Gummo

Ok, so have you ever witnessed a piece of art, heard a song, or seen a show, that just completely takes your breathe away, where afterwords you are left asking yourself what is it that just happened? Where your mind is electrified with such grandeur and power that there is nothing more you can do than just say "wow?" Well last night I felt this feeling. I was flipping through the channels and came upon the film "Gummo" directed by Harmony Korine on the Sundance channel. The film is about two kids who wander around a small Ohio town causing trouble, and encountering other weirdos in and around town. Its totally bizarre, and strange, and in my opinion its pure genius.
Heres a few clips:






You may recognize the curly-haired guy in this clip, its legendary skateboarder Mark "the Gonz" Gonzalez, so good.


I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do.

Fix Push

This is hilarious...

And I thought fixed gears were cool...

"There is no beginning, and there is no end"

I was tired of my bass guitar case looking so boring and plain so I thought I'd decorate it! I splattered some green paint on Jackson Pollock style. (Just watched the film "Pollock" the other day which was pretty interesting, check it out.) But I also wanted to put something on it that would help inspire me before a show so I made a stencil of a bear which is a symbol of strength.




I was going to try to find the trailer for "Pollock," but found this instead. All I can say is this guy was a genius.

Light Painting!

This summer I made up a list of things that I want to accomplish, and one of the things on the list was to experiment with light painting. What light painting is, is setting a camera on a slow shutter speed and waving some form of light in front of it. I found this old glowstick in the back of my cupboard that said it expired June 1992, but I cracked it open anyways and went at it haha. Hope you enjoy.

I came across this on youtube and was blown away. Two of my idols on stage at the same time... damn.

La Jette

Amazing film.

The other day before I saw brand new in Brooklyn I was hanging out at my friend Dora's place in Manhattan. Now Dora lives on 14th street and 1st ave and we thought it would be fun to hang out on the rooftop of her apartment. The funny thing about being on 1st ave is that pretty much every time you look out the window you are guaranteed to see one of those red tour buses with people on the roof. So my friend Manuel and I thought it would be funny to scream at them from the roof. The rooftop was filled with old splintery chairs, and dead plants, and we used them as props to freak out the tourists. Each bus was unique and had its own personality. Some people would wave and snap photos of us, while other's jaws would drop and get really freaked out haha. Some were screaming back at us "Jump Jump!"Even people on the street started taking photos of us. We were like celebrities haha. Its pretty funny knowing that those tourists will forever remember us as the crazy roof kids on 14th street.
I've got a video to post when I can figure out how to do it, without it taking two hours (because I just don't have that kind of time.)

I saw Brand New the other night in Brooklyn. It was one of the most gorgeous things I've ever heard. They were so good. I was feeling a little down the past few days and this song pretty much sums it all up. How ironic.



I'll be putting some of my photos of the show up any day now.

World premier of "SPENCIL!"

Last semester my friend Elliot Lobell who is a film student at Purchase College, wanted to shoot a documentary about me as a graffiti artist. After hours of hard work on both our ends here is the end result. Enjoy!

SPENCIL! from elliot lobell on Vimeo.

A short doc revealing the creative process of a graffiti artist, in an untraditional graffiti style, mixed in with his thoughts and views of the world of street art

Explosions in the Sky show!

I was back in New York City last night to check out Explosions in the Sky at the Central Park summerstage. I've missed all the sounds, the screeching of the subway cars, the aromas of food vendors on the corners, the mountainous skyline, the bloody rats strung out across the sidewalk...
As soon as I arrived in the city, it started getting windy, and looked like it was going to rain. I met up with some friends at the fountain in Central Park, and then headed over to the summerstage to wait in line. While waiting in line it started to downpour and in no time everybody was soaked. I wasn't prepared to let the sogginess ruin my experience so I pulled a garbage bag off the fence, poured out the garbage, and made myself a poncho. It smelled like orange juice, but it worked like a charm. When I got inside, there was a little delay, the sound guys were debating whether to hold back on the show, and the crowd erupted chanting "RAIN OR SHINE, RAIN OR SHINE!" The first band the Castenents finally went on, and their set wasn't that interesting. They did alot of looping, and playing around with effects pedals, and honestly it was boring. By the time the second band Constantines had set up the sun was back. They totally rocked it. One of the best rock bands I've seen in a while. They had some killer stomp groves where every member of the band was stomping their feet on the stage, as hard as they could. The singer had a real bluesy voice, and the guitar work was real 70's hard rock, but heavy at the same time. Picture a modern day Led Zeppelin playing "Black Dog."
Explosion's set was incredible. They sounded just like they do on the records. You could feel the bass and the kick drum in your chest, it was like thunder. The intro to "Birth and Death of the Day" sent chills down my spine. Musaf was having guitar troubles for a good amount a show, but besides that it was awesome, I highly recommend you see these guys if you ever get the chance.