Rudy Risi Not Feeling So Artisan Tattoo

AS tattooist, Rudy (26) was never uncomfortable with his job. Although many negative view against tattoos, as it is associated with evil-smelling problems, young singles was not much question the assumption. He was cool, even daring to open a business in the middle of the City Rembang, even in front of the boarding school Kauman. "I have a motto, it works better than being unemployed. That's it," Rudy said that most of his body tattooed. He admitted that there are still people who think negatively towards tattoos. For example tattoos always identified with evil. That view is wrong. For many people with tattoos, but good deeds. Conversely, there are people without tattoos, but his actions often to the detriment of others. "If ever there was a criminal who tattooed, it should not necessarily be blamed tattoo. The evil that man." When mentioned about the consumer, the original Rudy Semarang but already 11 years living in Rembang was revealed, most consumers instead of the old quarters. Children and adolescents, although there is a request tattooed, not many. "I've also been tattooing civil servants. Even the woman was there who asked tattooed." Indeed, for the area of ​​Rembang, tattoos problem has not been so unpopular as in big cities, so that consumers often shy tattooed in public places. If consumers see this, she needs to be responsive, so the manufacturing process in a closed room. Rudy explained, he now serves only permanent tattooing. That is, a homemade tattoo on the body when it is not going to disappear. Because the manufacturing process with a special needle and ink. He pointed out, in the process of making no specific way to avoid transmission of the disease. For example, keeping the needle kept clean and should be discarded after being used once. "If there are people who ask for tattoos, I definitely give a new needle." The fare? Rudy stated further complicated the picture, the more expensive the cost. But the average cost Rp 30,000 each picture size 10x10 cm. Besides being a tattooist, Rudy is also a locksmith. Both efforts were promoted through the writing on display at his place of business. That way, people will easily know. To manufacture a duplicate key, house keys and both two-wheeled vehicles, the rate of Rp 5,000 / fruit. Duplicate car keys Rp 10.000 / fruit. Key generation arcade, good for two-wheeled vehicles and cars, the rate of Rp 60,000 with one year warranty. Of which both the expertise it acquired? Rudy said, to the science of his tattoos in Semarang. Meanwhile, expertise make / fix the lock is also obtained in Semarang. "I was once involved a locksmith."

Read More

Story about Tatto

ALTHOUGH there that looked identical tattoos with criminality, tattoo enthusiasts is increasing. For not a few who judge, tattoos are works of art. In Europe and other Western countries, tattoos commonly found in adolescents. Both boys and girls, tenderhearted and dressed macho. In Indonesia, see for example the boxer, not a few who bertatto. Sutadi Sanjaya (32), usually called Bedot, is a tattoo artist. He opened a practice in North Sosrowijayan numbers. Its customers more of the Caucasians. It is understandable, because Sosrowijayan is known as a 'tourist village' in Yogyakarta. SINCE my primary hobby is drawing. Transmissivity to high school. Every extra draw, I definitely follow. This hobby does not stop even though I failed to enter the ISI. In fact I can actually earn money with the toxicity. For example, create images for T-shirts. Also painting on canvas. The result I sell in Malioboro. The paintings are surrealist and realist style. Also patterned decorative. My house is in the middle of 'tourist village'. Parents use them to trade garment. When there is boom batik painting, I also make batik painting. So my house so gallery. After the crisis subsided drastically and tourists, especially saturated batik painting, I concentrate on painting on canvas. MAKE tatto, originated from the request of friends. The first tattoo I create patterned surreal. Because many love, then I commercialized. To provide professional service, I then opened a studio in the next gallery. Customernya the foreigners. Perhaps, the tattoo studio is the only one in Yogya. If there is any friends practice for local residents, usually call or open a practice in Malioboro. The price depends on the size of the tattoo painting, motifs and color number. Payments are often made with dollars. Tatto fare smallest size, when dirupiahkan around Rp 50 thousand. Makin big, costs could be hundreds of thousands. Nothing ever reached USD 1.5 million. Most tourists, a gentleman in the transaction. After all, so there are naughty. Tatto ever digabur costs Rp 1.2 million. Whereas the right foot American tourist I was already filled tatto appropriate order. Let it be. I wish all of his left leg is not often tread mbelek lencung, neither stepped on a mine. FIRST, a tool that I use locally originated. Consists of the motor-driven needle-tape. The way it works is less okay, but the result was not too bad. Because you want to work more professional, the tools that I replace the more advanced German-made. I bought through bule friends from Germany. Prices varied tool tattoo. According its type. One of the simplest units, approximately USD 1.5 million. I used to wear it, but now I replace the tool for about Ep 7 million. The price of the ink, a small bottle of Rp 300 thousand each color. When the appliance is complete, in addition to work so much better, the results are relatively satisfactory. Tooling maker skin tattoo that there is an injection of more than one. Instead there is eyed 8 needles. The more needles, staining results became more refined. Eye of the needle penetrates the epidermis as deep as approximately one (1) millimeter. Make tattoos clearly need the expertise. Otherwise, the customer can be in pain. Especially if the skin will be close to the bone tattoo. If one needle, color quality can be easily damaged. EVERY time make tattoos, needles should be sterilized with a special tool first. When the needle is dirty, but can cause infection can also transmit the disease. No difference syringes often used the doctors. My hand must always wear gloves anyway. Painting can be drawn using a ballpoint first. Can also use the copy paper taped to the skin. His motives vary. Besides surrealistic, many were realistic. Such forms of flora or fauna. For flora typically floral. Being of animals, for example dolphins, tiger, dragon, cobra and so on. I have many examples of motives. Mostly I buy from Europe. Customer can choose as much. Although rarely there is a demand to draw women, but never a Caucasian man, hand painted ask many women face. He said, to remind the women who never dipacarinya. CUSTOMER Caucasians come from a variety of races. Especially Caucasians Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The most preferred is the location of the tattoo on the shoulder, chest, arms, legs. There also are asking for tattoos on the face. Although paid whatever, I will not do. Anyway I abstinence menatto face. Point. I had never handle black tourists. If any, I would have been extra hard concentration. Where there is a 'black canvas' is painted. Caucasian skin anyway resemble white canvas. The color can be brilliant as well. Menatto woman's body in the most sensitive part too frequently. Although I am a normal man, suer, I never feel aroused. I always hold the principle of concentration should take precedence. I am aware, once faith swaying look smooth white chest, for example, the work could sag. Make tattoos to be completely finished yet. If there are errors, may not be removed. In fact, not a few'm tattooed Caucasian woman like that. For example next to wudel. In fact there is a request in the ass all. MY concerned tattoos are considered part of the criminal world. What is the relation? Bertatto not any criminal bejibun amount. I regret one private television, every Menayang criminals, always focusing on tattonya. Go ahead. But this attitude is not fair to the artwork. For me, a tattoo is a work of art, it must be respected as the other. In the West, quite a lot of teenagers bertatto. In my opinion, more than half of European teenagers bertatto. I know because it has worked in Germany. But they are allowed, just over 18 years old. Under it, is prohibited. If it is violated, the parents could sue the manufacturer in question. Western society is more rational to address art tattoos. Every citizen who wants bertatto azasinya welcome because it is right. Although not a little because of the emotional impulse, but more rational. If they've got the desire, difficult to prevent. For example, there was the woman I ask to consider first. The answer, he had thought about for two years! Before working tatto, I was always so. For tattoo will stick throughout life. If one wanted to be removed, the cost is very expensive. Much more expensive than when made. Must wear laser beam all. NOT easy to do tattoos. Especially if you happen to place nylempit. Then in addition there is a tattoo can be solved one day, many of them took days. Moreover, if the motive complicated. Oh yes, even once there is a girl Caucasians, because they can not withstand the pain, to draw it must come many times all. This work for me is the talent. Then will I live as long as I was able. In addition to the appropriate hobby, tattoos are also a work of art that brings money.

Read More

Tatto Not a Crime, but Art

Tattoos or in English called the tattoo, tattoos or tattoo is actually derived from the word tatau which comes from Polyneshia which means giving signs. History records found by the European tattoos when venturing into the American continent in the 18th century BC, but the actual history of tattoos are much older than that.

  Other historical sources mention that the tattoo has been known since 50 million years BC, with the discovery of human ice in the Alps with the whole body is filled with pictures and dots. many cultures that know tattoos, such as Japan, the Dayak (Borneo), China, Tahiti, Russia, and Egypt. While the Java community, tattooing has existed since the introduction before the colonial era (read novels elephant mada). Purpose tattoos Tattoos have diverse objectives and functions, but it can be said the tattoo is used to give an indication to the user. in Japanese society, tattoos functioned as a form of ritual and then shift the function becomes a sign of the family (shogun Tokugawa era), tattoos in Japanese society lies in the face. Polynesian tattoos society functioned as a sign of maturity reserved for men (below the waist resembling shorts) and women (wrist and foot). In the Egyptian society, tattoos functioned as a sign of nobility and beauty (in the brow and wrist). whereas the ancient Dayak people, tattoos functioned as a sign of nobility (wrist and ankle) and religious rituals were reserved for indigenous stakeholders and shaman (whole body). Shifting function tattoo As the development of the colonial era, tattoos are used as identification for soldiers, sailors, and criminals. in Indonesia, in the colonial era tattoos functioned as a sign of criminals by providing a stamp body that is easily visible with a hot iron formed. in the era of World War era, tattoos became identification for soldiers and sailors, whereas in the present tattoos began to have a function as works of art. Tattoos on Indonesian society Indonesian society has long recognized the tattoo but tattoos become a taboo because of the religious elements and functions previously used tattoos as a symbol for criminals. In the 1960s, the criminals are marked with tattoos that later appeared a tattoo prison term. Joshua Barker is one of the researchers who have studied the tattoo in Indonesia, Barker found that in modern Indonesian society, tattoos still be a taboo because it has the impression closely with criminality. In the era of the 21st century, the people of Indonesia are able to receive a tattoo as an art form even though there remains a negative impression to the user tattoos. With all the above description let kumandangkan tatoo is not a crime. Now that he's articles about the tattoo that I can love. Tatto it does not mean evil, tattoo art. Each person must have had a reason why he tattoos the picture, and it is located where. Temenku there tuh boy bands, tattoos mama photo on his right hand. His mother already dead fitting her high school. The reason he tatto picture her mother and in the right hands, because he can only trust to his mother, and let him remember his mother kept the same. My friend no longer wants a tattoo of angel wings on his back, the reason, he occasionally nglakuin want good things. Hehe. If my friend wants a tattoo angels bit weird right reasons.

Read More

BROTHERHOOD

I first met the president of RedRum Motorcycle Club, Cliff Matias—a spiritual man, softly-spoken with an iron will to match—almost five years ago, and since, have slowly been introduced to key members of the club and subsequently, their wives and girlfriends. It became apparent that these people in and around the motorcycle club were earnest. They share family values and a strong bond in its most simplistic form—one that I hadn’t seen before in other cultures. It is an unavoidable honesty. So often we associate bike club members with criminals who are to be feared rather than be revered as protectors, or even thought of as regular people. The aim of the “Brotherhood” project is to show who these people really are. A part of photography that I find deeply appealing is documenting a moment that is truly honest. Posing and posturing will always have its place, but when shooting the “everyday man” the artist often finds themselves no longer in control of their subjects, but merely a bystander in the moments they capture. Much like the men and women involved with RedRum MC, after I gained the club’s trust I was fortunate enough to be given unfettered access to this insular group. When I embarked on documenting the characters I wasn’t sure what would transpire but I was afforded the opportunity to witness some genuinely soft moments: Cuddling their wives, adoring their girlfriends and playing with their children, riding in unity on charity runs and laughing with each other. They are not angels but I have never personally witnessed any group brawls, nor unprovoked aggression towards the general public. Sub-cultural, tight-knit groups such as RedRum are the ideal subject for this style of documentary photography. Peek behind the curtain and into a world that you’d never normally see or will ever be witness to again. —Sophy Holland. What has Sons of Anarchy done to the perception of motorcycle clubs? Fowler: Jeff can answer that one, because I shouldn’t say what I’m thinking. Blanchard: It blows everything out of proportion. They did show how clubs work, but it was a drama, they were killing 60 guys a week. You’d be out of members in less than a month. Fowler: We’d all be locked up and there would be more trucks exploding on the highway. Blanchard: It was entertaining. If a biker said he didn’t watch it, he’d be full of shit because every biker watched it. But it was a drama, that’s it. There are some great things that they did show, some of the great parts of the life: the hierarchies in clubs, the protocols, all that kind of stuff, but in the end it was just total entertainment. Agreed, but that is the most public representation of motorcycle clubs. Figueroa: Unfortunately, meanwhile we are the guys that would help if you really needed it. Andrews: And we want to be ambassadors wherever we go. Fowler: You want to be polite without bringing some flowers. Blanchard: I mean if we have a Prospect [a man essentially pledging the club] with us we’ll have him blow somebody. [joking] Andrews: I don’t think people know how many charitable donations are made by motorcycle clubs. It is a huge number. What philanthropy are you involved in? Blanchard: Every year we do a St. Jude run. Our president Cliff Matias organizes different rides up in the Catskills. We do a Purple Heart Association run locally. We have done book drives for under privileged kids. We do a Native American scholarship run. That has been going over 12 years. It is a fun ride, we start at the Bull [Charging Bull statue on Wall Street]…. Andrews: Well, the National Museum of the American Indian. Fowler: And we go up to Bear Mountain for their pow wow. Andrews: And we always donate, I think last year we donated $2,000 for one of the traditional dancers. That plays against the perception one has when they read “RedRum” on your back. Figueroa: I was originally with a group called Legion of Doom and there was a set of us called RedRum. We floated away and Cliff said we were going to stick with RedRum. Everybody thinks its “murder” backwards so you have to kind of clarify. Please do. Figueroa: We are all about positivity. But the first thing that pops into people’s minds is The Shining. Fowler: So many times you’ll be in a bar and somebody will come up saying “Redrum, redrum.” Shut the fuck up. Figuero: It is a badass name. Guys will say, “You got fucking murder on your back.” No we are the opposite of that life. Can we walk through the patch or is it a sacred, esoteric, thing? Fowler: The three skulls represent brotherhood, the black bandanas represent the struggle between the Mexican people and their government. The peace sign speaks for itself, the war paint are of every denomination of man: white, red, yellow, black. It’s clear that the patches mean the world to you. Figueroa: Guys work hard for it. You can buy a three-piece Sons of Anarchy patch online and unfortunately some dumb guy is going to learn his lesson, riding around his Honda with one on when an outlaw club finds him. Why are you “prospecting,” Matt? Fowler: Don’t fuck this up. Gelbke: I have always been intrigued by the club life. I am a union worker so I am fond of the brotherhood you get with groups of likeminded guys. It’s what drew me in; it’s what keeps me interested. The brotherhood, a common bond, right or wrong, weak or strong. I know I will be here for them and I trust that they’ll be there for me too. Figueroa: I have been able to watch who would fit and who wouldn’t fit for the past 15 years. Between the guys we are prospecting now to the guys we used to have, it is a big difference. I had to watch this guy who was a pain in the ass, everywhere we went there was something going on and he was involved. Where is he now? Figueroa: He passed away. So it’s life is a bitch, it comes back to bite. And I prefer what we have now to what we had when it was harder. We got rid of the bad seeds and every time we lost one we got four more great dudes. Not those guys who are going to rob, rape and do all that crazy shit. We are not hardcore, we don’t need to be, people see us and they know that we are tough. We are the guys who are going to shake people’s hands. People want what we got. Andrews: And what we got is brotherhood. We never ask what brotherhood can do for us, we ask what we can do for brotherhood. I want to help in any way I can and that is what brings us closer together. The closer you get to brotherhood the more enlightened you become. When we all come together, when we are wearing the same patch, we have the same common goal. Blanchard: The club opened my eyes to look at people differently. I am still learning constantly which is great, and it is not just about the club life, it is about life in general. Fowler: Before I met these guys I was very selfish. I had my own real family but I never felt brotherhood with my real brother. I doubted that brotherhood even existed when I couldn’t find it at home. But when I found these guys I knew I found brotherhood. I like to roll alone once in a blue moon, but nobody is more than a phone call away. If something goes down everybody zooms to the scene. That is what brotherhood is to me and I don’t think I can find it anywhere else. It took me a long time in my life, I just turned 50, and I finally feel like I fit in somewhere. I wandered through life not fitting in until I found these guys. I found brotherhood.

Read More

CANDID SHOTS FROM THE SUICIDEGIRLS BLACKHEART BURLESQUE TOUR

Adventure. Excitement. A SuicideGirl craves these things. The counterculture collective of beautiful women spins pop culture in a dazzling and sexy way on stage. Performing under the Inked magazine banner, the SuicideGirls’ Blackheart Burlesque Tour titillated 46 crowds in 56 days—you should see the amount of nipple tape on the expense report ledger. For what Vice described as, “sort of Comicon meets burlesque nerd orgy,” the Girls twisted geeky tropes like Star Wars, A Clockwork Orange, Game of Thrones and Zelda. A favorite performance was Sunny’s rendition of “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid (don’t act like you don’t know it, tough guy). She belted out: “Fishes with tits they don’t get too far, legs are required for bumping and grinding. I want to feel my, what is that word again? Oh, twat.” Like sailors getting their swallow tattoos after 5,000 miles at sea, the SuicideGirls got their new black heart tattoos to represent the tour at Red Tree Tattoo Shop in Columbus, OH. They also managed to take in Disney World, see Zoomanity in Las Vegas, meet the Naked Cowboy in Times Square, see if there is a basement in The Alamo and managed to snap a few photos in SG swag outside the White House. The Blackheart Burlesque tour kicks back up in April, starting in Oakland, CA and then weaves its way around the US and Canada. Do you like half-naked tattooed women and partying? Of course you do, you are reading Inked, come see the SuicideGirls in the flesh.

Read More

HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL

SOCIAL MEDIA SUPERSTAR JOSH OSTROVSKY AKA THE FAT JEW IS READY FOR HIS CLOSE-UP. The Fat Jew (spawned name: Josh Ostrovsky) is a social media maven and sexual object. This summer he is launching a rosé that he has dubbed White Girl, publishing a book Money, Pizza, Respect and dipping his bulbous toe into the modeling world. We were fortunate enough to be able to work with the new face and body of male modeling for his biggest shoot yet. For The Fat Jew’s coming-out spread we recast the Rubenesque man-baby in iconic photos such as Kim Kardashian from last year’s Paper magazine, Vanity Fair’s pregnant Demi Moore cover, Burt Reynolds naked on a bearskin rug for Cosmopolitan, Janet Jackson’s hand-bra for Rolling Stone and also from the venerable music magazine he plays both John and Yoko. The following interview was conducted while he was on the toilet à la Jenny McCarthy from those ‘90s Candie’s ads. How would you describe yourself? Imagine if George Washington, Steven Seagal, Matthew Perry in a post-Friends prescription pill spiral, and all the members of Cypress Hill gangbanged Bette Midler at a warehouse rave and put a baby inside her…that baby would be Josh Ostrovsky aka The Fat Jew. I am known by many names: Jewther Vandross, Jewlio Iglesias, Jewy Vuitton, Jewsan Sarandon, The King of Brunch, Fatrick Jewing, Jew Diamond Phillips. When you look in the mirror what do you see? A Botticelli. Literally, I’m a modern-day Botticelli woman in a painting. I got that thick 15th century ass, Dog. How has your male modeling experience been thus far? Breaking into the modeling world is not easy because obviously I don’t have a 60-pack and deep, V-shaped dick lines, so it is hard for me to get into that scene. How do you feel about the label “plus-sized model?” I am not really down with being called a plus-sized model. I think they should rename the genre. It should be called, like “sturdy men” or, like, “thick fellas.” Plus-sized makes us sound kind of soft and supple and I am proud to have a big, fat shitty body. What is your ultimate goal in the male modeling world? To let people know that the current-day body standards glorified by the mass media can be harmful, especially to young people, and that their bodies are phenomenal no matter how they are shaped. Also, to get rich enough to buy an ostrich or to throw a $20,000 red leather couch in the ocean for absolutely no reason except that senselessly hurting the environment is very baller. How are you inspired by this shoot? I am not only inspired by pregnant Demi Moore, I am pretty sure that we look exactly the same. Previously I have been described as having a body like Shrek and Rosie O’Donnell. The Shrek/Rosie O’Donnell body type is going to become massively popular in 2015. Are there other models who you have been inspired by? I really connected with…I forgot her name, but she always looked like she was sleeping…she was a Victoria’s Secret model and I masturbated to her so many times. Frankie something? Or Frünke? Or maybe it was my dad’s friend Frank? He is a union guy—he’s like my uncle but he’s not my actual uncle, ya know? Oh, and definitely Anna Nicole Smith. I would definitely want to marry a 95-year-old walking corpse who has billions of dollars and then develop a serious pill addiction, continuously vomit all over myself and then die an icon. That is pretty much the plan; I am the new Anna Nicole Smith. Are you the new face of modeling then? Everybody likes to ask, “Who is the new face of male modeling?” But I may not be the new face because this [points at visage] is like, whatever, acceptable, but I am the new body of male modeling and that new body is Lena Dunham, because me and Lena Dunham have the same body. If you groped us both in a dark room and had 10 guesses whose body was which you would have a 50 percent chance of being right. I am the new body of male modeling which is a tall and fat—but taut—adult baby. I am very taut, like a very young Gandolfini—a giant plump infant. The old industry saw is, “Never work with children or animals.” Do you agree? The greatest photoshoot I can imagine is me wearing a beautiful half-black baby with a miniature afro and green eyes in a Baby Björn with a majestic falcon perched on my arm. And I’m holding an axe. An axe that’s on fire. That “no baby/no animal” rule is dumb. What else do you get into on set? At these shoots there is always a ton of food and none of the other models eat anything. There will be a German dude who has a V-neck that goes down to his navel and he will eat one poppy seed and be full. So I can just, like, hoard food. On the actual modeling shoots I am getting fatter. Many models have a diet of cocaine and cigarettes, what is yours? It’s all about ecstasy and carbs (and coke). How about the phrase, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels?” Everybody loves that, but that is not true. Have you every drank gravy? I mean, sipped it? Not chugging it like Steve-O, I mean sitting by a fire with a nice snifter of it. Gravy tastes better than skinny could ever fucking possibly feel. So what of the skinny body image in our culture? If you are skinny in America you are basically a fucking super hero. If we were in Belgium, or…where is everybody hot? We are not in Stockholm. We are not in Oslo— where everybody is gorgeous, looks like they are from the future and they recycle— this is fucking America, we are big, fat, giant consumption loud-mouth monsters. It is ridiculous to think that any of us are fit. There are maybe 3,000 fit people in LA and 1,500 in New York and that’s pretty much it. Everybody soon will be in a Rascal Scooter so I am the right model for our culture. I am going to need the thing that goes up and down the railing of the stairs. This is what George Washington wanted; this is what this country is founded on. I should be on Mount Rushmore. That should be my next modeling gig: Mount Rushmore. In case you can’t book that, do you have a back-up modeling aspiration? I would like to be in Serbian Vogue. I don’t know if they have Serbian Vogue but if they do I would like to be in it. Former Yugoslavian Vogue? I want to be in that bad. You are a cultural influencer, what are you currently feeling? The top three things that I am currently into would be nachos on pizza—“Nacho Pizza”—and then probably also Rob Lowe because that guy is just getting younger. He used to look 35 and now he looks 21. He is gorgeous. The last thing is girls with big hands, big rough hands. I am not into guys necessarily, I just like to know that the girl has done some hard labor. Getting back to pizza, how, as a Jewish man, do you rectify eating pizza with pepperoni as a topping? As a Jew you are not supposed to eat certain things, but God, don’t be a fucking hater. Obviously I shouldn’t be pouring pork onto my actual face, but have you tasted it? I might be Jewish but this is fucking America. God doesn’t want me to eat pepperoni but George Washington certainly did. That man fought so that I could eat pepperoni for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You have a slice tattooed on your body. I am sure a lot of people have said to Inked, “My tattoos are like a story, a tapestry of my life,” but in this case that is actually true. I have a couple that I have gotten in shops, but normally, this friend of mine who is a fucking weirdo artist tattoos me in weird places. We have done tattoos on moving trains, in the middle of raves around transvestite cowboys and once went into the bathroom of a restaurant in the West Village and people were knocking on the door while he was tattooing me for 45 minutes. That tattoo says “porno” with a heart, because I love porno. “Money, Pizza, Respect” was done on a speedboat going 95 miles per hour. If you get all of your shit in a tattoo shop, I feel you, but that is kind of boring. I should get a tattoo on horseback, that would be kind of chill. Or we could walk into H&R Block, start tattooing and see how long we could get away with it. You have a book coming out, Money, Pizza, Respect. I wonder how many people who have written books have had it tattooed on them? While on a speedboat? I’m going to go with none. What is the book about? It’s a manual for living your life. I can’t tell you what to do, but I can definitely tell you what not to do. I am the world’s foremost expert in making questionable decisions, and you can learn so much from that. Be inspired by my stupidity. I’m like Ghandi’s really shitty brother with a manageable coke problem! What’s one thing that your Instagram followers will be surprised to read in your book? There’s a story in the book involving me getting a handjob from a celebrated actress over the age of 70 in a hot tub in Texas that will probably blow some people’s minds. And you have a rosé wine coming out called White Girl, where did the idea originate? Last summer, there was a rosé shortage in the Hamptons that left white people panicking and fighting in the streets. It was terrifying. We want to make sure that never happens again. How would you describe White Girl? It’s free range, macrobiotic, fair trade, grass fed, conflict free, cage-free, low carb, and gluten free. It’s delicious enough to put in your cereal, yet inexpensive enough to fill a Jacuzzi to sit in with some close friends. If you could have one rapper sip on White Girl in a music video, who would that be? Bow Wow. I would love to have a rapper spokesman for the rosé and would prefer to get someone whose career is basically over because we don’t have a ton of money to pay. He’s three years away from being a waiter at a sushi restaurant in Santa Monica, so I can probably get him on the cheap. So that, Mount Rushmore or Former Yugoslavian Vogue, any other goals for this summer? If Money, Pizza, Respect hits the New York Times Best Seller List I am going to legally change my name. I have called the department of records to confirm that I can do this, I will change my name to New York Times Best Seller. I spoke to Kesha at the record’s office and she said, “I don’t know why you’d want to do that.” And I said, “Kesha, I don’t need an editorial, I just need to know if I can do that.” And she was like, “Yeah.” So I can get that on my driver’s license—help make that happen.

Read More

ELECTRIC LADY LAND

It is a common scenario: You’re walking around some city’s downtown and a guy will hand you a glossy card promoting some club. The flier—three times the size of a business card— looks like it was made by an overzealous design major who utilizes seven different fonts, overuses Photoshop and features an impossibly gorgeous girl who has never and will never step foot into the place advertised. Unless that girl is DJ Megan Daniels. The blonde baby doll has the softest of looks but is actual fire on the decks—she doesn’t just lead the party, she is the party. There was a time when a DJ was in a dark booth—not seen, just heard. But in the current era the only successful mixers without a public face are Daft Punk. “At the moment being a DJ has become largely about image,” Megan says. “It’s almost like the DJ is the new rock star. People want to see you and connect with you. You have to be very front and center.” So it’s not just about the music anymore. But obviously music is integral. “I am a female, and because I began as a model people are skeptical if I am really deejaying or just trying to bank off of the way I look,” she says. “But all I can say is I am the real deal when it comes to my DJ career and I take it very seriously. I started spinning on vinyl and have never used a sync button or a pre-recorded set. I’m always mixing live when I am performing.” Emphasis on her last word, performing. When she is in the booth it is very much a live music performance. While she comes into a venue she has an idea for a playlist but also takes into account the vibe of the crowd and freestyles her sets. “The DJ has huge responsibilities that I don’t think many people actually realize,” Megan says. “The DJ controls the whole atmosphere. Music really has an impact on people. It can relax people, excite them, or make them more aggressive. It’s pretty crazy. I really try to switch it up during my sets. I will vibe off of the crowd to see what they are feeling, that dictates what I am going to play. But during a typical set you will hear me play anything from electro house to trap to hip-hop.” You can get a feel for her tastes through her podcasts and mixes which can be found through her website, but her live shows are influenced by local flavor. As a traveling DJ (she’s spun sets in places like Hong Kong, Mumbai, Saint Croix and even Salt Lake City) she checks to see what’s trending on the specific city’s charts before those glossy fliers are printed. Oh yeah, her looks. Beyond Megan’s bee-stung lips and flowing blonde hair is her impressive collection of tattoos, a number paying homage to music. “I fell in love with Social Distortion at [age] 13, so I have their skeleton on my inner elbow,” she says. But most precious is the pair of headphones with her initials on her shoulder. “No matter what happens down the road with my DJ career, that tattoo will always serve as a constant reminder of an amazing point in my life.” And in case you thought that was code for you missed out on seeing her perform in person, she adds, “I’m not planning on quitting anytime soon, though.”

Read More