New York-based artist Tara McPherson returns to Manila on February 8-9, 2012. This second visit is brought to you by Vinyl on Vinyl and Fully Booked.

Born in San Francisco in 1976 and raised in Los Angeles, McPherson received her BFA from the Art Center in Pasadena, California in August 2001. She graduated with honors in Illustration and a minor in Fine Art. She interned at Rough Draft Studios, and worked on Matt Groening’s Futurama during her college days.

McPherson exhibits her paintings and serigraphs in fine art galleries all over the world. Named the crown princess of poster art by ELLE Magazine, she has created numerous gig posters for acts like Beck, Greenday, Faith No More, Rilo Kiley, and the Melvins. She has also created toys for companies like Kidrobot, Dark Horse, and Toy2R; painting comics and covers for DC Vertigo; advertising and editorial illustrations for companies such as Wyden+Kennedy and Spin Magazine. McPherson also teaches at Parsons in New York.

Her work has appeared in the graphic novel Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. She also did the cover of Bridget Jones’s Diary for the Penguin Tattoo series. Soon, Dark Horse took notice and her first book, Lonely Heart: the Art of Tara McPherson, was subsequently published. This was followed by Lost Constellations; The Art of Tara McPherson Vol II.

McPherson believes in creating art inspired by people and their odd ways. Her characters exude an idealized innocence with hard-earned wisdom glinting in their eyes. She draws inspiration from childhood issues from childhood and life experiences. Her images are thought-provoking and seductive. People and their relationships are a central theme in her work.

On her first visit to Manila in 2010, McPherson gave a talk at the International Multimedia Design Conference Graphika Manila. She also auctioned off several poster designs she did for bands, which local musicians performed covers of. This time, McPherson unveils her third book Bunny in the Moon for the very first time.

Fully Booked will prepare two dialog/books signings: one at the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, which will take place on February 8, 2012 (Wednesday) from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the SDA Cinema 12/F SDA Campus; the other will be at the University of the Philippines Diliman (U.P.) on February 9, 2012 (Thursday) from 1:00-3:30 p.m. at the U.P. College of Fine Arts Corridor Gallery.

The culminating event will take place during Vinyl on Vinyl’s second anniversary celebration, where McPherson will exhibit her original art and unveil a special Toy release, Lucius and Mountains, inspired by her legendary Melvins poster.

For more information, visit the Fully Booked website: www.fullybookedonline.com and the Vinyl on Vinyl blog – vinylonvinyl.blogspot.com.

UNO Magazine caught up with Tara McPherson 2 years ago, and here’s a 10 Question interview that we did with her.

UNO’s interview with Steve Pederson, bassist of the California based rock band Evaline

Interview by Denise J. Mallabo / Special thanks to Andy Griffin

Evaline’s career hasn’t been easy. Like so many bands, they’ve gone through changes with their band lineup and management. But amidst those trials, they’ve pushed through their limits and are starting to create a name for themselves, all for the love of their music. Composed of Richard Perry on vocals, Greg Petersen on drums, Daniel Petersen on baritone guitar, Christian Lewis and Dominic DiCiano
on guitar, and Steve Pedersen on bass, they’ve recorded two EPs and a full-length album called Woven Material. They’ve toured with American rock band The Used, and British bands Placebo and Bush, and played at huge festivals, just having the time of their lives. Recently they were here in Manila as one of the performers for the MTV Exit concert, a campaign to end human exploitation and trafficking.

UNO sits down with Evaline’s Steven Pederson as he introduces us to his band and tells us how it all began.

If you can describe Evaline’s music in three words what would they be and why?

Loud. It is meant to be loud and in-yourface. Epic. It is dramatic and dynamic and ends with a bang. Rock. It has the energy of so many different rock bands.

What can you cite as the biggest change the band had gone through since you guys started in 2003? And can you say that it’s for the better?

We have gone through a couple lineup changes since we first formed. Things weren’t working out with our old drummer Steve Forrest, who now plays for Placebo, so we parted ways and got Greg Petersen on the drums. Greg is a fantastic drummer and was already a friend of ours so it worked out perfectly. Then a few years ago we added our sixth member, Daniel Petersen, to beef up our sound. This move took us to another level because Daniel is so good with anything to do with pro audio. He is also very talented at several instruments, so he is kind of our jack-of-all-trades.

Can you tell us something about the song “Beneath the Fire?” What is it about and how was it chosen to be the first single of your album Woven Material?

“Beneath The Fire” started off as an electronic, trancey type song that I had written. When we were getting ready to record the album, I put forth this song and said it would be great to turn [it] into an Evaline song. So we transcribed all the keyboard melodies to guitar, added real drums, and Perry worked out the vocals. It still has the electronic elements to it though. We didn’t plan on it being our first single though–iTunes USA fell in love with the track and wanted to feature it on the “iTunes Single of the Week.” We had no objections, because it is such great exposure for us. Plus, we thought it was pretty cool to have a seven-minute, epic song for a single!

Can you give us a brief background on the process of making your album Woven Material and how is it different from your EP Postpartum Modesty: A Portrait of Skin?

Woven Material took us about four years to write, record and release. A lot of the reason for why it took so long was because of changes going on with our record label at the time and a change in management as well. It was a difficult time for us and nearly tore us apart. Rather, we wrote songs to vent our frustrations with the state of the industry and our struggles at that time. Working with producer Dan Austin, we wanted to capture our live sound and energy as much as possible. We recorded it all over England and choose the songs that best represented our sound and life as a band since the release of our first EP, Postpartum Modesty. Woven Material is a lot different than that first EP because our sound and musical influences had matured and changed so much over that time. It is bigger, louder, and more relevant to our live sound now.

From the list of songs in the album, which are you most excited to perform live and why?

I think the general consensus of the band is that we all enjoy playing “All In My Mind.” It is a dynamic, epic song with drum and percussion break downs. Something new happens every time we play it. For example, the last time we played it, in Toronto, our singer Perry ended up climbing up the support beams of the stage, about thirty feet off the ground.

You guys started out playing at the Warped Tour and Taste of Chaos. How is it different now that you get to be invited to play in such festivals like the Hurricane Festival, and T in the Park?

Those old tours were a lot of fun for us and whipped us into touring shape. Sort of like a rock boot camp. It was a really great experience to do the European festivals this year with a whole new set of songs to play and a new album to promote. European fans are absolutely wonderful to play to.

In your bio, it says that you sound a bit like Placebo, Jane’s Addiction, etc., but who do you think you sound like? Are you guys happy with the comparison?

Yes, we get these comparisons a lot and I think it mainly has to do with the style and sound of Perry’s vocals. Musically I think people have a harder time pinning us down because our style is a mix of a lot of different bands. Some of our biggest influences are Radiohead, Mogwai, and At The Drive-In, just to name a few.

Where do you see yourselves in the upcoming months?

Sometime in the next few months we also hope to get together and start writing some new material. We plan on being very busy and hope to meet any new fans along the way. Cheers.

For more about Evaline, check out their website at http://www.evaline.co.uk/.

Article originally published in the Dec 2011 – Jan 2012 issue of UNO Magazine.

]]> http://www.unomagazine.com.ph/2012/02/evaline-and-their-ascent-to-success/feed/ 0 http://www.unomagazine.com.ph/2012/02/international-visual-artist-tapio-snellman-for-boysen-knoxout-project-edsa/ http://www.unomagazine.com.ph/2012/02/international-visual-artist-tapio-snellman-for-boysen-knoxout-project-edsa/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:52:28 +0000 Denise http://www.unomagazine.com.ph/?p=6516

The 3rd installment of the Boysen KNOxOUT Project: EDSA (Everyone Deserves Safe Air) featured international filmaker, artist and architect Tapio Snellman.

Bown in Finland, Snellman’s films and installations have been previously featured at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and the Design Museum in London, among other.

But from the enclosed spaces of these museums, Snellman is suddenly thrust right at the heart of Cubao, the Cubao-Aurora Underpass. Just like Jose Tence Ruiz (Bgy. San Lorenzo Wall, EDSA) and B+C Design Inc, (Ortigas-EDSA Interchange), Snellman was commissioned to come up with a 1000 sqm. artwork located along ESDA. all artworks used the air cleaning paint Boysen KNOxOUT as the medium and are expected to clean out the toxic NOx spewed out by at least 8000 vehicles.

And like a true artist, Snellman rose up and more than passed the challenge.

For more information about the Boysen KNOxOUT Project: EDSA (Everyone Deserves Safe Air), the technology behind Boysen KNOxOUT and how you can take part of this urban renewal initiative, please visit www.boysenknoxoutproject.com.

Mark our words, February is going to be epic on AXN. Kick starting the lineup in the beginning of the month is the highly-anticipated return of singing reality competition series The Voice Season 2.

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Premiering on February 6, 2012 is Season 2 of The Voice, hosted by Carson Daly, offering aspiring singers the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be mentored by celebrity coaches. Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton return with their sizzling chemistry and their trademark red swiveling chairs to judge contestants solely on their vocal talent and not their looks. If more than one coach turns to pick a particular singer, the tide turns and the choice of coach goes to the singer. This season, show producer Mark Burnett has added more rounds of blind auditions and each of the coaches’ teams will be expanded to 12 singers each.

The ante is certainly upped in terms of the diversity and quality of the contestants this season, with Aguilera bagging ‘everything from an opera singer, powerhouse MC to soul singers’ on her team. What is interesting is that savvy contestants who are in demand now know how to play the game, and have taken the opportunity to push the coaches a little further and wrangle for commitment to be kept  for a few rounds.

Season 1’s contestants have done well for themselves so far; winner Javier Colon has released a new album in collaboration with Natasha Bedingfield and his coach, Adam Levine, while first runner-up Dia Frampton has also launched her album with the help of coach Blake Shelton. Other contestants – Beverly McClellan from Team Aguilera and Vicci Martinez from Team Cee Lo have also begun recording after the show ended.

Talent-spotting aside, be sure to keep an eye out for new songs from the coaches themselves! After all, Season 1 was the launchpad for Shelton’s ‘Honey Bee’, a country chart-topper, as well as the Maroon 5-Aguilera single ‘Moves Like Jagger’ which hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 list. And as Aguilera teased, look out for the ‘kickass’ opening performance by the coaches this season!

 The Voice Season 2 premieres on 6 Feb 2012, Mon at 10.55pm

Viewers are invited to visit www.axn-asia.com for the latest update on their broadcast schedules or follow them on Twitter @axnasia for more info

TATTOO, the no. 1 most preferred broadband, unleashed its weapons for greatness in a daring resistance campaign against uniformity, mediocrity and limitations.

The goal is to break barriers and the battle cry is to resist. Thus, the Ayala Museum was transformed into a canvass as Tattoo brought to life the different forms of resistance. This multi-sensorial display featured four fascinating artworks that bore testament to the resistance movement with each artwork meticulously crafted by select individuals renowned in their field and known for their extraordinary vision.

Interpreting Resisting Uniformity through fashion is award winning fashion designer and milliner Mich Dulce with an installation that featured her latest creations. Resisting Mediocrity through multimedia arts is graphic design house Team Manila which presented their design that stood as a mixture of local pop culture. Resisting Limitations through form is the sculptural artwork of Leeroy New that carries his trademark of pushing the boundaries of imagination while Paul Zialcita displayed Resistance through sound as he performed his beats through mix of traditional and unconventional instruments creating a distinct rhythm. “This evening is very important for Tattoo as we bravely lead and share with you this revolution,” says Dong Ronquillo, Tattoo Head of Nomadic Broadband Business. “What is resistance exactly? It is not settling for anything less and always pushing the limits to achieve greatness. This is what Tattoo stands for and this year we continue on living without limits”.

Special performances that translated the Resistance movement through reel to real experiences were interpreted by model Jasmine Maierhofer, the Hot Legs dancers and live poetry reading by Niña Terol and Paul Zialcita. Tattoo’s new faces of greatness were also unveiled: the Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire, Master Model Georgina Wilson and Chicosci lead vocalist and Rock Rebel Miggy Chavez.  Guests were given a chance to get up close and personal with Georgina and Miggy as they shared the significance of this revolution and how they resist and break the norms to become great in their chosen field.

Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest Cu and the trade partners of Globe graced the event hosted by Sarah Meier – Albano.  Tattoo’s brand ambassadors race car champion Marlon Stockinger, cyber superstar Saab Magalona and Ford Supermodel of the World 2010 Danica Magpantay and art diva Sarah Gaugler were also at the event to show their support to the new campaign. Other celebrities spotted during the Tattoo Resistance launch were Raymond Gutierrez, Divine Lee, Angeli Pangilinan, Pia Magalona, Frank Magalona, RJ Ledesma, Borgy Manotoc, Rovilson Fernandez, Rhett Eala and JR Isaac.

Tattoo continues to push the boundaries in connectivity, delivering unparalleled  service with 4G, better devices, wider reach and faster speeds at unbeatable value.

Resist against the mediocre offers of other brands with the Tattoo 4G Flash at P1245 which runs at a speed of up to 7.2 mbps with free 120 hours valid for 5 days plus free surfing on Facebook for 30 days.

Resisting Limitations, Tattoo subscribers may now enjoy ultimate non-stop surfing for 3 days with SUPERSURF for only P120, avoiding the hassle of daily registration.

Resisting uniformity, the New Tattoo Postpaid Personalized Plan at a baseplan of only P999 a month comes with unlimited surfing at a speed of up to 7.2 mbps.

It’s time to resist. Join the resistance and choose your weapon. Visit www.tattoo.globe.com.ph.

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At the turn of the 20th century, Negrense “hacienderos” (sugarcane land owners) were the richest and their farm workers the highest paid in the country.
But in a span of a century, the Negros sugar industry plunged from its proverbial pedestal into its inglorious present state.

Why is the industry in peril? Is it, indeed, a flailing sunset industry?

Filmmaker J Abello, a former sugarcane farm manager, offers a glimpse of the island’s turbulent history through dramatic and controversial video: lavish parties of Negros sugar barons, candid interviews with hacienderos, never before seen footage of Negros island…and more.

“Pureza: The Story of Negros Sugar” traces the history of the Negros sugar industry as it faces strife and discord in the advent of the 21st century.

Executive Producers J. ABELLO, JOEY GASTON
Producers FIONA BORRES, AGNES VILLAR
Director J. ABELLO
Writers JET ORBIDA, CHECCS OSMEÑA
Editor FIONA BORRES
Director of Photography J. ABELLO
Asst. Director LOVELLE BELLOCILLO
Visual FX Supervisor RICHARD FRANCIA
Sound Engineers ALBERT MICHAEL IDIOMA, ALEX TOMBOC
Music PEARLSHA ABUBAKAR

UNO briefly caught up with former Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, who’s been busying himself with the Philippine Red Cross, to discuss the group’s efforts in aiding the victims of typhoon Sendong. Known for supporting the men’s senior basketball team of ADMU (his alma mater) especially during the UAAP basketball season, Gordon confessed his lack of knowledge of football during the press conference, but expressed his openness to checking out the country’s other favorite sport, especially if it meant raising funds to help out the survivors of the typhoon, which hit major parts of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Red Cross was one of the organizations behind the recently-held charity match between Azkals-UFL Alyansa and FC Internacional de Madrid last January 7 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, wherein the Spanish club won 3-1 against the host. At the half, the generous team from Spain formally donated 10,000 euros, plus signed jerseys to be auctioned off all for charity. Gordon was also present to accept the gifts.

Below are photos (taken by Juan Benjamin Janeo) from the press conference and match, and exclusive interview with the Philippine Red Cross chairman:

How have you been since after the Senate?
I’ve been working on the Red Cross. I have a radio program and a TV program on TV5. I also sit on the board of several corporations, but my focus has been mainly on the Red Cross–[we're] humanitarian, we’re non-profit. I’m a volunteer; I don’t get paid any money. And I enjoy [working with] talented people [putting] all our efforts into the Red Cross as volunteers. And this is a definite example. The request is starting to build now–1000 homes right away in Cagayan De Oro. And with the other 2 hectares again we have another 300, and if we get the land in Iligan, we get another 1000 homes as well. And we’re ahead of giving the non-food items and food items, and the idea here is to provide not just survival but dignity and recovery.

How are we with our target? Are we far from it?
No, we’re alright except that we want them to go from dependency mode into recovery right away. We want them to get their minds off the idea that there will always be handouts and that they need all hands to carry the load. So I think that we’ll be able to do that once the housing starts. Beneficiaries will be the ones to build the house. So we have a thousand tents that will be placed right away so that they can get out of the schools and a family of six can stay in a tent; even a family of seven. And [with] a thousand tents across the land–they can just build their homes and we’ll provide them with the materials and we’ll provide them with the equipment: saws, hammers, everything. At the same time they’re building on it, we’re giving them food so that they won’t be stressed [out] looking for food. And if there’s more money later on, we’ll provide them with Php7,000 as startup capital.

How’s the experience going to the site and seeing everything first-hand?
Oh, first day was really a shocker. You have a lot of people who not only lost their homes, but lost families. They’ve not gotten closure because there have been missing people in their families. And there’s no future because they’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their past, they’ve lost their present and it’s a very uncertain future, so it’s a very difficult proposition. That’s why we’re exerting all our efforts to help them.

How’s the group been working with our government for this cause?
Oh, we do that. We need a lot more coordination because everybody was doing it in Christmas, so there’s probably an oversupply of food there. But the request goes for the “over-served” and the “under-served.” So the under-served, we take care of as well.

What’s next for you? Are you planning to go back into politics?
There’s always that option. In the Senate, perhaps, I don’t know. I’ve not been offered any of the Cabinet [positions]. They were making noises, but the decision is theirs, it’s not my decision to make.

Late last year, American alternative rock band Death Cab for Cutie announced that they will have a concert in Singapore on March of this year. So here I though they would pass by the opportunity to play here in Manila, but the music gods (and Warner Music Philippines) listened to every Filipino DCFC fans’ prayer so on March 5, 2012 Death Cab for Cutie will have a one night only concert at the NBC tent!

Tickets are already available today at Ticketnet.

Secret Fresh’s year opener for 2012 is an exhibit of poster art created by Manila’s top and up and coming graphic designers and artists who also venture into illustration.  The show opening this January 8 Sunday at 6 PM is entitled AGIT POP! Post-Its To The Post Apocalypse and showcases their poster designs which imagines them as message boards to a future world promising utopic  visions in the aftermath of an imagined anticipated holocaust as prodded by the much Mayan calendar footnoting of the year 2012. Reversing the doomdsday prophesies, the posters present instead a possibility beyond such eventuality, speculating on the premise of a promised renewed world or the unfulfillment of such in a rather dystopia.

The line up of artists for this show is composed of JP Cuison,  Dina Gadia, D.O.T. , Folk Superlative, Electrolychee, 27 + 20,  Dee Grayson, AJ Dimarucot, Paulo Reyes, Russell Vergara, Wes Valenzuela, Mimi Tecson, A.lien, Dang Sering, Jackie Millonado and Jay Mitra.

Over 200 Poster Art entries were submitted, showcasing the wealth of local talent in illustration, digital design, conceptual execution and photography. There were also  original entries for the 60-second Digi-Film category, which took Pinoy artistry and creativity to greater heights. Most of the entries submitted truly captured the spirit and character of the brand, which also an important consideration during the judging.

Pony, of course, is an American brand of footwear, founded in Brooklyn, New York in 1972. Pony has since become a top global athletic brand in the ‘80s. By this time, the brand had been worn by champion athletes in the World Cup, Super Bowl, NBA and the likes.

The winners of the Pony Footwear “Show Off” digital film and poster art competition was revealed and awarded last Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 at 55 Events Place, Sct. Rallos St., Timog, Quezon City. Each winner of the Digi-Film and Poster Art categories received the following: First prize is P40,000 cash plus P10,000 worth of Pony shoes; Second prize is P20,000 cash and P5,000 worth of Pony shoes; and Third price is P10,000 cash and P5,000 worth of Pony shoes.

The winners for the PONY SHOW OFF DIGITAL FILM CATEGORY:

1^st Prize: KEVIN DAYRIT “Soundless Transposition”, 2^nd Prize: Winson Rojo “Bold & wild”, 3^rd PRIZE: Vancleef Emnacen “Pony Tale: Sneaky Sneakers”

The winners for the PONY SHOW OFF POSTER CATEGORY:

1^st Prize: Jesus Genotiva “Rock n Roll”, 2^nd Prize: Reuben Francis Vidanes “Dare:Grafitti Let’s Get It On”, 3^rd PRIZE: Frederick Uy “Hot Dog”

PONY show off awarding ceremony were hosted by Internet sensation, TV personality & film professor, RAMON BAUTISTA together with renowned music video director, NANI NAGUIT.

Major awards were presented by celebrities and music icons such as RENZ FERNANDEZ, DEVON of PBB Teen Clash, CHAMP LUI PIO, BARON GEISLER & BAMBOO. The participants also enjoyed explosive performances from up & coming young band ABSOLUTE PLAY, rock princess, KITCHIE NADAL & the lords of metal rock, WOLFGANG.

Check out the winning entries at www.facebook.com/PONYSHOWOFF. For those who joined, your showing off has hit pay dirt. As Pony would say: “Let’s Get It On!”