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Taken from the Summer Issue of Wonderland

“I wasn’t born on this planet actually, but I’ve been in New York for a while,” Torraine Futurum tells me. Regardless of how or when she got here, Futurum has conquered the art world. “I put into images [what has] been difficult for me to express verbally. Its intent is for my own catharsis and self care, but also to challenge the concepts of truth and convention. All my work, whether it’s photography, film, writing, or music attempts to challenge those concepts. I call myself an artist as this umbrella term. I think people get boxed into one thing.”

Everything exploded for Torraine Futurum about six months ago, after she lent her face to someone else’s art, modelling for esteemed portrait photographer Ethan Green, known for showcasing gender fluidity. “The first portraits Ethan did with me kind of destroyed the internet. He got me so much attention! It’s been the snowball effect ever since.”

After breaking the internet, she was noticed by photography’s golden child, Petra Collins, while working as an extra on a short film. The meeting lead to her biggest gig to date: a role in the music video for Carly Rae Jepsen’s insanely catchy “Boy Problems,” which Collins directed. The video, which quickly racked up over a million and a half YouTube views in its first week, takes us inside Collins’ pastel-coloured landscape. “When I think of Petra, I think of pale pretty colours and a dreamy aesthetic, which I think is beautiful,” says Futurum. When asked how as an artist, Torraine’s world would compare, she answers, “I’d say Torraine’s world is sharp, black and white, kind of severe, but also really glam. It’s old Hollywood glamour on Mars, basically.”

Planet Torraine, like all worlds, came from collapse, birthed out of a dark year that lead to transformation. “[2014] was the absolute worst year of my life ever. Everything you could ever imagine went wrong. My best friend who I was living with died. I lost my job, I lost my apartment. I stopped talking to a lot of my friends. That year changed and decimated everything I thought my life was at the time. And so I had the opportunity to rebuild myself.”

During this time, in August of 2014, Futurum’s self-portrait series Transgression: A Self-Centered Art Project was born, as she herself began to transition. “I started working on the series as I began to socially transition, changing pronouns and presenting in a feminine way. That’s when I started to finally be comfortable with looking at myself in the mirror. I didn’t know where I was going to end up or what I was going to identify with, I just knew I wanted to look more feminine. I just decided to document it. I definitely have become a person I didn’t ever intend to be.” The title is a nod to cruel words uttered from a friend, who called her self-centered during the difficult time, words she decided to transform into art. “I thought I was a pretty loving and caring person; I was really bothered by it for a while. Then I started thinking… well, if I’m not self centered, whose other life would I be centered around? When I decided to own that, it felt very powerful.”

To survive in the spotlight, one must make friends with their axis, finding true form within public persona, concepts explored in a short film Futurum recently directed and started in, titled Ready When U R, which might as well be her world’s welcome video. Shot mostly in black and white on an iPhone, her old Hollywood glamour from Mars is never more apparent than when Futurum stands in front of the lens, places a goth tiara on her head, jerking about the frame with a wild grace. “The film touches on the messiness of managing public image versus self esteem and self preservation versus personal fulfillment,” she says.

The final images for Transgression will be released this summer, and the next arrival on Planet Torraine is a photo project about death, in which she plans to challenge herself to explore new mediums. “Not to give too much away, but there will be musical elements, and film, and even the style of the ‘wall art’ will be a departure. I’ve really jumped out the window with the new stuff. In the best way.” As we finish our coffees, Futurum concludes: “You don’t get an award for conforming.”

Photography: Michael Bailey-Gates

Words: Sophie Saint Thomas

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Taken from the Fame Issue of Wonderland.

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After almost a decade of leading New York rock group Hooray For Earth, Noel Heroux got disillusioned. Thankfully, not enough so to abandon music altogether but enough to dissemble the band. Hooray For Earth had once begun as a solo project so Heroux went back to what he knew and began Mass Gothic in the winter of 2014. Jessica Zambri eventually climbed aboard and they clambered into a bath together and ran around the streets of New York to film the video for “Every Night You’ve Got To Save Me”.

Mass Gothic’s sound has the same longing, likeable vocals as Is This It era Strokes, like you’re personally being addressed in the lyrics. It’s that irresistable heavy guitar sound with a pop sheen. Even on “Nice Night”, where they begin to err on the darker side, there’s still a light at the end of the tunnel in the exuberant guitar fuzz-filled climax. The self-titled debut album came out last week, with mixing provided by Chris Coady and mastering done by Greg Calbi it’s impressive first offering. We decided it was time to catch up with Heroux.

Hooray For Earth dissolved and you seemingly jumped straight into a new project, how did you know it was the band you needed a break from and not music itself?

Many years went into that band. Just one day I realized I’d fallen into a pretty solid routine where I was worrying too much about everyone around me, not taking care of my own needs. I was the guy writing the songs and generally calling the shots but somehow I still wasn’t doing anything to satisfy myself creatively. We had a lot of good times but I was not creating freely and therefore was stuck living in a constant state of dissatisfaction. Figured I needed to just start over alone. Simply feeding the ego becomes a worry at that point, but really I was just as low as low can get and the only way up was to see what I could do without any outside pressure. The resulting Mass Gothic record may be somewhat disjointed and stylistically wild, but regardless it’s what came out when I let go of all that shit.

Have you reinvented yourself or just the music?

I think neither. I just removed a lot of self-imposed rules and regulations. Beyond that the main difference is just that there’s not a band involved in the recording process.

What did you find was the hardest part of being in a band and what had you found previously was the best thing about being a solo artist when you started Hooray For Earth?

Hooray For Earth started in 2003 as a series of trashy recordings of little garbage-pop bits I recorded and distributed among friends via CDRs. Selected songs from those recording were quickly adopted and added to the repertoire of a pre-existing “real” band we had previously been playing out with. That music lost its meaning right then. I guess the idea of having a “real” band versus my imaginary sort of entity I’d started with was much more boring, too obvious.

Has that remained the same all this time on?

To some extent I suppose I prefer working with minimal expectations. Not a low bar, just no outside expectations. I’ll do what I need to do and do my best on my own terms. This record is in many ways a splatter of song and style, but if that’s what I need to do I can’t be bothered otherwise.

You’ve said all you wanted was for the sound of the record to be big and heavy, where do you think is the best time and place to listen to it?

Best is very loud and maybe drunk, with huge, glorious speakers. Close 2nd I suppose is a live show.

Tell us about running around Manhattan in the video for, “Every Night You’ve Got Save Me”.

We drank Jagermeister and cab-hopped around our neighborhood. Really it was just, how can we really enjoy our night and also possibly end up with some footage worthy of a music video without being too wildly self-indulgent. I guess the assumption was that within the concept of this video probably most people could have a good enough time if they put themselves in our shoes.

What’s going on in NYC at the moment, who should we keep an eye out for in music?

Oh man I don’t know. Mazed is slow-starting but keep an eye out.

You’re about to go on tour! What’s a Mass Gothic live show going to be like? 

Emotionally taxing, loud, relatable.

Mass Gothic’s debut album is out now.

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Mud Bath

Matthew Dainty and Ben Cottrell spent a lot of time this season wading through muddy ponds. After becoming obsessed with a niche YouTube fetish where people get dressed and go traipsing through shoulder high slop, they decided that this season they wanted to create a uniform for such an activity — if there’s a gap in the market, fill it! Their presentation was staged in a dystopian part-barley-field-part-corrugated-plastic stage set up, and sounds of strong winds rustling through the reads transported us to the muddy puddles right away. The colour palette was classic Cottweiler — staying within the strict parameters of one or two tones: for AW16 it was camel, black, and a translucent iron grey. Somehow, the brilliant streetwear designers had managed to take what would usually be an incredibly unproductive YouTube vortex (we’ve all been there) and birth an entire collection, that oddly enough, made total sense for the streetwear fan in the colder months.

Nature versus Nurture

Natural fabrics — in cottons and borgs — were juxtaposed next to or beneath sheer plastic sheeting or thick padded neoprene. Here was the collision of man made and natural. Particular outliers were the woollen camel track-pants with plastic panelling protecting half of them, or the translucent waders which were elasticated at the waist, from which big plastic panels jutted at the front to the chest beneath which a similarly fluffy sweater was worn. Yeti-like gloves made the third garden in an all beige three piece of jacket and sweatpants. Weather proof jackets in black gore-tex were a regular occurrence throughout, and here was a collection that melded forward thinking streetwear with absolute functionality — just check it’s machine washable before jumping head-first into any swamps.

Trendful 

At the heart of Cottweiler’s brand ethos is the idea of non-seasonality. Although each season is demarcated in terms of time, and inspirations are often different with each offering, the label is supposed to be seen as something with which you can transcend trend: a trouser from AW14 will work perfectly well with a jacket from SS16. The brand have achieved this, up to now, by focussing on strict limitations in their design process: colour, fit, fabrication are fairly non-variable in the Cottweiler annals. However, this season felt like a slight — only slight — departure from this ethos. The atmosphere of the collection was much the same and this is where the importance lies, but who knows if this collection will be totally miscible with your pre-existing Cottweiler threads? Either way there’s a lot to love, as ever.

Photographer: Thurstan Redding

Words: Tom Rasmussen

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https://soundcloud.com/the-aquadolls/girl-riot

There is no denying that the Aquadolls are Southern California bred. You can hear it in their music alone. Drums and guitar riffs bring out surfer vibes that make you feel a wave of sun. Psychedelic surf punk sounds come together with teenage anthems of fun and good times. 

Front woman Melissa Brooks is the poster child of this all. The long-haired blonde’s crop-tops, colourful sun glasses and short shorts make her seem straight out of a American Apparel ad.- It’s no surprise she’s teamed up for projects with them and Vans. But she is more than just the face of the band.  She’s studying film and has even edited some of their music videos. She’s also a badass that’s shared the stage with the likes of Kim Gordon, Kathleen Hanna and Kimya Dawson, to name a few.

Aquadolls’ latest track, “Girl Riot” is out today. Electric guitar rips out until Brooks’ vocals incite a frenzy. The perfect mix between shiny Cali drawl and exasperated grunge growls, inspired by the Runaways “Girl Riot” is pop for angst-filled teens. Sign us up for the Girl Riot army now.

We sat down with Brooks fresh off the Aquadolls’ first tour to talk feminism, lyric writing and touring. 

Who’s in the band and how did you meet?

I have Ryan Frailich in the band with me. He plays guitar. It’s kinda just us that really do everything. I write all the music and Ryan plays in the band. I met him at a music festival three years ago and I had all these songs written and wanted to put them out online and didn’t know how. I met him and I was like ‘Hey, help me’ so he helped me record some demos… we put it online and started getting shows.

Talk to me about your sound…where do you get inspiration for it?

I’m inspired by all sorts of different things, not only just from music but from my surroundings; going outside kind of just like writing my random thoughts down on paper. I also really love Grimes’ music. I really like FKA Twigs, she’s really trippy.

You say you like writing about being outside, is that why some of your songs are surfy and beachy?

Yea, I hang out in Seal Beach a lot.

Who did you hear growing up?

I listened to a lot of the beach boys and the doors. Britney Spears a lot, Bikini Kill, Hole, Nirvana … Christina Aguilera. 

What is your process for writing songs?

Each song is a little different, some songs I’ve written in the shower and just kind of like scrub-a–dub-dub and I’m I like have this melody in my head and then lyrics will come to me so I run to my guitar and like bang out some chords and write in my journal. Then sometimes it’ll be the other way around and I make up chords first and I try to think of lyrics. Sometimes I just take notes in my phone of just random words that I think sound cool together and then start building poems and then I form a song out of that. It’s kind of different each time… I get writer’s block. Sometimes I’m not able to write at all.

How do you get over that writer’s block?

Just going outside and trying to see new things, maybe driving around and going to new places I haven’t seen… I try to get out more and go to different places, I haven’t really gone to. That inspires me to want to write.

Who goes to an Aquadoll show?

I’d say mostly teenagers, a lot of girls. Which is kind of cool ‘cause it’s mostly badass girls that are always moshing, crowd surfing and stuff.

How has your music evolved since you released “Stoked on You” EP online back in November 2013?

I’ve been working on a new album for a while that I’m really anxious to share, you guys will hear new songs soon, but definitely the new sound is evolving into more explosive sound. It’s more in your face and there’s more sounds coming like some synthesizers, heavier guitar there’s really fat drums that are really in your face and dancey and really wild brash vocals. But also I’m really expanding on my lyric writing. Versus the older stuff that is kind of more silly, not really mean to be taken as seriously, but kind of more fun the new stuff is more personal and ripping a page out of my diary. Kind of growing up and the things that I deal with.

You  played a show with Kim Gordon, Julie Ruin, Kate Nash and Kimya Dawson? How did that come about?

We got it through Burger records. It’s called Burger a go go and we got to play last year as well which was really fun.. I love cat Power, Ryan actually has a poster of her in his room so we were freaking out when we saw the line-up. I’ve looked up to Kathleen Hanna since middle school and she inspired me … Kim Gordon is so badass.

On social media you post about your dislike of mysogynists and how empowering it is to dress how you want. Do you consider yourself a feminist?

Definitley yes, yes.

If so why is that important to you?

Well I feel like a lot of music down plays women and not all music, but there’s defintley really good music that has really positive messages, but I feel  that it’s important to have it in music because it makes people good … [feminism] means being able to do whatever you want because it’s who you are and not being afraid that they’re going, especially men … I have such younger fans, I know when they hear lyrics that are really uplifting and inspiring and make them  feel like they are good the way that they are and that they don’t need to change for any guy or anything like that. I would want to hear that as a kid … It’s definitely important for girls to be proud of their bodies, that they’re good the way that they are.

Fashion: Gerardo Carrillo

Photographer: Aminda Villa

Makeup: Karenyna Michelle

Words: Jennifer Velez

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Talking Body

Anthony Vaccarello’s work unabashedly explores the sexual. Quoted in French Vogue as saying ‘less is not enough, and more is too much’, the designer’s SS16 collection did not stray so far from this ethos. Opening with hard-leather and rivet-fastened mini-skirts and jackets in moss green or black, and moving into barely-there crisp white shirts which exposed the entire back, side and chest, before finishing with knicker-less hip-slit skirts in black and grey jersey, it would take a bold wearer to carry this collection off. After a degree in sculpture, and some time working at the helm of the Fendi fur house, Vaccarello is really focusing on the exposure of the female body. The designer has really achieved the perfect view of what men think women should dress like, how perfect this is politically is another question entirely.

Early Noughties Now

With everything always harking back to the nineties or earlier, so often the stylistically iconic period of the early noughties is forgotten about. Remember the days of white baggy-but-tight dresses and up-all-night trance courtesy of Alice Deejay? Well Vaccarello brought them back. Halter-neck, slimline silky dresses and tops in white or black, had shiny blue or red dots in the form of a glamorous-face appliquéd across their entirety (the face of the designer’s muse Anja Rubik to be precise). Sheer black dresses and shirts glittered with rectangular-mirror beads, certain to pull attention in the darkest of parties. Think Keira Knightley up in the club in Bend it Like Beckham – but in the most amazing way.

Fantasy Fabrics

But it’s Vaccarello’s fabric use that is where the real skill lies here. It is so rare to see jersey or denim or white cotton tailored to look so high-end. Beautifully crisp shirts, with swirling patterns twisted down the arm, or were gathered at the naval with large silver rings. Jersey skirts clung and fell fluidly from the waist perfectly, while blue jeans were high-waisted and marvelously form-fitting. As the creative director of Versus Versace, the Italian-Belgian designer really added some Italian fire to the first day of the PFW Schedule.

Photographer: Thurstan Redding

Words: Tom Rasmussen

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