JAKE COURTOIS OF KOORTWAH

I met up with Jake Courtois at my hotel in New York City a couple of weeks ago to photograph him and find out more about his band KOORTWAH. I asked him if he had a preference for how he would like me to photograph him and he half seriously said “make me look like a sexy homeless man”.

I laughed and said “I think I can manage that.”

So Jake, how did you realize that singing was your thing? I mean, it’s obvious you have a very cool voice, but what made you put it all together?

Thanks Paul. it actually took me years of experimenting to actually make music that I felt good about. Along the way my voice took its own journey, attaining confidence gradually. It wasn’t until the last year or so, with these recordings, that I really felt comfortable putting myself out there and making a go of it. I love to sing, but in as as much as vocals are merely a part of a recording, singing is just part of the comprehensive package of what I do.

Besides looking like a guy who belongs on hotandbusted.com, I think that the element that attracted me to your music, is this Midnight Juggernauts, meets The Presets, meets Depeche Mode kind of style. What are you aiming for in your sound and what inspires you?

I’m choosing to take the hotandbusted.com thing as a compliment. I guess I’m inspired by everyone from Steve Reich to Gillian Welch, but in terms of the music I make myself, I really have to start in my gut, and work my way out. I often work on the songs acoustically before beginning to program them, and this helps me focus on the lyrics and melody, and get a song that feels solid before introducing production. It’s always fun to trick out a song, but it’s also reassuring to feel that you can strip that away, just like clothing from a beautiful body, and still have something that makes you happy.

I love all your tats, how many of them do you regret? I know I hate a couple of mine even though I said I’d never get sick of them but I guess your taste and style changes in time.

I definitely have some crappy tattoos. I’ve covered up a lot of them with less crappy ones, but there are still a few that I’m having slowly lasered off. I have a decent number of tattoos in general, and will likely end up with lots more, but I don’t take any of them very seriously. Tattoos are, after all, quite literally superficial, and don’t have too much of my identity wrapped up in them. I suppose there’s some personal significance here and there, but they’re kind of like jewelry that I don’t have to worry about taking off, and once they heal aren’t clunky, which is nice. I suppose that the act of covering something up is meaningful, though, or can be seen that way, and I have a lot of very big areas of black ink. What is KOORTWAH hiding?

Candy in the Sun is a super addictive track and I am curious to know more about it.

Thanks, I’m glad you like it. not surprisingly, the song is, for me at least, about addiction, and its isolating qualities – the way it points us inwards (not unlike depression(certainly an associated condition)). Having a creative outlet is a great, and healthy way of transforming our inward struggles into outward expressions – stories that, in their telling, help us heal. I don’t want to say more than that. I think it’s always important to let other people decide what the songs are about for them, and not treat my own intentions or interpretations as the only important ones.

My vision was that it had something to do with overcoming death and impending doom. It starts kind of sinister and is both beautiful and ugly at the same time. Very poetic.

Thanks, man. I’m always happy to hear that the songs provoke a kind of story-telling on the listener;s part. That’s important to me.

I can definitely relate to the catharsis of self expression. It would be rad to have you perform at an exhibition with me sometime in the future.

I’d love to do some kind of gallery performance with you.

Cool, well in the meantime I think everyone needs to get into this track Candy in the Sun.
Posted below or GO TO THE TRACK

HERE IS THE VIDEO FOR CANDY IN THE SUN:

NINH NGUYEN, NYC

While I was last in New York City recently, I visited the designer of Ninh Nguyen and bow-tie line Mad Handsome to have a chat and take some snaps of his new line.

I took my Aussie mate and model Daniel Garofali with me to the studio to get a visualization of some of the pieces. I think there is a nice mix of toughness and sophistication in this collection. Ninh’s design philosophy has an eclectic approach: it combines the simplicity, traditional fit of London, the contemporary and fresh style of Japan, and the chic mode of Korea.

So Ninh, where are you from originally?

Well I was born in Paris. I grew up there for nine years and then I moved to Texas so I’m a Southerner.

That’s cool my boyfriend is from Texas actually.

Yeah from where?

He’s from Dallas Fort Worth.

Dude I’m from there. I’ll be in Dallas at the end of April.

Nice, I think I’ll be here then so we will miss each other.

What inspires you to do your pieces?

Honestly, It’s everything. I mean you can just walk down the street and then you see someone that has amazing style and then that just influences your designs. But you know I like to use a lot of military concepts.

I’ve noticed that. That is I think the thing that drew me to it. It is very structural with the military style.

Yeah, I like symmetry in men’s clothing and all the jackets that we use have shoulder pads which makes it very structured and you know very squared.

Where do you sell your brands?

For Ninh collection, we are only selling online right now and the bow-ties we are just starting so they will be available very soon.

You can buy Ninh Nguyen online at http://www.ninh.co/shop

DANIEL – PRIMM, NEVADA

Last weekend as I was on my way to Las Vegas, I stopped in a really small place called Primm. Primm is basically a few casinos(one with a roller coaster),gas stations, a mall and a McDonalds. I met this boy named Daniel who is 18years of age and he told me a little bit about what you do in the middle of the desert when you are not old enough to drink or gamble. As it turns out you just hang out at McDonalds or the mall not unlike teenagers anywhere else. There really isn’t a lot going on here and I found his situation strangely interesting albeit simple, so I took a study of Daniel in the shadow of this giant, ominous McDonalds sign.

ST PATRICK’S DAY, NYC

So in all the time I have been in New York City, I have never been to The Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in person. I usually watch it on TV horning over the uniforms and kilts that I’m such a huge fan of. This year however, I went up to see the parade with my own eyes which I now totally recommend. There is far more entertainment in the crowd which is full of so many drunken and loose bridge & tunnel kids it really surprised me. Here are some images of the mayhem.

CLIFF JENSEN

BILLY AND TRAVIS GRADNITE

Here is some new work that I shot around June last year in Texas and Missouri. This was the start of my trip on possession and identity. You can see the confidence in both these boys as they are on the verge of graduation. Billy’s truck was a graduation gift from his father which is a perfect right of passage to manhood and independence. Both images are currently available as 30in x 40in prints under limited edition. If you are interested you can contact me through my website: http://www.gunncreative.com

THESE IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT PAUL GUNN 2012 AND ARE NOT TO BE REDISTRIBUTED WITHOUT EXPRESSED PERMISSION BY THE ARTIST.

FAMILY PORTRAITS

On my latest trip home to see my family I took some time to take a few portraits on film. Currently I’m interested in people, their possessions and their identity.

My mother, Great Aunt and 95yo Grandmother.

ON SET TODAY FOR PINK+GREEN, LOS ANGELES

Pink & Green is a new short film I have been shooting stills for. It will be coming out soon so look out for the preview. Here are some things I shot while on set today.

TEXAS KIDS

TRAILER TRASHED

Featuring the new California Vintage range by Rufskin