So Sylvie

Marcel On Parisian Radio Today!

In case you haven't heard, my son Marcel is a music journalist. He was interviewed by French DJ Charline Roux last week and it was broadcast today on radio station Le Mouv. Merci beaucoup to Nico Prat for the interpretation. If you don't wish to listen to the entire broadcast, although it's quite good, Marcel's segment begins at 15:20 minutes on the player below.

  

 

Here's the fun sequence of events for that week: Marcel interviewed Andrew Jackson Jihad followed by an outing with them to the local skate park, and then their show that night at The Crepe Place. The following day Marcel was asked to appear in the band's new music video, filmed at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Arcade. From there we drove north to San Francisco to attend an album relaease gig at Slims, as guests of Jello Biafra, with Mojo Nixon in attendance. Whew! Images below refer to some of the topics in the Parisian radio interview.

 

(click on photos for a larger view)

at First City Festival, Monterey, California:

 

 

 

with Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes:

 

 

 

 

interview with Yeah Yeah Yeahs

 

 

 

with Iggy Pop:

 

 

 

 

 

with Iggy Pop and Jessica Paré from Mad Men:

 

 

 

with Deafheaven:

 

 

 

 

interview with Ty Segall

 

 

Je vous remercie encore une fois Charline!!

My Inner-Child Is European

Hey! I just found out that I could have an "About" page in my Etsy shop. Must pay closer attention to those notices they send. I discovered it when I was looking at things in other people's shops and I saw their portrait, with a "learn more" link, beneath each product. How cool. So I made one for myself. Come visit my shop some time!

 

~ mother's day 2013 ~

"I have been 'thrifting' my entire life. It's one of my earliest memories, growing up hunting through the back alleys of San Francisco for found objects. When I eventually went outside of the city my treasure hunting extended to the woods and fields of British Columbia and later the Santa Cruz mountains.

I became fascinated by rummage sales, flea markets and yard sales as they revealed a certain perspective on history that drew me in. I've always had a European sensibilty with regard to the things that attracted me. I went on to open a vintage clothing shop in downtown Santa Cruz, then sold vintage clothing in a shop in St. Germain des Prés in Paris and then opened a vintage furniture shop in Los Gatos. When I closed that shop I had beaucoup inventory left over, so I decided to open an Etsy shop.

Throughout these ventures I've also indulged my pleasure for doing Interior Design in homes from San Francisco to Rome. I continue to work/play in that field. A long journey from the fields in British Columbia."

 

Proud As A Peacock Chair

Chloe from One Kings Lane wrote to me recently about 'statement' chairs and asked if there was one that spoke to me. In terms of comfort I don't think this one is my fave, but for making a statement in a portrait I've always loved the Peacock Chair. In fact I referred to it in a five year old blog post of mine.

 

Here's an updated version of it:

 

Celebrities have favored them for special portraits:

Al Green

 

Bridget Bardot

 

Alexander Green

 

Dolly Parton

 

Huey Newton

 

Zsa Zsa Gabor

 

Marc Bolan

 

Father John Misty

 

Elizabeth Taylor

 

Jack Lord

 

Charlie Chaplin as Bonaparte

 

Katherine Hepburn

 

Julio Iglesias

 

Last, but not least: Robert Plant

I do have an obsession with chairs. In fact, a journalist came to the barn last week to interview my son and in the article she refers to my chairs as an aside. I also have a chair board on Pinterest and a chair set on Flickr.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go listen to some Al green, T-Rex and Led Zepplin!

 

Marcel's Almost Famous

Marcel and I had the honor of being interviewed by the smartest, lovliest music journo in the Bay Area, Jody Amable. We hosted her and photographer Daniel Kielman at our barn last week and here is the result: The Bay Bridged

 

 photo by Daniel Kielman

 

 photo: moi

 

You might also be interested in reading this wonderful piece on her personal blog, The Eternal Intern, inspired by her connecting with Marcel, where she ruminates over how the film Almost Famous was an early spark for her writing career. She's an engaging writer and it's a truly fun read. Next up for Marcel, an interview with a radio DJ in Paris! More to follow.

 

 

In the film: 15 year-old music journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit), interviews musician Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup).

Cornelius Richard Harp of The Marcels

While doing a Google search on my son Marcel today I learned that the singer for The Marcels, Cornelius Richard Harp passed on June 4th. They are one of my Marcel's favorites and he even has a 45 of Blue Moon. We sang that song for my Dad while he was in hospice care. The Elvis Presley version is prominently featured in the Jim Jarmusch film Mystery Train. Rest peacefully Cornelius.

 

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

"Ge kunt verdriet niet delen. Niet echt. We waren er niet voor mekaar. Hoe goed dat wij ons best ook deden."

 

"You can not share grief. Not really. We were not there for each other. How good that we did our best."

 

- from the book "The Broken Circle Breakdown Featuring the Cover-Ups of Alabama" by Johan Heldenbergh

 

 

 

 

Some of the finest Bluegrass music these days is of Dutch and Belgian origin and out of that imported artform was born the inspiration for the play The Broken Circle Breakdown Featuring the Cover-Ups of Alabama. Written by the wonderful human being/writer/director/actor Johan Heldenbergh along with Mieke Dobbels in 2009, it was performed to sold out crowds throughout Belgian Flanders and the Netherlands.

 

 

 

 

 

So deeply moved by the production, director Felix van Groeningen and writer Carl Joos adapted it for film with the shortened title The Broken Circle Breakdown. Felix cast Johan as Didier in the lead male role, as he was in the play, and Veerle Baetens as Elise, the female lead. They perform all of the music in the film; Johan learned to play banjo, mandolin and guitar for the role.

 

 

The film tells the story of a passionate love affair between two souls who connected so effortlessly in the beginning, with their love of music as the tie that binds, and how tragic circumstances tested that bond. The question is whether love can conquer intense pain and grief. All of these emotions are told against the moving backdrop of country bluegrass music (soundtrack HERE). Johan Heldenberg has said that when he was writing the play it was just after 911 and he feared that religious ferver would take over and decided that his characters' struggle over religious paradigms be set against the hymnal strains of this folk music. 

 

 

 

The title refers to the traditional Christian hymn Will The Circle Be Unbroken -- that pursues the idea of being reunited after death -- later rewritten in the style of country/folk by Alvin Pleasant Delany Carter (founding member of The Carter Family, of country music fame). While researching the roots of the song, I discovered that Alvin's wife Sara had a cousin named Maybelle. In the film Dider and Elise have a daughter named Maybelle. Sweet name.

 

 

 

The film had its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival where it won the Panorama Audience Award and the European Cinemas Label prize and has now been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. I wait on bated breath to see it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video from the film here: If I Needed You