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BRIT Awards 2021 Round-up

Wonderland Staff — Wed, 12 May 2021 09:33:19 +0000

Dua Lipa demanded pay rises for NHS workers while Little Mix became the first-ever female recipients of Best British Group at this year’s BRIT Awards.

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Wonderlist

Wonderland Staff — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 17:01:11 +0000

Jessie Ware, Billie Eilish and Little Mix (featuring Saweetie) reinvent the pop wheel in this week’s Wonderlist.

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MTV EMA’s 2020

Wonderland Staff — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 16:20:46 +0000

At last night’s MTV EMA’s, Little Mix hosted, Doja Cat revived, & BTS cleaned out!

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Interview: Leigh-Anne Pinnock

Wonderland Staff — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 17:34:48 +0000

We chat to Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock about her style, her lifestyle blog and Jamaica.

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7 Wonders: Cinema’s Best Dressed Girl Gangs

Wonderland Staff — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 15:51:37 +0000

Wonderland takes a look at cinema’s most empowering and best dressed girl gangs at a time when it feels like we need them more than ever.

After the dark events of Tuesday’s election, it feels like we’re in desperate need of some female empowerment more than ever. Fortunately we’ve got a slew of badass gal crews from the screen to pump us up in our time of need. We can learn a lot from the way they express their no fff’s given attitudes (we’re talking killer wardrobes, quite literally). These ladies remind us all that we have to fight, fight, fight for ourselves and support each other no matter what! So take it away, HRC: ‘Never doubt that you are valuable, powerful, and deserving of every opportunity in the world and every chance to pursue your own dreams’. We really couldn’t agree more.

Lick the Star

Queen Sofia Coppola’s first film! This clique, led by their imaginative leader Chloe, planned to weaken the boys at their school by putting rat poison in their lunches (they got a little too carried away reading Flowers in the Attic in English.) The girls rocked red pouts and crisp Oxford shirts, Lolita-esque sunnies, tight army T’s, and strappy mini dresses with plaid jumpers tied around the waist. Plus, the end all be all of 90’s style, the kimono. Pure gold.

Spring Breakers

While the storyline of Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers may have polarised it’s audience, the stimulating, powerful visuals of the film, and their girl’s awesome costuming, did not disappoint. From those skin-tight tiger swimsuits and neon pink beanies-come-balaclavas to multi-coloured hot pants and fishnet tops, the Spring Breakers girls are weapons of mass destruction.

Heathers

The original mean girls, The Heathers, were the best dressed girl gang of 1989. From Winona Ryder in her solid black and greys, to the Heathers in their assigned red, yellow and green skirt suits, the film’s is key to knowing who’s in charge of the Heathers, and who’s in their bad books. We wish that all-important red scrunchie was ours.

Girlhood

This coming of age story set against Paris’s banlieue follows a troop of leather jacket clad tough girls. With their pin straight hair and large gold jewellery, sometimes it feels like they merge into a single entity. They did RiRi so proud here, swaying back and forth to Shine Bright Like a Diamond. Shine on, ladies.

The Craft

For all your goth girl inspirations, it’s got to be The Craft. A mix wafting layers and tight t-shirts, studded chokers, and copious amounts of black eyeliner are the uniform of choice for the self-proclaimed weirdo outcasts. It’s not only Sarah’s telekinetic gift’s that are a little bit witchy.

Fox Fire

Oh, Angie, just look at you. This group of high-school girls were pretty PO’ed and grungy, dressed in crop tanks, sheep skin bombers, leather with metallic accents, endless shades of flannel and lots and lots of denim. Don’t mess with them.

Charlie’s Angels

Good morning, Angels! These ladies might just be THE ultimate girl crew. They effortlessly flipped, karate chopped, and jumped out of planes while dressed to the nine’s in their 70’s looks. Fuzzy sweaters, wide collars, checkered shirts, skinny ribbed vests, and of course, high waisted flare trousers of every colour under the sun made up their wardrobes. Can we just say iconic?

Words: Elly Arden-Joly

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New Noise: Gurr

Wonderland Staff — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 10:28:11 +0000

Gurr are this year’s break-out charming garage-punk Riot Grrrls.

First, there were the Riot GRRRLs, then there was Girl Power! and now comes firstwave Gurrlcore, courtesy of garage-rock duo Gurr. Made up of Andreya Casablanca and Laura Lee, who met in an American History class and were less than fond of each other at first, Gurr are the embodiment of everything wonderful about Riot Grrrls, and bring together the craziness of West Coast USA and DIY-culture in Berlin to create a genre-bending sound that’s as bold and as witty as they are. Making garage rock tunes with psychedelic and wave elements, their lyrics are full of inside jokes and debauched tales of their adventures, and create worlds of characters, stories and feelings that everyone can relate to.

Gurr’s debut album “In My Head” embodies the spirit of DIY, Berlin-based girl power. A little bit Kathleen Hanna, and inspired by The Gun Club, Echo & The Bunnymen, The B52s, the Ramones and the Beatles, their Gurrlcore sound is definitely more rock than roll. With a wide and vivid array of pop culture references and personal experience used as catalysts for lyrical mastery, Gurr’s themes go from dealing with your own ignorance in “Moby Dick”, to dealing with love lost through someone else’s perspective in “Yosemite.” Recorded in the hallowed studios of Berlin’s Funkhaus, Gurr’s debut offering “In My Head” is a musical definition of the power of Riot Grrrl culture, revamped and louder than ever for 2016.

Describe your sound in five words?

Laura: Young, dumb, living off mum. Just kidding. Maybe: Post Riot Grrrl Pigeon Rock?

Where did you meet and how did you start the band?

Laura: We met in university, Andreya was late for our “Academic Writing” class and was forced to sit next to me. I think initially we didn’t like each other. But then we really bonded over literature, music and movies and started hanging out. The band was just a logical conclusion to our cheesy friendship and our love for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Black Lips.

Where did the name GURR come from? Are you fierce?

Andreya: To the contrary, Laura is afraid of pigeons. And Germans like to imagine a pigeon sound as “gurrrr”, so for us it was a funny wordpun on Laura’s anxiety and the word “Girl”. Now, it is often put in the riot grrrrl tradition, but we really didn’t think of that at that time.

How does the Berlin music scene affect your sound?

Andreya: Just the other day I though of how deeply involved Berlin is in the feeling of our band, but how a lot of Germans see it as “very American”. But there is a weird nostalgic sometimes that I find in our songs which reminds me of Berlin. Thoughts you have while taking long train rides or walks or watching other people – which all made it into our lyrics.

How did your time on the US West coast affect GURR? Where did you go and what did you see?

Andreya: When Laura, who studied in Philadelphia, came to visit we went to San Francisco and had a very movie-like time – meeting a rock’n’roll band that takes us to weed-infused studio sessions and had us record different takes all night long just to find out they were to high to actually track them right. All in all, the West Coast has a crazy creative spirit that made us feel like we should just go for whatever we really want, because anything can happen.

Tell us about your debut record “In My Head”! What themes do you explore?

Andreya: The album is a collection of songs, and some of them are a bit older, and others very new. But all of them carry a story, or just show pictures of an experience that we had or dreamt or talked about. It is classic love nostalgia, but also a reflection on cyber crime, lost bar souls or ignorance towards current issues (that usually comes from self-indulgence).

Do you have any favourite songs on the record?

Laura: This is hard. Right now, I really love Computer Love. I think the song is just so hilarious: Soundwise, it is a pretty straight forward 60s garage rock song – it always reminds me of this song “Friday at the Hideout” by the Underdogs. But then the lyrics are so trashy and have all these references to 90s cyberculture: About a guy falling in love with his computer. And then the highlight is that we put SIRI in there, the Apple Computer Voice. That always cracks me up.

What was it like recording in Berlin’s Funkhaus, a place with so much history?

Laura: It was kind of sad. The whole building was bought by an investor recently and one studio after the other was forced to move out while we were recording. On one of our last days of mixing, our sound engineer also got an eviction letter. So we were probably one of the last DIY punk bands to record there. I think they are building really fancy studios now only for electronic and pop artists…

… But apart from that we had a great recording experience: We recorded and mixed the whole record analogue, with no digital editing or effects. So we had to pick our battles: Usually we went for the takes that ‘felt good’, even though they had some mistakes in them and then resisted from fixing them afterwards. I think that makes the whole record very relatable.

Did you always plan to pursue music careers or is it a recently discovered passion?

Andreya: We both grew up in musical families, where our parents or siblings played instruments, so that was naturally a part of our childhood. And I think we both wanted to do something demanding and creative. Although we’ve always been in bands it was with GURR that we first thought: “Oh ok, let’s take this seriously now.” Before that I think it wasn’t a reality in our heads we could grasp.

Who inspires you – both in music and in other areas?

Andreya: Petra Collins and Tavi Gevinson are a huge inspiration to me – because of their creative visions and also their work ethic. Also, Miriam Marlene Waldner, who is a young Berlin-based photographer, has such a genuine aesthetic and creative mind it will make you cry – you should check out her instagram account.

Laura: I always get really inspired listening to Beatles records, especially the weirder ones like Revolver and Magical Mystery Tour. I also have a guilty pleasure with these male contemporary American writers like Jonathan Franzen and Dave Eggers.

What have you got planned next?

Laura: Our debut album “In My Head“ is out in the UK on 28th and then we will have lots and lots of shows and parties all over the world I hope We will play the UK for the first time this year and are sooo excited about that. I hope people are going to show up: So whoever is reading this: We are playing Brighton on Nov. 30th at The Hope and London on December 1st at The Old Blue Last!

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Rollacoaster: NTS Radio

Wonderland Staff — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 12:25:02 +0000

Former sound-of- the-underground, this year, NTS turned five.

Not many nights out begin with a walk down the hard shoulder of the A12. Hidden in the inky shadows of the warehouses that populate the fringes of this city — Shell, Screwfix, Self Storage — Hackney Wick nightclub Bloc is a late-night refuge for the kind of people who would wander to the end of the night in search of utopia. Tonight, the mass pilgrimage to London’s outer edges marks the fifth birthday of internet radio station NTS.

At another crossroads 30 minutes down the road, in a liminal space of its own, beats the station’s HQ in Gillett Square, constructed from the rubble of decades of Dalston development. The square was dreamed up over 20 years ago by Hackney Co-Operative Developments and built by the borough’s council with the financial aid of Hackney’s most prominent developers. But unlike the identikit luxury flats built by those same companies, Gillett Square has become a space that welcomes everyone, from crack addicts shuffling to soul and funk, to world famous pro-skaters and their followers clutching cups of steaming hot Ethiopian coffee.Weaving through this chaos, DJs, bands, musicians, presenters and comedians from London and around the world navigate their way to the NTS HQ, an unassuming shack on the square’s far side. The more recognisable faces draw the gaze of the square’s inhabitants. Others cross unwatched. It’s a scene best summed up by the radio stations’s tagline,“Don’t Assume”.

THE RISE OF INTERNET RADIO

The way we collectively consume culture has been reshaped by on-demand services from iPlayer to Netflix, Spotify to Mixcloud, and internet radio has never been more popular. Every city has its own stations and scenes, from Know Wave in New York to Principe in Lisbon to Berlin Community Radio. In London, stations exist in every corner of every borough, from Haggerston Radio in the east to Balamii and Reprezent in Peckham to Great Windmill Street’s Soho Radio. It’s hard to recall a time when non-mainstream radio stations weren’t pushing forward London culture, but five years ago, the scene looked very different. There was “a gap in the market”, as NTS’ Managing Director, Sean McAuliffe puts it. NTS Radio started life as now the defunct Nuts To Soup, a mixtape blog run by Femi Adeyemi, which McAuliffe describes as an internet iteration of Adeyemi’s night at the iconic Shoreditch club Plastic People. “He was fed up with what you would hear on the terrestrial radio, standard radio stations and how pirate radio stations in general were very, very linear and singular music based,” McAuliffe explains of Adeyemi. “He wanted to hear the music that we all were really passionate about and turn it in a one-stop shop.”

That one-stop shop, to begin with, was housed next to a jerk shack and a Ethiopian coffee stand in Gillett Square, Dalston. Hackney five years ago was a different, cheaper place, many of the borough’s rising “luxury” towerblocks then little more than greedy glints in property developers’ pupils. “The whole idea of setting up a station was economically really viable because the technology, equipment and rent at that point were really cheap. Everybody, in particular Adeyemi, knew a lot of people with great record collections, it just seemed like a no-brainer. So he started literally sticking up a few posters around Hackney saying: ‘If you like playing records, hit us up.’” Out of those friendships and posters grew a rudimentary radio station which played tunes all the way from Dean Blunt’s brand of avant-garde dance music to straight-up house and techno, Cape Verdean carnival sounds to Mauritian “soul rock”, jazz to drone and everything in between. Broadcasting for 12 hours a day, seven days a week, through word of mouth amongst friends and local residents, NTS swiftly grew. As in the old pirate radio style business model, DJs paid subs ranging from £20 to £50 in order to play on the station. Just two or three months after the station launched, there were over 150 regular shows. Within six months, the site had thousands of listeners from across the world. “At that point we realised that it was much bigger than we initially anticipated.” McAuliffe recalls. “It wasn’t set up in the first place to be this big thing that we are now. The intention was to create something quite localised for all of our mates.”

GOING GLOBAL

From a group of friends broadcasting tunes from the dusty depths of their record collections to Hackney locals, NTS has gone global. This year they opened a studio in Manchester, and there are plans to open a studio in LA. Regular shows take place all over the world in America, Japan and Mexico. McAuliffe estimates that NTS have around 300,000 regular listeners through the site — and that’s not taking into account listeners on DAB digital radio across greater London. Accordingly, the station has shifted its focus from the local community to a global one. Of the 300 or so regular contributors making shows, only about half are from London. Alongside day one regulars such as much loved Do!! You!!! Breakfast show host Charlie Bones and local record label Young Turks, NTS has welcomed world-famous artists from Theo Parrish and the late Frankie Knuckles to Mos Def, Thurston Moore and Waka Flocka Flame. Even the Guardian recently sought the help of NTS, hosting a 10-week long residency show on the station featuring musicians such as Neneh Cherry, comedian Stewart Lee and music commentators including Tim Jonze and Alexis Petridis.

When I visit them, NTS have a new studio in Gillett Square. The smell of fresh paint lingers, and McAuliffe is in the process of deciding on a wallpaper for the toilet. Next up, the website is due a revamp, set to become what McAuliffe describes as“a far more all-encompassing media platform”. He pulls a face and clarifies, “we’re not doing this because we felt like we needed to expand or grow. We’re just doing it because we really fucking want to.” It’s an offhand remark which unwittingly lays bare the entire mentality which underpins NTS. Whether they’re putting on a block party in Gillett Square or manning a stage at Notting Hill Carnival, the founding principles are still visible: the station remains a passion project built from ground level up. In a world which is increasingly #filtered and fake, NTS is an authentic voice trusted by not only listeners, but by music industry tastemakers. “The thing that makes us most excited, that makes us the happiest and proudest, are the artists that get involved,” McAuliffe tells me. “Particularly when we find or are approached by young kids no one has ever heard of before who just have fucking amazing record collections, or are making amazing music, we get them on the radio and give them a regular show and within a year they’re touring across the world.” Producer Bradley “Zero” Phillip exemplifies what may as well be termed the “NTS effect”: with a sound which is impossible to define, but which can be described as dance music in the loosest sense, Phillip has moved up the ranks at NTS and Boiler Room to renown in London and around the world as a DJ, producer and owner of record label Rhythm Section INTL. “The power of the [NTS] scene helps to elevate us all individually”, Phillip tells me, before adding: “My DJ sets revolve around the music I select for the radio every fortnight. I don’t know where I’d be without NTS”.

ADEYEMI’S LEGACY

Just as there is no “typical” DJ or show on NTS, there is no typical listener either. Don’t Assume. Like the audience at Dean Blunt’s show, they’re faceless, nameless, a 300,000-strong worldwide army of ghosts. Still, the station’s fans can be identified by their uniform: t-shirts splashed with the stations’ logo. Adeyemi’s influence isn’t limited to NTS merch however. It can be seen, and heard, in the rise of newer internet radio stations, most notably perhaps in Radar Radio and Balamii.

Founded by former club promoter James Browning, Balamii was born out of the flashing lights of clubland. Browning describes Adeyemi as one of his “heroes”. It shows: the Balamii studio, just off Peckham’s Rye Lane, has all the makeshift charm of the station that started it all, even borrowing from NTS’ original financial model (now long gone and replaced by well-considered brand partnerships). If Balamii echoes NTS’ origins, Radar Radio represents a slicker side to internet radio. Radar is housed in an impressive looking four-storey building in Clerkenwell. Money is of no concern to the station’s 25-year-old founder Ollie Ashley, and as a result he is able to borrow much of NTS’ experimental mentality without having to consider the financial consequences. “If I was a businessman we would be a purely EDM station because that’s where the numbers are,” Ashley tells me. “But I wanted to do this for the music I love and that’s what I’m passionate about. I think as we progress, we can work out more ways to bring more money to the station, but that’s not the focus at the moment.” Radar, Ashley feels, is “almost like an experiment”, but the professionalism of both the station’s studio and website echoes a general movement from internet radio’s pirate style DIY roots into something more commercially-minded.

For NTS, that sense of unrestrained financial freedom is still a long way off, but somehow, it doesn’t really matter. So long as listeners continue to find their way through the mists of the digital ether and lock into Do!! You!!! Breakfast with Charlie Bones, there will always be NTS.

Photography: David Imms

Words: Bryony Stone

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London College of Fashion, BA Show 2016

Wonderland Staff — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 12:12:47 +0000

Graduating from the London College of Fashion are the next big things in fashion.

At Wonderland we are always on the look out for the best and brightest young menswear designers. Next Monday (6^th June 2016), the London College of Fashion team return for their annual show, presenting their leading menswear designers in this graduating year. The menswear catwalk collections have been directed and styled by Rob Phillips (the LCF Creative Director of Fashion and Design) to form a masterpiece of a show. Featuring the different courses that have the option to explore menswear design, the show will form a cross-disciplinary examination of contemporary menswear and demonstrate the talent that the future of menswear has to look forward to.

Here we chat to three of the most exciting graduates, Joseph Standish, Tsun Cheung Lai and Sam Thompson, about their collections.

Joseph Standish

Course: BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Development

Joseph Standish, BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Development

Tell us a little about yourself?

I am originally from Wolverhampton and I have never told a lie

What was the starting point for this collection?

I think that higher end fashion can be very esoteric and difficult for people to relate to, I tried to react to my personal frustration with the widespread use of industry standard models and represent a wider image of beauty. Creating characters that had bad tattoos, were drinking beer and eating takeaways felt more real, more humanized to me. More so than a couture dress. I draw a lot of inspiration from people, the bloke in the pub or the builder working on your windows. It’s my dad and his mates I’m trying to design for.

What beats are playing in the studio while you’re designing?

I listen to a lot of crappy punk rock, I am a bit of a sucker for some teenage angst. Recently I have had God Damns’ (two piece band from the Black Country) album on a lot and JME’s album Integrity so I guess it’s a bit all over the place.

Your favourite piece from the collection and why?

For each look I have developed a unique character with his own story and persona. My favourite to work on was tony (the guy made from jersey) I had a lot of fun making him and got to do a bit of drawing in the process. I think at this point in my development I really just wanted to see what I could still get considered for catwalk and really challenge people’s ideals of a fashion show.

The trickiest part of the design process?

Discovering what it was I wanted from my designs, I think for a while I was creating garments that felt very safe and commercial in their direction. It didn’t really reflect how I felt about fashion. LCF’s creative direction team were amazing in helping me overcome these restrictions and I’m excited about future possibilities and to see growth in the ideals I feel so passionate about.

Your least and most favourite thing about LC:M?

I wish it could be more encompassing, I really want the opportunity to let everyone see a show or wear the clothes. I think it’s a shame that some of the events are shut off to the “average” public. My favourite thing is that LC:M gives a lot of new designers a chance who are less commercially safe. I personally think that’s really important for the fashion industry and at the end of the day I think a show should be an experience not just a walking clothes rail.

Sum up this season in three words!

Long Live Honest Man

Tsun Cheung Lai

Course: BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring

Tsun Cheung Lai, BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring; Caroline Klemp, BA (Hons) Cordwainers Footwear: Product Design and Innovation; Joseph Mangan, BA (Hons) Cordwainers Fashion Bags and Accessories: Product Design and Innovation

What was the starting point for this collection?

My work is a mixture of traditional tailoring and contemporary menswear. I wanted to challenge the traditional concept of bespoke tailoring by exploring new and surprising techniques and by using untraditional fabric. I also used sail making techniques in my work.

What beats are playing in the studio while you’re designing?

Techno and Jazz.

Your favourite piece from the collection and why?

My first tailored jacket made from ripstop, which is used to make kites for kitesurfing and it is not the easiest material to make a traditional jacket out of so I had to create new techniques to make it easier.

The trickiest part of the design process?

I tend to have new ideas every single day so whilst I am making the garment, it is very hard to stick with one final design and I always want to make it better. But because of time, I eventually make a decision!

Your least and most favourite thing about LC:M?

I love the energy and the atmosphere! I wish I could go to every show.

Sum up this season in three words!

New bold and exciting

Sam Thompson

Course: BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Menswear

Sam Thompson, BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Menswear; Emma Han, BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Embroidery; George Oxby, BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear

Tell us a little about yourself?

I didn’t really decide I wanted to be in fashion until super late. I was actually studying maths, history and philosophy for A-level, but I realised I was having more fun styling what I was wearing to my classes then actually studying in them. It was only when I started studying fashion that I realised how much scope there was to be explored, especially in menswear.

What was the starting point for this collection?

It was really more of a visual, than a conceptual starting point. I kept noticing how people's attitudes were reflected in how they wore their clothes. The way that they were standing and the position of their bodies affected the shape of the garment. As a designer you often think like this – of conforming and fitting the garment to the body, but I decided that it would be interesting to imbue the clothes with a pre-defined attitude that the bodies wearing them would then have to conform to.

What beats are playing in the studio while you’re designing?

I’m really into the new Lukas Graham album mixed in with DJ Vlads hardvapour mix when I need to get things done. I also love listening to the dulcet tones of Lou Stoppard interviewing people on SHOWstudio.

Your favourite piece from the collection and why

I love the Oversized MA-1 bomber jacket. It was by far the hardest to pattern cut and make but it just came out perfect and really coveys the concept of the collection as a whole.

The trickiest part of the design process?

Starting. Everything can look amazing in your head, but when you actually start putting stuff down on paper you realise how much of what you thought looked good really doesn’t!!

Your least and most favourite thing about LC:M?

I always love the MAN show, it’s so cool when you see designers really pushing themselves to create something new. I love it when I see something where I'm like 'how the hell did you do that??; And then try to figure out how they did it. What's sad is when you see those same designers having to conform to the commercial realities of the industry three seasons later.

Sum up this season in three words!

Look at me!!!!

Photographer: James Rees

Creative Direction: Rob Phillips

Hair: Ezana Ové

Beauty: Kirsty Gaston

Words: Annabel Lunnon

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Profile: MUNA

Wonderland Staff — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 11:38:08 +0000

Meet the American trio who are making delicious pop music with a message.

Orange cotton ‘hardcore’ hoody by MISHBV, black cotton graphic print hoody by NICOPANDA, black and yellow lace dress by MULBERRY and red cotton graphic top by VIVIENNE WESTWOOD.

“We’ve created a universe that we inhabit that’s very inclusive” say Los Angeles-based queer-pop band MUNA. With positive female inclusivity at the heart of their message, friends Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin are the college grads fusing funk beats, synthpop and RnB with heart-racing, politically-infused lyrics.

With tracks such as “Loudspeaker” bringing their audiences to tears (in the best way possible), MUNA are set out to make their audiences feel as safe as possible, and to promote total acceptance. Expressing the difficulties of growing older through their track “Winterbreak”, where they write about “trying to make a home where there was once a home but there’s no longer”, they write about issues that everyone in that awkward not-a-teenager-but-not-an-adult stage can identify with.

Writing their “The Loudspeaker” EP together as well as producing it (it was mixed by Dan Grech-Marguerat), MUNA tackle hard hitting topics whilst giving their audience space to be themselves. We met the trio at a North London studio ahead of their shoot to talk about the vibe of the band, how they met, their support of fellow female musicians and coming full circle in the UK.

Can you tell me how you met and how MUNA started?

Katie: We met in school, because we all went to USC – University of Southern California. I was a transfer student, so even though Josette is a year younger than me, I was in the same class as her. We both studied music, so we met on the first day of both of our schooling at USC. And then in the next semester I met Naomi in a class called African Diaspora.

Naomi: You always say what class, you’re like ‘and the class was called African Diaspora’.

Katie: Because it’s weirder to try and explain our majors. You told me I shouldn’t say American Studies and Ethnicity. I studied Ethnic Studies, she studied African-American Studies, they overlap. Anyway! we were just friends for a whole semester, and then we were pre-gaming before a party, and Naomi started playing guitar, and Josette heard her and was like ‘we should jam’, and then I invited myself, and – we all three play guitar, but I didn’t want to have a three guitar jam session, and I had started spending more time on Ableton as of recent when this was occurring, so I sat down with my mini keyboard and started making a beat and a bassline, and then the first time we jammed we wrote a song and it kind of just kept going like that.

Red wool jumper by JOSEPH, black cotton blazer silver ring detail by ASHLEY WILLIAMS and black leather trousers STYLISTS OWN.

V organic then.
All: Yeah! V organic.

That’s really nice! ‘We just jammed, and then we became a band’.

Josette: We wrote our first EP before even having a name. We just wrote these songs and then we just did it.

Is that this EP?

Josette: No, it’s a secret EP.

Katie: There was an experimental EP called “More Perfect” where we were really interested in the idea of it all being very

Josette: Organic

Naomi: Weird

Katie: Yeah, just unpolished and whatever we – the three of us – liked, because we all have so many different influences and such a wide range of music that interests us and inspires us. We were just like, let’s just put it the fuck out on Bandcamp or whatever. And we actually got some press in the UK when we started putting stuff out, and that’s kind of what made us realise like, oh, there’s people that will take us seriously as musicians and creatives, and so that’s why it’s very special for us now, it’s like full circle to come here. We were never here but we wanted to be.

You were here in music spirit.

Naomi: People here in the UK in general just get hip to music way faster than in the US. They know shit way before other people do.

Josette: Or they’re more open to it.

Red cotton graphic top by VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, black wool trousers by MCQ and black leather boots by DR MARTENS.

In your bio, you say MUNA is not just your friendship group, it’s kind of a totally inclusive way of life. What do you mean by that?

Naomi: I think that by being who we are we’re trying to represent something positive and that sort of materialises in us feeling like we’ve created a universe that we inhabit that’s very inclusive? It’s not that trippy – it’s mostly just the idea that we make music, we do it all ourselves, the stories are real stories, there’s nothing polished about it necessarily even though it sounds polished.

Josette: We want to create a space for our listeners to feel safe and feel like themselves, and be part of – at least for me, it’s like how I feel around you guys is how I want other people to feel when they see us, and when they listen to us because I am myself when I’m around you guys. I feel safe to be myself.

Naomi: I feel like there’s no – aside from grime here and certain kinds of hip-hop in the US, there’s no real music movement. I’m so infatuated with the imagery and the culture of punk, and how radical that was politically, and how left of centre and out there that was, and I think that we kind of want to bring a little bit of that into pop music and pop culture and be a little bit like ‘fuck you’ about the way we live our lives, like unapologetic I guess.

Katie: You’re being like MUNA when you’re just shining – especially if you exist in a world where people may not always let you feel like you are the best at what you’re doing, because there’s someone else who’s getting the credit or someone else who’s getting the attention, it’s like no, just believe in yourself so much that – and if you have a small squad of people who really know that you’re the best at what you do then that’s the only thing that really matters to us. We don’t care what other people’s opinions are – unless you love us, and then we love you too!

I loved the Winterbreak video, on socials it seems to have had a big impact on people…

Katie: The best is seeing people screaming Winterbreak, because the vocal delivery is so low key, and there are people that will sometimes –

Naomi: At our EP release show there was a girl who was literally in tears

Katie: But screaming too –

Naomi: I think that’s kind of the vibe of the band in general. In tears but screaming.

Josette: My brother just got cornrows too when he was at the EP show, so he was this big white guy with cornrows screaming all the lyrics, and crying because he was so drunk and excited. It was quite the look. It was quite the look.

Katie: There’s a few people that we’ve never met personally but we know fuck with us in the UK that are coming tonight and I’m so excited to see them interact with the music.

Orange cotton ‘hardcore’ hoody by MISHBV and black leather boots by DIESEL BLACK GOLD.

I was thinking, for the video, to me it obviously sounds like it’s about a relationship, but the video is obviously focused on you guys and the friendship – what’s going on there?

Naomi: That was kind of the point of the video. We could just make – we could make a video where there’s a romantic plotline, but that’s so easy, that’s the first thing that would come to your mind. And that should come to mind when you’re listening to the song, because that’s what it’s about, but I think for the video we just wanted to find a thing that we all had in common which was that it’s fucking weird getting older, and it’s really weird to go home, and we wanted to capture that instead of making it a love story or a breakup story or whatever.

Josette: Cause it still is what the song’s about, in a different way – trying to make a home where there was once a home but there’s no longer.

Katie: I’ve experienced that with best friends as well, and it can be just as hard. But I also think it’s funny that there’s the whole gal pal phenomenon, right, where you can be very openly homoerotic as two women and society will just not read it as romantic, it’s just like ‘best friends having a good time’.

I saw that in the video, definitely.

Josette: That video’s supposed to be homoerotic?!

Katie: Yeah, I think it’s super homoerotic.

Naomi: There’s some truly homoerotic moments.

Josette: Do I just not realise –

Katie: I whisper in your ear and smile, I think I definitely whispered about putting something in your bum bum in the actual shoot.

Josette: You definitely did.

Naomi: We do not have sex with each other, for the record.

Katie: But yeah, I think that’s something that’s funny, that people will read it – there was one journalist who talked about the romantic undertones to it.

Katie: We kind of just wanted to make a point that these things exist in spaces other than the boy-girl love story. We’ve had multiple experiences where there would be a music video shoot or a photo shoot where the only creative scenario people can come up with is ‘you and your boyfriend’, and it’s like, you know, we experience other things.

Naomi: Like the only time you have any emotion is when there’s a dude involved, it’s so crazy to me.

Josette: I don’t know what you guys are talking about.

Katie: Josette just misses her boyfriend.

Josette: I miss my boyfriend. Scott! (I don’t have a boyfriend).

Katie: Scott’s our collective boyfriend.

Josette: He’s our drummer and our tour manager (and our boyfriend). I don’t think he knows. Now he does.

Black and grey graphic blazer by ASHLEY WILLIAMS, black cotton dress and choker STYLISTS OWN, black wool socks by FALKE and black heeled boots by MULBERRY.

I feel that’s really clear with you guys – I was looking at your Twitter, and you’ve been out there supporting Kehlani, you’ve been out there supporting Kesha, people have really identified with your lyrics, and I’ve got one tweet here – someone tweeted about Loudspeaker, and I thought you were just so sensitive in your response, do you guys think, ‘we want to write for the people that need it’ kind of thing?

Josette: I feel like it’s just become that, because – at least for me – the relationship that we have with each other – I’m so much more comfortable being myself, and not being – whenever we go anywhere, you guys out me instantly, which is something I would never –

Katie: You say that every time we do an interview

Josette: Because you do! I don’t know, at least for me, I think the way we make each other feel – isn’t that the whole point?

Naomi: I think it’s sort of always been about that for me, because I’m very sensitive with my identities, because I can’t help but be anybody but myself, and I can’t help when things offend me or exclude me or hurt my feelings based on my racial identity or my sexual identity or whatever –

Katie: Well your self is so complicated. We’ve had so many conversations –

Naomi: Exactly. It’s kind of crazy. Like it’s all good, I’m good, everything’s chill. But I often feel excluded.

Josette: Existing is hard.

Naomi: Existing is extremely hard. And existing as someone who’s a queer person, or someone who is not white, or someone who is not the gender they were assigned biologically – that’s fucked up, and that sucks, and you will feel excluded by a lot of society, and I think because we all have sort of marginalised identities, we write from that perspective, and on top of that we try not to be exclusive. And I think that we all – we’re like checks and balances.

Josette: When we talk about it, it feels so much more of a higher purpose. Even when we do songs it’s like – Naomi and I can play guitar pretty well, we can all shed and play crazy things, it’s like ‘what is actually the purpose? What’s the purpose of the song and how can we best communicate that?’ Maybe it is 145, maybe it isn’t, but it’s just like making that choice that it isn’t about you, it’s not about how proficient you are, it’s just about what is needed.

Left to right: red wool jumper by JOSEPH, black cotton blazer silver ring detail by ASHLEY WILLIAMS and black leather trousers STYLISTS OWN.

Black and grey graphic blazer by ASHLEY WILLIAMS, black cotton dress and choker STYLISTS OWN, black wool socks by FALKE and black heeled boots by MULBERRY.

Black leather jacket with chain by MISBHV, white cotton eyelet shirt by JOSEPH and beige cotton check trousers by VIVIENNE WESTWOOD.

I feel like when I was a teenager I didn’t have pop music that spoke to me in the way I needed – bands that were upbeat but also expressing emotions that I was feeling…

Josette: I think we’re in a cool time where you’re allowed to do that with pop. You don’t have to talk about your boyfriend. You can do whatever the fuck you want.

Katie: I really am just so fascinated by it. I want to go back to university and try and – like, who’s learning about this. Who’s writing a dissertation about this right now, because I totally agree with you and I don’t know why. I want to know socio-politically why is this happening –

Naomi: We’re living in it.

Katie: I know, but I want to study it, and then write a book about it.

What are you up to at the moment and what’s next?

Katie: Right now, we’re going on our first tiny leg of a tour. When we leave the UK, we’re going straight to St Louis to meet Miike Snow, and we’re going to play for them for a few dates, which we’re extremely excited about because we think they’re so great. And then we go back and we’re going to be really hardcore writing for the next month, I think. For all of June and into July, because this is our last leg of writing before we go to the studio for the final time for the LP, which we’re really really excited about. But it’s going to be, hopefully – Jojo graduated, so hopefully we’ll be hanging out at her house. She has a pool. I’m just going to go in the pool, drink beer –

Naomi: Yeah, I want a Corona in the pool –

Katie: I’m just excited to jam with them because it’s been a little hard – our lives are fucking crazy at the moment, to be honest.

Josette: Speaking of catharsis, I need some

Naomi: Wow, that’s dark

Katie: I don’t think that’s what catharsis is – catharsis is when you feel extreme emotions –

Josette: But isn’t it part of release?

Naomi: It’s the resolution of extreme emotions

Katie: The release is what happens when you experience catharsis.

Josette: How is that incorrect?

Katie: Because when you step into a pool do you scream your guts out or sob?

Josette: No, but that’s the moment I’m gonna feel a little bit of release probably.

Katie: It’s a cathartic experience. It isn’t catharsis itself but it’s a cathartic experience, being in the pool.

Josette: For the record, Katie hates me.

Katie: I just don’t agree with you about the way you use the word catharsis.

Josette: She hates me.

Katie: I love you so much. I’m actually really excited because the last five or six songs we’ve written for the album were done in a much more compartmentalised way. We didn’t get to do it as collaboratively so we’re really focused on when we finish the album for it to be something that – the last few songs to be more – the kind way the band started with jam sessions.

Photographer: Barney Frost

Fashion: Toni-Blaze Ibekwe

Hair: Cathy Ennis using Bumble and Bumble #Bbcurlsquad

Makeup: Bea Sweet at LMC Worldwide using Kryolan.

Makeup Assistant: Amber NcQuillen

Fashion Assistant: Olivia Kaiafa

With thanks to Green Lens Studio.

The post Profile: MUNA appeared first on Wonderland.

Fendi Eyewear Autumn/Winter 2016-17

Wonderland Staff — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 08:12:46 +0000

Dazzle yourself with Fendi’s Autumn/Winter eyewear range.

Despite the fact that Autumn and Winter are seasons associated with grey skies, drizzly rain and ever-present clouds doesn’t mean that your sunglasses should be put back in the draw to gather dust. Cue Fendi’s new Autumn/Winter 2016-17 “HypnoShine” eyewear collection, with multiple styles in endless colour choices, tampo-printed stripes, matt effects and a multitude of metals.

The retro-futuristic styles took inspiration from the house’s famous creativity and femininity, with the colours being taken from their beautiful Autumn/Winter catwalk show. Each piece has been created as if it were an artwork (which it basically is, just one you can wear). Think burgundy metals with burgundy and amber lenses and green metals with green shaded lenses and cerulean blue/green stripes, and you’re starting to get the idea of the range of colours these sunglasses and optics come in. Whatever your favourite colour is, Fendi’s got you covered.

Fendi have treated us to three styles in this collection – the LEI models, the BE YOU range and the EYELINE sunglasses. There’s a little something for everyone. All the styles are both fluid and graphic, with their shapes demonstrating Fendi’s liveliness and creativity. LEI is super-flat, super-slim and super sophisticated (the designers took inspiration from origami techniques), with both cat-eye and square models. The EYELINE model is pure geometry with its slim steel frames, and BE YOU’s transparent and vivid hues are extra flat and come both in squared and round styles with a mix of materials including Optyl and metal. Oh, and they all come is optical lens choices too. Fendi, you really are spoiling us.

Words: Annabel Lunnon

The post Fendi Eyewear Autumn/Winter 2016-17 appeared first on Wonderland.