The Ghostly Store | Blog

@ttessog_j & @tm_iii from Beacon during the...

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:23:42 -0400

@ttessog_j & @tm_iii from Beacon during the “Drive” music video which is up today. Photo credit: yutack

“Half Of Where You Live” • June 11, 2013 #GoldPanda

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:32:19 -0400

“Half Of Where You Live” • June 11, 2013 #GoldPanda

Brian Fichtner of The Ghostly Store, Brooklyn.

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:23:12 -0400

Brian Fichtner of The Ghostly Store, Brooklyn.

Nicola Kuperus of ADULT. at home, Detroit.

Sat, 11 May 2013 20:23:48 -0400

Nicola Kuperus of ADULT. at home, Detroit.

Adam Lee Miller of ADULT. at home, Detroit.

Fri, 10 May 2013 23:23:40 -0400

Adam Lee Miller of ADULT. at home, Detroit.

Hey it’s @actionbadger having a Dabrye day. #gameover...

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:34:18 -0400

Hey it’s @actionbadger having a Dabrye day. #gameover #wkinteract

We’re having an MS Paint contest over on Facebook.

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:24:23 -0400

We’re having an MS Paint contest over on Facebook.

This is Chen of @kaiandchen. He makes things. We interviewed him...

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:24:20 -0400

This is Chen of @kaiandchen. He makes things. We interviewed him at theghostlystore.com

Tycho - “Ascension” by @cbergquist - watch on...

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:01:06 -0400

Tycho - “Ascension” by @cbergquist - watch on @pitchforktv • @iso50

Beacon at Mercury Lounge, NYC. Photo by @heatheredpearls

Mon, 06 May 2013 08:00:49 -0400

Beacon at Mercury Lounge, NYC. Photo by @heatheredpearls

Kid Mich aka Michna picked up some treats at the #rbma Record...

Sat, 04 May 2013 20:06:41 -0400

Kid Mich aka Michna picked up some treats at the #rbma Record Fair @michnaofficial

Matthew Shlian looks good framed by Ms. Lim. Chosen and snapped...

Sat, 04 May 2013 14:23:47 -0400

Matthew Shlian looks good framed by Ms. Lim. Chosen and snapped by @shayna121 of #patternpulp

All set up, we’re next to our friends at Warp and Cascine

Sat, 04 May 2013 12:23:55 -0400

All set up, we’re next to our friends at Warp and Cascine

An Interview with Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett of Beacon

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:31:00 -0400

To commemorate their first full-length album release, The Ways We Separate, Ghostly asked Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett of Beacon some getting to know you questions.

[Ghostly International] Can you share with us what the album art means to you?
[Thomas] The scene was inspired by the lyrics to Split In Two. As the song and lyrics took shape the idea of the magician’s trick became the conceit. And while the art depicts the story of Split in Two, it speaks to the larger narrative of the album as a whole, and of course it’s title.

[Jacob] The artist Langdon Graves created all the imagery for this album. I saw her work online and was struck by how she was able to create such powerful imagery with very minimal means. There never seems to be a superfluous moment in the work. She was able to create drawings for us that were extremely delicate yet had a menacing underpinning. These were all things that I thought reflected the album sensibilities.

[GI] During your live performance, what’s the emotions you’d like the crowd to go through when they listen to your music?
[TM] Everything we infused into creating the music is released through performing it. I hope the audience feels like they’re being confronted by a part of us that they couldn’t find in any other setting.

[JG] There is really no particular emotive space that I hope the crowd inhabits. The live show is very up and down and I love the idea of people dancing one moment and then silent the next. Those types of dynamics in shows are what I most respond to.

[GI]: To help some listeners with where you’re coming from, do you see yourself fitting in somewhere when it comes to the other new acts this year?
[TM] I don’t know. It’s hard to think of us in terms of the idea of ‘this year’ because Jake and I have been working through this body of music for three years. The music we make fits into the space that we carved out between ourselves.

[GI] Tell us about your first memory with music?
[TM] I remember being by myself, singing along to the Phantom of the Opera cassette my mom owned. Having an appreciation for the drama of it all and getting caught up and lost in the moment. Might not be the first memory, but it always sticks out, because a neighbor or someone walked in during my rendition and I just buried my head in the couch out of embarrassment.

[JG] My first musical memory is probably hanging out with my older brother riding around in his green Cutlass Supreme listening to hip hop through this pretty ridiculous sound system he built out in his car. It was one of those systems that only really concerned itself with bass. I loved that.

[GI]: So you’ve toured with How To Dress Well and Tycho, can you tell us what your dream act would be to tour with and why?
[TM] We never answer dream questions, but for you guys OK. Maybe Blur, triple reunion tour, Graham leaves again and they’re playing Think Tank in full. But then Graham sneaks back in to encore with 13 in it’s entirety every night.

[GI]: Have you had a favorite venue? Why?
[TM] A venue isn’t anything without the crowd and we’re fortunate to have some memorable ones. Most recent memory would be a night at Biltmore Cabaret in Vancouver on the How To Dress Well tour. The rowdiest crowd on a Monday night ever, with the added plus of getting to set up behind a curtain. That’s a wildly underestimated advantage for a performer.

[JG] I really love the shows we’ve played at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The sound there is really bass heavy, which is ideal for us, and being that it’s our neighborhood there is always a lot of close friends in attendance.

[GI]: What helps you connect with listeners the most?
[TM] The people we meet after a performance are reacting to what they just heard and it’s hectic and intense but I’ve felt like I’ve gotten the most from someone who has just experienced it live and wants to talk about a connection they felt to the music. Social media is good and I’m grateful that we can have that direct connection, but it’s also very messy.

[JG] There is nothing like playing live and having good energy coming from the crowd. Those are the moments when I feel most connected to a listener. It’s one of the things that music will always have going forit.

[GI]: If you weren’t working on music, video or art, what would you be doing for a living?
[TM] I was building sets and props for Adult Swim before we started releasing music as Beacon. I Imagine I’d still be walking home from work covered in fake blood.

[JG] I have no idea, maybe a film editor.

[GI] Can you list off a 4 song playlist that helped shape The Ways We Separate for each of you?

[TM] Portable – Find Me
Philip Glass- Heroes (Aphex Twin Remix)
Underworld – Two Months Off
Shed – Mayday

[JG] Im not sure they shaped the album but these are a few tracks I can remember listening to a lot around that time.

Ayatollah - I Am What I Am
Kingdom – Fogs
Pete Rock - only play dis at night
Holy Other - U Now

[GI] How did the album sugar mold collaboration between Beacon and Fernando Mastrangelo come about?
[JG] Fernando is a good friend of ours and we wanted to do something really special for this release. He and I had worked on projects together before, mostly helping one another with art we were getting ready for shows. This piece was a chance to do something truly collaborative, where his aesthetic could meld with what Tom and I were envisioning for this release.

[TM] I think the simplest way to describe it is that a whole lot of pieces fell into place perfectly. The fact that we have a friend with such a unique artistic vision combined with a music/visual label that has the platform in place to release something like this makes us feel very lucky and fortunate.

An Interview with Chen Chen & Kai Williams

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:07:00 -0400

Designers Chen Chen and Kai Williams share a studio in what has in recent years become a hub of creative (and sadly, real estate) activity in Brooklyn: namely the industrial riverfront in Greenpoint. Their studio space (which was flooded during Hurricane Sandy), abuts an upcoming riverfront park and lies in spitting distance from some of the best wood fired oven pizza in town. Not a bad location in which to produce work.

The designers, who both graduated from Pratt, began their collaboration in the spring of 2011. Up until then, the two were sharing space but working individually while holding down daytime positions (Chen for the former design store Moss, Kai for artist Paul Sachs). Since then, they’ve released a bevy of experimental products including coasters sliced from resin-impregnated studio scraps, a 30-piece collection of improvised shanks, resin drip paintings, and waterjet cut stone bracelets (now available in the store).

Since Chen and Kai have been quietly working with Ghostly for a while (they produced our record shelves for Ghostly at Odin last year), we thought it was time to properly introduce them to you. Check out the interview below.

(Stone Age Bangles, assorted materials.)

[GI] How would you describe your approach to design?
[CC} We are very materials and process based. We believe that since materials aren’t inert, we should allow them to take form in the way that they wish to. We also like to involve an element of chance, favoring processes that generate variation rather than exact repetition. We are also interested in using often seen materials and taking them out of their context so that one can view the material for what it is rather than as part of the object they are normally associated with.

[GI] Does that last bit help explain why you created bracelets out of marble? Jewelry doesn’t seem to be the first thing one expects from a couple of Brooklyn male designers. But then, jewelry out of marble… [CC] Yes, exactly. Marble, as well as the counter-top material we used to make the Echo bangle, are normally seen in large swaths. If you see a marble floor or countertop, you recognize the material and your brain kind of categorizes it and then ignores it visually. When you take it out of context, and make a small nugget of this material, you can really appreciate all the fine detail that is in the marble.

(Ham Hock Coaster Set, 2011)

[GI] You initially shared a studio space, but worked separately. What was the impulse for starting a business together?
[CC] Our goal has always been to collaborate together. That was the reason for me to move from my studio a few blocks away, into this space with Kai. We decided we wanted to keep our names separate and not become a single third entity, that is why we go by our full names. We understand that we both bring elements missing in the other to this partnership and it is because that we are so dissimilar in many aspects that we feel like this is a good working relationship.

[GI] What’s it like working together? Do you often see things the same way, or do you find that you have different perspectives that have to be negotiated to achieve a particular design?
[CC] Even though we put our names together on everything, each of us naturally dominates one project or another, basically working on it solo with critique and help from the other. We are both extremely independent people and have particularities in the ways we like to work but we see a great value in having a person to bounce ideas off of, to game plan our course of action and to double check each other’s math.

(Black Swell Vases for Ghostly, 2010)

[GI] Some of your objects, such as the Swell Vase or the Ham Hock Coasters, have an element of the grotesque, reminiscent of the designs of the Campana brothers. Would you say that’s a fair observation? And if so, is it intentional?
[CC] I think visually there is a connection but I think philosophically there is a big separation. The way we achieve ornate, rich visuals is actually more Modernist in thought. The way we make things is due to simple processes in which the materials automatically create their intricate forms. Like the way Russel Wright created glazing techniques that would generate variations due to the industrial process. The Campana’s cluster-fuck aesthetic is actually very controlled. I can’t know for sure how their work is produced but I can speculate that the positions in the jumble of components in each of their compositions was decided upon by a human being. We prefer simple systems that do the work for us.

(DJ Record Shelf for Ghostly at Odin, 2012.)

[GI] You created some record shelves for Ghostly’s holiday pop-up, Ghostly at Odin, which referenced a pretty well known minimalist artist, albeit without making direct mention of the fact. As a designer who creates work of a rather sculptural / conceptual nature, where do you sit on the whole design ≠ art equation? Or is that discussion even relevant anymore?
[CC] Of course this discussion is only relevant when talking about sculptural design and sculptural art, design is a giant field that also moves into a blurred line with engineering. If we’re talking purely about the objects that are created by art compared to the objects created by design, the difference is purely marketing and the control of supply. It is the same reason that 2 sweatshirts can be made at the same factory in Bangladesh and when one get’s a swoosh stitched to it, it’s market value is increased three fold.

[GI] Do you feel like you are part of a particular design scene or that your work is reflective of a particular moment?
[CC} We don’t really consider ourselves to be attached to any particular scene. There are many designers that we admire, Nendo, Formafantasma, Max Lamb, Peter Marigold, Study O Portable, and Scholten and Baijings to name a few.

[GI] What’s the most difficult part about running your own design studio? Do you have any advice to share with students coming out of art/design school?
[CC] We definitely suggest finding a partner. It makes you accountable to someone other than yourself and it forces you to work out your ideas faster.

[GI] Any upcoming projects that you’re excited about?
[CC] We’re making masks. People love faces.

mdear: The Magic Hour

Thu, 02 May 2013 07:07:21 -0400

mdear:

The Magic Hour

New spring tees now available.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:16:29 -0400

New spring tees now available.

@michnaofficial Live at Glasslands Gallery

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:24:07 -0400

@michnaofficial Live at Glasslands Gallery

New @moderna mix for @fvonf is up now. A Norwegian dream....

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 10:42:52 -0400

New @moderna mix for @fvonf is up now. A Norwegian dream. Fvonf.com #freundevonfreunden

Tim Sweeney & Monty Luke on Beats In Space now! @wnyu...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:56:43 -0400

Tim Sweeney & Monty Luke on Beats In Space now! @wnyu wnyu.org @bisradio