HIROYUKI HAMADA

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INTERVIEWED BY ANNA GRIGGS

Hiroykui Hamada is a sculptor. Born in Tokyo, Japan, he now lives and works in East Hampton, New York with his wife and two children. He is represented in New York by Lori Bookstein Fine Art. 

THE LAB MAGAZINE—When and how did you first begin to make artwork?

HIROYUKI HAMADA—I was already in college when I started. I liked making things as a kid but I guess I didn’t really know what “art” was. It’s sort of amazing that all the art classes that I had to take since I was in kindergarten failed me. Maybe visual art is not as narrowly defined as other forms of art. There might be more consensus in the difference between making some noise and writing a song, or between a description and a poem… Maybe I didn’t grow up with lots of visual art around me… So it was pretty shocking to see my college teacher take a piece of paper, make marks on it, and the whole thing started animating with a wholeness, like having a life. So that got me into making art. I switched my major from psychology to art.

TLM—You started out as a painter and now your work is mostly sculptures. How did your focus from one medium to another shift over time? 

HH—It’s been a gradual change. Every time I make something it gives a momentum to a certain direction. For example, if I see variations in textures, that might make me interested in working with variations of the surface, eventually leading to a different shaped canvas or that could eventually lead to a 3D shape growing out of a 2D surface and so on. So it’s really not like one day I decided to become a sculptor and I started learning from scratch. By the time I knew I was becoming a sculptor I already had some tools around, although, there were bigger jumps that I had to take, like learning about materials, technical know-how, and so on. There are other ways to grow of course, but I think I could make sure that I was guided by what the work needed that way, not by some irrelevant external things. 

TLM—What other kinds of evolution have you seen happening in your work? What prompted those shifts?

HH—Well, that’s a tough question because it pushes me to guess what works and what doesn’t work. My belief about art is that the essential mechanism of the particular art work is always hidden from the artists or the viewers. For example, we can build the base structure or the back ground using existing techniques – such as balancing elements, working with contrast, color schemes, symmetry, repetition, rhythm and so on – but none of these things have anything to do with the lasting quality which truly moves us. And I don’t even think about those things that much either. It’s the structure of elements put together in a certain way so that the result can guide us to feel some sort of a basic essence about who we are with all the unknown parts attached to it. It’s nothing we can really get to by a formula of any sort. I think that makes art so special to us. We can all tap into the unknown familiar place while also being who we are as humans.

Discover the complete feature here.

SUUNS

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INTERVIEWED BY JORY MACKAY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANE AND JANE

After two years relentlessly touring North America and three trips overseas, Montreal-based Suuns have released the follow-up to their acclaimed debut, Zeroes QC. Bassist/keyboardist Max Henry spoke withThe Lab Magazine about inspiration, instrumentation, and the mystique behind Montreal. 

THE LAB MAGAZINE—You were labeled Best Band of 2011 by NME. How did such a high level of initial praise affect the writing on the new album?

MAX HENRY—I would say not too much. That’s the kind of approach that can be pretty poisonous to the creative process. Of course it’s a tremendous honor. But we’ve tried to be casual about it.

TLM—Has the amount of time you’ve spent on the road over the past few years changed your sound? Did you think more about the live show when writing songs for your new album, Images du Futur?

MH—The live show has always been the primary consideration. We won’t put anything down that we can’t play live. It’s more of an ensemble that way; the albums stay more of an index. So the live tunes are always changing.

Find the entire SUUNS feature here.

NOELL S. OSZVALD

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INTERVIEWED BY DARYA KOSILOVA

Noell S. Oszvald is a self-taught photographer and visual artist from Budapest, Hungary. After becoming a Flickr sensation almost overnight for her deeply dark and sophisticated imagery, it came as a viral shock when this artist revealed that she has only been taking photographs for just over a year. 

DARYA KOSILOVA—Hi Noell! Tell me a little bit about yourself.

NOELL S. OSZVALD—I’m a 22 year-old girl from Hungary. I was born in Budapest, the capital and currently living in a small town not so far from there.

DK—How long have you been taking photographs?

NSO—I’ve been taking photos and making photo manipulations for more than a year now. 

DK—I feel like I’m in a lost memory or a dream when I look at your photographs. Where does the imagination for your images come from?

NSO—It comes from anywhere and anytime – mostly when I’m listening to music, watching films, or desperately trying to fall asleep at night.

DK—Tell me about the first significant memory that has shaped you as a person and an artist.

NSO—It’s interesting. I remember my very first memory; the first time I was aware of life around me. I was playing with my sister in the garden and I remember running towards her and suddenly becoming aware of my own existence.

Find the complete interview here.

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RIIKKA SORMUNEN

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INTERVIEWED BY DARYA KOSILOVA

Riikka Sormunen is a Berlin-based artist and illustrator. With her amazing eye for detail and color, and a slight flare for dark comedy, Ms. Sormunen has landed herself projects including illustrating Big Mother #3 and being a contributor for The New York Times. She is represented by Napa Illustrations in Finland.

DARYA KOSILOVA—Riikka, do you remember the first drawing you ever made? 

RIIKKA SORMUNEN—I don’t know about the very first one, but I’ve got a lot of early memories of drawing. I remember a time when I was drawing a girl’s face and leaning on top of the paper, trying to get her mouth just right. When I got up I saw that I had drawn two mouths, one on top the other. My arm had been covering the first one and somehow I’d managed to forget about it. I tried to erase the oil pastel but it only made it worse, like a bleeding wound on her chin… It was devastating.

DK—When you were a little girl, did you go through phases of drawing particular things or subject matter? For example, when I was little, I went through this weird phase where I would draw these giant hearts and inside I would draw their faces. Afterwards I would cut them out and play with them as if they were paper dolls.

RS—Sounds lovely! I just drew Disney princesses for a really long time and then when I was about 12 I moved on to drawing eyes. I guess that’s quite a common subject. All my school books and notebooks were filled with seductive, disembodied eyes and I even used to give these little tutorials to my friends on how to draw “perfect” eyelashes. 

DK—Did you know that you were going to become an artist from an early age?

RS—I wouldn’t say that I knew before I was about 14, but I always just wanted to draw better. 

DK—Your illustrations are full of vibrant colors, textures, lively personalities, and an incredible eye for detail. When you sit down to begin a drawing are all of these things already in your mind or does the drawing evolve as you begin from a central idea? 

RS—A lot of the details are ready in my mind before I begin drawing, but I usually need to make a few sketches of the composition to see what works and what doesn’t. I can be relatively quick when there’s a deadline to meet, but it takes me forever these days to get any personal work done. I feel like I’ve got all the characters, stories, patterns, places and colors in separate queues, waiting their turn. Trying to choose the best combination can be frustrating at times, and I probably wouldn’t be able to finish anything if I didn’t make some compromises. My favorite part begins when the pencil sketch is finished and I can start coloring. Then it’s just a relaxing paint-by-numbers project.

Find the complete feature here.

STARS

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WORDS BY COLTON D. EDDY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSE ENRIQUE MONTES HERNANDEZ
STYLING BY GINA BOURNE

With subtle thematic choices and narratives drawing from sounds of their eclectic bounty of formative noisemakers, Canadian indie-pop outfit Stars’ sound has developed into something that is not pastiche. The group has recently shifted toward a more playful feel with their seventh album The North, and have been warriors of the road ever since. For over 10 years, Stars have tickled that bone of familiarity with their well-mannered humor, musicianship, and cinematic production. And with an ongoing headline tour, an upcoming tour with Tegan and Sara, and their second Coachella appearance on the horizon, the notion of “slowing down” is not on the agenda. The Lab Magazine caught up with the band’s lead singer, Amy Millan, the morning after their thirteenth show in as many days. With her and bassist Evan Cranley’s two-year-old daughter waking beside her on the tour bus, she took time to reflect on the decade since the Arts & Crafts community formed and the impact that Stars’ soundtrack has set.

AMY MILLAN—Achoo!

THE LAB MAGAZINE—Well, good morning!

AM—Good morning! Sorry about that sneeze in your face.

TLM—That’s all right. Is that a trademark hello? 

AM—I do tend to have sneezing attacks in the morning for some reason, but I don’t know if that’s print worthy.

TLM—How was the show last night?

AM—It was amazing actually. It was a rare occurrence where Evan [Cranley] crowd-surfed. There are not a lot of crowds of ours that get crowd-surfing going, but last night was one of those nights in Calgary.

TLM—Is that a special Calgary thing?

AM—It’s Calgary! It can be explosive and amazing. I mean, it just depends on the night and what’s happening. But it’s a rare thing for us for that to happen, but when it does, it just makes the night. It’s like breaking a string, it doesn’t happen often, but when it does it means things are exploding.

TLM—Has motherhood shifted that balance between off-stage and performance?

AM—Not to do with performance, no. There was a huge party on the bus last night. We, the family, take the back of the bus and we couldn’t hear it at all and missed the whole thing. I think the party part has maybe calmed down a little bit, but not the show aspect. The only reason we’re out here on the road sacrificing being at home is to be playing these shows. It’s one of the best parts of the day.

TLM—Have you noticed any change in your approach to songwriting?

AM—Not at all! It changes you in other ways. In terms of emotional change, anxiety shifts, the view of what’s important and what needs to get done because you have a mouth to feed. The creative process and the person that you are and always will be is the same, I think. For myself, anyway.

TLM—Speaking of anxiety, has there been a moment when you’re about to go on stage and the anxiety doesn’t come as it did before. Is there a fear that loss of anxiety might change the value of the work that you’re putting out?

AM—I don’t think anxiety helps creativity. I think it hinders it. So whatever anxiety I’ve been able to dissipate is only a good thing. It definitely isn’t gone all together. I fight a lot of anxiety and there’s a song on the record called Backlines about that exact thing.

TLM—How much do you feel a song is complete before it is performed? Or is a song ever complete?

AM—That’s an interesting question. It just changes like anything. It isn’t one thing at all times. Every night it should be a little bit different. One of my favorite singers of all time is Billie Holiday and she never sang a song the same way twice. In the folk tradition, they used to change lyrics when they covered other people’s songs. I like to do that with our own songs. I’ve been changing the lyrics to Midnight Cowardnow for the past three months, just to keep it alive and fresh. I think that what is more important is living in the moment. 

TLM—When you hear one of your songs back, on the radio, does the song take on a different life? 

AM—I think that when you hear your song on the radio, you’re so excited that you’re not in a judgmental frame of mind. So if I’ve ever heard it on the radio, in a restaurant or in a clothing store, it kind of makes my day ’cause I feel like I’m penetrating something. It’s rare that it happens. We’re not Rihanna or Coldplay; we’re not a mainstream band. 

TLM—Still, Stars has albums that have been widely celebrated by many fans and critics alike – such as Set Yourself on Fire. What do you think that album had and have you tried to chase it?

AM—That’s so interesting, because I think in terms of the world of critics, that’s the one that penetrated. But on every album, we have these songs that live inside the heart of our fans. Fixed and DeadHearts from The Five Ghosts, My Favorite Book and Take Me to the Riot fromIn Our Bedroom After the War. These are songs that are massive parts of our show and that are huge hits in the lives of our audience. So we don’t look at it that way at all.

Find the rest of the interview and complete feature here.

KANDLE OSBORNE

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With her doll-like semblance, former suburban competitive cheerleader Kandle Osborne embodies a dark astuteness through her metaphorical lyrics and haunting melodies. Hailing from a musical family (her father is Neil Osborne, lead singer of Canadian rock band, 5440), she came into her own last year with a critically acclaimed self-titled EP. Having been to Europe and back and performed at renowned festivals throughout the globe, this swamp-rock-songstress will be the one you’re glad to say you knew back in the day.

THE LAB MAGAZINE—Where are you right now?

KANDLE OSBORNE—I am back in Victoria [Canada], crammed in my parents basement rehearsing, and getting ready to head to Greenhouse Studios in a couple days. My guitar player Sam Goldberg just flew in and we’re spending full days working out the songs and taking breaks for home-cooked mom meals! My old man is producing the album, so things are going super smooth and it makes it really easy to speak your mind and get what you want from a producer when you’ve been getting what you want from him for 22 years!

TLM—You’re currently working on your first full-length album. What’s different about making this from the EP?

KO—The EP was done very unconventionally. I was in a bad place in life and had to move back in with my parents, and talked my dad into putting a couple hours a week into doing my first batch of solo songs, just to prove to myself that I could. It wasn’t until everything was practically done that I convinced Sammy to play some guitar on it. Now that we have become a band and have been touring with these new songs for the last year I feel really prepared and way more confident. Most of these songs have been written for over a year now so it’s incredibly satisfying that I will finally get to share them!

TLM—I find every songwriter writes a song they fall in love with – their own vain stroke of genius. What’s that for you and what does it mean? 

KO—Hah! Love that question. I think my vain stroke of genius would have to be a song called Small. It’s a very strange, dark, and bluesy song driven by simple, honest, and sad lyrics about a deceitful relationship and how sticking around inevitably makes you feel very small. The song cruises along with a chain gang sound with no chorus, only a spooky instrumental breakdown. I’ve always been proud of making that weird little number work!

TLM—What’s your least favorite part of choosing to be a full-time musician as a career? Does anything feel inauthentic?

KO—So many least-fave parts! Where to begin?! Let’s start with being shockingly broke. It’s insanely frustrating when you are working really hard writing, performing, and promoting yourself and you can’t even afford to eat! Also I am constantly fearful of being judged or critiqued harshly, and find it very hard to just brush off negativity. Having said that, there is nothing I’d rather be doing!

TLM—You’re also a trained photographer. It seems a lot of musicians dabble in various artistic ventures outside of music – why do you think that is?

KO—I think that all forms of art are connected and anyone that is skilled in a specific art form is either drawn to or able to do more than one kind. Art evokes emotion and through emotion comes inspiration. When someone is inspired, any artistic venture is possible.

TLM—What is your favorite lyric and why?

KO—“To have ambition was my ambition,” from I Love A Man In Uniform by Gang of Four. Tis my favorite perhaps because it is all too relatable! It’s cheeky and true and, in my opinion, genius!

TLM—Give us your best tour story.

KO—Unfortunately, my best tour story is just plain gross. We were playing in Switzerland and I guess I was having a good time cause I got the spins and had to go back to the apartment. I got into bed and locked my bedroom door. About five minutes later I realized I was gonna be sick and when I ran to the door the whole knob came off and there was no way out! I circled around the room panicked until finding a ziplock bag. That bag and I spent quite a night together.

TLM—Whose career do you aspire to emulate and what legacy do you want to leave behind as an artist?

KO—I think all every musician ever wants is to be respected and consistent. If I had to choose one artist I think I would say PJ Harvey. She has gone through phases over a couple decades and experimented a lot, while producing absolutely stunning material.

TLM—When can we expect the next album?

KO—We are going to be releasing the first single in the summer and then the album in the fall!

More—

kandlemusic.com

HENRIK VIBSKOV DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT SS 2013  

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY SATY + PRATHA
STYLING BY MICHELLE CARIMPONG
GROOMING BY KERRIE JORDAN
MODEL: MAX VON ISSER AT FUSION MODELS

FIND THE COMPLETE EDITORIAL HERE.

SOPHIE PARKER 

EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE LAB MAGAZINE

ILLUSTRATOR SOPHIE PARKER CAPTURES AN ARRAY OF MOODS, MOVEMENT, AND MUSES FROM THE FALL 2013 COLLECTIONS ON DISPLAY AT LONDON FASHION WEEK, EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE LAB MAGAZINE. TO SEE MORE OF SOPHIE’S SUBLIME TOUCH VISIT WWW.SOPHIE-PARKER.COM.

GENERAL IDEA DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT SS 2013

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY SATY + PRATHA
STYLING BY MICHELLE CARIMPONG
GROOMING BY KERRIE JORDAN
MODEL: LOWELL TAUTCHIN AT SOUL ARTIST MANAGEMENT 

See the complete story here.