Mark Ryden

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Until recently, Australian-born, New York based designer and illustrator Deanne Cheuk was the creative force behind the stunning and progressive visuals in art and culture magazine Tokion. We spoke to her recently about her eclectic work schedule. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

A young female once said, ‘if I were into hot bikie guys, I would always hang out at Deus’. Translation: Guys on bikes like to hang out at Deus Ex Machina because they love the quality custom bike and all the quality trimmings. And, seriously, even the most Toyota Corolla driving of women will be entranced by the beauty of the custom work done by this place. Men and women alike fill the humid, tin-roofed showroom, running their fingers from the rough leather seat thing to the glossy front cover thing to the shiny metal handlebar things. Of course, if you really don’t care, or don’t know how to appreciate a thing of beauty, then, surely, you will love the Deus café. Truffle oil drizzled field mushrooms appear on the breakfast menu. If that doesn’t make you bow at the Altar of Deus, then you can go to hell.

WE'RE WEARING

Ok, so I’m wearing this sweater right now. How could I not. The damn thing shares the same name as me. Well, kinda. My parents threw in an ‘o’ into my name just to confuse the life out of people. But that’s a whole another story. The Zoltan is comfortable, soft, and colorful. It has ‘no fortune-telling capabilities’, but the ‘lightweight progressive color stripe scheme has an undeniably funky 70s vibe’. And it does. Yeeha. Now, where the hell is my bell bottoms and Grateful Dead vinyl?

WE'RE THINKING

Back before The Beatles became the iconic poster-group of the free-spirited generation, they had a catchphrase that they would rally around as they struggled from club to club on the tough German circuit. This was in the early 1960s, before their star had risen and well before Sgt Pepper’s was even a twinkle in their eyes. Read more

WE'RE READING

Illustrator and artist John Malloy has been working on a graphic novel called Channel One and, without wanting to sound too much like Paris Hilton, it’s looking pretty damn hot. Update! As of July 2009, John Malloy has aborted the graphic novel Channel One to focus more on other projects, including his autobiographical graphic novel, Queasy. Stay tuned for details. Read more

I spent the formative first six years of my life in Wellington, New Zealand, a beautiful windswept city framed by a magnificent harbour in one direction and a stunning collection of green, rolling hills in the other. It was here, on a return visit many years later and deep amongst the clipped accents and ruddy faces of the weather-beaten locals, that I stumbled upon the vast catalogue of the then Dunedin based record label Flying Nun. And what a roster of acts they housed — The Chills, The Bats, The Clean, Tall Dwarfs, The Verlaines, and my favourite guitar-pop band, Straitjacket Fits. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Black Eyed Dog is the project of Fabio Parrinello, a singer-songwriter from Varese, in northern Italy. His second album, Rhaianuledada (Songs To Sissy), brims with a brooding intensity, referencing the best British folk ballads of the past. Rhaianuledada (Songs To Sissy) was recorded at Vicolo Recording Studio in Sicily by Fabio Genco and was mastered by Luca Martegani in Varese. Listen to the track Honeysuckle Gal.