Category / Interview
JIMMY MAC: THE INTERVIEW
I had a chat with Jimmy Mac on the phone recently…
-Jimmy!
-Rhyzaaa!
-I’m after a One Teaspoon, Random Dinky dress.
-Sorry man, all out.
-How about the One Teaspoon, Strange Attraction Pinkie dress?
-Yeah we go two eights and a ten.
-Where the fuck do they come up with these names?
-Hahaha, I don’t know man!
-How’s Taka?
-Busy.
-Hey, was thinking I could ask a few questions on you for the blog?
-Yeah, for sure.
-We could do it now?
-Yeah, why not.
-I’ll introduce you as Jimmy Mac: drummer, lover, and a fellow Black Box brother. You’ve played drums for a number of talented band’s like DHDFD’s, Popstrangers, and your girlfriend, Ruby Frost. When you’re not on tour, you work at Black Box. Anything you’d like to add?
-Ummm, I don’t know – what do you add to that?
-Your favorite brand at Black Box is One Teaspoon.
- Hahahaha. No.
- You just got back from touring with Ruby Frost. How did that go?
- Good. Sort of. It gradually got better. Tauranga sucked. Not the people, but the sound. Hamilton was filled with drunks. Then Wellington and Auckland were good.
-Haa. New Zealand. You once told me the story about how you and Jane (Ruby Frost) got together. How you drummed for her first, and only later started seeing each other. That it was a trip to the U.S to play The Viper Room and a New York CMJ Showcase, between steamy looks across the stage and lots of heavy drumming, that the magic finally happened. It must be hard to beat that tour story. Got any others, though?
- Not really. I got a tattoo after the Viper Room. A little Mexican guy. It’s the worst font ever.
-Of a little Mexican guy, or a Mexican guy did it?
-A little Mexican guy did it. In the worst font ever. Jaggered and shitty.
-That’s awesome though, to have that.
-Yeah, I kind of love to hate it.
-Your nick-name is ‘Sticks’. Any thoughts to how you’re 6’2 and a size 28 Ksubis? I thought drummers were supposed to be buff. Stove pipe jeans look like straight legged chinos on you!
-Haahahaahaaaahahahaha.
-No comment?
-Indian genetics, man.
PORTRAIT CREDIT: JUAN MON - NATURES GUN.
George Vause: The Exclusive Interview
-So you recently debuted on Shortland St. How hard was it to leave your dream job of manager at the Black Box Outlet for the days off while you shot the episode?
- Well, it was hard to adjust. I spent the first few hours on set asking if everybody was okay just browsing.
- What was your character called again?
-Nathan Keller.
-Nathan Keller sounds like the name of a sexual deviant. If he came into the Black Box Outlet, what sort of gear would you dress yourself/him in to, ummmmm, not make him look like a sexual deviant?
-On the show Nathan Keller spent his days as an entrepreneur, and his nights at the swanky Shortland St bar called the Ivy. So I’d use my knowledge as the best sales assistant in Ponsonby to get him into one of our Vanishing Elephant suits. This would enable Nathan Keller to exude business swagger but stay in touch with his youthful personality. To accentuate his character as a young entrepreneur I would complement the suit with a pair of Stussy/ Vanishing Elephant collaboration brogues. These will draw attention to his timeless style, balance his good looking face, and make the transition from the office to the club that much smoother. I’d be sure to let Nathan Keller know that he saved 50-70% off everything he is dressed in so he’ll be able to throw down more money at the Ivy.
-I think if your character was wearing brogues and a Vanishing Elephant suit on Shortland St he might have actually got it on with Lana.
-Naaaaa, the only reason she didn’t hook up with me was because she became a lesbian.
-Have you found that fame on Shortland St has made your role of manager at Black Box Outlet easier?
-Ummmmm, I guess. It has made it kind of interesting. I find it hard sometimes to acknowledge customers in the store because I’m too busy watching my episode on TV on demand. Other times I answer the phone as Nathan Keller. But over all sales have gone up tenfold. I find it much easier to up-sell to fans. Especially when I slip into my Shortland St role. A signature always helps. Sometimes I sign their docket even if they don’t ask for it.
-Are you answering these questions as George Vause or Nathan Keller…? The real George I know is far more humble.
-It is just as easy to write awesome characters into Shortland St scripts, as it is to write bulllshit into interviews, Ryan.
-Maybe you could use your influence at Shortland St to get me a job as a screen writer.
-I could, but I probably won’t.
-Back in the 60′s Warhol did a number of short films called ‘screen tests’. He compared them to ‘silent film portraits’. Do you think if I took one of you I would be able to pick if you were acting as George Vause or Nathen Keller?
-Maybe I’ll play someone else.
-Can you play Jae Mills?
-Maybe I’ll play you.
THE BRIXTON HAT COMPANY
Photography: Benjamin Ward
-The Hill!
-Yeah boi!
-The boss wants me to do a blog post on the new Brixton hats we just got into Black Box.
-So!
-You’re the New Zealand agent aren’t you?
-Yeah.
-Buy me lunch and you can tell me all about it.
-No!
-Yes!
-No!
-See you in a little bit.
-Okay.
(Half an hour later: STEM DISTRIBUTION.)
-The Hill!
-Yeah boi!
-Where are we going for lunch?
-I’ve got a better idea.
-What?
-Let’s get some beers and go to the beach.
-Yesthhh ehhhh. Perfect.
-Yesthhhh ehhhh.
-The boss wants us to take our own photos.
-Yessthhh ehhhh.
-What hats do you want to shoot?
-Depends what you want. Hats say a lot about someone’s personality.
-What personality am I?
-(Mark Hill looks me up and down.) You’re fucked oi.
-Maybe.
-Peaks are pretty tough. Toughen you up. (He passes me a flat peaked ‘Landon’)
-What do you reckon?
-Tyler the Creator oi.
-Tough aye, oi?
-So hot cakes.
-How about this one? (I grab a floppy wide brimmed ‘Tiller’.)
-Here comes the sun baby baby.
-Yesthh ehhhh George Harrison.
-What hat do you think I will suit?
-You can have this one. (Passes me a grey brimmed ‘Jones’.)
-Now we’re cooking Jack White!
(Ten minutes later: HERNE BAY)
-High tide. BINGO!
-Pristine goodness!
-Here, have a Pacifico.
-What’s Pacifico?
-Best beer ever.
-Not bad.
-I got you a bourbon & coke too.
-Now you’re talking my language!
-What do you think the waters like?
-Chilly pippi.
-Shall we go for a swim?
-Yesthh ehhh!
INTRODUCING SCARLET THE INCREDIBLE
-I don’t want to be interviewed by you!
-Why not?
-I don’t want to be judged.
-I don’t judge.
-No, not you, but everyone, reading about my uninteresting life.
-Don’t be like that.
-Are you writing that…?
-Yeah.
-Noooo!
-The interviews started. It’s my new style of journalism, we write the interview together.
-Naked?
-If you want.
-Let me read what you’ve written… STOPPPP MAKING STUFF UP!
-Bahaha.
-What are you going to write about?
-You.
-I’m the most uninteresting person that works at Black Box: I’m a gluten free, dairy free, retail assistant, that just quit smoking and drinking, who doesn’t go out.
- But that is only a recently. Obviously you had a good reason, why the sudden change in lifestyle…?
-‘Cos I get crazzzzzzzzy.
-Haha.
-So, you’re the new manager at our Surrey Crescent store. How do you like Black Box?
-I like working with the rest of you crazy fruit loops.
-What are you going to dress up in, so I can take your photo?
-What do you mean?!
-For the blog. How about that silky Therese Rawsthorne number we just got in?
-Nooooo!
-What then?
-I’d prefer this new Brixton beanie.
-Okay.
Scarlet wears new season Therese Rawsthorne top and Dr. Denim jeans. Rheno and Scarlet wear Brixton beanies.
HUW BENNETT FROM VANISHING ELEPHANT: THE SUIT
The word ‘suit’ can evoke a world of different thoughts: from the businessman with his uniformed scorn, to ladies and their romantic ideals, it is hard to pin down what makes a handsome man in a good suit. We here at Black Box love suits; I recently took the opportunity to sit down with Huw Bennett from the brand Vanishing Elephant and talk to him about what ‘the suit’ means to him.
-Hi Huw.
-Hi Rye.
-Please introduce yourself.
-Is this thing working? 1, 2, 1, 2. Okay, I’m one third of Vanishing Elephant. I’m from Sydney, Australia. We are a men’s wear label, but we’re about to become a men’s and women’s wear label, as of August this year. Ummmmm that’s me…
-I recently did a write up for Vanishing Elephant on our blog. On researching your brand what struck me was your strong vision for menswear and how successfully you capture this in your collections. Can you tell me your thoughts on what sets you apart?
-We set ourselves apart from the start, for example, making things that push a guys comfort zone. But at the end of the day they are just staple pieces that have been around for fifty, sixty years, and just adding a modern touch to it, whether it be, the fabrication or the colours, and some of the finishing’s. The whole thing is re-inventing our take on classic aesthetics.
-What effect would you like to see Vanishing have in the way men approach dressing?
-Guys wearing suiting again, take it back to being a little bit more formal. I think there’s a lot to be said for tailoring, and dressing neat, but not taking it too serious. It’s very easy, but I’m as guilty as anyone the majority of the time: I’ll wear jeans and a tee shirt a pair of trainers, and as nice as that is I think we’ve lost some of the subtleties of what it is about being a man and going out, you know, dressing to impress….. Our generation, guys in their twenties, even early thirties, have lost that connection with the way they dress and how that reflects their personality, and what they do in life.
-I think Vanishing Elephant suits are great. I hound Emma and Harriet at Public Library ‘til they let me buy their samples. I have three now. [Blush]
-Thanks Rye Rye. A suits a suit, it really doesn’t matter if it’s a Vanishing Elephant, or it’s vintage, or it’s an incredible suit that has been hand made for you, it still bona fides your persona, and I think suits are really personable, and you can tailor them, touch them up, and they will become a piece that is for you and you only. I really like the whole work wear aesthetic [men’s style in the twenties and thirties] but that was a whole different world, so we take a few lead ins, but still try to keep it neat and casual. I really like watching old movies, or in a lot of literature and text, the way men dress to go to work.
-Same, same, same. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time.
-Haha. In those days guys could only afford one suit, and there would often be patches, and different colours, because that was the amendments, and the only thing they could afford, so it was like the centre of your universe and you wore it so often, if you ever got the chance dress it up, you would. Some people were so poor that they couldn’t go out on the day they had to wash their suit; it would just be drying all day, and they’d just have to walk around home in their undies, or whatever. Haha.
-Call me working class, but I’d be happy to only have one pair of leather shoes, one tailored suit, one brimmed hat, and call that my wardrobe. I’m so used to a suit I don’t think I could live without the hidden breast pockets on the inside of a blazer. Okay, one last question: if Vanishing Elephant were commissioned to design new clothes for the Emperor, what would they be?
-Ha, ummm, depends where the Emperor is from. If he was, like, Royalty in Scandinavia that would be spot on with some suiting we are working on at the moment, or if it was Japan, we could get a little freaky with the waist measurements and make them a little higher and linen or something, get real fruity. [Laughs] From reading this people are going to think I’m Humphrey Bogart or something, but all I’m wearing is a tee shirt, a pair of dirty chinos, and some sneakers.
-[Laughing] You’re okay. Thanks for your time Huw.
-You’re welcome.
SAY HELLO TO JASMIN
Jasmine works at Black Box on the weekends. She studies health science and commerce at Auckland uni. Sometimes I call her ‘Princess Jasmine’, because we always have a royal good time when we work together.
-Hi.
-Hi.
-My name has no e.
-Oops, sorry.
-[Silence.]
So Jasmin, where do you look for wardrobe inspiration?
-Nowhere that comes to mind. I’m not really a blog person. I like Stockholm street style though.
-Do you worship any fashion icons?
-Worship?
-Haha.
-Ummmm, wouldn’t say worship, but I like Rodarte.
-Who’s that?
-They are two women. American? Yeah, American designers. Their style’s quite out there and different. I wouldn’t really wear it, but…. it’s interesting. It can be quite crazy.
-You dress pretty crazy don’t you…?
-Yep, in my crazy jeans and my crazy plain boots and my crazy plain sweater. Ha.
-Yeah we think you’re crazy cool. Rodarte isn’t stocked at Black Box though; so we don’t care about them. What’s your favourite brand we stock?
-Opening Ceremony, and soon to be, ACNE.
-What do like best about working at Black Box?
-Ummmm…
-Of course you can say working with me is the reason.
-Umm, no, that’s not it.
-Don’t lie.
-Okay, that is the reason. [I can see in her eyes she’s lying.] I’m really looking forward to seeing the new Opening Ceremony shoes that are about to come in.
-Same. So bummed they don’t make heals in a size 44 mens.
-You’re such a dick.
-Thanks, well…. that should cover it. Good work Jasmin; now, if you don’t mind, the entire sunglass collection needs dusting.
-Yes, your Royal Highness.
The Opening Ceremony shoes Jasmin mentioned are arriving at end of the month. Her pick of the bunch is the BRENDA 2, which she is pictured wearing, and the JUNGLE 6, which is pictured below.
