats, jazzersize, sequins, video art, fake blood and authentic fun.
CHERYL: ARCTIC FURY from CHERYL on Vimeo.
I love CHERYL because it lacks any sheen of New York attitude, is friendly for both queers and hetero people and condones general arty weirdness. Going for over three years strong CHERYL started in a tiny bar (which has since been renamed and redone) in South Brooklyn because aforementioned arts workers were frustrated they had to keep going to Williamsburg to go to the fun dance parties. They made a dance, they made a video, they found really good DJ’s and CHERYL was born.
HOW TO CHERYL from CHERYL on Vimeo.
It’s since grown into a globe trotting phenonemom, the Cherylites have been named some of the “most stylish New Yorkers” and they’ve had artist residencies and gallery shows and made some of my favorite videos. With themes like “Arctic Fury,” “7/11,” “Nausea,” “Administrative Soul,” “Sasquach on Broadway,” “The Great Depression Take Two: Electric Boogaloo,” “The White Cube,” and “Goth Spaceship” this is not your average dance party.
CHERYL: NAUSEA from CHERYL on Vimeo.
CHERYL: 7-ELEVEN from CHERYL on Vimeo.
With all their acclaim, CHERYL remains an amazingly fun party run by nice people who are glad that you are there. It’s still held regularly in South Brooklyn, the videos are as full of socially commentary, catchy beats, and fake blood as ever, and it’s my favorite (and probably only) place I dare to wear ridiculous clothes and cut loose on the dance floor. Here’s a few CHERYL looks over the years. I hope to see you on the floor the next time!
Photo by Nolan Conway
At the White Cube, photo by Nolan Conway
Me and Andy, my friend from high school, at the White Cube
At the 7/11 party, this photo was featured in a slide show on the Village Voice's website. Yes, I made my own Slurpee hat out of pompoms and a stolen Slurpee cup.
Slurpee hat. Masking tape on my shirt. Must be CHERYL.
Customized shoes for CHERYL 7/11
EUROCheryl
The theme was EUROCheryl. Okay. I'm holding a copy of L'Etranger.
Sasquach on Broadway. I made this dress and reused it for the "Nausea" party, the photo of which I sadly cannot find.
Not sure which party this was for - I think "Thanks for ruining my prom, thanks for ruining my life," but I can tell you that Ida the cat stayed home that night.
Arctic Fury, the first CHERYL I ever went to I was too lazy to create a costume. Fortunately there is always a craft table, so I just put some silver sparkly stuff around my waist.
Texas is the Reason
October 24th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Texas has its own mythology. Its own place in the American imagination. Depending on who you ask Texas is the reason for the United State’s current political mess, or the greatest place in the US, or somewhere in between. It is a universe unto itself, a huge and diverse place, full of long drives and very pretty countryside. I was lucky enough to spend a few days there in mid-September and take in some of the cities and sites. And of course, the Tex-Mex food.
The Orange Show, Houston, TX
When I first got to Houston I felt overwhelmed by the highways, humidity and strangely quiet downtown. I hid in a Starbucks and tapped away on my computer. Thankfully, the next day some native Houstonians helped me get hip to the more alternative and arty side of Houston. One of the huge highlights is the Orange Show, a folk art environment created by a postal worker named Jeff McKissack that was began in 1956 and completed in 1979. I loved the Orange Show’s immersive space and the passionate group of people behind the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art that are working to preserve it and other “folk” or “self-taught” art environments and traditions in Houston.
Ladies only in this part of the Orange Show
Purity of the orange is celebrated at the Orange Show
I also soaked up some more “traditional” art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston where I soaked up a room sized mural of mountains and flowers that looked like a traditional Chinese ink painting, but was made out of gunpowder by Cai Guo Qiang. I also discovered the self-portrait by Suzanne Valadon and spent several minutes in front of it contemplating her sheer determination to paint and make a life for herself as a woman artist. In their gift shop I picked up two Frenchie books – My Little Paris (en anglais because I am a cheater) and Ines de la Fressange’s guide to Parisian style. I visited the Menil Collection, including their hotly contested Bzyantine fresco chapel which is being returned to Cyprus next year, and some smaller art spaces like the awesome Spacetaker artists resource center and gallery.
I love the sheer determination shown in this self-portrait by Suzanne Valadon at the MFA Houston
In the MFA Houston gift shop I found a treasure trove of books about Paris!
The sidewalks outside of the MFA Houston are painted in collaboration with a local artist
I also fortunately got away from the corporate style restaurants downtown and found one of my favorite things about Texas: spacious coffee shops with nice breakfast menus and outdoor seating. These places are so inviting, like you just want to hang out all day eating and sipping fair trade coffee. I enjoyed both Brasil and Empire Cafe (which are quite close to one another and the Menil Collection) as well as the super El Real, which has great Tex-Mex and is in an old movie theater!
Neon at El Real!
Westerns at El Real
After Houston I took a quick, few hour stop in San Antonio, and then rolled on to Austin. After some frenetic days of work on the road I took a little bit of time to unwind with my friend Jennifer. We took a drive about an hour outside of Austin to Krause Springs. Located in the rolling hill country it almost feels like a folk art environment as well, with rock pools, wind chimes and a spring fed lagoon. While Krause Springs felt like an oasis, Texas is going through one of its worst droughts on record and we drove through the remnants of a fire on the way there, charred trees with ashy leaves making the landscape look otherworldly.
Krause Springs, in Spicewood, Texas
I couldn’t skip eating Tex-Mex in Austin either, of course, and Austin is home to even more fantastic cafes with outdoor seating and of course, coffee shops that serve the delicious (and huge!) breakfast tacos.
Tex-Mex, Austin style!
But of course, after all that Tex-Mex I took a little break and Jennifer, her friend Jennifer and I had a lovely girlie dinner at a perfectly French brasserie called Justine’s with lovely food and delicious cocktails (also check out the “amazing” section of their website).
Toast to Texas friends at Justine's
The Saturday night scene at Justine's
Photo shoot outside of Arthouse TX
I also managed a visit to the Austin Film Society, Arthouse Texas and Domy Books, where we saw a wonderful opening, I connected with an old zinester friend, and purchased a book called I ♥ Macarons. Indeed, it seems like I found a lot of France and a lot of art and a few friends in Texas, even though I didn’t visit Paris (Texas).
Detail of an exhibition at Domy Books, Austin
Video for Corita’s Song “Remember That You Will Die”
September 28th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
When I asked my dear friend Leila Bourgougnoux if she would be interested in making a video for my band Corita I didn’t honestly believe she would say yes. Making a video is a lot of work, after all, and it’s not like Corita can pay our artist friends the big bucks. But she did say yes and I sent her a bunch of songs to choose from. She chose our shoegazy take on metal and Buddhist philosophy “Remember That You Will Die” and, after getting kicked out of filming in a Parisian laundromat, shot this beautiful Super 8 footage in the south of France. When the other members of Corita and I saw the results we were absolutely thrilled by how perfectly she interpreted our song. I hope you will be too.
The Rubin Museum of Art also wrote about the video and their song on their Education blog. It was my work on the Rubin exhibition of the same name that inspired the song, so this is a nice full circle!
Tru Luv
August 21st, 2011 § Leave a Comment
ECW + SMH, July 2011. By Dominick Mastrangelo.
I’ve told you a lot about my talented friend Dominick and the great photos he takes. He’s shot my band Corita on numerous occasions, but he does more than shoot music. Earlier this summer he came over to my apartment to do a food photo shoot with me and SMH for our food blog 2 Cooks in the Kitchen. We’ll have those photos (and recipes!) up there soon, but I wanted to take this opportunity to share this photo with you. I know SMH hates his photo on the internet, but I wanted to share this one. I love it because it’s so honest. It was taken on a Sunday. I was tired. We had been cooking in a hot kitchen at a fast pace for several hours. I was not wearing any make up, my hair is too long and out of order, and our house is a mess. But when you look at this photo none of that matters. It’s an honest portrait of two people and their feelings. That’s why I love Dominick’s photography so much.
Corita in the Studio: An Album by Dominick Mastrangelo
April 3rd, 2011 § 3 Comments
Recording hand claps with Corita by Dominick Mastrangelo
I met Dominick Mastrangelo by not-so-random chance. When I first started review shows for Venus Zine (RIP) he was the photographer assigned to my second-ever review- the Carrots at Cake Shop. When I saw a nice guy with a “real”camera shooting them I asked, “Are you Dominick?” and mentioned I would soon be traveling to Glasgow to see (and review) My Blood Valentine. He mentioned he’d been there and emailed me some travel tips. A friendship was born (I’ll leave out the part where 3 months later I temporarily forgot his name while waiting in line to see Ted Leo for free at Castle Clinton). For over a year we became a writer and photographer team, covering indie rock luminaries such as Bon Iver at Town Hall, the mud bath that was (the last) All Points West in 2009, and small, more humble affairs at the likes of Cake Shop.
Reviewing recording notes by Dominick Mastrangelo
Dominick has also been the documentarian of Corita since the beginning. It’s been wonderful to see him grow as a photographer over the past few years and hopefully he’s also seen us grow as a band. In February, when we were recording with Joel Hamburger at GodelString studios he nicely came and made pictures of us in the midst of a very busy day of shooting! I already shared some of those photos with you, but here are some more, not just of me, but of the band. What he does so well as a photographer is capture the feeling of the moment. In these pictures you can see exactly what I love about Corita, even though we’re not even playing our instruments. These three people who push me to create and perform the best I can, who let me laugh, and, most importantly, give me the space to be exactly who I am.
Corita listening closely by Dominick Mastrangelo
Aileen and Nick by Dominick Mastrangelo. I love Aileen's smile.
Nick making drummer like motions by Dominick Mastrangelo
Marisha by Dominick Mastrangelo
Aileen with Joel Hamburger in the background by Dominick Mastrangelo
Marisha by Dominick Mastrangelo
Nick by Dominick Mastrangelo
Me and Nick by Dominick Mastrangelo
Taking a rest on the recording notes by Dominick Mastrangelo
Corita Recording Notes
February 22nd, 2011 § 2 Comments
Recording at Godelstring Studio. Photo by Dominick Mastrangelo.
After two and a half years of being a band Corita finally took the time to go into a proper studio and commit our songs to tape (or digital files, in this case). We were in luck to work with Joel Hamburger at Godelstring studios in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Concentrating on overdubbing my new part. Photo by Dominick Mastrangelo.
It’s a beautiful, well kept studio that Joel build up himself over 7 years. An incredible engineer (and Physics student) who also plays a producer’s role he knew what we wanted to achieve and made our songs sound like they always have sounded like in our heads. He was relaxed, confident and reassuring, setting up the environment to be as natural as possible so we could relax and concentrate on playing our songs. He also knew the flow of the recording day so well he knew exactly when to suggest we take breaks, get food, and even (towards the end of the first day) have a beer.
First engineer Joel with second engineer Delilah.
I learned a lot being in the studio. I always dreaded recording, thinking about it as a tedious process that was mired in frustration and unhappiness. In Joel’s capable hands it was long, for sure, but immensely satisfying and even fun!I also learned a lot about being a musician. I realized that the more I relaxed the better my playing and singing became. This is not surprising, but important to recognize.
My Guitar at Godelstring.
Recording vocals is always very revealing and at certain moments I began to over think my singing and got progressively depressed about it. That was when it was time for a break. What I realized when we listened to the tracks back was that I was over singing before. In the studio there’s no reason to push your voice over a roaring sound system because you can hear everything.
Aileen's bass chills with the organs.
I realized I was pushing my voice to be too theatrical and it was creating music that I didn’t want to listen to, which is a real problem because I feel like I should always write the music I want to hear in my own band. It was real revelation to realize that in the studio I could relax and let my voice be its own, limited self, and that the songs sounded better that way. That’s a lesson I’ll carry out of the studio and on to the stage.
Aileen and Marisha enjoy their time in the studio.
It was also a very validating experience to spend two full days concentrating on something I create. After six years of working full-time in “the arts” I’ve started to think of myself less of a creative person and more as someone who supports other creative people. Lately I have been telling the artists I work with that I am a writer and musician just to make myself sound more “for real” to them.
Nick tests out the drums in the studio.
Two full days in the studio felt like my very own weekend artists residency and I realized that I have to take this kind of time to take my own work seriously. What I love about my band is that it gives me a focus and there are three other people to push the project along. But after seeing what a weekend can achieve I feel energized and more able to value my own creativity and projects. And that makes me more valuable to the artists I work with as well.
Recording notes. And an egg shaker we didn't end up using.
Trying on the New Year for Size
January 1st, 2011 § 3 Comments
I always grumble that New Years is my least favorite holiday, but this year I decided to pre-empt my new years ennui and throw a party. It’s a good excuse to see friends, make good food and get dressed up but not have to go anywhere. I even managed to convince my friends who live in Washington Heights, Bushwick and Greenpoint friends to come down to Sunset Park.
To celebrate the passing of the old year and the beginning of the new I wore an old, favorite dress: a sparkly, vintage number I bought at the Garment District in Boston in 2000 and wore to my senior prom! The shoes are brand new and by Robert Clergerie in Paris. They constitute my year end bonus from work. I first saw them on Fashion is a Playground and fell in love.
At some point during the evening we thought it would be a good idea to a photo shoot… on the kitchen floor. Ah, revelry! So here is wishing you all the very best for the new year! May it bring you happiness, health, adventure and joy!
And now, a little blast from the prom night past! Hilariously, my outfit 10 years later is almost the same: sparkly tights, high heeled Mary Janes, but not the pink wig or cats eye glasses. Enjoy!
Prom Night 2000
Corita Style!
November 6th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
I love my band Corita. We have been a band for over two years now and been playing shows out for over a year. I was recently asked about how I mitigated the stress that comes with New York living and I brought up Corita as an example. There are few things better than having a time every week to get together with 3 of your closest friends and work on a collective, creative project. Since we all have our own careers there’s no pressure on the band to “make it,” in the traditional sense of getting signed, man. For us “making it” as a band means writing good songs, challenging ourselves as musicians, and making sure that when we play out, we play well and look good. To that end, we always coordinate our outfits.
Half the Band in a Super Punk Glam Portrait
You can see another photo like this here with our good friend Phil Pierce from the band Crawl Babies (who are one of our favorite bands to play with).
Black dreses, colored tights, black shoes
Sometimes we get even more girly with our get up.
Summery Pastels (in low light)
Professional, yet punk
And sometimes just punk! (thanks to wunderfemme)
Dots, stripes, and old glory
I want to apologize to Nick, our drummer, who is also very stylish, but stuck behind the drums, and so not often photographed. You might say that I’m being a superficial feminist rocker by talking about fashion, but listen, rock and fashion have always been closely related and dressing up for a performance is part of our way of saying “thanks for listening, we care that you are here.”
Baby J Update
July 5th, 2008 § Leave a Comment
For those of you who are so happy for Erin and Daniel, they’ve created a blog for new son Isaac Seth. Oh, so great. You can follow the details of his life here: http://isaac.jurnove.net/
