Siri Ahmed Backstrom

WE'RE SUPPORTING

New York-based artist Joshua Harris makes movable sculptural artwork out of plastic bags, harnessing the air from subway grates to give them a sense of life. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

This gourmet paint is made by only two dedicated paint makers without fillers, just pigment and oil, like it should be. There is only one store that sells it and it is run out of the Elisabeth Foundation for the Arts building in Chelsea, New York. They have a table set up there so you can play with and mix any of the colours together to see its effects. I usually go to pick one tube up and hang around asking questions to one half of the duo, Gail, and usually leave with five tubes, having learned a lot about the history and the process behind each colour.

WE'RE WEARING

Put simply, Sydney fashion label Andrea and Joen create the hottest shoes around. You’ll find a combination of pure sophistication and rock and roll attitude in every pair from their range. Their sexy style has become a must for contemporary women, including Gwen Stefani, Katy Steele and Pink, all of whom have been seen proudly flaunting them around town.

WE'RE THINKING

Very few band reunions get me excited, but I’ve consistently loved Faith No More since I was 13. I loved their pre-Mike Patton era, I loved King for a Day, and I even loved their track with Boo Yah Tribe on the Judgment Night soundtrack. Kerrang recently hinted that a FNM reformation is in the works for ‘09, and though bassist Billy Gould has emphatically denied the rumors, the general consensus is that the reunion is on.

WE'RE READING

When I did the Master Cleanse diet a few years ago — the one where you consume nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for ten days — I sat at work looking at pictures of food as if they were porn. Scanwiches would have gotten me hot and bothered like nothing else.

I ran a series of 80s nights in New York last year — showing cult 80s movies and playing classic cuts from that era of kitsch and spice — purely so I could spin After The Fire’s Der Kommissar over and over. Yessir, this was the future of music in 1983. Pity no one was listening.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Shortstack are a Washington DC band that not many people know about outside of the the city. They recently released an EP of covers with some sweet choices on there — The Kinks, Captain Beefheart, and The Pupils, among others. Once again a band takes different styles, sounds, and time periods, and owns it like an extra finger.

Listen to the Shortstack track, House On Fire.