Cover Issue Five of Sergeant Sparrow Magazine 2013

Inside cover of Sergeant Sparrow Magazine 2013

Innards of Sergeant Sparrow Magazine 2013

Copyright 2013

Copyright 2013

Interview by Angel Russell

Edited by Spencer Thurlow

bpschuett.com

Where are you located/from?


I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and grew up in Berlin, Germany from age four. I’m Armenian-Bulgarian, but my mother grew up in Germany too and German is my native language.

How does your location effect your creativity?


That I ask myself a lot. What if I wasn’t here? Fact is, in my head I’ve always/partially lived someplace else. For as long as I can think, I wanted to emigrate to the USA. I was and still am obsessed with America, stemming maybe from an early childhood tale I was told about my absent father staying “in America” (not particularly true). I grew up with Michael Jackson and Elvis music, Carl Barks comics, and spoke fantasy English with my mom until I finally had English classes in elementary.

I owe a lot of my imaginative world to my country-obsessions with Victorian England and Japan, too. Berlin is by far the best place in Germany to live and work if one likes big cities, but my biggest goal is to move out of the country, carry my art and career in a low-fi way throughout the world and settle in California, or Louisiana, and set up a second place to live in Tokyo, oh and a third one in Buenos Aires, maybe.

How do you begin creating a piece?

Sometimes by day(or night) dreaming, but mostly I’ll think about something interesting, a form or a subject or a memory, a listen, a feeling, a funny…yes, it gets cryptic before it becomes clear.

After I have pondered the emerging object in question for hours, days, or weeks I’ll start to make a lot of sketches and try to figure out how it will work out. Often there are problems that I’ll have to solve one by one. I’ll probably research online where to get certain materials. I order a lot online, and go out to my different material suppliers as well. I always work on up to 10 things simultaneously, so one object may take a year or just one month. It depends.

Often, right before the idea has become an actual idea there is a 
phase where everything is hazy and I think about the first tender idea 
only occasionally and deliberately
unfocused, as if it would vanish once 
I stare it in the eye too early.

Do you keep a large collection of items to create your pieces? Do you go out and find things?

I have a lot of basic stuff like hinges and joints organized in boxes and other containers and I keep my stock always high on certain items and tools. I always have plywood, a huge pile of old clockwork bits and pieces, vintage screws and nails, miniature screws and nails, ring screws…

I found my absolute ideal of an overcrowded but still and neatly organized and stylish workspace many years ago on page 139 in the 
modern classic Tokyo: A certain style, a little photo compendium of Tokyo apartments. On the other hand I am constantly afraid of a fire or a plane crashing on our house so I’d rather have less stuff and live out of a suitcase.  But with my collections of books, clothes and work material that’s currently not possible.

Do your pieces exist as a set or are they purely independent sparks of imagination?



I am pretty sure every maker’s body of work is considered as a whole, no? Things I don’t consider good anymore I throw away or reuse parts of, so everything I discard simply doesn’t belong to the whole anymore. The more of my work I make visible to (future) audiences, the more you will see a loose coherence among my individual works, I guess. I just try to follow through my own agenda of good art against my own inner mediocrity and laziness.

Can you give us a brief description of your creative past and present?



Throughout my early childhood and teens there was a string of mostly creative career fantasies from fashion designer to Nintendo engineer to saddle maker and writer. I also went through a failur-y phase of making collages and ugly paintings when I was 16 (I’m 25 now), after which I wanted to study Japanese and film studies. A few years ago though I finally settled for Art. Before, I thought I couldn’t take the freedom of creating anything I wanted without restrictions, but ever since that decision, (with which I had cut myself off from any other scholarly options all at once) I found that this is exactly what I need and my imagination became a never-ending well of new creations. I feel like I don’t have enough time and physical energy to fulfill everything on my to-do list but this is negative make-believe. I am very grateful for everything going on in my head (but I do hope to get prescribed things to help me sleep less and work more!) and I try to get better at 
expressing it through my work.

Can you explain your speaker box project and why you selected the piece 
that plays inside?

Music Box 1 and 2 were the original idea that once bore the name Head Box. Back 
then, the original sketches for the Head Box incorporated music but
I decided to go with the pure form around the head without electronic matters complicating it. Years later I revisited old sketches and liked the idea of the muffled sound of beautiful music (without sticking your head in styrofoamed wood) and thus the Music Boxes were born.

The original idea was of a far away place that you cannot enter, that is only accessible through stillness and the dark endless space, an outer space in your head. The Head Box is definitely the superior execution of this idea, but the Music Boxes can play music, hey! Well, we’ll see how it looks once they’re completed (should I install a lamp inside the dark one?) and once I actually use them to play music.

I am still undecided with which music pieces they’ll go best. I once listened to the short Charles Ives piece “The unanswered Question” in a concert and it sums up just about everything for me. But maybe the piece is too delicate to deliver it’s wisdom through the styrofoam.

I bought some of Ives’ other pieces and especially the “Universe Symphony” is a hoot! But it’s pretty long and one has to listen to it to understand it’s humor, so that’s not an option for the Boxes either. Arvo Pärt’s Für Alina Spiegel Im Spiegel EP was the only soundtrack in Gus Van Sant’s film Gerry and I remember it bore through my heart when I watched it. The pieces are poignant, beautiful and non-complicated but engaging, and not as heart-wrenching and easy-pleasing as anything by Max Richter. I liked the OST of Tony Takitani by Ryuichi Sakamoto, too. Holy Other makes wonderful music and maybe it is suitable as well. I’ll hear.

What sort of things in life inspire you?

Oh, you know, lust, transcendence, childhood, friendship, religion. Also, I am a BIG cinephile, and I am a terrible know-it-all. Years of release of all of Hitchcock’s movies? I know them. Unfortunately I also tend to let everyone else know that they can always count on my expertise in terms of great taste and knowledge about film history. So, movies, ALL kinds of movies are a great and constant inspiration to me. I am often writing down ideas for film scripts, too, but right now I’ve no time to dedicate to writing and and immersing myself in writing and developing my style as I did with the objects. I read Georges Bataille a lot, and books on film studies, social studies, neuroscience, psychoanalysis and a lot about architecture, especially the International Style architects and Japanese traditional architecture. Those are all big subjects in my head. And the book about Japanese apartments I always have around, as well as the Story of the Eye and several Bauhaus books. Also, nature. I can stay for years on end in Berlin and when I get out for a few days to the sea, I become very depressed when I get home. That is another reason I want to go to the USA. I imagine It’s grand and diverse nature will be much closer to me in a city close by the sea. Food is very much an inspiration, too. Recently I designed quite a few new objects with cakes.

As a child I was pretty religious, and I started out with “making” first when I turned my former childhood Christian pendants into wearable objects. Currently I am building a big object inspired by my former faith connected to video games.

This is a little sneak peak rough draft of our most recent issue’s cover! The cover artist, B.P. Schuett is so amazing! She creates unique handmade geometric fashion and art. You can find more info here.

Hello All!

This is a little news update about our contributors happenings and our own. We are currently working on issue 5 of Sergeant Sparrow Magazine. As we have changed our publishing from a bi-annual magazine to an annual magazine, some of you may be wondering what is taking so darn long! Well I’m letting you know it is in the works and nearing completion after a long time collecting contributors, editing, layout, and the lot. We are a bit over our deadline but want to be the best it can be! That being said, it’s not done yet. Thank you so much for being patient with us!

SIRIUS.B

Our friends, Sirius.B, a delightful band of hooligans, are working on their third and most impressive album yet! THEY NEED YOUR HELP TO COMPLETE IT! Please visit their kickstarter campaign and help them out. They have three days to reach their goal!! You can find out more about them from their page on kickstarter, or have a listen here:

ADAM HOWL’S NEW RECORD!

Adam Howl has a new record coming out soon that is his most impressive yet! Recorded by Matthew Cullen in Kingston NY it is sure to blow your delicate mind and leave you weeping. It is not to be missed! I will post more information as it comes along.

THE LOOGIES:

SS Featured Artists, The Loogies, also have a new album coming out soon (squeal!). They are working diligently away on the island and I am very excited. Front man Andrew Valenti is sure to bring all his splendor and Roy Orbison esque vocals all up to your dome piece.

PHIL THE TREMELO KING

Phil has a new facebook page! Show him some love and like it! He was our featured musician from Issue 4 of Sergeant Sparrow Magazine!

RON TREMBATH

Music critic and writer extraordinaire has a new website devoted to his wonderful music reviews. You should definitely take a gander.

trainwreckdsociety.com

Thank you so much for your continued support!!

much love,

S.S.

Kodacrome is: Phil Da Rosa, Elissa Pociask and Ryan Casey. Their first EP is a six-song album of glorious synth, guitar and a power house of vocals all held together by their quality songwriting. Don’t let their location fool you, based out of Martha’s Vineyard (a small island off the cape of Massachusetts) their sound is anything but sleepy little island folk songs. They are minimal to be sure but embrace the future of music wholeheartedly. They employ straight ahead beats, synth melodies and distorted guitar to their most perfect use, sparse but placed in the exact part of a song to which they belong. There is no need to fill their tracks full of technology and erratic synthesizers and beats, even though they aren’t afraid of using even iPhone apps in the creation of their sound.

The Perla EP is pretty stupendous. It’s every hip kids wet dream yet reaches out to a wider audience easily. There is much in the way of synthesizers, guitar picking, strumming, and a foxy female lead singer in Elissa Pociask. Her voice is sultry, perfectly on key and powerful in it’s honesty. There no need to hide behind false falsetto or glorious soul solos. Her voice is spot on, just like the rest of Kodacrome’s members musical talents. This may be their first release but they sound like industry familiars. I’m sure this EP is but a glimpse of the excellence Kodacrome has to come.

Colin Tyler has a back woodsy sound about him. Like he just spent the better part of the winter living off of bear meat and building ramshackle shelters out of their hides. I’m pretty sure he owns a gun. I’m also pretty sure if I don’t review him in a positive light I might get it. His music is bawdy and graceful at the same time. It’s sad and introspective one minute and then really pissed off the next, like being sad in the first place is what made him so angry and screw you for listening in the first place! Then he hollers and the song is over. You kind of want to curl up in a ball. Then he lulls you back into a sense of security again with another song but your not quite sure what he has up his sleeve. Is this coldplay? Where did the mountain man go? In his EP “The April Sessions” (listen below) you can hear a myriad of styles but his presence remains the same; intimate, forceful and penetrating, kind of like muscly romance novel cover boys. Just don’t shoot me for that comparison, Fabiozly Adams.

PS He recorded it with Steve Albini. Uh-mazing!

Website.

Black Nacirema is a hip hop group from Los Angeles out of Eighties Baby Entertainment and Mile High Records. Their song TWOM becomes a new favorite quick. It has a simple but interesting beat and a pretty straightforward theme; “The world owes me, I hope it kills you when you see me.” Savvy and Hen Hollywood are the lyricistists. Their voices don’t shout out like some hip hip artists which can often be a guise to cover up lack of talent. In Black Nacirema’s case their voices are provocative without trying too hard and because they are so laid back you trust they know what they are doing. “Don’t look now but I’m rising like I’m levitating, and looking up at a nigga got yo neck breaking, plenty haters told me quit and that’s understated, now them niggas sick cuz they mad that I’m celebrating, and I be grinding till I’m stepping on the red carpets.” TWOM reminds me of another recent favorite, Lil Wayne’s, Drop the World. Check them out below.

Click to Listen

Jason Garriotte’s solo acoustic project entitled, Chords of Truth, is simple yet beautiful. Straight forward chord arrangements and harmonies can be enchanting when done properly and boring when not. This EP is definitely the former of the two. Just a guitar and a voice, Jason doesn’t find it necessary to hide behind lush arrangements and percussion. I find it refreshing after listening to so many new artists that require the superfluity of too much instrumentation. Reflections of Reality is calm, genuine, and well worth the listen.

www.chordsoftruth.com

Click here to listen:

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The woes of the night I should have heeded;
Their portents of the ‘morrow were all that was needed.
Yet careless I lay, and sleepless did stray,
To mysterious fears which no thought could allay.

So I whittled the night, in those hours so late,
Like a fool unsuspecting in the hands of his fate.
And the shadows did dance and the ravens did pray;
There was something amiss in that absence of day.

In the morning I rose with a new kind of taste–
A thirst, a desire, to be quenched with great haste.
I assembled the tools, and neglected the rules,
Which to me seemed mere guidelines for fools!

I must have been driven, looking back on that week.
But what–what end to a means did I seek?
Both wonders and evils did that night so entail,
And I caution…but never mind! and on with the tale!

I was many times lost, and more often confounded,
But such was my passion that I always rebounded.
Yet such was my glee, it came with a fee,
And ambition right then did all but desert me.

Like many a project abandoned in plight,
Or endeavor turned sour in the span of one night,
As did mine in the even’ing gloom,
Consign me in deed to inglorious doom.

I saw what I’d done; I saw my creation.
‘Twas a frightening thing that erased all elation:
The longer it seethed, the more steam it breathed,
With all the more fire was its armor enwreathed!

‘Twas then I perceived what a fool I had been,
As I found myself standing at the mouth of the den.
Within lay the beast, in the fury and flame,
Whom I’d nurtured and fed, and regarded so tame!

Should you ever conspire to plot your demise,
I trust that your fate won’t be a surprise,
As was mine on that most twisted of nights,
When I fought off a doom I’d conceived in delight.

Now here let me say, and say to you briefly,
What I did just then, and caution you chiefly,
Of the haunt of a ghost who keeps nightly his watch–
The loser of the battle of Franconia Notch.

I steeled my nerves; I prepared the attack;
I bent my knees; I drew my hand back.
“Fiery demon, your undoing’s a’comin!”
And I removed the pasta from the oven.

Submit your work!!
angel@sergeantsparrowrecords.com

Like her on facebook!

www.adenaatkins.com

Listen here.

Countless Thousands are from Orange County. You could probably tell that just by listening to their music, a combination of pop punk enthusiasm, erratic percussion, guitar riffs, and vocals with a bit of teen sentiment. Danger Van Gorder sings and plays guitar, Davey Munch plays bass, and Jon David is the percussionist. Their album, We really are just really excited to be here, is titled appropriately. They sound excited to the point of mania. Thirteen tracks include all that typical punk has to offer, fast guitar rhythms and complex percussion flowing in and out of coherent poetry with tween love themes. My favorite parts of this album are the instrumentals, the guitars and drums reach a dynamic that is interesting and often times surprising. What starts out as a typical punk album transforms into something original and in their own right they should be excited.

Like them on facebook.

“I Wanna Go to Marz” by John Grant from Ewan Jones Morris on Vimeo.