THE CLASSIC LOOK

photos by diana martinez 

"WE WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING" | THC

          While attending Stay Fest there were a few bands that went on that night each with their own impressive style, however it wasn’t until the hot, little room was lit up by bright blue lights and the sound of an electric guitar being plugged into an amp that the chatter of crowd began to dissipate. The four tall guys, being completely surrounded by the crowd, had our attention.
 A few minutes into their first song the energy in the room begins to shift dramatically. That’s when we knew this band was one to keep an eye on.
          Fast forward to present day, It’s been a year since that performance. An entire year full of learning and progress for them as a band. Two Headed Cat is an alternative rock band that’s recently been making waves in the Los Angeles local music scene. The band, based in Downey, consists of four friends; Brendan Guitron and Diego Velarde on vocals and guitar, Matt Moreno on drums and Erick Velasquez on bass.

      “A year ago our mindset was different from what it is now,” Brendan tells us.

  “We were messing around back then. Just trying to find out what we wanted to be,” Diego adds.

      Their musical direction has evolved into a more serious one since Brendan and Diego started the band in high school. As childhood friends they grew up jamming together, playing covers and eventually writing original material. Matt and Erick made the band official when they met them during their sophomore year of high school.

       “I think we have a general direction of what we like to play now,” Brendan said while we sat in their studio.
     
        Finding the direction of their music has been made a little easier since they seem to have full support from their parents. Diego’s family gave them a place to rehearse and even dedicated a room in their home to use as a recording studio.

       When walking into their home studio I see their instruments and equipment are crammed into the left side of the room, leaving some space to fit a couch and some walking space. The best part is all the random miscellaneous they have. I spy an old radio, a poster of Bob Dylan and another of the Rolling Stones maracas, tambourines, and a lot of random CD’s. After comfortably settling in I get to the most important question I have to ask them. A question most people have also wondered –  

why Two Headed Cat?

     “At first we thought Two Headed Snake would be a cool name” Diego says while pointing at Brendan, “[but then] the initials THC came to mind. So, then we thought of cat and we just kind of rolled with it.”
They all laughed and then gave us a different, more PG version, of how they developed their name.
“I was in jazz band in high school, people who play jazz are jazz cats,” Brendan explains, “with that we took it in a different direction because Diego happened to play blues so it was that idea of two different things [representing] the two headed cat.”
      I've got to admit their initials are pretty amusing but it's great to hear that they were inspired by their individual interests and were able to fuse them together because it has resulted in the rousing sound of Two Headed Cat. Personally, we describe them as an alternative rock band but you can also use indie rock or even psychedelic rock to describe their sound.
"We don't like to put a specific genre on [the songs] when we write," says Matt.
   It's more important for them to play music that feels right to them than to fit into a specific genre.
"We kind of let everyone else decide what genre we are," Brendan says.

     After spending a year figuring out who they were as a band they are ready to seriously take on the challenges of what it means to have a band because they’ve learned that doing so is no easy task.
      “Compared to last year this has been more of a learning curve. We’re figuring out all the basics on how to have a band. How to get noticed,” Diego said.
So far they’re doing well thanks to their close friend and manager, Alex Lucio.
“[I] think their music is great!” says Alex, who’s managed them since the beginning. Alex books them shows, plans press releases, manages their social media and sells their merchandise at shows.
       Two Headed Cat has 3,000 followers and counting on Instagram which they frequently update and make sure to interact with their fans through the comments. They’re all learning how to network in order for more opportunities to present themselves.
They released their new single “Hypnotize Me” in March and were able to secure a venue in Highland Park to perform it live for the first time. Their high-energy performance paired with an insanely cool light show and their new song equaled an even better performance than the first we witnessed a year ago. Their exciting performances definitely give people something memorable to talk about. When it comes to local bands, word of mouth is often key to gathering a fan base.
       I left a CD in my friends’ car without telling her anything about them just to see what she genuinely thought. Later that night I received a text from her expressing how “collected” they sound. It’s pretty exciting that a complete stranger to their music was able to notice what they’ve worked on for the last year.
       Proof that word of mouth is the best form of free marketing.

 
 “There have been random people that come up to us saying they love our music and it’s the coolest feeling,” Brendan says with a smile on his face.
     “We want people to relate to our music. To dance to it. To be excited to hear it” Matt adds.
     “To feel it,” Brendan says.
      “Yeah! Like, come on a journey with us.” Matt says.
     This is the beginning of Two Headed Cat’s journey in the local music scene and they are more than ready to take it on.



Check out their new single Black Lions off their EP GRAND DELUSION coming out on June 25th. 

They're playing a show tonight if you're interested in checking them out! More info here.

Make sure to check them out on social media :

Instagram, Soundcloud, Bandcamp

words by diana martinez / edited by stephanie mejia 

YES, WE ARE ALIVE

@iosuafanning

Hi.
I just wanted to let everyone know that we aren't dead. Life's just been extra tiring so we've needed to take extra naps.

It's almost summer time for us so that means less sleeping and more posting. We'll be back at it very soon.

Meanwhile, here's a crappy playlist I made for you to listen to while you wait.
It doesn't, like, have a theme or anything. It has the top songs I've listened to since March.
Why is Kehlani and Blink-182 in the same playlist??? I don't know but let's roll with it.

Happy listening!




Don't forget to follow us on Instagram!!

WE WERE HIGH ON LIFE

I hate concerts. I hate driving in LA.
I really hate driving to concerts in LA so we took 3 metro trains and 1 Lyft to get to The Roxy.

We were there to see The Frights + SWMRS play their last show on their two month long tour. I love The Frights but I wasn't expecting to have much fun. I'm so against concerts. I can't even give you a valid reason as to why I hate attending concerts but I'm going to make it clear that I had the time of my life at this concert.

I don't even think I'm capable of describing to you why we were so moved by this show. It was just so fun. But even 'fun' might be an understatement. I guess it was the perfect ending to a challenging week for us. We're dealing with work + school + adulthood and couldn't even remember the last time we saw each other. So rocking out in a dark room with a hundred other strangers to a band singing some rebellious but honest lyrics was absolutely perfect.

After the show ended we couldn't hear and were severely dehydrated but we were feeling so giddy and being so giggly. I felt really light and free and full of good energy. It felt like we were high except we most definitely hadn't consumed any type of drugs. It's been a couple of days since the concert but it's changed my entire mood. I feel excited for life. Ew, I sound so dramatic but it's true. I'm pretty sure this show is what's going to get me through hell week finals. We ended the night by eating In n' Out while listening to The Frights in my car. "High on life" is probably the cheesiest phrase I've ever used but it's genuinely the only way to describe how we felt.

I filmed this video of that day but in no way does it actually embody how we felt. It's just a visual representation of our day. But hey, do your self a favor and listen to The Frights new album 'You're Going To Hate This', you're going to love it.

A NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES

STRONG FACED, SOFT HEART

Today is the annual L.A Zine Fest. There will be hundreds of creatives hanging out and handing out their good work. I've never been able to attend but that doesn't lessen my appreciation for the zine culture.

A zine –in case you didn't know– is a self-published booklet that ranges from a variety of topics. They were really popular during the 70's in the punk rock scene and in the 90's for the riot grrrl movement. As of lately the zine movement has proven that it's still alive and thriving with more of them being spotted in bookstores and some  even included in art exhibits. There are bands, such as Skaters NYC, that still produce their own zines.

I was personally introduced to zines by my friend AJ Floresca. She first started by producing her own personal zines fall of 2014 and has since made a few of them public.

Strong-faced, Soft Heart is the title of the up and coming zine. It offers a collection of wonderfully curated doodles along with her own photographs and inspiring quotes. The zine ranges from music playlists, travel pictures, and stories with positive vibes.


On her website it states that SFSH is a zine with "no real purpose" which I don't believe. While reading her zines or going through her website I can't help but feel motivated by all the creativity it took to put it together and feel inspired by her words. AJ has a positive-mantra going in her work that mix well with her quirky drawings and words which I think can really resonate with people.

She also does a lot of calligraphy. You can take a look at that on her Instagram! We actually used her original design as our very first blog logo! She's also done other titles for our YouTube videos as well. She also happens to be very dedicated to journaling – otherwise known as the cooler way of scrapbooking– which can be quite inspiring since I can't even seem to finish an entire notebook. You can see a lot of that work here.

AJ is a creative that will continue to express herself through pen and paper so I suggest if you like being motivated and cheerful that you check her out.

Her zine is still a work in progress but you can read her first zine edition here!

Connect with AJ Floresca!  

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOSHUA FANNING

the original design by Joshua Fanning

Back in November we turned 2 years old and celebrated by revealing a new logo. This logo was designed by Joshua Fanning.

A couple of months ago I was casually browsing Tumblr when I stumbled upon Josh's work. His blog consists entirely of his original graphic design work which I became a little obsessed with. His eccentric, minimalist– Instagram friendly– style really appealed to me.

Throughout, our corresponding I learned little details about Josh such as the fact that he's based in Ireland. In other words, he's not even on the same continent as us. Honestly, that in itself made working with him so much more exciting because well, we've never even spoken to someone from Ireland let alone worked with someone.

Josh is a talented designer with a variety of notable works that range from album covers to creating tangible identities. So we thought it'd be fun to get to know a little more about him and his work so I present to you an exclusive interview with Josh!

                                                                                                                                                              

Paradise Demons - stickers

Since we couldn't meet up in person to conduct this interview I thought having him write out his answers would make this a little more personal. I couldn't interview an artist and not have him draw something, amiright?

I'd like to note that when I first examined his work I failed to notice that all of his work had a positive disposition. The simplicity of his work is charismatic. He seems to radiate good vibes in both his work and persona. As the interview continues we get to know more about his discipline as a graphic designer. 

One last thing, can we please take a moment to admire this dudes' penmanship!? I definitely wasn't expecting to receive that lovely handwriting or his charming self-portrait. 
(No offense intended Josh, you're just a lot cooler than I thought you'd be). 


1. Did you have a creative upbringing? 

I was a lego kid, which I would consider my start in making things, but I didn't have a particularly creative upbringing beyond the things I sought out myself.

2.  If you didn't, what influenced you towards expressing yourself creatively?
I used to draw constantly as a kid, and it kind of became what I was known for, so I embraced it pretty quickly.

3. What's the art scene like in Ireland?

Ireland has a really great creative community, primarily in Dublin. Its not really an important part of the culture in rural parts of the country like where I grew up.

4. Do you have an other artistic outlet other than graphic design?

I love loads of different design disciplines, from architecture to industrial design, and I'm starting to get into ceramics now too.

Personal Work  // On the right is work that was tattooed!

5. I saw on your Tumblr that someone had one of your original designs tattooed! How do you feel about that?
Its the best compliment, sometimes I get the chance to design tattoos for people too which is always a super nice job to get.

6. Your work is very minimalist, has it always been that way?
For as long as I can remember I've been doing pretty minimal work, I really like the idea of reducing things down to the simplest form at which they can work. 

7. Was it difficult for you to develop your style?

I think my style grew pretty naturally with time, it was kind of an instinctive development. Right now I'm trying to get away from the style I've developed. A style is a great thing for an illustrator who's trying to sell their abilities based on their personal style, but for a graphic designer it can be kind of limiting to making good work. 

8. Tell us about your favorite (graphic design) project you've worked on so far.
My favourite project so far was a small book that I produced as part of my graduate work called The Art of Sun Worship, which is a collection of different short works of literature about the pursuit of a good life in nature. (check that out here)

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Connect with Josh!  
Tumblr | Portfolio | Instagram

or send him an email at joshua-fanning@hotmail.com