Shot by Hayley Benoit, August 2015.

Work Uniform: Phoebe Baker and Lou James from Alpine

BY IMOGEN DEWEY 20th August 2015

http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/fashion/article/work-uniform-phoebe-baker-and-lou-james-alpine

We talk to the local front women about the Spice Girls, designing jumpsuits and going nude.

The buzz around Melbourne band Alpine’s 2012 debut album, A is for Alpine, went global, from Pitchfork to Jimmy Kimmel. Its sophomore record, Yuck, released this year, is on high rotation around the country.

Alpine is definitely getting to, in their words, “That point where people start to recognise you.” But lead singers Phoebe Baker and Lou James still seem most excited about having a constant excuse to dress up.

Broadsheet: How would you describe your style?
Phoebe Baker:Your onstage style is the alter ego of your offstage style. There are particular styles in time that I’ve admired – one that stands out is the ‘60s and ‘70s, those jumpsuits. They just look so comfortable and cool. They’re my favourite things in the world to wear; they’re practical and fun. They feel strong and a bit funny – and lazy. We’re both a bit lazy.
Lou James: I don’t really like to follow trends, I find that really boring. I think Melbourne’s very safe, and it’s frustrating. Sometimes it’s exciting to have different-coloured hair or wear something weird.
PB: We’re not very fashionable.
LJ: But there’s a sense of freedom and release with that. It’s not like, “Oh, are people going to think this is in?” A lot of it’s not in. But we’re comfortable.

BS: What influences your performance-wear?
LJ: It’s a matter of what we’re into and how we’re feeling.
PB: Costumes are expensive. It’s a difficult resource to tap into, so my mum made a lot of our initial outfits and still does. Back in the ‘60s she worked in the costume department for a London theatre company – now she kind of gets to do it for us.
LJ: I also reached out on Facebook, and this guy suggested his sister, Juliet Bennie. We’re helping each other in a creative way; she’s getting more exposure and learning more, and we get to wear some crazy stuff.

BS: Tell us about your favourite pieces.
LJ: Right now it’s this overall dress. I got it for $20 and its got big pockets. I work in it, ride my bike, and just feel super comfortable. Phoebe’s mum made me an outfit which I wore on Jimmy Kimmel. It’s off-the-shoulder with these big puffy sleeves – I look like an Edwardian duke. It’s great because it was designed with her so no-one [else] owns it. I feel otherworldly in it.
PB: There’s one jumpsuit that has apples all over it. I wear it onstage and offstage and just love it. It feels great to wear fruit. That design came from The Sound of Music: a sleeveless dress that Maria wears in a hessian colour. I thought the top of that dress would make a great top of a jumpsuit.

BS: Any musical style icons?
PB: We both used to love The Spice Girls. To be inspired at such an early age by five women who are dressing extravagantly in these crazy ‘90s outfits – that started it. Then it was David Bowie, Kate Bush and Todd Rundgren, this glam thing that was going on. I’m into unisex style. But I do like dresses as well. I’d like to wear an Edwardian dress with a bustle. I have these dreams of wearing extravagant clothing and the stage is where I get to do that. But it’s difficult to get stuff: where do I find an Edwardian dress with a bustle I can wear on stage, that’s also a jumpsuit?
LJ: I’m inspired by people like Bush, Bowie, and Grace Jones; [performers] who use the stage as a platform to be whomever and whatever they want. And from performing it becomes part of their everyday lives. When we went to the States, places like LA and New York, people just wear whatever.
PB: London as well, I always found really liberating. There were always people wearing wild outfits and having a lot of fun with it.
LJ: It’s great once you know what works on your body, and what things you’re inspired by. If I went to Japan I think I would die and go to heaven, I’d just want everything.

BS: Do you have something in mind, when you get dressed everyday?
LJ: Nope. Oh, performing sometimes. I like to have lots of options for stage outfits, to try and reflect exactly how I’m feeling. Once you’re on stage you should feel 100 per cent confident and empowered to express your art and share it with everyone.
PB: When you’re comfortable, then you can forget about the outfit (or work with and have fun with it).

BS: Do you dress differently for a festival show than a stage show?
LJ: There’s something about a festival, because everyone else dresses up too. I always look forward to wearing something a little bit more out there.
PB: Festival audiences are more willing to escape with you and go on whatever adventure you’re going on, whereas at a gig in the city you have to work hard to help everyone get there.
LJ: We try very hard with that. We’re a very visual band and we like to dress up – it’s about making people feel as comfortable and free as we do. Phoebe and I [studied] theatre together, and something about creating that world on stage and having people come with you is really amazing.
PB: We’re still learning from it. Maybe next year we wont wear jumpsuits, and there’ll be no makeup or glitter.
LJ: Maybe we’ll be naked.
PB: [Laughs] Maybe we will just … be naked. People will definitely come on that journey.

Alpine was photographed at the old Tongue and Groove showroom in Fitzroy. Yuck is out now.

Baro Meets World

WORDS BY ANNA HORAN

DATE 27th July 2015

Shot By Hayley Benoit, July 2015

The Australian hip-hop artist is graduating into adulthood with his debut EP. We meet him for a game of pool.

From his flippancy on social media and the content of his lyrics, Baro comes across as your typical teenage guy. He offers two-word answers to questions posted on his Tumblr, and his Facebook cover photo has a speech bubble that makes it look like his profile photo is saying “flaccid willy”. But in person, Baro has depth. The 18-year-old has a wiser and more thoughtful aura to him than you’d expect. He talks about his plans in earnest and uses words like “obdurate”. His internet presence might say IDGAF, but his IRL attitude is the complete opposite.

It isn’t surprising to learn that at school, Baro Sura Sarka felt like he was on another wavelength to his classmates. “I was always on a different level,” Baro says, sitting on the couches at Fitzroy’s Red Triangle, an upstairs pool hall. “I was listening to different music. Like, even hip-hop and like jazz and soul. So I was always onto that. And the way I thought was way different to other kids. I was making music; they were playing footy on weekends and going to parties.”

Those musical tastes are something that show through on his debut EP 17/18, out now, and previous mixtape Howgoodisgood, released last year. His mature sound is what’s set him apart from his Australian peers, getting him noticed by Triple J (Baro was an Unearthed High finalist last year) and turning heads at Complexmagazine offshoot, the taste-making music site Pigeons & Planes, which premiered17/18 earlier this month.

No longer at school (he graduated last year), Baro has now found his people in the crew 90’s RD, which he describes as having the same mindset. “If you’re surrounded by like-minded people you’re obviously going to excel,” he says. “Although we all think the same … there’re different little things. You get influenced by different people and better yourself as a person and creatively.”

90’s RD is made up of Baro, Charlie Threads, Marcus, Mosè, Nasty Mars, KushDaddy$lavens, Sol’MANIC, Te Waere and Yobi Masenqo. Similar in age as well as world view, the hip-hop collective has one goal. “The one thing we want to do is build a fucking empire,” Baro says. “That’s our plan.”

It’s here that Nasty Mars, sitting next to Baro, chimes in. “We’re like a bunch of people that don’t have, like, a box mentality. We see in terms of doing creative stuff,” he says. “We can make movies, we can make music and we can make clothes. We can do everything like the world is our oyster. That’s how everybody in 90’s RD thinks.”

Baro has said before how one of his biggest influences is Tyler, the Creator, and in this respect you can draw the parallels between 90’s RD and Odd Future. It’s more than just the music. Personal style and stretching into different creative outlets – whether clothing, art or film – is clearly inspired by the way Odd Future’s brand, Golf Wang, has extended beyond music.

But for Baro the music Tyler was making was what first set him on his path. “I was influenced by Tyler and Odd Future since I was in Year 9 when Goblin came out,” he says. “I was listening to Bastard and that was literally the best shit I ever heard in my life. I was so happy that was a thing. Like, that pretty much inspired me to pursue music. I was [already] doing music, but, like, to actually do it properly … I could be something.”

Being at the tail end of teenagedome, much of Baro’s lyrics have revolved around him transitioning from boy to man. He says it, “hasn’t really been tough. It’s just been different.”

“I didn’t really go to school last year because I was doing music, so [it’s] just that whole change – finishing school, doing music … expecting to make big-arse decisions. It’s been cool.”

While Baro has toured with the big names in Aussie hip-hop – Thundamentals, Allday, Remi, Spit Syndicate – he and 90’s RD are firing shots at the scene that he’s labelled as broken.

“Aussie hip-hop is weak as fuck, and there’s no character in it,” he says. “It feels so fabricated and … people feel they have to be a certain thing, and they have it completely wrong. [90’s RD] wants to bring authenticity musically and character-wise.”

90’s RD isn’t about empty words, though; it’s working hard to bring fresh blood and feeling to the Aussie hip-hop scene.

“It’s working out,” Baro says. “My friend Marcus just released his mixtape,PIZZA4BRKFST/CEREALAT3AM, and that’s doing really well. I releasedHowgoodisgood last year, and that went well, and everyone’s about to release their shit. And it’s actually really good. [There’s] not just one person in the crew who’s a good artist, everybody’s great at what they do. It’s beautiful.”

Baro plays at Shebeen on August 1. Tickets are available here. 17/18 is out now.

b-aro.bandcamp.com

Shot By Hayley Benoit, July 2015

Shot By Hayley Benoit, July 2015

Shot By Hayley Benoit, July 2015

Shot By Hayley Benoit, July 2015

Golden Years

[FULL ARTICLE BELOW] 

WORDS BY FASHION JOURNAL 

Get your space boots on, we’re going for a ride.

We’re getting pretty excited for the David Bowie Is exhibition at ACMI, so this David Bowie-inspired shoot really hits the spot.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 16 July and features over 50 legendary costumes, original stage set designs, handwritten lyric sheets, album artwork, rare film, video and photographs, and interviews.
We’re particularly pumped for the David Bowie on Film series, which runs from Thursday 20 August to Sunday 20 September.

Get your space boots on, we’re going for a ride.
acmi.net.au

Photography: Hayley Benoit
Styling: Jade Leung
Hair and make-up: Kate Radford
Model: Gabi @ Pride Models

STOCKISTS
ASOS www.asos.com
FME  www.fme-apparel.com.au
KAREN WALKER  www.karenwalker.com
ONE FELL SWOOP  www.onefellswoop.com.au
VALE   www.valedenim.com
VINTAGE GARAGE  www.vintagegarage.com.au
ZHIVAGO  www.zhivago.com.au
KIP&CO www.kipandco.net.au

http://bryggmagasin.no/2015/aunty-pegs/

[Full Article Below]

Aunty Peg’s

På kaffelaben Aunty Peg’s, serveres karbonisert cold brew. Kaffebobler, rett fra krana.

WORDS Lene Haugerud

PHOTO Hayley Benoit

TIME July 11, 2015

Det nærmer seg varmere dager, en av de store internasjonale kaffetrendene de siste årene, cold brew, ser endelig ut til å finne veien til oss her oppe i nord. Andre steder, i varmere klima, har eksperimentering med den klassiske oppskriften for lengst begynt. I et gammelt industrilokale i Melbourne-bydelen Collingwood finner vi Aunty Peg’s, en kaffelab som ligger et lite hestehode foran resten.

Hos Aunty Peg’s får du cold brew på tap, om man ikke visste bedre kunne man kanskje tro det var øl. Kaffen har kost seg på plastkanner i førti dager, med en temperatur nøye regulert til fire grader gjennom hele prosessen. Karbon er tilsatt, slik at brygget blir smått perlende. Musserende kaffe? Ja, takk.

Brygget lages i omganger på 500 liter, populært som det er, tar det cirka to uker – så er det tomt. For hver runde roteres kaffen som brukes.

Aunty Peg’s eies av kaffebrenneriet, Proud Mary.

Vi spør eier, Nolan Hirte, hva som har vært favoritten så langt.

– Vi laget et sinnsykt Geishabrygg fra Best of Panama small auctions lots. Det var latterlig godt, det tok pusten fra alle.

Selv med et Geishabrygg å skrive hjem om, er ikke Nolan helt i land enda, han gjør små forandringer ved hvert eneste nye brygg, for det handler om å eksperimentere, og å lære mens man går.

Nolans Proud Mary er vant til å sitte i førersetet, som en av de første kafeene i Melbourne til å tilby det vi nå ser på som den australske kaféopplevelsen, kvalitetsmat- og kaffe i kule omgivelser. I løpet av de siste årene har disse kafeene formert seg fortere enn kaniner, og Aunty Peg’s er Nolans forsøk på å vise at Proud Mary fortsatt er annerledes enn resten.

– Aunty Peg’s er et sted hvor vi skal koble prikkene mellom kunden og bonden. Hvor enn kunden sitter i baren, kan vi tilberede kaffen foran dem – det en del av opplevelsen som gjør det lettere for kunden å engasjere seg, og for oss å fortelle om hvor kaffen kommer fra, og hva som egentlig gjemmer seg bak det kunden ser.

– Nøkkelen er ikke hvor mange kopper vi selger om dagen, men hvor mange historier vi kan fortelle.

Med vilje er bryggebaren plassert midt i kaffebrenneriet. Herfra kan kundene se kaffebrennerne stå side ved side, de kan tre inn i det kjølige lageret hvor sekker med grønne bønner sover, de kan noe overraskende se vintagebiler klare til å bli mekket på, eller de kan lukte bakervarene fra kaffebrenneriets eget bakeri i annet etasje. Dette er et opplevelsessenter, mer enn en kaffebar.

Et annet sentralt punkt i rommet er det Nolan kaller “the genius bar”.

– Vi ønsket å skape et rom hvor kunden føler seg komfortabel med å kjøpe kaffe, og lære å brygge den bedre hjemme. Vi ønsket ikke den hektiske følelsen du finner på en normal kafé. Vi laget derfor en “genius” bar hvor kunden kan lære å brygge kaffe, presskanne, V60 og Aeropress, men også få gratis råd og tips. De som bestiller en time får en-til-en veiledning fra en av våre ansatte.

Men å lære bort karbonisert kaldbrygg har de ikke startet med enda, den må nytes i baren – noe som gjør drinken ekstra spesiell. At den drikkes i et pusterom av ektefølt kaffekjærleik og kaffekunnskap må sies å være mer enn en bonus.

“Hu La La’s” For Ballad Of Magazine © Hayley Benoit March 2015 | Fashion by Sinead Hargreaves | Hair + Makeup by Kate Radford | Modelled by Holly Watson @ Pride Models | Featuring clothing from Fame Agenda, Muscrats Vintage, Shag, Discount Universe, American Apparel, Matcho Suba + Zhivago.

Look 01: Discount Universe bra and Fame Agenda shorts
Vintage wedges from Muscrats vintage (worn entire shoot) 

Look 02: Fame Agenda jumpsuit 

LOOK 03: Fame Agenda pants 

LOOK 04: Vintage top from Shag
American apparel underwear 

LOOK 05: Matcho Suba dress
Fame Agenda cape 

LOOK 06: Zhivago top and shorts 

LOOK 07: Matcho Suba skirt and Fame Agenda top 

LOOK 08: Fame Agenda pants and top