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FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

CULTURE MUSIC

SelectION: Weirder things have happened...

Editor’s Letter We’re a whole nine years old!12.

REGULARS

ION Prize 18.

Of The Month Music, peace, art, love, and girls. What more do you need in life?

14. Horoscopes: Ryan Kerr. He’s pretty, AND witty.64.

Comics 65.

Los Campesinos! Seven people, one last name and some pretty catchy tunes.

52.

ION Collaboration Maxime Francout.62.

Latitude 53 E-Town’s version of the culture club.20.

The Buried Life Four dudes take on their very own Bucket List with a difference.

24.

Frankie Rose is going intergallactic.48.Fashion: Photography by Kin Chan. Styling by Deanna Palkowski.

38.Focus: Mandy-Lyn.28.

ION Style 36.

Album Reviews60.

Literature Austin City is not the limit.56.

VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2 ISSUE 78

C O N T E N T S

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4 I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M78

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I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M 5

COVER: Frankie Rose

[Shot exclusively for ION Magazine]

PHOTOGRAPHY Meredith Truax

STYLING Toyo Tsuchiya, judyinc.com

MAKE-UP Jenny Kanavaros using

Dermalogica skincare

HAIR Dana Boyer

“ E V E R Y K I N D O F S H O W T H A T W O U L D R O L L T H R O U G H T O W N . I W A S

I N T H E M O S T H O N E S T S E N S E O F T H E W O R D , A T O T A L F A N ”

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OF THE MONTH

C O A C H E L L A 2 0 1 2

You know, when we get to watch A-Z list celebs prance around in their festival-chic at arguably the biggest music festival in the world, rivalled only by the less sun-soaked, less glam, Glastonbury. Running from April 13-15, and 20-22, this year’s line up boasts the likes of The Black Keys, Radiohead, Dre and Snoop Dogg as headliners. Note to all: must be more organised next year and sort out tickets in time!

T I M E L I N ETO CELEBRATE OUR NINTH BIRTHDAY, WE ARE TAKING A

LOOK BACK AT 2003, THE YEAR OF ION’S BIRTH.

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IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN.

P E A C E O U TRemember the name Franck de Las Mercedes. He might save the world one day. Well, probably not, but we like to think it could happen. Visual artist Las Mercedes is responsible for the altruistic Priority Boxes Art Project, an international art and peace movement which has sent over 10,600 abstractly painted boxes, labelled “Fragile. Contains: Peace, Love or Hope,” to countries on every continent, with a message of peace inside. Both a canvas and a platform for communication, these free boxes mix art and activism and hope to make people question their ability to influence change and peace.

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P O P - U P L I B R A R I E SPHONE BOOTHS ARE

IN USE AGAIN,

and not just as pedestrian billboards or flyer stations boasting “young exotic ladies looking for a good time.” Architecture grad, book lover, and all-round cool guy, John Locke, has turned these stationary pimps, lining his NYC street, into a neighbourhood asset. How? Just install some shelves and voila! A mini community library, where people can borrow books, and perhaps even replace the ones they’ve taken with a book of their own. Maybe a little idealistic yes, but we salute this idea of turning the obsolete and grimy into something whimsical and innovative.

G I R LSSex and the City this ain’t. Thank GOD. We’ve been promised a good female comedy for a while, and with the exception of a couple, they’ve all been pretty…well…horrible. Step in HBO’s Girls. Written, directed, and starring Lena Dunham - lauded for her first triple role in her critically acclaimed film debut, Tiny Furniture, two years ago. It channels the same humour, irony, unpretentious wit and honesty as her feature film. Debuted at SXSW and premiering on HBO on April 15, Girls follows the highs, the failures and the spirit sucking employment of four female Brooklynites in their early twenties’ and promises to deliver some genuine laughs.

G U E R R I L L A G A R D E N I N GWe’ve heard of similar rogues in Montreal, and it can apparently be traced back to a bunch of school kids in America four years ago, and now, Pothole Gardening is invading the streets of East London. Thanks to what started as a protest against the lack of money being spent on repairing roads, these urban jungles are getting a much-deserved splash of colour from the infamous ‘Pothole Gardener.’ They may not have a purpose, but frankly, what’s not to love. Join the guerrilla movement yourself on May 1st, International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day. Yes, this is an actual day.

I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M 7

A + C

ARTS & CULTURE

8 I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M

It seems so simple when you hear it, but until that moment, this little nugget of brilliance had never entered your mind. I’m lucky enough to have a lot of talented friends, so I’m no stranger to these moments. In fact the first time I watched The Buried Life, I had this feeling.

My sister went to school with a couple of the guys and through her I’d been aware of them having some sort of TV show on MTV for a while, but I’d never taken the time to check it out. Then, I had one of those sick days, where you’re home alone and watch like five entire seasons of a show all at once while eating an obscene

amount of Kraft dinner. I watched Game of Thrones: awesome. Teen Mom: super addictive. Jersey Shore: because I can’t help myself. And then I turned to The Buried Life. I was blown away. It was brilliant, and so simple, as the best ideas tend to be.

“What do you want to do before you die?” is at the core of The Buried Life. One hundred wishes, known by many as a ‘Bucket List.’

The Buried Life is a story about four regular home grown Canadian dudes, Dave Lingwood, Ben Nemtin, Duncan Penn and Jonnie Penn, on a mission to complete their personal bucket list, and, for every item they accomplish, they help a total stranger do something on his or her own. What has this resulted in so far?

Well, they’ve had a hit television show on MTV, played basketball at the White House with President Obama, asked out Taylor Swift, helped a father get in touch with his estranged son of 17 years, and now, they have set their sights on getting ‘What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?’ , the book, on the New York Times bestseller list.

As one quarter of this awesome foursome, Duncan Penn, says: ”We wrote our original list in 2006 - #19: Write a Bestseller was one of the first items, and we’ve been collecting stories and momentos from the road ever since. We’ve always wanted

something tangible to remind people that they can do anything; something they can take with them, a source of inspiration. When we started The Buried Life that’s how we felt, we want this book to give that feeling to anyone who reads it.”

The format of the book is one of the things that makes it so attention grabbing. A scrapbook, or collage art book, rather than a straightforward story, it is an illustrated collection of peoples’ wildest dreams, filled with answers to the question and the book’s namesake: ‘What do you want to do before you die?’ For six years, the guys had accumulated answers from thousands of people around the world. From these, they chose two hundred of the most moving, imaginative, amusing, and thought-provoking things. These choices are brought to life through handmade art of their favorite New York artists.

If getting on the bestseller list is the plan, What Do You Want to Do Before You Die? is off to an encouraging start. Shortly after making their book available for pre-sale orders on Amazon, the book is ranked in the top 10 most motivational books. For all of you wanting to get your copy, What Do You Want to Do Before You Die? hit shelves on March 27. Nice work guys.

A + C

HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED THIS? YOU’RE SITTING WITH A FRIEND, LISTENING TO THEM DESCRIBE AN IDEA, A NEW PROJECT THEY’RE WORKING ON AND YOU’RE LIKE…’SHIT, THAT’S A GREAT IDEA. WHY THE %$&# DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?!’ OUR ARTS EDITOR, RACHEL ZOTTENBERG, WISHES SHE’D THOUGHT OF THE BURIED LIFE FIRST.

P A Y I T F O R W A R DW H A T D O Y O U W A N T T O D O B E F O R E Y O U D I E ?

R A C H E L Z O T T E N B E R G R O B D A LY

I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M 9

F O C U S M A N D Y - L Y N

Mandy-Lyn, Vancouver-based Waldorf Hotel classic party jams DJ by night, gonzo photojournalist by day, snaps portraits with either her 35mm camera, 400 film Kodak, disposable cameras or her 10-year old Nikon. With a focus on beautiful people, Mandy-Lyn creates truth and fantasy, the real and the unreal, and her photos seek to express freedom, mortality, and spectacularly vivid beauty. See more in her monthly photography Zine, HUBBA HUBBA. Her latest book, LA LA LAND, is currently being shot in Los Angeles.

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F O C U S

I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M 11

F A S H I O N

STYLE A L A N C H A N | S T Y L I N G D E A N N A P A L K O W S K I @ L I Z B E L L

M A K E U P A N D H A I R A N D R E A T I L L E R U S I N G T R E S E M M E H A I R C A R E / A N D R E A T I L L E R M A K E U P . C O M M O D E L S K Y L A @ N E X T A N D J U S T I N @ L I Z B E L L

- P U M A P R E S E N T S -

12 I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M

F A S H I O N

J E A N S M O D E L S O W NA L L O T H E R C L O T H I N G A N D A C C E S S O R I E S P R O V I D E D B Y P U M A

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Frankie Rose runs out onto a sleepy street in Williamsburg while a Manhattan bound train rattles overhead. It’s night time, and 33-year-old Rose - a 5’3” wisp, with straight, beetle black hair and dusky features - gets my attention through shadows with a chirpy jumping jack, before we climb the iron stairs to her eclectic, straight-out-of-a-sitcom apartment. In the light, her skin is luminous, her face adorned with only a pair of glasses, and she wears a simple dark jeans and V-neck combo.

It’s a far cry from the Rose I’ve seen on stage, and in photos, as the famous band-hopping drummer for the Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, and Crystal Stilts. There, it’s all black clad, red lipstick, tough girl chic. Though nowadays, she wryly cops to an onstage style that mixes Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” video with The Breakfast Club. “Oh, but the

New Yorker posted a picture of me where I look like a troll,” Rose tells me in her charmingly self-flagellating way, “It’s like they were out for revenge!”

Photo accompaniment aside, reviews of Rose’s recently released sophomore solo album, Interstellar - her first was a 2010 self titled record, under then moniker Frankie Rose and the Outs - are dazzlingly consistent. The album is atmospheric and beautifully unshowy. Beneath layered melodies and airy synths, dramatic bass and drumbeats add electrifying movement in perfectly choreographed time. Rose has earned near unanimous raves for trading in the jangly garage rock and wooly reverb of her ensemble efforts (which bled into her solo debut) for a sleek, new wave sheen that feels massive and intimate all at once.

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EPREVIOUSLY BEST KNOWN FOR STINTS IN VARIOUS ACCLAIMED

BROOKLYN LO-FI POP BANDS, THIS IS SET TO CHANGE WITH FRANKIE ROSE’S CRITICALLY LAUDED SOPHOMORE SOLO RECORD, INTERSTELLAR. ROSE’S CAREFULLY CRAFTED, SYNTH RIPPLED, DOWNRIGHT GORGEOUS

SOUNDS SHOW THIS CONSTANTLY GROWING ARTIST KNOWS WHAT SHE’S DOING. WE SENT NOJAN AMINOSHAREI TO MEET NEW YORK’S VELVET

VOICED DREAMPOP STARLET.

F N O J A N A M I N O S H A R E I M E R E D I T H T R U A X

C O V E R

SEEING STARS

I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M 17

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18 I O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M

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WORDS WITH FRIENDSARMED WITH TIGHTLY WOUND, TWO MINUTE

TRACKS, SOMEWHERE IN THE BORDERLANDS STRADDLING LO-FI GARAGE ROCK AND EIGHTIES-DOUSED INDIE POP, RESIDES LITERATURE. KATE

SHEPHERD CHATS WITH AUSTIN’S GLEEFUL ANSWER TO THE MUNDANITY OF EVERYDAY LIFE.

K A T E S H E P H E R D S U Z A N N E K O E T T

Literature became veritable darlings of the indie blogosphere following the release of their debut 7”, Cincinnati, in 2010, and have continued to deliver infectious, jangly power pop ever since. This frantically cheerful Texan band is the ideal opiate, if not for the masses, then at least for people with a taste for captivating propulsive pop melodies. And when their full-length debut, Arab Spring, hit the proverbial shelves, via Bandcamp, on the first day of this year, it reinforced what music lovers in Austin already knew: that Literature is a band whose work we could all do to bone up on.

The band has inspired comparisons to the likes of The McTells and The Bluebells, and lead singer and guitarist Nathaniel Cardaci agrees that British music has played a formative role in the development of their sound. Despite widespread critical approval though, the quartet, rounded out by guitarist Kevin Attics, drummer

Erik Smith and bassist Seth Whaland, still lives the life of a band on the verge of breakout success. “Our relationship is very sitcom-ish,” Attics says. “We might as well all be living together in some terrible, hokey sitcom premise. We all have our catchphrases.”

Born of Austin’s thriving live music scene, Literature’s members came together through house shows and shared musical tastes, and the band was able to hone their skills in a musical landscape with no shortage of outlets. “There’s a lot going on every night,” Cardaci says of the city. “People tend to get burnt out. Sometimes it can be hard.“ Attics adds, “In other cities I’ve lived in, normally there’d be one show to go to. Here, it’s really easy to miss some really good things. It’s a really rich scene.”

Coming from the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world clearly has some pitfalls. With so many acts vying for the L

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