The 2009 Burning Man festival kicks off today. Approximately 50,000 people will converge on a remote section of the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada for one week of art, debauchery and frivolity, culminating in the burning of an 85-foot sculpture. It is often said that trying to properly describe Burning Man to someone that has never been would be like trying to explain what a particular colour looks like to a blind person...but think Woodstock v Mad Max.
It's one of the top destinations on our list of places to visit before we die. If you want to know more about Burning Man check out this article that the one and only Mark Morford just published.
A very good friend of ours (who shall remain nameless) was doing the walk of shame home the other morning when she came across one of the fine stores that stock us, and took this photo.
We would like to have embarressed her further by posting a picture of her and a certain male model that she spent the night with, but this little story will have to do for now ;)
Hey, at least she didn't get snapped in a club photo with her boob hanging out.
If you see a homeless person on the street today why not give them your shrapnel. Sure they're probably only going to spend it on drugs, alcohol and cigarettes but to be fair that's probably just what you were going to spend it on anyway.
I feel an obsession coming on. For whatever reason I haven't heard that much M83 before, but our boy Tappy just gave us the hot tip that they are the shit and as usual he is on the money.
Their euphoric dreampop / shoegaze sound is the best we've come across since first discovering School of Seven Bells. In my crystal ball I can see their most recent album Saturday = Youth becoming the soundtrack to some long and lazy pool-party days this summer.
We've had to endure countless cranky models, several sub-par samples, various vulgar jokes, numerous noisy parties, regular raging hangovers, occasional oral fixations, multiple minor disagreements, copious creative flashes and one kamikaze trip to the other side of the world but we're pleased to announce today Eleventh Commandment officially turns one!!
To celebrate we're having a sale. We've just launched our online store on the website and for one week we'll be offering 27% off everything in the store. All you have to do is type in the promo code: 'B0081E5'. There is heaps of new gear available for guys and girls. Check it all out by going here or by clicking on the Store tab in the main page of the site.
We've also hidden a special picture somewhere in the store. There will be a mystery prize for the first person to tell us where it is. Email your answers to info@eleventhcommandment.com.au
Finally we're stoked to reveal we're expanding into Norway. There will be more info to come on this front, but for now if you'd like to join the Eleventh Commandment Norway facebook group you can click here, or here for the original EC group.
We've come across some talented people in our travels but it has to be said this artist is one of the most amazing we've experienced...well...ever. Introducing: Pogo.
The 21-year-old Perth-based wunderkind is a music and video master who blew us away the first time we stumbled upon his remixing wizardry on Disney classic Alice in Wonderland. We just knew we had to track the man down for a chat. Enjoy.
EC: Explain a bit about what you do.
Pogo: I am an eletronic music producer with an education in 3D animation and visual effects. I am most noted for my work recording small sounds from a specific scene or film, and sequencing them to form a new piece of music along with a video composed of the corresponding clips. I am also successful in providing design and video production services as a freelancer.
EC: How did you get started with your music and what ideally would you like to achieve with it?
Pogo: My fascination with music came about when I was two years of age. My folks had bought me a desktop tape recorder, electing the cassette tape as the centrepiece of my free time for the rest of my childhood. I was denied lessons in drumming under my tutor's belief that I didn't need them, and later received practical lessons in piano playing and MIDI arrangement from my music teacher in school. My friends and I found success as a rock band in which I drummed, winning several competitions and earning a position in the Pepsi Smoke-Free Rock Quest of 1999. When I was 12, I discovered the game 'Music 2000' for Playstation and knew instantly that music production would be a hobby of mine for many years to come. Today, I use Audition and FLStudio, and my work can be found on websites including MySpace, YouTube and Last.fm. What I hope to achieve with my music is enjoyment and inspiration, and to know that it's affecting the lives of others so positively is an inspiration in its self.
EC: Explain a little of your creative process.
Pogo: My first and most important goal of all is to produce a track that I can listen to regularly and enjoy. This process is all about composing with my ears and finding sounds that I can love individually. Pulling a track together can take me anything from a few days to a few weeks. It depends largely on whether or not I'm in the zone, which oddly seems to occur mostly during the late hours of the night. Once I have developed my track substantially, I download it to my MP3 player and listen to it throughout my day. This phase is about enjoying and evaluating my track from the perspective of a casual listener, and it's often here that the imperfections and annoyances of my track stand out. After switching back and forth between production and listening modes, it's then time to produce a video. This is a process that requires a different way of thinking. When I'm editing, I'm constantly evaluating things like meaning, flow of motion, framing continuity and so on. It's a misconception that my track is the product of my video, when the idea of producing both at the same time would be chaos.
EC: Do you have specific inspirations? i.e. people, literature, film, philosophy, dreams etc?
Pogo: I'm inspired to make music by the sounds I hear and the films in which I hear them. You might say my work is about capturing the element of a film that inspires me, and extruding it into a piece of music. It's kind of like shining light through a prism. When I'm writing and directing, my inspiration is my idea. This doesn't last long, so it's important for me to act quickly while the energy is still there. During my film studies in 2007, my tutor was a dedicated and learned film maker by the name of Burleigh Smith, who was of some inspiration to me as well. He proved to me the importance of persistance, optimism and assertion in bringing one's ideas to the screen. Ever since my childhood days playing 3D Movie Maker, the one thing that has always fueled my desire to write and direct is the film I'm watching in my head. The vision is everything.
EC: What's the best thing about being creative?
Pogo: To be creative is to endow yourself with the power to breathe life into the figments of your imagination. I can't think of anything more magnificent about being creative. I think creativity is one of man's most precious qualities. It's an energy that is largely responsible for fueling some of the greatest enrichments and advances of our society. One of the most important goals we should have as a society is to preserve and encourage man's will to create, enrich and inspire. When I witness my music encouraging somebody to be creative, I couldn't possibly hope to achieve anything greater as an artist.
For more Pogo you can jump here, hop over here or even bounce up in here.
It's a lazy 24 degrees today. And there are only two weeks left of winter. And 24 multiplied by two is 48...the exact number of days until Parklife. Coincidence?
Well...no. Elaborate and poorly constructed introduction to a good track? Maybe. Excitement for some summer parties? Definitely.
We're not really haters. In fact we're pretty supportive of most things and are generally pretty positive. But deadset how shit is Ed Hardy?!
On the weekend I was on the Gold Coast and had the displeasure of seeing a dude rocking an Ed Hardy tee, Von Dutch jeans and Crocs. I shit you not. I was this close to ripping my eyeballs out of my skull to stop the pain.
Apparently we're not the only ones who feel this way, with Dirt Nasty (of the Mickey Avalon crew) recently releasing a new track, aptly titled 'Fuck Ed Hardy'. Brilliant.
And for all those playing at home - the road trip was rad and we'll be adding a bunch of wicked stores to our stockist list very soon. Stay tuned.
