Rubin Recommends

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

I’ve come across a lot of photographers over the past few years, some were posted here and some were lost, but I always kept up with Jody Rogac’s work after I found it. She just did a website update and added some amazing work. Check those links out below and enjoy this quick little interview.

Name: Jody Rogac
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Age: 28
Occupation: Photographer
Website: http://www.jodyrogac.com / http://blog.jodyrogac.com

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Rogac: A long term project is in the works between myself and Hailey Gates — we’re just starting to brainstorm about how we’re going to approach it. I’m very excited as she is such an inspiring person!

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Rogac: I’ve been keeping it pretty local lately. But I’m going to be home in Vancouver for the month of May and I can’t wait!

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Rogac: Fleetwood Mac, Fleet Foxes, Etta James

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Rogac: I’m addicted to Pequina in Brooklyn, close to where I live. Their margaritas and guacamole are to die for!

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Rogac: I think I’ve had too much coffee.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

Name: Graham Kolbeins
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Blogger/Curator
Websites: http://futureshipwreck.com / http://grahamkolbeins.com / http://www.mastodonmesa.com

Graham Kolbeins is one of my favorite people I’ve met in the last year or so. He rules it at everything and I’m glad we get to work on stuff together. His website Future Shipwreck is how I first discovered him and I’ve been lucky enough to work on We Love You So with him for the past year as well as other projects. Read below to find out all the stuff he’s busy with like opening his own Gallery in Los Angeles, helping to build websites, and other great things.

(note: that photo above is a still from an Orbitz Gum commercial he acted in. It’s unreal. watch it here.)

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Kolbeins: It’s been an exciting month: the gallery that I co-curate, Mastodon Mesa, hosted an insane night of creepy and inspiring noise and performance art, the new issue of Giant Robot came out with a flipbook I shot printed on the corner of each page, and the blog that I’ve been working on with Dallas Clayton (and you, obvs.), Thirty Days NY, just launched. Plus, I finally got back to posting regularly on Future Shipwreck. Somehow with all that on my plate, I found the time to soundproof my apartment in a vain attempt to keep the tortured cries of my neighbors’ gaggle of toddlers muffled.

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Kolbeins: I’m currently on a plane headed to New York (listening to a gnarly playlist of Cindy Lauper, Steely Dan, Seal and Erik Satie compiled from the flight’s on-board music player), for the opening of Thirty Days NY. I also hope to go shopping for some nice clothes while I’m in town, since New York is basically a giant aggro shopping mall where you can never see the horizon. With pigeons and really delicious pretzels.

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Kolbeins: Sade, Yura Yura Teikoku (who did the soundtrack to the best movie of 2009, Sion Sono’s Love Exposure), MVSCLZ, Dorian Wood, Drake, the Orson Welles novelty track “I Know What It Is To Be Young,” Pearl Harbor, Cults and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (thanks for bringing me back to 1997, Rudenet!) (Rubin Note: I ran a Ska website called Rudenet when I was in middle school)

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Kolbeins: French toast at Madame Matisse in Silver Lake, chili burgers at Tommy’s in Echo Park, the bleu cheese burger at the heavy metal-themed Grill ‘Em All Truck, also the mac ‘n cheese grilled cheese sandwich with pork and grilled onions at The Grilled Cheese Truck (I’m a whore for gimmicky food trucks).

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Kolbeins: If Nathan Reusch from The Weekly Check In 2 weeks ago ever wants to explore his wild side, I’ll be here waiting.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

(somehow I got to take this photo. I don’t know how it happened. but I am glad it did.)

I was lucky enough to work with San Francisco based artist Brion Nuda Rosch while shooting photos for the recently released book of his work that was done by Little Paper Planes. It was a great experience, I got to see him in a speedo, shoot a short film, meet his cats, and listen to stories. He’s an amazingly inspiring artist and I’m excited for everything he’s doing.

If you’re in the San Francisco area here are details on the book release that is TOMORROW Saturday March 27th.

BRION NUDA ROSCH
A New Catalog Published by Little Paper Planes
Book Release Party & Signing
Saturday, March 27th, 3:00-5:00pm

“Baer Ridgway Exhibitions is pleased to host a reception for the San Francisco release of Brion Nuda Rosch, the first survey of the San Francisco-based artist and curator’s work. This book was published by yours truly, Little Paper Planes! Our full-color, 90 page publication measures 9.5 x 8 inches, has been printed as a limited run of 1000 and retails for $24. Come collect a copy, score Brion’s signature, and check out the last dearly departing day of Baer Ridgway’s current exhibition, PAPER! AWESOME!, which Brion curated.”

Check out the book at Little Paper Planes Publishing site.

Name: Brion Nuda Rosch
Location: San Francisco
Age: 33
Occupation: Artist, Curator, Educator, Bartender, Friend & Husband
Websites: http://brionnudarosch.com, http://www.somethinghomesomething.com, http://hallwaybathroomgallery.com

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Rosch: I am really excited about the work I have done with Baer Ridgway Exhibitions and Little Paper Planes. After two solo exhibitions, a large curated project, and a monograph, I am transitioning back into the studio and office, working towards projects that have yet to develop an identity that could be shared with you at this time.

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Rosch: I was recently in New York. I hope to return soon. When I am in San Francisco I generally stay close to home. Occasionally we frequent the Uptown for an adult beverage.

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Rosch: Henry Flynt, The Monks & Kool Moe Dee.

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Rosch: A simple Egg & Cheese Sandwich in New York.

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Rosch: Back to work, or possibly back to lay in bed, it’s always an option.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

Nathan Reusch is a wonderful human being that I had the privilege of going to high school with in Kansas. I’m glad I’ve always kept in touch with him. Nathan has managed to turn a small little record label (releasing mainly Kansas/Kansas City music) titled appropriately “The Record Machine”, into a power house and also releasing one of my favorite records of last year. (See: Capybara) If you’re going to SXSW you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see the bands on his label and heck you can even meet the man himself. You’ll be glad you did.

Name: Nathan Reusch
Location: Kansas City
Age: 30
Occupation: Owner of The Record Machine

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Reusch: I have a lot of new records coming out in the next few months on Record Machine. We just did our first 7″ with Cowboy Indian Bear and It’s True. We are also releasing an album with Motorboater that just came out last week. Right now we are doing a poster with a download but we are hoping to press it on vinyl in a couple months too.  We have a bunch of other great records this year with Saharan Gazelle Boy, State Bird, Max Justus, Cowboy Indian Bear, and still even have a few more things that I am working on for the second half of the year. I am basically just trying to do so much stuff my brain explodes.

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Reusch: I went out to New York City a few months ago with Max Justus. He played a few shows out there and we got to hang out and bum around New York for 6 days. I love being in that city. Every time I go I realize how much I love to visit but how the pacing of it would drive me nuts to live there. I am not sure how I would get anything done.

I am also getting pretty excited to get out of KC for SXSW next week. We have lots of bands playing multiple shows and last year we just had 1 playing 1 show so I am quite excited to get down there.

The Record Machine at SXSW
3/18 Thursday @ Jacklope (404 E 6th St) The Record Machine + Anodyne + Mushpot Showcase: Olympic Size Capybara, Cowboy Indian Bear, Little Brazil, Roman Numerals, and Open Hand  (2-7p,)
3/19 Friday
@ Casa De Gallo (2604 Diaz St) – Cowboy Indian Bear (3:00pm)
@ Canvas(105 E 5th) Midwasteland Takeover – Capybara (5:00pm)
@ Casa De Gallo(2604 Diaz St) – Perhapsy – (7:00pm)
@ Casa De Gallo(2604 Diaz St) – Capybara – (10:00pm)
3/20 Saturday
@ The Ghost Room(304 W 4th St)- Capybara  (1:00pm)
@ Lovey’s Loot(8650 Spicewood Springs Road)- It’s True (3:00pm)
@ Canvas (105 E 5th) Midwasteland Takeover – Cowboy Indian Bear (5:00pm)
@ Canvas (105 E 5th) Midwasteland Takeover – Perhapsy, Motorboater, and Max Justus (11-1:30 pm)

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Reusch: I really have been enjoying the new Beach House record. We have had tons of snow this year  in Kansas City (well tons of snow in terms of what Kansas City would normally get). And Beach House has been a perfect pairing for it. I also just heard this new band Cults that I cant’ get enough of. I also have been listening to Local Natives and Twin Sister quite a bit plus more the all of that I end up listening to my releases.

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Reusch: While I was in NY I had these really amazing pumpernickel everything bagels from Bagelsmith. I have been craving one ever since. In my neighborhood I had one of my favorite burgers in KC the other day from Max’s Auto Dinner in Waldo. And while it isn’t food I just tried Boulevard’s new Smokestack Series Beer which is an Imperial Pilsner and it was quite amazing.

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Reusch: I am really glad you invited me to do this. I have been jealous and wanting to do one forever!

Jaimie Warren is one of those artists whose style feels so familiar because their aesthetic has basically become part of the  dominant Youth Culture marketing strategy. She has a style that is uniquely her own, but still resonates with the larger culture. Her work has appeared in Nylon, The Fader, Vanity Fair, XLR8R, Vice and a whole host of other publications here and abroad. You can check out here entirely impressive portfolio and resume at dontyoufeelbetter.com.

She also created and runs Whoop Dee Doo, which is easily the craziest live entertainment/kids weirdo show available on public access television. Truly insane things happen on Whoop Dee Doo. Quite naturally, she lives and works in Kansas City.

Lane: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Warren: Well, hmmmm, I am in a radical new Rizzoli publication called SHOOT: Photography of the Moment that released recently at the New Museum in New York and has an accompanying exhibition that is traveling to PARCO Factory in Tokyo, Galeria Yautepec in Mexico City, Colette in Paris and the Ullens Center in Beijing, which is rad! There are 26 photographers including Juergen Teller, Wolfgang Tillmans and Nan Goldin and I’m in there too!! OMG! Also, I have a new interview in Nylon Mag coming out in April. I recently closed my first solo museum exhibition at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and I’m doing lots of video and performance work. My DJ troupe “Booby Trap” is busy taking the country by storm, and I am really focusing on studying Roseanne Barr in my spare time. I am also desperately trying to figure out how to make it financially feasible for me to be in Brazil for a few months this time next year.

Lane: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Warren: I just got back from India!! I got a grant to go there for a month, and I was working on a new series of my weirdo self-portraits, as well as a Bollywood edition of “Whoop Dee Doo”, which is a faux public access television show based in Kansas City lead by me and my good buddy Matt Roche (The Werewolf Host). We travel it all over to places like New York, Chicago, even Sweden!! It’s sort of like a totally crazy kids show for adults, where you’ll see professional drill teams, opera singers, break-dancers, Celtic bagpipers, Christian mimes, Civil War re-enactors, drag queens, punk bands, science teachers, tap dancers, R&B singers and dog trainers all in one room together dancing to the Notorious B.I.G. or something like that. It’s super weird and FUN! And we do kids programming for underserved youth, and we are currently on the hunt for a permanent space so that we can do shows on a regular basis.

Here is a cool show we just did – make sure to check out the end, where there is an amazing death metal head-bang-off between a 12 year old girl and a 43 year old man. Oh yeah! And Whoop Dee Doo will be in a new book project and exhibition through Deitch Projects called WILD FILE that will debut in NYC this summer.

Lane: What’s your favorite music right now?

Warren: Eek! I have absolutely no cool factor with music. You’ll find me only listening to Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and the Annie soundtrack. Ooopsies….

Lane: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Warren: My favorites are Succotash (I work there!!), Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque, T-Rex in Legends mall and Vietnam Café. But most often I’ll be having a Lean Cuisine meal and a giant Diet Dr. Pepper. Gross, I know.

Lane: Anything else you want to mention?

Warren: Sure! We just did a little mini-video with Peaches you should check out really quick and, I want to say that you need to check out Peggy Noland’s radial clothes!! And Ari Fish’s radical clothes!! And I want to say I LOVE KANSAS CITY!!

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

Alex Prager is a wonderfully nice talented artist living in Los Angeles California. I remember discovering her photography a few years ago and just always coming back to look at it. I was pretty excited that our photos were next to each other at the THIS gallery show that happened a few weeks ago (photo.) It looks like she’s up to a lot of amazing things, so keep up with her work.

Name: Alex Prager
Location: Los Angeles, California
Age: 30
Occupation: Artist/Photographer
Website: http://www.alexprager.com

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Prager: Right now I’m working on a secret project. Hopefully I will be finished with it before June so I can exhibit it in London for my June 8th show.  Another thing I’m excited about is my photography series called Week-end that opened in New York and Los Angeles a couple weeks ago.. It’s opening in Japan in April so I’m definitely going there for that.

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Prager: The last place I went was Florida for Christmas to visit my Dad. I’m trying not to travel right now because I’m going to be doing so much of that starting in April. It’s nice to be home right now for a bit.

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Prager: I’m listening to Pheonix, Pavement, Charlie Wadhams, and that song Blue Steel by Bot’Ox.

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Prager: I love Local in Los Angeles…the veggie reuben sandwich. It’s right down the street from me. They get their fresh produce from local farms and if you ride your bike there instead of a car, they give you a free smoothie.

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Prager: My sister Vanessa Prager is a bad ass. She paints with oils which is something I cannot do but wish I could.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

I first discovered Mark Duplass through the band he was in Volcano, I’m Still Excited!! on Polyvinyl Records. Then I saw he was writing/directing movies and watched every single one of them. You might know of some of them The Puffy Chair, Baghead, Hannah Takes The Stairs, Humpday, and his most recent CYRUS (starring John C Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei.) He’s also one of the stars of the show The League which was one of my favorite shows last year.

Name: Mark Duplass
Location: Los Feliz (east side of LA)
Age: 33
Occupation: Filmmaker/Dad

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Duplass: My brother Jay and I are preparing to direct a film we wrote that starts shooting in a few months in New Orleans (our hometown). We’re in that fun phase of dreaming about what the movie will be, picking locations, making friends with the new crew members, etc. It’s like showing up at summer camp on the first day and trying to guess what the next 3 months are gonna be like.

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Duplass: We just got back from Sundance where we showed our latest movie CYRUS. Also went to Ann Arbor to show CYRUS as part of a Sundance outreach thingy. 2 frozen tundras in one month. Geez. But, somehow, I had the best BBQ I’ve had in about 10 years in Michigan. And, I used to live in Austin, so that’s kinda saying something big.

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Duplass: Midlake. Knocks me out every time. That mood is so timeless. It’s like Steely Dan, but less ironic and more heartfelt. But still has that amazing musicianship. I don’t know. I’m really into the earnest thing right now. All this said, Survivor‘s “I Can’t Hold Back” made me cry at the end of Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I’m not kidding.

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Duplass: In my ‘neighborhood, it’s all about the Korean BBQ. Soot Bull Jeep. In Koreatown, in LA. My wife brought me there for Valentine’s Day. I ate so much I pretty much ruined the rest of the date. Totally worth it, though.

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Duplass: My 2 year-old daughter and I are watching “Elmo goes Potty” right now. Life rules.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

I met Nick Helderman my first week in New York when he was in town shooting Dutch bands during CMJ in 2008. Since then I’ve had the good fortune of visiting him in Amsterdam and seeing his joint exhibition with Shawn Brackbill as part of Le Guess Who? in Utrecht. The Handsome Dutchman (as he’s known by his American friends) is in high demand these days for his music and documentary photography. You can check out his work at www.nickhelderman.com.

Lane: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Helderman: In 2008 I photographed Ethiopian saxophone player Getatchew Mekuria and Dutch improv/punk band The Ex on a tour through Washington DC, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago and New York, and I recently showed these photos in Utrecht and Groningen (The Netherlands). Both were amazing exhibits. The one in Groningen is part the Popview 2010 exhibit and will move to London and probably Berlin later this year.

Right now I’m working on a plan to actually travel to Ethiopia and meet up with all these great musicians for a photo project. This has been getting me pretty excited lately.

Lane: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Helderman: I recently went to New York for CMJ and got to stay at a friend’s place for a couple of days, which gave me the time to do stuff such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, and walking on the Brooklyn Bridge (haha). Next month I’m going to Stockholm in Sweden for a week or so to stay with friends, and hopefully SXSW in Austin. Really looking forward to that.

Lane: What’s your favorite music right now?

Helderman: That question instantly makes me black out, same thing as walking into a record store. But right now I think that would be Dungen, Sleepy Sun (their new album is going to be amazing), Patrick Watson, Kurt Vile, Mahmoud Ahmed, Animal Collective, Megafaun and Tune Yards.

Lane: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Helderman: Last weekend I went to Café Bern in Amsterdam and they had a delicious cheese fondue. It just added another dimension of quality to the whole cheese fondue concept. I don’t remember eating anything in New York that wasn’t good, but the cheese fondue just beats it.

Lane: Anything else you want to mention?

Helderman: Yes! You should listen to this new song that The Ex just released on 7 inch. First release with Arnold de Boer on guitar/vocals after G.W. Sok left in 2008. It’s such an amazing song.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

Here’s the first installment of a Weekly Check In with another Rubin in the world (who I’m not related to). Jeff Rubin is a funny guy. I’ve been enjoying his stuff on Collegehumor for some time now, enjoy his stand up and his newest show Bleep Bloop (a show about video games).

Name: Jeff Rubin
Location: New York
Age: 28
Occupation: Editor of CollegeHumor.com
Websites: http://jeffrubinjeffrubin.com / http://www.collegehumor.com/bleepbloop

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Jeff Rubin: One of the nice things about the website is we’re always working on a few different things. We just had Chuck Klosterman, who is one of my favorite writers, on my videogame show Bleep Bloop and we’re almost done editing. I can’t wait to post that. I wrote a few scripts that are going to be videos soon (including an Electric Slide parody) so that’s always exciting. We’re currently plotting a CollegeHumor Live event at the Gramercy Theater for February. It’s the biggest venue we’ve ever done by ourselves, so that’s going to be a lot of fun.

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Jeff Rubin: We just did a live show in Notre Dame which is great. We’ve got a show at the end of the month in Utah, so I’m hoping to spend some time in Zion national park.

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Jeff Rubin: It’s always fun when someone asks that. I’ve been listening to nothing but MF Doom (who I only recently discovered) and Rod Stewart.

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Jeff Rubin: I try to do a bit of pizza tourism anywhere I go and on a recent trip to San Francisco I recently tried Tony’s (in North Beach). It wasn’t just a good pie for San Francisco (a wonderful town cursed with bad pizza), it was a great pie for anywhere.

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Jeff Rubin: Rod Stewart is good! Really! He had some of the best musicians of the era on his early solo albums, and his work with The Faces and the Jeff Beck Group is criminally underrated.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

Sophie Curtis is a very talented young photographer based out of England. She has what feels like 100′s of websites that she contributes to, one of my favorites is titled Samesies, and she always continues to inspire me. I hope someday I can take a photos as magical as hers.

Name: Sophie Curtis
Location: South-east England
Age: 20
Occupation: Trying to work out how to accomplish everything I want to and enjoy everything too
Websites: http://flickr.com/sophiecurtis http://pus-eye.com
http://outhereoverthere.blogspot.com http://cashmereclubhouse.com

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Curtis: I was recently asked by a small record label to take a few series’ for them to use as promos and so on, I am really excited about that! The label releases pretty experimental music so I am enjoying the brainstorming part of the project, its made me consider taking photos that would have taken alot longer to come to me otherwise. And I’m trying to move away from what I almost feel like is my “safety zone” and its actually more fun than scary so that’s gooood.

Rubin: Where have you traveled this month or recently?

Curtis: I have spent a fair amount to time on trains and buses since the start of January, because when I’m not working I like to go see friends who are dotted about in England studying at various universities. The nicest trip I’ve taken this month was to the Cotswolds, I was there for a week and we got 10 inches or so of snow and everything looked really lovely. I’ve been trying to see lots of different people recently so I can get used to taking photos of people properly again, I don’t show faces enough in my photos!

Rubin: What’s your favorite music right now?

Curtis: I don’t know if it’s because I have someone back in my life from when I was 13, or because I have felt a bit weird about suddenly no longer being classed as a teenager, but I’ve really reverted to music I loved when I was younger, like 60s rock and roll. I will always always always love is Joanna Newsom, Cat Power and BJM. I like anything really, especially if it makes me feel strange or unreal or lifted (unfortunately this sometimes makes me like really crap music.)

Rubin: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Curtis: Spiced chai tea milkshake on a train. And the enchiladas my mum made for my birthday.

Rubin: Anything else you want to mention?

Curtis: The person I like to photograph the most is Rianna Cox, she wears lovely sparkly things that I can’t help snapping. She doesn’t post all over the place like I do but I think everyone should know about her because her photos are magical and wonderful! Her Flickr is http://www.flickr.com/effluo and I want to mention another really good friend Dan Price because I always want him to put more photos online and this might get him to do it haha – his Flickr is http://www.flickr.com/annemariefrank. And and and people should look at Alex Howard and Simon Nunn and Hannah Davis and Dave Geeting and Bobby Doherty. There are more but I’m just being ridiculous! Thanks!