Ludwig Goes Pop at MUMOK

You still got one week to see MUMOK's exhibition "Ludwig Goes Pop" that showcases pieces of Pop Art masters like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. 
Here a little overview:

Frequency 2015

This year we've been at the Fm4-Frequency Festival again and I wanted to share my personal favourites with you!

It started with the Americans The Districts on the first day who played on the Weekender-Stage which- strangely- was insides. They were simply amazing and as their song 4th and Roebling was one of my favourite songs this summer, it was amazing to experience it live. Their leadsinger Rob Grove delivered a truly passioanate and sweaty show!

The Districts

Later that day played the act which I looked most forward to- Alt-j! They've already played a sold-out show at Vienna's Gasometer in February and amazed the audience once again that day. Everyone who couldn't make it to either of the shows or simply can't wait to see them again (understandable considering their crazy good performances)gets the opportunity to do that on the 25th of November! Get your tickets here.

On the 2. day the british band Circa Waves rocked the not so little audience on the Green Stage. Despite haven gotten a day slot they managed to build up great vibes. While they're already really popular in the UK still not all of Austrian's Indie-Kids seem to have noticed them. If you don't know them yet, change it! (Their videos are super fancy shit too)

Circa Waves

Another band which released their debut album this year is Gengahr from the UK. With their dreamy and slightly psychodelic music they wowed the crowd. For everyone who can't get enough of them, they're playing at Vienna's Flex on the 3rd of November! Tickets are available here.

Gengahr

Gengahr

Impressions of "Hippies Use Sidedoor. Das Jahr 2014 hat ein Rad ab" by Cosima von Bonin at MUMOK

Recently there was a big retroperspective of Cosima von Bonin's art at the MUMOK in Vienna. It felt like walking through a weird dream. The exhibition included plush toys, lametta and flat screens with videos of drag queens. Shortly, it was colourful and fancy shit.If you missed this nice exhibition get an impression of it here:

On Wednesday the 22^nd of October I got to see The 1975 and their

fantastic support act Pool in Vienna! The sold out show took place at the Arena, which is an old industrial building with a lot of shabby charm.

Pool, the German support act, was surprisingly good and already began to make the people move before the main act entered the stage.

Watch their video to their song “Harm” below. It’s set in the Deichtorhallen, a museum in Hamburg, the band’s hometown. As you might remember I wrote an article aboutthe Deichtorhallen before

stylish fans

Afterwards The 1975 played their set and as I can tell from the shouting and dancing, they met the audience’s expectations perfectly! They ended with their two big hits “Chocolate” and “Sex” which made the audience go absolutely crazy for a last time.

I’d recommend everyone to go to a The 1975 gig when they’re touring near you because even if you’re not that much into their stuff at home, they have an amazing energy live!

Fm4 Frequency Festival 2014

From 13. to 16. of August the Fm4 Frequency Festival took place in St.Pölten, Austria, about an hour outside of Vienna. The line up was amazing including Lily Allen, Tom Odell, The Neighbourhood and The Kooks.

But at festivals it’s really all about ups and downs, isn’t it? 

The first down came when we had to wait all in all four(!!!) hours to get our wristbands and finally be able to enter the camp site.

The Neighbourhood

My friend and I were clever enough to sign up to the Green Camping area in advance. It’s free and there are some rules as to not let you litter lie around or shout around at night, rules which are quite easy to obey in my opinion.

We only got to know how good our choice to go to the Green Camping was when we went through the normal camp site. It was already pretty full and brought images of displacement camps to our minds…

After almost dying because our stuff was so heavy and successfully building up our tent we decided to rest a bit first.

In the evening we first went to the stages. We feared that we already missed the big hits by Bastille but just as we arrived they started playing “Flaws”!

Tom Odell

Afterwards Macklemore and Ryan Lewis came on stage. To be honest I was very sceptical regarding this line up choice. It’s not really my kind of music but the live performance was amazing! Even the heavy rain couldn’t kill the great vibes in the crowd. This certainly was an up!

In the next days we went to see The Neighbourhood, Tom Odell and Rudimental. They all were absolutely fantastic, Rudimental being kind of a wonderful surprise. I didn’t know them all that well before but after Tom Odell we happened to be at the barrier and the musicians had an amazing power.The whole audience danced hard.

The only bad thing here were several drunk crowd surfers lusting for their 10 seconds of fame…

Rudimental

On Friday we saw Marteria, a German hip hop artist, and Lily Allen. Babyshambles got cancelled because Pete Doherty was probably deliriously lying in his flat in London, high on drugs...

But Lily Allen was fantastic as I could sing to almost every old song she played and even if her new album is too electronic for my taste actually, with a little bit of festival feeling and booze it’s great to dance to.

Afterwards we even danced to Skrillex but couldn’t help and laugh about ourselves as this is actually totally not our music, but the good vibes made hard ravers out of us…

That night we payed the Nightpark a visit. You needed to take a shuttle bus there and the way really is too long if you’re asking me.

Rudimental

The Nightpark looked cool though and we danced some more, only the really bright light that flashed up sometimes was quite unnecessary as we thought because really, no one wants to see the hard truth of our festival destroyed faces at night. The huge flames that sometimes came out of the walls also were a bit of a ridiculous special effect that let us question if we might die at a festival in a BBQ like scenery…

On Saturday we needed a lot of sleep to be prepared for the last night. We got to the stages in the afternoon to see The Subways, The Editors and The Kooks.

The leadsinger of The Subways did some serious stage diving and took our breath away as he climbed on the watch tower and jumped into the crowd.

The big personal final of the festival for me was the show of The Kooks. They played a great mixture of old and new songs and their frontman’s dance moves were very entertaining.

The Kooks

We only listened to Placebo backstage but they sounded really good and the aftershow party was a nice way to end our festival experience.

The next day we had to pack and leave the campsite. The normal area looked as if a bomb hit a displacement camp…Just a little bit of environmental awareness should be in everyone you’d think but when you see the tons of garbage everyone left you know that it really isn’t like that.

As a conclusion I’d like to say that, again, festivals really are about ups and downs but it’s all worth it as long as the line up is good, isn't it?

Let me know about your festival experiences in the comments XX

Interview with photographer Miriam Marlene Waldner

On  my weekend in Berlin I met up with Berlin based photographer Miriam Marlene Waldner.
At a young age of 19 years she's already got published in the Material Girl Magazine , Kaltblut magazine, Pony Archy Magazine Online, photographed for several boutiques and her work was in two exhibitions.

We sat down for a frozen yoghurt in a lovely cafe next to Friedrichsstraße called "Wonderpots" to chat about her dreamy analogue photography, her inspirations and Berlin.

What inspires you to your work?

Actually, a lot of what I see around me. Sometimes there are quite a lot of little things.

Partly also music and above all also the style of bands. I think this is generally also the best style because it's just so inconsiderate and I just like it generally, as opposed to it-girls where everything always seems so perfect.

And when did you start with photography?

  Fairly early. At eleven I had my first camera. A very simple one with which I then photographed a lot in the garden, flowers and what I found beautiful. Then, a year later, I have always borrowed the pretty good camera of my brother and took pictures of my sister. Then I always "installed" her kind of with theatre clothes, and sometimes a friend and now also professional models that I don't know.

What is so special about analogue photography to you?

I think it's somehow much more real and I just like the grain and colours. I just like it. I do not know, I'm just still so retro that I would like it.

How would you describe the style of your photography altogether?

It is actually always mixed, actually I can't say that exactly. There's always something there that just inspires me. As I once again watched a couple of Wes Anderson movies everything goes in this direction. Then rather cool again if I do something with Shawny [Sander].

And who are your role models?

Well photography wise .. From the idea of ​​photography Tim Walker, if I may say so. I just love his work. If you look at his pictures one always has the feeling you can look into a different world, a small miracle world .. I try to manage this with my pictures as well.

And your role model as a whole, as a fictional character, for example?

I find Frida Kahlo amazing, David Bowie ... This is difficult. There are always such small parts of these which inspire me.

As we 'e talking about David Bowie we get to my next question: What was the last exhibition that you have visited? Were you in the David Bowie exhibition in Berlin?

Yes, that's exactly the one I went to last!

How did you like it?

I can not say directly whether it bothered me, but what has struck me again and again in the exhibition is that I had the feeling that this person is already dead. I don't know if you can manage to do that differently, but that has always made me think, because he's actually still alive...

What are your favourite places in Berlin?

I think I don't really have favourite places directly in Berlin, but rather around it. Beautiful lakes and such. Directly in Berlin, I like very much the classic stuff. On the Spree, on the Warschauer Straße, many small cafés .. and flea markets!

What makes Berlin so special for you?

In any case, these many options you have. From events to education, schools, parties, styles, from artists who are all here. It's just all here.

Do you study at the moment?

No. I applied to some schools, but I was unfortunately not accepted. They probably just wanted to give me more time. I think I find it so even the best, because I can sit down again and can think about what I really want. Is it even photography what I want to study, or is it something completely different? In the near future I want to do internships. The first one at an advertising agency.

You've also already photographed the British band Deep Swim. How did it happen, and is this something you can imagine for the future, to photograph bands?

In any case, I can imagine that for the future and it is also such a dream of mine to photograph bands. As I said, this fashion scene, the It-girls, the perfect, that's just nothing for me and I find that totally stressful. And I just find bands great.

I got to do it, as I was at the Hurricane Festival and since Swim Deep were there just as well. After the concert there was just standing a board with "autograph session with Swim Deep" in the corner. So we thought we have to go there, probably it will be totally full. Then we went there, but there was no one there except us. So I asked if I can briefly take some portraits of them and they agreed.

Do you have any education in the photographic direction, or were you self-taught?

No, I learned everything by myself. I just asked again and again.

Which projects are you perceiving at the moment?

I'm doing a series for an English magazine. The target a particular topic and for that I have now searched the clothes together. I love that even the most when I can hold the images then right in the hand. Online is cool too, but magazines is the best.

We've already come to my next question, what is the significance of the Internet to you?

It's important. Sometimes that also stresses me, because one quickly gets the feeling of having to present yourself. The people on the internet are also a lot more unrestrained than in the real world. Although I have never gotten stupid feedback, but I've heard that already by many .. that makes me kind of sad, if you can say so. But in any case I would not be this far without the internet. Then I wouldn't have contact to very many people who helped me, who have inspired me.

What constitutes the medium photography for you?

It's kind of an own language where you can capture moments, feelings and everything. I think that makes a good photographer if you manage to not only depict, but also to get the mood and personality of the people in the picture.

Which person would you like to photograph?

I recently thought, "Oh man, I'd really like to photograph David Bowie." Because he is such an important person to me.

Check out her photography on her blog here

German version:

Was inspiriert dich zu deiner Arbeit ?

Eigentlich ganz viel was ich so um mich sehe. Manchmal sind das ganz viele Kleinigkeiten.Teilweise auch Musik und vor Allem auch der Style von Bands. Ich finde das ist generell auch der beste Style, weil der einfach so unüberlegt und einfach cool wirkt, im Gegensatz zu It-Girls bei denen alles so perfekt wirkt.

Und wann hast du mit der Fotografie begonnen?

Ziemlich früh. Mit elf hatte ich meine erste Kamera. Eine ganz einfache, mit der habe ich dann viel im Garten fotografiert, Blumen und was ich schön fand. Dann, ein Jahr später, habe ich immer die ziemlich gute Kamera meines Bruders ausgeborgt und meine Schwester fotografiert. So kam das dann, dass ich sie immer sozusagen „installiert“ habe mit irgendwelchen Theaterklamotten

Dann auch mal eine Freundin und jetzt auch professionelle Models die ich gar nicht kenne.

Was ist für dich das Besondere an analoger Fotografie?

Ich finde das ist irgendwie viel echter und ich mag einfach die Körnung und die Farben. Das gefällt mir einfach super. Ich weiß nicht, ich bin einfach noch so retro dass ich das gerne mag.

Wie würdest du den Stil deiner Fotografie insgesamt beschreiben?

Es ist eigentlich immer so ein Mix, eigentlich kann ich das gar nicht so genau sagen. Da ist immer was dabei was mich gerade so inspiriert. Da habe ich mal wieder ein paar Wes Anderson- Filme gekuckt und dann geht alles wieder so in eine Richtung. Dann wieder eher cooler wenn ich wieder was mit Shawny [Sander] mache.

Und wer sind so deine Vorbilder?

Also vom Fotografischen her..Von der Idee der Fotografie Tim Walker, wenn ich das so sagen kann. Ich liebe einfach seine Arbeiten. Wenn man seine Bilder ansieht hat man immer das Gefühl man sieht in eine andere Welt, eine kleine Wunderwelt..Das versuche ich bei meinen Bildern auch so hinzubekommen.

Und deine Vorbilder insgesamt, so als Kunstfigur zum Beispiel?

Ich finde Frida Kahlo super, David Bowie...Das ist schwierig. Das sind immer so kleine Anteile von denen die mich inspirieren.

Wenn wir schon über David Bowie sprechen kommen wir gleich zu meiner nächsten Frage. Was war die letzte Ausstellung, die du besucht hast? Warst du in der David Bowie-Ausstellung in Berlin?

Ja genau in der war ich tatsächlich als letztes!

Wie hat sie dir gefallen?

Ich kann nicht direkt sagen ob es mich gestört hat, aber was mir immer wieder in der Ausstellung aufgefallen ist ist, dass ich das Gefühl hatte, dass dieser Mensch schon tot ist. Ich weiß nicht ob man das anders hinkriegen kann, aber das hat mich immer so ein bisschen zum Nachdenken gebracht, weil er eben eigentlich noch lebt.

Was sind deine Lieblingsplätze in Berlin?

Ich glaube direkt in Berlin habe ich gar nicht wirklich Lieblingsplätze, eher so um Berlin herum. Schöne Seen und so. Direkt in Berlin mag ich sehr gern so klassische Sachen. An der Spree, an der Warschauer Straße, viele kleine Cafés..und Flohmärkte!

Was macht Berlin für dich so besonders?

Auf jeden Fall diese vielen Möglichkeiten die man hat. Von Veranstaltungen bis Ausbildung, Schulen, Parties, Leuten, von Stilen, von Künstlern die hier alle sind. Es ist einfach alles dabei.

Studierst du zur Zeit?

Nein. Ich habe mich an einigen Schulen beworben, aber ich wurde leider nicht angenommen. Wahrscheinlich wollten die mir einfach noch Zeit geben. Ich glaube ich finde es so auch am Besten, weil ich mich noch mal hinsetzen kann und gucken kann was ich denn wirklich will. Ist es denn überhaupt Fotografie was ich studieren will, oder ist es was ganz anderes? Ich will in nähere Zukunft Praktika machen. Als erstes eines bei einer Werbeagentur.

Du hast ja auch schon die britische Band Swim Deep fotografiert. Wie kam es dazu, bzw. ist das etwas was du dir für die Zukunft vorstellen kannst, Bands zu fotografieren?

Auf jeden Fall kann ich mir das für die Zukunft vorstellen und es ist auch so ein Traum von mir, Bands zu fotografieren. Wie schon gesagt, diese Modeszene, die It-Girls, das Perfekte, das ist einfach nichts für mich und ich finde das total stressig. Und Bands finde ich einfach toll.

Ich bin dazu gekommen, indem ich auf dem Hurricane Festival war und da waren Swim Deep eben auch. Nach dem Konzert stand da in der Ecke nur eine Tafel mit „ Autogrammstunde mit Swim Deep“. Da dachten wir uns dort müssen wir hin, wahrscheinlich wird es total voll sein. Dann sind wir dort hin, aber es stand da niemand außer wir. Da habe ich gefragt ob ich kurz Portraits von ihnen machen kann und sie waren einverstanden.

Hast du irgendeine Ausbildung in die fotografische Richtung oder hast du dir alles selbst beigebracht?

Nein gar nicht, das habe ich alles selbst gelernt, mich einfach immer wieder erkundigt.

Was sind so deine Projekte denen zu zur Zeit nachgehst?

Ich mache gerade eine Serie für ein englisches Magazin. Die stellen ein bestimmtes Thema und dafür habe ich jetzt die Klamotten zusammengesucht. Ich liebe das auch am meisten, wenn ich die Bilder dann richtig in der Hand halten kann. Online ist auch cool, aber Magazin ist schon am besten.

Da kommen wir auch schon zu meiner nächsten Frage, welche Bedeutung hat für dich das Internet?

Es ist schon wichtig. Manchmal stresst mich das auch, weil man schnell in den Strudel kommt zu meinen sich präsentieren zu müssen. Die Leute sind im Internet außerdem auch viel hemmungsloser als in der realen Welt. Ich habe zwar noch nie blöde Rückmeldungen bekommen, aber ich höre das schon von vielen..das macht mich irgendwie traurig, falls man das so sagen kann. Aber auf jeden Fall wäre ich jetzt nicht so weit ohne Internet. Dann hätte ich zu ganz vielen Leute die mir weitergeholfen haben, die mich inspiriert haben, gar keinen Kontakt.

Was macht für dich das Medium der Fotografie aus?

Das ist irgendwie so eine eigene Sprache wo man Momente, Gefühle und alles Mögliche festhalten kann. Ich finde das macht auch einen guten Fotografen aus, wenn man schafft etwas nicht nur abzubilden, sondern auch die Stimmung, den Menschen und die Persönlichkeit ins Bild zu bekommen.

Welche Person würdest du gerne mal fotografieren?

Ich habe letztens gedacht „Oh Mann, ich würde echt gerne mal David Bowie fotografieren.“ Weil er auch so eine wichtige Person für mich ist.

The Kooks' new video

Yesterday the british band The Kooks released the video for their new song "Around Town".

 It's nothing like a typical music video but more like a short movie actually. The director is Ryan Hope who also directed videos for Bombay Bicycle Club, London Grammar and many others before.

 At first you get the explicit content warning and let this said, they don't show that for nothing! It's packed with thrilling pictures full of violence and sex whilst the kooks' fulminant song is playing in the back. But better watch it now yourself :