Have you ever been to a frat house rager with Courtney Love? We have. And by frat house, we mean the massive Gene Autry pad at the Parker Palm Springs. But instead of bros and beer pong, there was an overflowing open bar and the creme de le creme of downtown New Yorkers, like nightlife icon Sophia Lamar and Saint Laurent muse Liza Thorn. Twas the second weekend of Coachella, and NJOY and Courtney Love hosted the intimate affair.

At one climatic point, she hopped up on a coffee table to enthusiastically ask the attendees to gather around as she thanked all for coming, tossed out NJOYs and ended with a “I hope I play Coachella next year!” in that raspy/immaculate voice (yes, please). Love then posed it up for pictures with guests, where she did the unexpected – aka grabbing several gay men’s crotches (including ours) for the sea of iPhone flashes to, in her words, “see if I can turn any of you straight!” Just let us know the time and the place and we’ll totally put a ring on it, Courtney.

We spoke to her about getting laid in Miu Miu and how Steven Meisel inspired her to get plastic surgery.

Any more deets on your clothing line? You tweeted a few photos of wearing the clothes complete with cigs and rose bouquets!

Someone at Conde Nast described it as “the perfect wardrobe for a courtesan slash rockstar”. You can’t buy it anywhere yet because I don’t have a licensing deal and because they’re so over the top. I’m making 12 new pieces for this capsule collection, so there’s pieces that everyone can wear – not just Sky Ferreira and Liza Thorn. The thing is, I’m now too old to wear them. I’m 48 years old. And I will tell you who told me that… Karl Lagerfeld. He said, “Why are you in a tutu, Courtney?” And I said, “Because I have a new record out and this is my Lady Gaga look!” And he said, “You’re never gonna get laid in a tutu.” And I looked at my navy Miu Miu, and realized he was right; I started wearing navy. Like that, I started getting laid.

So, you’ve done shoots with some of the greatest. Tell us a wild on-set story!

I remember doing a photoshoot with Steven Meisel, who said the most amazing thing: “I can tell if a model is lying about her age by the collagen in her calves.” We were looking at the tabloids and there were pictures of stars with this little wrinkle that all women and all men have under their arm.

So, the next time I went to my dermatologist, I’m like “Can you put collagen in that wrinkle?” [laughs] So he put collagen in but the wrinkle didn’t go away because… The wrinkle is a part of the human body. But I wanted to see if I could defeat the Meisel standard of beauty and excellence. Speaking of [Stevens in fashion], tomorrow I’m gonna go to the Steven Klein studio and we’re doing a very secret project, so I’m very excited about that.

What’s your relationship like with Klein? And can you let us in on the secret… just a bit?

I’ve never heard Steven gossip at all; I’ve never heard him say something negative about another person. I’m gonna do this online thing with him and we’re gonna make into a video for one of my new songs.Then for the ‘California’ video [for her new song], I really want [David] LaChapelle to do ‘California’, but even for me, he won’t get out of bed for less than a hundred grand…

Speaking of LaChapelle, you teamed up with him for an art show, Mentoring Courtney Love: David LaChapelle & Courtney Love…

When I can’t write a song, I have to do something, so I have all of these paintings and drawings. At my show ‘And She’s Not Even Pretty’ [which took place in New York last spring], Schnabel came, my friends from MoMa came… I sold a lot but it wasn’t like Bob Dylan crazy, 120,000 grand crazy. But I put a lot into them.

Since we last spoke, your NJOY webisode came out and a lot of people have questioned you getting involved with an e-cigarette brand…

I believe in the product and I don’t align myself with anything that I don’t believe in. You know, I’ve suffered from it financially, but that’s my standards – I’m not letting them fall. I’d rather lay on my stained-ass couch that Mario fucking Testino photographed. I’m just not letting my standards down – it’s just not gonna happen in this life or the next.

Words and images: Alex Catarinella

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Courtney Love is full of surprises as of late – not so surprising, given it’s Courtney Love, but more to the point… Have you noticed her Twitter support for NJOY? (For those who didn’t witness every Fashion Week hipster puffing on one in New York, it’s a brand of electronic cigarette.)

Love’s credited it helping her go from three to one pack-a-day, and now she’s the unlikely face of its latest campaign. Less surprising is yesterday’s big reveal: Love, joined by Marilyn Manson, Kim Gordon, and Ariel Pink, is fronting the newest Saint Laurent campaign.

Read on for her thoughts on Hedi Slimane‘s grunge collection, the important advice she took from David LaChapelle and Drew Barrymore, and the thing that still pisses her off the most – namely, where are her fucking keys to the city of Malibu?

How long have you been a smoker? And… why NJOY?

I’ve been smoking since I was 11; I think I started with Kools or Virginia Slim Menthols or something ridiculous. I liked NJOY because they have the throat kick that’s like smoking a real cigarette. I was able to go to opera at the Met and do my face in the bathroom and have an NJOY. And every time these ladies would start bitching at me, I’m like, “It’s a fake cigarette!” Then I went to a screening and everyone was smoking my NJOY – one of the Kennedy kids, André Balazs, everyone. I can’t tell you how much it’s changed my life. If I go out tonight, I can go to Cipriani’s, I can go to the Met Ball and I can fucking SMOKE, if you will.

Some people still get a lot of side-eye because they look so much like the real thing.

It looks like a cigarette so people get offended, which just shows you the moral condition of what being a smoker is. There’s a whole generation of smokers in this country and we’re looked upon like we’re crackheads.

But you’re really into these things, right? You’re not like, the new face of Pepsi but chugging Diet Cokes backstage.

This isn’t Jenny Craig – I don’t have to quit. But I’ve cut back smoking on my own without trying. I almost smoked three packs a day and now I’m down to a pack, which is insane for me. I still enjoy smoking, but it gives me a choice and that’s the important thing.  Sometimes [real cigarettes] are really enjoyable – there’s nothing like an after sex cigarette.

Let’s talk about some of your other projects, like your upcoming clothing line. What made you venture into fashion?

Back in 2008, some stylist told me that Versace didn’t wanna dress me. I called David LaChapelle crying and he said, “Those guys paid you two hundred thousand dollars for you to wear a grey fucking mini skirt? Since when did you fucking give a shit? Make your own fucking clothes.” I never depended on [designers] before; I don’t depend on them now. If Hedi makes me his muse, that’s great. And I really, really, really love the pre-fall and the first Saint Laurent seasons – that’s my uniform for onstage. They could’ve been a little more generous with the blouses, I have to say!

@hedislimanetwithaving gasms at the idea of rich ladies buying what we used to wear, finally someone got the actual look exact, no beanies

— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) March 5, 2013

Speaking of Hedi, your tweets about his grunge collection made fashion bloggers lose their minds. What’d you really mean?

I just find it hilarious that in three months time or however long it takes, women are gonna pay six thousand dollars for a fucking trench coat that cost us $4.99 back in the day. He got that look absolutely right. It’s not my look – I’ve never worn a Doctor Marten in my life, thank you very much! My feet are already big enough and I’m already too butch.

You seem like you stick to your guns when it comes to projects and collabs.

That’s true. With the movie stuff, I wasn’t that smart on some of the projects I passed on. I got offered serious money for [biopic] Joplin and Drew Barrymore gave me advice, like, “You’re doing that movie for the quote.” And I’m like, “I’m gonna go around for the rest of my life and people are gonna go, ‘You’re Janis Joplin!’ I’m not gonna have a fucking identity!” I don’t regret the decision at all. Whatever million I got would be gone by now… or not, depending on how I invested it.

While we’re on the subject of acting, will you be doing your thing on the big screen anytime soon?

I just joined an amazing talent agency called Resolution – they’re the shark that’s eating up Hollywood. Jeff Berg, who started it, is the only agent in Hollywood who said to me, “When you feel like doing films again, knock on my door.” When I quit Adderall and all of the prescription medications and was ready to act again, I went. He’s really tough; he doesn’t hold hands. But he kept his fucking word.

So spill – what’s happening with your music?

I have two A-sides coming out in mid April and I tour through June and July, playing about 70 shows. I had six songs, but I decided to pick the two excellent songs instead of four really good songs and two excellent songs. I’m doing an iTunes exclusive.

And you named one of these excellent songs ‘California’. Discuss!

I keep writing about California so I just finally called a song straight up fucking California. Not even Malibu, which I still don’t have the keys to the city and I’m really pissed – 13,000 people and they don’t give me the fucking keys to the city! It’s like when Billy Corgan told me he was calling a song ‘Tonight, Tonight’. I was like, “If that song isn’t the best fucking song I’ve ever heard, you will be carted out of town on a cross.” You don’t call a song ‘Tonight, Tonight’ or ‘California’ unless you know it’s major.

You’re on a goddamn roll. Anything else the world can look forward to from you?

I don’t know if it’s gonna happen or not, but they’re looking at me to judge one of these talent shows. Some people go on them and they have butterflies come out of their ass. I’m not saying I’m gonna go on and be a cunt, but I would just be myself. I’m not afraid to be honest. I always said I would never, ever, ever do one, but I’m not talking about the one judging dogs – it’s the other one, I don’t wanna say the name of it. If Ellen DeGeneres can be a judge, I mean, hello?

We can only imagine the amount of reality show offers you’ve received over the years…

I’ve said no to the funniest shit. There was one where they wanted me to do the Iron Chef of taxidermy. I don’t want the controversy around me – it’s boring and I’m done with it. But at some point last year, Charlie Sheen had a Comedy Central roast and they actually asked me to do that. I was like, “I just went to the opera… in a Marchesa tulle dress with my NJOY!”

Words: Alex Catarinella

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“My EP came out two days ago. You should know the fucking words!” barks MC Angel Haze at downtown Manhattan's rave-friendly Santo's Party House to an enthusiastic crowd… who apparently aren't enthusiastic enough for the 21 year-old. She executes dizzying, visceral flows like a madwoman to celebrate the release of her EP, Reservation. It's a dark and thrilling experience. But unlike her idol, Eminem, haze's rapid-fire rants don't come across as her psyche unravelling, but a demand to be heard. Spoiler Alert: Haze has succeeded.

When we meet earlier in teh day, Haze isn't the same startling lyric-spitter as she shuffles into a NoHo studio wearing Dr. Martens and a flannel dangling from her petite waist. She seems more like a skinny jeans-clad hipster you'd find in her neighbourhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn than a theatrical hip-hop starlet.

It take just a “who is Angel Haze?” for her to burst out of her shell: “Angel Haze was born on September 8th of 2010 as a rude, bitchy little brat,” she says proudly. “Either you were gonna hate her or you were gonna agree with her, because she was always gonna says whatever she wanted to say with no regard to anyone's feelings. It's like, 'I'm right, you're wrong, shut the fuck up.'” Haze made her name via YouTube videos such as 'Fuck Who Likes YOU!!!' preaching about teen issues.

But her growing pains were anything but ordinary. Native American by birth, she was raised with her twin brother by her mother, a member of an Apostolic cult. “The pastor was getting girls who were like 14 pregnant, like it was normal,” she mumbles. “I didn't listen to music until I was 15.” At around 18 years old, after relentlessly moving to numerous ghost-towns, Haze's mother “changed overnight” and escaped.

Poetry was Haze's escape, which mutated into her alter-ego's fierce flows, and she confronts these demons on her EP. The self-professed cage-rattler adds: “I've been here for four months and I don't see any reason why I don't run New York because I'm better than all of these bitches here. If you disagree, get the fuck out!”

Words: Alex Catarinella
Images: Aaron Stern

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When it comes to big breaks, starring in the film adaption of a beloved coming-of-age novel, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, is about as good as it gets. Logan Lerman, who portrays the troubled high-school freshman, Charlie, is feeling the pressure. He calls from Iceland, where he’s filming the Darren Aronofsky-directed Biblical epic, Noah, alongside his Perks co-star, Emma Watson. “I have no idea how much longer I’ll be here. Maybe a couple more weeks; maybe a couple more days.” Despite his dizzying schedule and a grumbling voice hinting at a need for some rest, Lerman’s still got Charlie on his mind.

“My concerns weren’t about pleasing the fans of the book, but more about getting to the place where Charlie is,” he says, which was “a little daunting”. Besides slight uneasiness, Lerman sounds nothing like the achingly awkward lost teen he plays in the film: he is articulate and composed, coming across as an artist far wiser than his twenty years. For the seasoned actor whose professional career began at five, including roles alongside Russell Crowe, Jim Carrey and Mel Gibson, it all makes sense.

But this time, it’s Lerman whose name is splattered across movie posters, though he shares much screen- time with a handful of young actors who portray Charlie’s fellow misfits. they include Charlie’s out-of-his-league love interest, Sam, played by Harry Potter’s Emma Watson, and Sam’s quirky gay stepbrother, Patrick, played by We Need To Talk About Kevin’s Ezra Miller. Despite the film’s dark script, the cast’s off-camera experience was lots of fun. “We literally took over the wing of a hotel [in Pittsburgh] and the whole hallway was filled with the actors – it was just like a dorm. Everyday we were in each other’s rooms, making music, getting to know each other.” In one particular bonding moment, Lerman fondly recalls them dressing as “Greasers” complete with gelled-back coifs whilst getting rowdy at a Pittsburgh Pirates ballgame.

Though, in Perks, the misfits’ cafeteria conversation often focuses on college applications to escape suburbia, the film also serves as a love letter to its writer’s hometown. In a pivotal scene, Charlie is dazzled by Sam’s rebellious ritual of standing on the back of a truck, 90s tunes blasting, while Patrick speeds through a tunnel and soars past Pittsburgh’s shimmering skyline. The screenplay, as well as the novel, was written by the film’s director, Pittsburgh native Stephen Chbosky and published in 1999 by MTV Books, going on to sell over a million copies. Still, there were stakes for Lerman.

“Perks was taking a gamble because it was a first-time director, but Stephen is just such a passionate, intelligent, fantastic writer,” he says. “My audition consisted of three scenes – one was where Charlie gets stoned for the first time, a romantic scene, and Charlie having a breakdown. It was three difficult places to get to emotionally in fifteen minutes.” Difficulty aside, Lerman, as we now know, killed it.

“Logan was the second person I auditioned for charlie, and after his audition, I didn’t need to see anybody else,” says Chbosky. “He fundamentally understood Charlie, and gave Charlie all of the humour, hope, vulnerability and kindness that the character demanded.”

With the buzzed-about flick set for October release, is Lerman prepared to potentially share Watson’s tabloid fame? “If that were ever to happen, I think it’d be pretty uninteresting. I’m pretty boring.” Still, Lerman’s tone also suggests that this pending unknown is both exciting and nerve-wracking – so much so that he has yet to view the finished film. “Watching myself having a nervous breakdown would be a little weird for me…”

When I bring up the Smiths-heavy soundtrack, Lerman unveils an apt reaction from someone who’s ascending toward Hollywood stardom, innocently asking “Is it good?” (I tell him it’s great). Considering his viscerally layered performance, I have a feeling that, very soon, Lerman won’t need reassurance of any kind.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower comes out on October 3 in the UK. All clothes by John Varvatos.

Text: Alex Catarinella
Images: Skye Parrott
Stylist: Jenny Ricker

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Zoe Kravitz is a Sagittarius to a T, she admits, moments after arriving to meet me at a noisy West Village cafe. “You know, a social butterfly. Flighty and late,” she says a bit hoarse. She apologises, orders a soy Americano and politely requests a fruit and yoghurt plate, despite missing the breakfast menu. I’m not certain if our waiter obliges because Zoe’s a cute, well-mannered 22-year-old, clad in her Village-friendly bohemian best, or because, well, her parents are Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet. 

With scattered hand and forearm tattoos peeking out from underneath her sweater, and a distressed tan trench coat courtesy of her friend Alexander Wang, Kravitz seems more like an arty Parsons student than your archetypal rock star child. We’re soon chatting away about the foxy waiters at our mutual favourite Williamsburg brunch spot and squealing about our life goals of being Patti Smith and inhabiting the Chelsea Hotel circa the 70s. It’s not that I’ve forgotten I’m sitting across from Zoe, last name Kravitz; I just don’t care. 

And that’s how Kravitz wants it. “I’ve developed a pretty good bullshit detector over the years,” she confesses, admitting that her famous last name has always come before her, especially in her high school days. “I think hopefully, most of the time, the more [people] got to know me the less weird it got,” she says. “A few days before school started, the kids were always like, ‘Oh, my God!’ But once I got there, they thought I was pretty cool. Or that I was kind of weird,” she explains with a throaty chuckle. Fiercely independent, Kravitz has lived on her own since 18, and says she’s always done her own thing.

Was it inevitable that she would go into showbiz, given her radder-than-rad parents?
“It kind of happened. It wasn’t planned out,” she says. “High school ended and it was time to choose a career. I had spent all of my time acting and singing, so I gave it a shot.”
OK, so her family background probably didn’t hurt her career, but it’s Kravitz’s raw talent, hard work and legit training that’s taken her from playing dress-up and singing Grease tunes to reluctantly auditioning and nabbing the role of Angel Salvador in the forthcoming, massively-hyped X-Men: First Class. “My agent called and I was like, ‘Can you go in for X-Men today?’ And I was like, ‘No, please. There’s no point.’ Because I just didn’t think I had a shot. I was like, ‘I’m not an X-Men chick.’ I would never picture myself in it,” she says with candor and a tinge of the insecurity you’d expect from a budding actress. “My band [Elevator Fight] had performed the night before and I was hung over.” Nonetheless, she got the role, her first in a mainstream film, for which, by the way, dons “a lot of tight leather, kind of slutty costumes.

What’s next?
Well, tomorrow she’s off to the South by South West festival for a screening of indie-drama Yelling to the Sky, which finds Kravitz in her first leading role as Sweetness, a 17-year-old student from Queens coping with abusive, tumultuous environs alongside Precious star Gabourey Sidibe. “The stories I’m attracted to are a little more on the real side, the interesting side,” explains Kravitz. Those include roles in a slew of indie flicks over the past few years, ranging from a counseling-obsessed teen in The Greatest (with Carey Mulligan and Susan Sarandon) to a schoolgirl whose friend is institutionalised for severe depression in dark comedy It’s Kind of a Funny Story (with Zack Galifianakis).

Where other starlets live for blog-fame, party pics and red carpet moments, Kravitz likes long walks across the Williamsburg Bridge while jamming out on her iPod to her favourite band TV on the Radio. When I bring up her stint as the face of T by Alexander Wang, she says she is definitely not a model, but a friend-being-a-friend. (“I’m the most awkward person in the world in a photo-shoot. “I’m just like ‘Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it!’”) For “shits and giggles,” she plays in Elevator Fight, for which she pens tunes about the apocalypse. “I’m lucky enough that my acting is sustaining my life right now which is great,” she says. But being Zoe Kravitz comes with the perks of her little band booking massive gigs like SXSW and Philadelphia’s Roots Picnic, even before recording a full-length debut (which they’re taking their time completing “for fun”).

Sure, Kravitz is a Kravitz, and as of late, a bonafide indie darling-turned-mainstream-mutant, but her ultimate goal is still simple: “Keep on paying the rent, keep on making films that are interesting.” 

Is she planning a high-profile burnout any time soon?
“I have this weird fantasy of being this crazy lounge singer at some really shitty jazz club when I’m like 65.” She smiles and then says, “And I wanna drink gin and have cat hair all over me.”

Photography: Simon Burstall
Fashion: Anthony Unwin
Words: Alex Catarinella

This article first appeared in Wonderland Issue 26, April/May 2011

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