December 19, 2004

Christmas Thought

William Gibson, author of the science fiction classic Neuromancer, keeps a blog when he is not writing. Yesterday he posted a note about Modest Needs, an unusual charity.

If you've ever had your bacon saved by a someone giving you a few hundred dollars when it looked like nobody else would, and not making a big deal of it, you'll understand the concept behind Modest Needs.

I visited the site and checked the financials. They list the details of every request for money whether they fund it or not. It's a sad list to read.

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December 16, 2004

Jigsaw Gallery

Independent Thinking by Liberation Iannillo

Ben Jones, proprietor of the gallery Jigsaw, has had a busy year. Having moved to New York from California in December 2003, he found himself needing both a place to live and a source of income. Not being able to find either, the self starter began looking at work / live store fronts. His idea was to open a gallery to promote artists, primarily focusing on independent media, self publishing and affordable art. Within 6 months of Ben’s arrival to New York, he had opened Jigsaw.

Located on East 11th Street, Jigsaw promotes the work of new and undiscovered artists including painters, photographers, writers and graphic novelists. Ben connects with these artists mostly by work of mouth though an ad on Craig’s List didn’t hurt. When asked what the criteria are to be displayed in Jigsaw, his answer is simple. “What it really comes down to is that I have to like it and it has to be under $200. So far that has been enough to limit the massive influx of submissions. I have shows lined up through the end of the year and a few shows lined up for next year.” The gallery also includes some of Ben’s own work though focus is to promote the work of others.

“People walk in and ask ‘where’s your stuff?’ They can’t believe that I am doing this and not promoting myself,” says Jones. “My work is scattered throughout the shop but I think these other artists do it better so I’d rather promote them.”

Jigsaw devotes a good portion of its space to comics, graphic novels and the seemingly lost art of the fanzine. “It’s strange, there’s so little that I have found as far as focusing on self produced work,” says Jones. “With the indie music scene, bands come out with CD’s all of the time. With small press comics and magazines it’s a whole other industry. I would like to focus on novels but for some reason even the smallest press goes through a big name distributor so little folks like me can’t get them. If it can appeal to comic book fans then a comic book distributor might pick it up. Rent Girl by Michele Tea has illustrations on every page by Laurenn McCubbin who is of the comics world. But it’s not a comic it’s an illustrated book.”

To promote the gallery, Jigsaw is host a number of monthly events including art openings and both comic and book release parties. This October the B.B.C. stopped by to interview Neil Klied who had a book release party at Jigsaw this past August for his novella Ninety Candles. With more artists embracing the Internet, Jigsaw’s word of mouth is spread though online forums and blogs creating a close nit community in an otherwise stark environment.

“When you read someone’s blog, you have a cache of their likes and their dislikes,” says Ben. “Even though it may be read by thousands of people it still feels like a confidential conversation. You feel like you’re being talked to personally about it as opposed to something that’s pre-printed.”

“I have been to events outside of my shop and I liked what was going on so I plugged them on my email list and several people I know from my list have gone. They show up on the basis that they trust my taste,” says Jones. “It’s somewhat more personal than just handing someone a flyer. With flyers, sometimes they come but usually it’s because there is either free food, free booze or they want to sleep with me.”

Of course a slow and unstable economy doesn’t help matters. “The problem with doing something this odd is the timing, “says Jones. “I managed to pick one of the worst times in the history of our economy to do something like this. ‘Let’s see, what’s a good idea? I know! Open a shop that carries nothing but the first thing that people stop buying when money gets tight!’ The main plan is not to forget that I am doing this because I enjoy it.”

Though everything isn’t always smooth sailing he will admit that the only people he knows who are doing well financially are the self employed. “Freelance illustrators and artists who have pimped themselves out enough can get work just about anywhere,” says Jones. “The artists seem to be doing better than my friends who are in more plausible trades.”

Jones' advice for others who may be thinking of opening a gallery: “Have lots and lots of money. Rent aside, you need to have enough money to get going. So far I have been more successful than I had expected. It’s definitely a full time job and you can’t go into it halfhearted, you have to have a real drive. All in all I think that if you can afford to make it happen, it’s an unbeatable rush.”

Jigsaw | 526 East 11th Street | NYC | 212 777-7845
On The Web | www.jigsawnyc.com

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December 12, 2004

Amazing Video

Video: portable and transferable, is becoming more mainstream and more achievable. We used to swap videotapes, now we swap video files. There are a number of devices that allow you to download video from your computer for any-time viewing. Michael Gartenberg thinks there is a market for these devices. CNET seems more doubtful. In my opinion, the difference in market size is probably similar to the difference between the FM radio market and the miniature TV market, or the portable CD player vs the portable DVD player. You can listen almost anywhere, but most bosses will object to you catching up with your favorite television show during work hours.

I expect we will see the same controversies and difficulties over DRM that we see with portable music devices and DVR's. It's not a pretty picture in the intellectual property world. AllYourTV.com reports that Time Warner is apparently in discussion with several cable providers about limiting the ability of people to view popular TV shows which they have recorded on their cable company supplied DVR. Time Warner is calling this "transitional fair use" (transitional from what to what I wonder?) Time Warner is proposing that consumers have a limited, (one to two week) post-broadcast period during which they can watch recordings they have made of popular shows like Six Feet Under. This will only affect the barely motivated, and will irritate others into hacker mode. I don't endorse stealing the work of others, but pretending that you can effectively put shop lifting tags onto data bits is stupid.

I don't see much speculation on the potential use of these players to bore your relatives with your home made movies and vids. I do think analysts are missing out here. Anyone who makes home movies would definitely load them up on their Creative Labs Zen Portable Media Center. Come to think of it, I would probably like to watch my nephews play soccer or my niece pulverize her tennis opponents.

There are a number of portable video devices available in the $500+ range. They are often referred to as portable media players. Wired reviews are here, here and here. (The December issue of Wired is fantastic, by the way. The issue focuses on the "New Age of Exploration")

I like the idea of the DVX-Pod by Ama Technologies-you can record directly from your cable box or dvd player. I don't think I watch enough video to justify it at $600 but if it drops down I might get one to use as a DVR and portable player. If I am bored while waiting or while riding mass transit, I usually read a book, but maybe one of these players would change that.

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Science Fiction World

Every tidbit on this page reads like a news alert from some sci-fi story. If this keeps up, will we even understand what the next generation will take for granted?

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December 8, 2004

Obscura

With its prosthetic limbs, Victorian clothing and taxidermied animals, Obscura is the East Village's worst, best kept secret.

by Liberation Iannillo

Tucked away on the less frequently traveled East 10th Street is the wickedly beautiful Obscura. It is a shop, part mad scientist, part Norman Bates, that has a tendency to frighten away some of its less adventurous customers. In essence, it is the perfect antithesis of the ‘Sex and the City’ plague that threatens to gentrify the East Village. Obscura is a place fit for Edgar Allen Poe to call ‘home’ not Carrie Bradshaw. And its owners, Mike Zohn and Evan Michelson, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Having visited this shop many times over the past few years, I still have a hard time defining its unique atmosphere to others. Mike is happy to clear this up for me. “We specialize in medical and scientific items, natural history, Victorian clothing, wax museum heads and prosthetic limbs, but it’s much more than that. You really have to see it for yourself to understand it.” Adds Evan, “It’s an alternative beauty that most people don’t think about. It’s about time and love, death and decay.”

Walking into Obscura is like a treasure hunt … for the odd. There is so much to see in the narrow, cluttered atmosphere that it usually requires a few passes to take everything in. Even then you are surely to have missed something. One curio case alone contains black and white death portraits, antique jewelry, Cupie dolls and glass bottles that once contained strychnine. In another large case, there is a wax head from a London museum, a mummified cat and a glass box filled with the most beautiful butterflies one could hope to see … removed from nature. In the back of the shop lies a real treasure. A life-sized anatomical figure made by the late French model maker, Louis Thomas Jerome Auzoux, which is still housed in its original glass and wooden frame. This piece is so powerful that an admission should be charged to view it. It should also be no shock that finding rare pieces like this one is no small feat.

Obscura collects is items from a variety of places including estate sales and auctions. “It’s a lot of waking up early and driving many hours to the middle of nowhere,” says Mike. “And dealing with difficult people. Difficult, irrational people” adds Evan. It’s a true dedication that comes across in any discussion about the items found in their beloved shop. Both Zohn and Michelson are more than happy to answer any questions about their treasures in pinhead detail. For them it’s not a hobby, but a passion. Though, admittedly, not all of their visitors share this passion.

“The reaction to our shop varies. Sometimes people burst into tears because they are so moved by it. They just love it,” Evan says with a smirk. The one thing their shoppers do share is an extreme reaction. People love it or they wait patiently outside while their spouses venture in. On the day I visited them for this article, curious shoppers wandered in and either immediately left or they slowly walked into the shop, gawking, with plenty of questions.

When asked if they plan on expanding their business to locations outside of the city such as Chicago or Los Angeles the unanimous vote is to keep it local. “We do get a lot of word-of-mouth from those places so when they do come to New York, they stop by. But it’s not a shop for everyone,” says Mike. “We get a lot of tourists who think it’s kind of neat but they ask questions like, “Do people really buy this stuff?” Yes, they do.

Obscura, Antiques & Oddities | 263 East 10th Street | NYC | 212 505-9251

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December 6, 2004

Miss Guy

Interview by Liberation Iannillo
Photos by Evan Sung

Fronted by Miss Guy, The Toilet Boys were formed one night in the mid 90's as an opening act for Debby Harry. It was suppossed to be a one night gig. Now some 8 years later, having toured with Cher and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the band goes on. Their song 'Another Day In The Life' found it's way to the American Pie 2 soundtrack and their new album, 'Early Years' has just been released. I recently sat down with the newly brunette and beautiful creature himself, Miss Guy, to discuss breakup rumors, the record industry and the "Archie Bunker" of our generation.

Liberation: Have The Toilet Boys broken up or are you all just involved in a lot of side projects?

Miss Guy: It’s never really been said. We were at a crossroads and I was really frustrated because we were not getting to the next level. We did this tour, it was an opening slot, and it was great. We were like, let’s do it and it will either lead to the next stepping stone or it will be a nice way to kind of end it on a high note.

My manager at the time was trying his hardest to make things happen after that tour and we got one shitty offer and we came home and we had just had it. It had been six years straight without any kind of a break.

We had a US tour but we ended up canceling that because we thought, let’s leave it on a good note. Then we were going to go to Japan that summer so I called Sean. Whenever there is a chance to go to Japan, for me it’s always ‘yes’. He was like, ’duuude, there’s no band and I don’t want to do this anymore’ and I was like alright, I’m going to get someone else to do it. That freaked him out. I was like ‘I’m not going to let you stop me’ so I started talking to other guitarists and then he and I had a big falling out. I think it just had to happen because we were so close for so long.

I saw a psychic before we stopped speaking and she told me that we were going to be taking a much needed break. We didn’t speak for six or seven months.

I started talking to some other musicians and it just wasn’t feeling right and I thought, well, I can’t do The Toilet Boys without Sean because he is too important to the band. It’s all fine now, I love Sean. So I don’t know if the band is broken up. I just don’t have any interest in doing it anymore unless I was opening for Kiss or Cher.

Liberation: I heard that you working on a solo project with Boy George and are going to have Amanda LePore doing backing vocals?

Miss Guy: I actually found something I’d like Amanda to do in a song but it would probably be just a couple of lines. She has a song called ‘Champagne’ and it’s really great.

Liberation: I saw her during the black out last summer. I was on a friends stoop chit chatting and all of a sudden I just saw this blond hair and these wax lips walking down the street. She was wearing this turquoise colored outfit that looked like something Cher in would have worn in ‘Mermaids’. I love her.

Miss Guy: That’s our Amanda! I Love this city. It’s really the only city that has it all.

Liberation: Do you think the East Village has changed since the days when Richard Kern and Lydia Lunch held court?

Miss Guy: Oh yeah, it’s awful now. It’s really become a ‘Sex and The City’ episode. I loved that show in the beginning and I was happy for Pat Field but before that show those people didn’t come downtown, they didn’t want to come. Once Carrie and her friends started coming downtown, that’s when the girls like them started showing up.

Liberation: The Toilet Boys are one of my favorite bands. There are very few bands I will go out and see now.

Miss Guy: Why?

Liberation: Because I am tired of seeing bands that dress like gas station attendants, looking bored onstage! I love The Strokes but they look bored and when you’re shelling out $35 a ticket…

Miss Guy: They suck live.

Liberation: Well, they just stand there! The Toilet Boys put on a SHOW! Every time I have seen you and the band live something catches fire. I saw a show at The Continental one summer and early on in the show, your pyrotechnics go off and all the sound-proof foam on the stage and walls caught fire. When you guys played with Nashville Pussy, that venue caught fire as well. You have a reputation for being a great live band.

Miss Guy: Most reviews usually say we’re better live which is cool, it makes me happy. But it’s hard to get that experience across on a record. Sometimes we’re sloppy live.

Liberation: But isn’t that the advantage of being a rock band as opposed to a pop band? I would think the audience expects rock band to be a bit rough around the edges live.

Miss Guy: There’s a fine line between showmanship and musicianship, one shouldn’t suffer because of the other. There’s a fine line between doing too much of a show that you totally suck in the music part. I just think it’s an instinct.

Liberation: But that’s the great thing about rock is that you can get away with the flawed moments. I’m a huge fan of Courtney Love.

Miss Guy: Me too.

Liberation: I saw her at the Plaid show and, technically, she sounds worse live than she does on record but I love that. It’s real emotion, it’s who she is. She’s got that barking, scratchy voice and it’s very endearing.

Miss Guy: She’s not a good singer at all but her voice is very pleasing to me. Christina Aguilera is a great singer but her voice makes me want to fucking kill.

Liberation: That’s why I’m the first in line to buy Courtney’s records because she IS rock n’ roll.

Miss Guy: She’s the last of a dying breed. I loved her last record, I think it’s so great.

Liberation: Were you at the infamous Plaid show? I saw Sean and Theo there.

Miss Guy: Yeah, I DJ’d there.

Liberation: I felt bad for her that night. I was in the front and she didn’t do anything on purpose, she didn’t throw that mic stand at anybody.

Miss Guy: No, it was an accident. I saw that from up in the DJ booth and she was swinging that mic stand around. She was doing that with her guitar too. It wasn’t like she chose someone and started attacking them. She was flailing stuff about and it accidentally happened. She got tons of press for it though.

Liberation: People are so eager to go after her and it’s unfortunate because she really invites them to do so. She’s just not a sympathetic character.

Miss Guy: If you are going to see Courtney Love and you stand up front don’t be surprised if you get nicked in the forehead. Guitars fly, mic stands fly, she drops, she’s dropping her guitar…

Liberation: It’s par for the course. If it were me, I would have just said, listen sister, let’s have lunch and call it a day. I wouldn’t sue her. I’ve been to your shows and I have had Sean soak me in Kerosene when he was doing his fire breathing routine and did I run home and file a lawsuit? No.

Miss Guy: That’s good because you wouldn’t have gotten anything. (laughs)

Liberation: I still have my kerosene soaked Gun’s N’ Roses T-Shirt tucked away in the back of my closet like Monica Lewinsky’s DNA stained GAP dress.

Miss Guy: (laughs)

Liberation: Is there anyone new on the scene, any band say like in the past six months to a year that you’d say ‘you really have to listen to these people’.

Miss Guy: The new Franz Ferdinand album. The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, I really like them because they’re doing something a little different. I like The White Stripes too but they’re really not that new.

Liberation: Do you think The White Stripes have a future? Do you think they can keep going?

Miss Guy: I think they’re the only ones who have a future out of this new wave of rock.

Liberation: I think out of all of them The White Stripes are going to be the ones that come out on top.

Miss Guy: They’re true artists. To me The Strokes are just like a boy band put together the same way 'N Sync is. I really like The White Stripes, seeing them live I get a thrill and a feeling that it’s something great. The Stokes, I mean, I just can’t think of another band that are more boring live, when I saw them I was like ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’

Liberation: When the labels hear you and see you, what is their response?

Miss Guy: I’m just starting to get my new music out now and I’m doing it differently than I did it with The Toilet Boys. With The Toilet Boys they either liked us or hated us. A lot of the people were into the music but not necessarily into my image, or vice versa. Labels are full of shit, they really don’t know what they want.

Liberation: Do bands really need labels anymore other than just to have someone shell out the cash?

Miss Guy: It’s important. It costs a lot of money to make a record, it costs the label a lot to promote the record, it costs a lot to tour. It’s definitely different than it was but you do need a label to get you out there unless don’t care about doing it on a big level. If you wanted to do it on a smaller level, you can always go with an Independent. You need that financial backing and all you can do is hope you made the right decision with the label because they’re all pretty scummy, even the Independents aren’t as cool as they were 10 or 15 years ago.

In the music business, the artists are the only ones who aren’t protected. The music industry is like the way Hollywood used to be in the golden era where a studio owns it. People like Marilyn Monroe and Olivia Dehavilland helped to break down that studio system and allowed people like Sharon Stone and Tom Cruise to make millions of dollars. I think that’s what needs to happen in the music industry. I think you should be free to make a record with a label the same way an actor makes a movie with a studio. It’s slavery and everybody gets reimbursed for everything except the artist. It’s really tough and that’s why the record industry is failing because they’re not being cool and they’re not being flexible and changing, and growing.

Liberation: They’re hurting right now aren’t they?

Miss Guy: Oh yeah. And the only way bands can make money these days is to tour.

Liberation: That’s why bands like Garbage and U2 tour for two, two and a half years at a time. I’m a huge Garbage fan. Shirley is always writing on her website about how grueling the non stop touring can be. That’s why Sharon Osbourne signed that deal with MTV because Ozzy would have to tour until he was dust in a grave to keep enough of a lifestyle going. The only way he was making money was to constantly be touring. The man is 250 years old, he’s basically a walking vat of red wine and vicodin and he’s still getting up there.

Miss Guy: She’s so smart, though I wish she would just stop it though because it’s become such a joke. It’s hard to take him seriously on stage. The Black Sabbath stuff is dark and evil and scary to some people so for him to be the Archie Bunker of this generation is embarrassing. I always thought Ozzy was so cool and I’m sure he’s a great guy. Having seen that show a couple of times I thought it’s not funny, it’s sad and embarrassing. You’re laughing at the fact that he’s a fucking old, shaking fool.

Liberation: What would you tell some 19 year old that is coming to New York to be a rock star?

Miss Guy: Just go for it, do what you love. I was warned from Jesse from D-Generation about corporate record labels and I still got signed to a shitty label and had a really bad experience. If I could warn someone I’d say watch out for those guys at record labels because they’re sharks!

Liberation: Is there anything that you wish someone had said to you, some little pearl of wisdom that you wish you had known then?

Miss Guy: I moved here when I was 18 and came from a home where I had people telling me what to do and how to live and how to be. So I don’t have any regrets and I don’t think there’s anything that anyone could have told me that…

Liberation: Oh, I’m not suggesting you should have any regrets, I’m just saying is there anything you wish that someone could have shed some light on that took you awhile to see?

Miss Guy: This isn’t anything that someone could have said to me because like I said I was 18 and I would have been like, ‘fuck you’ because I wanted to fuck off for a while and I did fuck off for a while. The only thing in retrospect that I would have done differently is that I wish I would have gotten serious quicker with music. I was meeting people, I was going to the Cat Club, which nobody went to the Cat Club except for the metal dudes. I just wasn’t meeting anybody that was into what I was into so it took until 95, 96, when I met Sean and those guys to click with people musically and to be on the same page. It all happened the way it was supposed to but I wish I started a little bit sooner.

Liberation: It’s so easy to get lost in the whole scene.

Miss Guy: I wanted to fuck off and go out and drink and go out every night.

Liberation: In retrospect, do you think that’s part of the whole journey that you’re on?

Miss Guy: Yeah, I think so. I know I have always wanted a band ever since I was a child but I didn’t know how I was going to do it and I was insecure. I was really happy for a number of years just to dress up and go out and be treated like a star. I never had to pay for anything and that was a big thrill to me coming from a small town in San Diego where you had to drive forever to somewhere fun and then pay. It was great, I was 18 and drinking for free every night of the week and going where I wanted to go and great parties, hanging out with celebrities. That was fun but that wore off.

Liberation: So when you got here, you were really thinking, ‘I’m going to form a band one day’?

Miss Guy: Yeah! I was thinking of that part.

Liberation: I think that’s the big misconception when you’re 20 is that you have all of the time in the world, and then 30 hits!

Miss Guy: I’ll let you know when I reach 30!

Liberation: I’ll let you know when I reach 25!

On The Web | www.toiletboys.com

Photos: Evan Sung

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