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Hell'O Monsters represents 4 artists: Antoine Detaille (Tatone), François Dieltiens (Desro), Jérôme Meynen (Blastus) et Grégory Van Cleemput (Ewing 33), they are all influenced by the images and the lively colors of the popular culture (US comics and other japanese toys) and inspired by the compositions and the forms of expressions found in painters like Hieronymus Bosch, James Ensor or even Keith Haring. The pieces of Hell’O Monsters show a spontaneous and assiduous research where monsters with several eyes, mutated animals, trepanated humans and other small fellows express a carnival atmosphere with a rather freaky vibe.

I met Blast and Tat close to place Flagey, under a beautiful sun!

What's your background, your studies?
Tat : I used to study art in "carrée des arts" in Mons with option "image dans le milieu" (comparable with "urban space" at la cambre) and a master in dolphintraining in Brugges.
Blast : Doctor in the art history from ULB (Nivelles) and owner of the touc-touc in Dunkerk.

What's your technique? (stickers-spray...?)
Tat: Stickers, sprays,markers, acrylic for painting and walls and chinese ink for paper illustration, illustrator and 3D software, pâte à sel, stones, paper,scissors,...
Blast : We are in a permanent evolution, our drawings and our technique evolve. Recently we experimented with animated wall paintings, it was an installation that combined painting, sculpture, drawing and video. Of course, when things are working out like we wanted, we go on with the technique. but we always keep our personal and individual style, we are always trying to create bigger composition where the individual works of the team is mixed in an homogenic result.

What is the origin of your name?
Tat : In 2003, we picked up that name after having a talk about the increase of the cost of life.

With who would you like to collaborate/do an exhibition?
Tat: I already had the opportunity to collaborate with ESCIF in Valencia (Spain). In the future, i would like to paint with RICHARD COLEMAN, REMED , BLU, MATTHEW PALLADINO, HERBERT BAGLIONE, WU TANG, KATY PERRY, some midgets, weird and marginal peoples
Blast : It doesn't really matter to me, the most important is the affinities I have with them and their talent. A collaboration could be a good moment to share.

What is your goal, your message (if you got one)?
Tat : The creations of our collectif, under their colorated and happy look, are a comment on the duality of the human nature. In our pieces, you will often find opposites like the human and the inhuman, the life and the dead, the organic and the spiritual, the serious and the burlesque, the religious and the iconoclast...

If you had to run away, to which city would you run?
Tat : New-york !
Blast: San Fransisco.

Which city do you belong to, does that city have a lot of influence on you?
Tat : We don't belong to a specific city, we consider ourself as citizen of the world. YES WE CAN!

Wich city would match your univers?
Tat : Lourdes.
Blast:… or "Saint Jacques de Compostelle"

What playlist for a good night out?
Tat : a bit of everything : b more, fidget, hiphop, crunk but also some good old psyche rock and some punk.
Blast: Mainly rock, Black lips, 13th floor elevator, The ruby suns, They might be giants.....

What's your opinion about the graffiti in Belgium?
Tat : we don't have an opinion about it, we have less and less afinity with that technique. We are still connected to a lot of people in the graffiti milieu (through our friends that are still doing it). We don't say that what we are doing is better or worse, it is just something else.
Blast : We know that it exists and that it's cool, it's just not really our thing anymore.

Is the graffiti mainly a hiphop discipline for you?
Tat : No, most of the graffers aren't b-boys. It s really a movement that touch every style, you can even find some émo kids in the montana shop!
Blast : To think that it's just a hiphop movment is really a big cliché.

You prefer train, stib or walls?
Tat : Walls.

A funy story you want to share with us?
Tat : Once i pressed a nail in my foot by walking on it.
Blast : Nothing never happens to me. nothing bad, but also nothing good...

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Tat : in a night shop late during the night
Blast : 10 years older...

No arm, no....?
Tat : No hands...?

Gauffre de Liège ou choux de bruxelles?
Tat : I don't like cabbage. so waffels!...or cabbage from liege?
Blast : Paninis "Météors" from Mons

Is the clothing style important for you?
Tat : Yes, i really like to dress!
Blast : I just dress myself every day without thinking about tomorrow!

What's your latest works? On what are you working right now?
Blast : We did an intervention in a parc in La Louvière, the release of our new book "carnival of charlatans", we did a fresco for the retrospective of Keith Harring in Mons, decoration of the showcase of Kartell in the centre of Brussels, we had a stand at the fair d' art brussels.
For our forthcoming exhibition, we ll be in the Montana shop in Sevilla (Spain) in September and a solo show at the gallery "think21" in Brussels in January 2010.

Quelque liens ou trouver plus d’infos sur les Hell’O monsters

Galerie think21: http://www.think21gallery.com/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hellomonsters

Desro: http://www.myspace.com/drdesro

Ewing33: http://www.flickr.com/photos/greg_ewing/

Flickr: Blastus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/Blast_hello

Tatone: http://www.flickr.com/photos/Tat0n3/

and very very soon http://www.thehellomonsters.com

As cherry on the top, the IYB logo by Hello Monsters!

Therefore I needed to go to Kichijoji, it’s in Tokyo’s suburb, 20 minutes by train from Shibuya station.  There’s two stores I really wanted to visit and that’s Skit and L.A. Avenue; if you’re in search for the rare stuff, brand new or second hand sneakers please go there, I’ve never seen this before, simply unbelievable.  Skit is in a building on the 3rd floor and it simply has everything you’ve been looking for during your entire sneakerlife.  From all the Jordan serie to euhm… everything else and any brand. Yeah I know it sounds crazy like that, and when Edson told me about it two days ago I could see the smile on his face haha.  Bought some nice Air Stabs for a friend of mine and of course some for me.  The thing is that you have to look for your size because the shoe you see is the only one they got, that means you’re never sure to find the model you look for in your size.

LA Avenue is on the other side of Kichijoji’s station, in an outdoor commercial center.  Smaller, less impressive when you come in but that’s until you look closer.  I actually bought more sneakers there, one of them being a Charles Barkley 180 in the Phoenix Suns colors, yeah, the rare one that Patta sold as a real exclusive one a while ago.  Even my girl was pretty impressed by the collection of sneakers in both stores, Skit being the most impressive one.  I’ve done a little video you can check right here.

 

 

IYB: What's your background/studies ?

In high school I was always the brightest kid in my class. Never the teachers pet though, although I did have a special relationship with my Latin teacher at the time - she was something else!

After graduating I entered the formal astronaut training program at NASA, which I passed with flying colors. During that time I got hooked on a thing called graffiti and traveling, and when I left university there was no turning back, what can you do?

So I got my stuff together and went to sunny South America  for a while. Then, when I came back I decided it was time to do something really crazy for a change, now I'm studying illustration. All is well thank you very much!

IYB:  what exactly are your technics (stickers, sprays..?)

Anything cheap, right? Rotten latex paints, funny sponsor deals, spray paint leftovers, whatever...
A lot of poles also lately.
 
IYB: How would you define your own style?

Funny. Folky. Hairy. Always serious about myself of course.


IYB: Where does your inspiration comes from?

Everyday life - fantasy is overrated! A lot of times it's true you know, everyday I see things on the street or wherever that are just ready to use. Just the other morning I saw a latina midget with crutches get on the tram, I mean come on, who invents shit like that?


IYB: Who would love you the most collaborate with ?

Ozzy. 

 

IYB: What are the most interesting collab you’ve had so far?

Almost everybody I met down in Brasil and Argentina were too good to be true: the most fun and inspiring people, and I don't mean just as artists but also as people - good vibes there!

And of course the Barries from Antwerp - Neoray, Vanheek, DPF, the infamous Bronnies ... I like to paint with people that are relaxed about what they do you know, we can have a drink before we go out and not be all stressed out because we have to do this or that action.

IYB: What's your goal, your message (if you got one )?
 
Painting outside is only for fun and that's probably the best reason there is to do anything, right?

Apart from that, my goal is to live my life the way I want, to make money with the things I love to do and to try to be good to people that are close to me.

Did I mention already that I think people are too cynical these days?

IYB: By a constrained exile, in wich world city would you move in ?

Constrained exile?? From the top of my head: Buenos Aires, Rio, Berlin, Madrid, Montreal sounds nice, NY why not?Oh and San Francisco. And Barna... Who needs constraining?

IYB: To wich city you feel like you belong to ? does she play a part in your artworks/inspiration?

I feel like I don't belong anywhere and everywhere at the same time. Vagabundos you know?

IYB: About music, what would be your favorite playlist to go out?

Depends really - Buraka Diplo MGMT Dudley Crystal Antlers Slayer Beasties Bad Brains Joy Division Iggy Fucking Lightning Bolt Breakcore Misery at ScheldApen 2Fabiola Amen Ra Aphex Twin Devo Santogold Fugazi White Stripes CSS Roy Orbison ODB Nirvana ...
I can't live without my radio!

 

IYB: You feel more like being a "street artist" or a "graffiti maker"?

I feel more like a pizzamaker than any of the above. Fuck labels anyway

IYB: What would be your words to people who'ld denounce you for vandalism?

"I know nothing"
 

IYB: Do you have any funny stories? (night adventures, police purchases‚...)

I guess I could tell you a funny story about that time when we forgot to take out the brocolli out of the microwave and we only found it again after a few days and a few complaints to the landlord about that smell in our apartment, that was silly.

Oh and that time when I asked a friend of mine to give me a ride to a spot where I had seen something for me to paint; he parks in a parking lot, I get out of the car to do some crooked stuff while he's waiting in the car to smoke a joint. Then by the time I get out of the bushes again I see a "combi" parked behind his car, nice! So I take a little walk the other way.. Turns out they busted him with the joint, confiscated his shizzl and even gave him a ticket if I'm correct. They didn't see me though - stupid fucks. Shout out to you Mellie, merci!

IYB: In 10 years you see yourself doing ?

Who knows? More of the same, bigger and better right? Plus I'm gonna be rich by then, that's for sure.

IYB: Duvel beers or brussels sprout?

I love Brussels but sprouts, what's that all about? Duvel!




IYB: what are the last project you have been working on?

Lots of stuff as usual; I've just done an exhibition together with El Neoray and Vanheek, it's still running till the end of April in Antwerp, check it out! Also Neoray and me are doing the second issue of "DEN GINO", our copyzine. I can't tell you too much about it now but it's gonna involve a lot of hate, that's for sure, it's gonna be even better than that episode of Temptation Island where Veronique De Kock gets bitchslapped  by that angry girlfriend that got cheated on by her boyfriend from Meerhout. Anyway you get the idea. Designing some t-shirts every now and then, paint a house from time to time, some school related stuff in between, plus there's always lots of painting and drawing going on. And I'm gonna travel again this summer, finally, it's gonna be good!

More about vagabundos :

 

http://myspace.com/ginozine
http://flickr.com/vagabundos
 

Rotor is looking for audio-cassettes and you can help

 

You remember those mix-tapes you used to receive from friends? Or the recorded radio-shows you heard over and over, the musical stories your parents played in the car to keep you sweet? Maybe you even had a fancy 'auto-reverse' walk-man and you taped your own songs?
With the dawn of the digital age, music has almost completely dematerialized. As a tribute to what has been, Rotor wants to collect a large quantity of cassettes and use them in a audio-project.

You can help them with that. For every 60 working cassettes (with sound on them, off course), they ll offer you a new look at things and a Mega-Vision screen. The screen is another high-tech product from the eighties. It's a 55 by 70 cm large fresnel lens in an elegant steel frame, designed as a magnifier for small television sets. You could probably still use it for that, but it's also just a very cool toy to play with.

You can drop of your cassettes in their office (Rue de Laeken 101, 1000 Brussels), but make sure they are there by sending them an email.

This offer is temporary, so get those tapes out!

 

 All information about rotor > http://rotordb.org/

The 27-year-old Ben ‘Monsta’ Somers has been drawing cartoons and monsters ever since he can remember. Getting into graffiti while growing up allowed him to draw upon influences far away from convention, which gives his work a one of a kind feel. During his early teens his love for bass-heavy music first drew him to Drum and Bass. Having released a few vinyls, he left his mark on the scene by setting up the Life 4 Land sound-system, freeparties and record label with Ed Cox.

His musical interests soon shifted through Dancehall, Grime, Gabba and Hip-hop to Dubstep. Meanwhile his artwork turned heads wherever he went, leaving a telltale trail of Monsta mania behind. His cartoons became an official feature on Dogs On Acid, one of the best-read forums in Drum and Bass. Soon everyone who’s anyone had a Custom Monsta profile pic’, Monsta T-shirt and original print. The ball was well and truly rolling now with Monsta’s designs popping up on flyers and vinyl sleeves everywhere. For Goldie’s new Ruffige Kru project, Malice In Wonderland, he created artwork accompanying each track on the special gatefold sleeve. Cypress Hill also showed their love for his work by requesting a custom piece and various well-read magazines started endorsing his talent.

                                
                                               

A few more ventures were created to cope with growing demand on all fronts. ‘Bboy Illustration’ was joined by ‘Monsta Press’ for high quality prints, and ‘Monsta Dubs’ for digital Dubstep releases, thus completing the fleet. Despite all the goings-on, enough downtime was found at the swampfactory to produce Monsta Dubs’ first album, made available freely on Myspace. It kick-started a string of vinyl releases on Subdivision, Subtrakt and LaDubstepNostra, as well as forthcoming ones on Insectmind. Monsta’s infectious, warm Dubstep sound leaves plenty of room for thick, deep sub-bass and seems to accompany his visual work perfectly. Both rely on clear and insightful use of effective basics, which draw you in from the get-go.



All of this really comes together when Monsta’s world is brought to life through animation. I found a series of short clips on Youtube, got sucked in straight away and Watched them back to back twice over. The latest one is a video clip to Beezy’s Day In The Life, out on Rinse. Any chance of seeing the monsters getting their groove on to some hefty subs a bit more often then? Time for a quick Q&A sesh’…

Five quick questions:

1) Out of all the things you do for a living, which do you enjoy the most?
I love drawing and making music equally but I go through stages of doing one or the other. A while ago I was making almost a track a day, but I haven’t made a track for about 2 months now, which is a long time for me. I’m sure this will change soon though! I’m just a creative person and couldn’t live without either of these in my life.

2) Which has been the most successful so far?
My illustration is how I get by, selling paintings and commissions is how I can eat everyday. I never would have believed I’d get the opportunity to do the artwork for Goldie’s Rufige Kru album, I think that’s the biggest project I’ve worked on yet. I’ve never really made money from my music. Unless you play out all the time I think it’s a hard thing to make money from. But I’m pleased with what I’ve achieved so far with my music, it was an honour to have Raiden and Dean Rodell remix "Space Raiders", and for Luke Envoy to remix "Caveman".  Remixing Hatcha’s "Flippin" was amazing too.

3) Which one takes up most of your time?
Illustration is a daily thing and I’m working on it all the time, when I get free time I work on my music.

4) Are you planning to get more into animation in future?
Yes, animation is still quite new for me. I’ve just finished a video for Roska`s "in your handbag" so look out for that coming soon! I love animation and I hope to do a lot more soon.

5) Are you planning a trip to our neck of the woods any time soon?
Well there’s no plans yet, but I do love that place for a few reasons so I hope so!

 

Well you heard him people, so get booking!

More info:

General:  http://www.myspace.com/redeyemonsta

Music:  http://www.myspace.com/monstasound

Illustration: http://myspace.com/bnillustration

Clothing (out later on this year):  http://www.clothingpimps.co.uk/

Prints:  http://www.lukeymo.co.uk/clients/monstapress/index.php?section=121&page=1246

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/swampmonsta/

Link to the animated videos on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/swampmonsta1

 (in no particular order)

Converse Leather Jacket Chuck Taylor All Star
For their 100th anniversary Converse used old-school leather motorcycle jackets to create these Chuck Taylor All Stars. A model that is equally tough and asymmetrically beautiful.

Proper X Vans Chukka Del Barco LX
For this particular nautical inspired release, Long Beach’s top sneaker store Proper has taken extra steps to create a special product including various little details working its way into the pack’s design such as thicker insoles and retro-style boxes.

Nike Terminator High (vntg)
In the original Georgetown Hoyas' colors of gray and dark blue, it feels like 1985 all over again.

Fragment Design X Nike Zoom Tennis Classic
A clean and tasteful Tier 0 release designed by Hiroshi Fujiwara.

Warriors
Ye Shumeng, a Chinese born graphic designer now living in Helsinki, has produced a book of photographs of Chinese people wearing the old Chinese brand 'Warrior' sneakers. This is how she introduces the book, titled Book of Warriors, with a pair of genuine Warrior sneakers.

Classic Kicks X Vans Era
Classic Kicks, a sneaker and clothing boutique located in New York City, partnered up with Vans to recreate classic colorways of the Era. They took a trip back into the past for inspiration and produced colorways very reminiscent to that of the original suede styles of the Era, released a few decades ago.

 

Wood Wood X Adidas ZX 9000
Representing the letter “W” in the Adidas Originals Consortium AZX Project, Danish brand WOOD WOOD’s Edition is a straightforward design, revokes the older rendition of the ZX 9000.

Adidas Strider
Part of the Craftsmanship pack, this is a blast from the past. Adidas used original colors on this Strider, complete with the attention to detail to lace the shoes in historically correct shoelaces. Even Michael J. Fox would approve these.

Hanon X Ventile X New Balance 670
Hanon presented a joint project with New Balance. The Hanon crew expanded the boundaries of material applications and sourced a technical fabric by British company Ventile, which is a densely woven, 100% cotton all-weather material.

Wood Wood X Converse 1HUND(RED) All-Star
As part of their 1HUND(RED) Artists project, Converse got together with Wood Wood. They worked on the Chuck Taylor Hi and gave it a very clean, stylish look. The entire upper comes in lavender premium suede and the lining features the Wood Wood star map pattern.

 

The same goes for the Nike Air Force 1, again a shoe way ahead of its time. It was the first Nike shoe that incorporated the Air technology. In 1982, it revolutionised the basketball game and proved that functional can also be attractive, and even fashionable. Millions have been sold and even today, it is a bestseller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both designs proved to have passed the test of time. That is why some companies copied them over the years. For example, Japanese brands like Visvim and A Bathing Ape. The thing is they did not hide the fact their shoes were copies. And how could they? They only changed like 3% of the design.

Were these Japanese designers lazy the day they gave birth to both copies? I personally would not agree. They recognized an evergreen when they saw one and upgraded it. They enriched the shoes with the use of high quality materials so the consumer got a classic design with a more luxurious, contemporary finish. An added value was created upon the original in celebration of the original. In both cases, the copies were a big success due to this eye for detail and limited distribution.

Last year another brand introduced itself on the market named Gourmet. They presented a couple of silhouettes that I had seen before. Yes, they copied them, but not exact copies. They copied the signature lines of classic basketball silhouettes and put them on top of sleeker tennis shoe like soles. Gourmet told the press they were inspired by old basketball shoes. Hell yeah, Air Jordans to be exact. And Jordan Brand was not happy, at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This made me ask myself since they did not make exact copies: why copy signature elements instead of creating all new, original silhouettes? You could say they were - again - lazy using classic Air Jordans silhouettes to create a new line of sneakers and market them as such. But were they really?

Their copy-paste strategy fuelled the fire at Jordan Brand and Nike, because in a way their designs were molested. So of course, Gourmet got sued. And maybe, just maybe, that was the type of reaction Gourmet was hoping for. Because any kind of publicity is publicity nonetheless, even if it is negative. Hell, I am even writing about them now. Smart move, Gourmet. Slightly lazy, but oh so smart.

Many moons ago, founder Jennifer Liu stumbled upon a great idea: She fashioned an evening bag from a cuddly toy bought at a gift shop, which went down a storm. She started manufacturing her Fuzzy Nation designs in a trailer in Lafayette, New Jersey, in 2006.

Two years on, having joined forces with Colleen Brennan, the company has grown to become a worldwide supplier of, erm, petsessories? Large enough in fact, to have caught the eye of Roberto Cavalli who used them on his catwalk show in Cannes.

So, Want a puppy for Christmas? Now you can…The European market is currently being supplied by ‘Le Petit Tom’.

Click http://www.lepetittom.nl/index1.html for a look at their collection.

Wholesale orders can be placed directly at http://www.fuzzynation.com/

Due to the lack of information being released, people started to analyse the sources of inspiration of the Air Yeezy. As you can see in the picture below, 3 important design influences have been used, presumably: the Ato Cow Hide Boot, the Bape Roadsta and maybe most importantly the Air Jordan III.