DANIEL HIGGS (lungfish) / / Arrington de Dionyso / / Calvin Johnson

BIG UP to Daniel Higgs, known primarily for his work in the seminal 90s punk band LUNGFISH. Cairo is proud to be presenting this show NOVEMBER 9th, at 8 pm. Joining him will be Arrington de Dionyso & K Records mastermind, Calvin Johnson.

Next Silkscreen Workshop is Nov. 13 at 7 pm

Make your own t-shirts, posters and more! $45 gets you this great workshop, teaching you the basics of silkscreening shirts and posters + 1 month's worth of 7 day a week access to our studio to create your very own goodies. Stop by or email cairosilkscreening (at) gmail.com to reserve a spot!

Sea Change: Inside the Artist's Studio with Shaun Kardinal

This month, Cairo is excited to show the work of artist Shaun Kardinal, in his series titled Reiterations. The collection, opening on OCTOBER 11th at CAIRO, features a progression of the artist's work with hand-embroidered two dimensional memorabilia, primarily in the form of vintage postcards and magazines. Shaun primarily works from home, which happens to be one floor down from my home. As building mates, we decided to hold the interview from 'inside the studio'. Here is an image of Shaun's workspace: 

 The 'studio'

During the interview, we caught up on the Space Needle as a public work of art, dog-people artists versus cat-people artists, and pizza at the neighborhood Pine Box. Here is a photo of Shaun in front of one of his favorite buildings in Seattle:

Shaun and his lady, artist Erin Frost, share an apartment and an enormous cat, who enjoys entertaining himself with much of the artist's supplies. 

The artist with blog star Charlie Chew

Read on to learn more about the collection featured and the artist himself! 

The Interview: 

Tell me about this show, "Reiterations". 

Both series that I am presenting are continuous and numbered–Alterations, an embroidered postcard project now past 60 works, and the bigger, collaged series Connotations pushing 40. The "Iterations" in the title comes from that ongoing count. "Reiterations" denotes that its not a new concept--its a continuation of those series. 

The whole embroidery thing started when I was sharing pieces of art in the mail a few years ago with some friends. At the time, I was focused on photography and was getting burnt out on my self portraits. When a friend sent me a postcard that was embroidered and collaged, I really loved the idea, so I made my own and sent it back. I got really into it and started sewing up postcards left and right. Of course, they were much more collage-oriented back then–little scenes built up with bits of string. One thing I really liked immediately about the medium was that there's not a lot of waste, especially compared to photography.

What other art mediums have you worked with in the past?

I did a little bit of screen printing for a while, then I was really interested in bumper stickers, as well as some some video and installation stuff. But since 2006 I've focused primarily on photography and these embroidered projects. 

When did you first start creating/making art? 

I always drew when I was a kid, but usually just cartoons and things I would see on TV. In high school I took a lot of art classes and got pretty skilled at drawing and photography, but I lost interest when I graduated. I grabbed my camera again in my early twenties. I worked at a frame shop in Pioneer Square around that time, and we started an art gallery there, so I started taking photos and compiling a body of work. My cohort Dan Carrillo bought me a great little medium format camera and I shot my first show with it. It was the first time I made an effort to be a part of the art world that I had worked with so closely at the frame shop. It was pretty great. 

How would you describe your personal artistic style? 

There is a lot of focus on color, with lots of geometry and planning. At the same time, I make a lot of arbitrary decisions--the images I choose for the work are chosen at a gut level, intentionally ignoring its content. For example, a lot of the time, the circles for the Connotations pieces are cut from the back, and I won't worry about what part of the image I will or won't cut through. Almost all of the postcards are completely planned out on the back with no correlation to the image on the cover–aside from the color choices. So yeah, a lot of arbitrary decisions, as well as hyper organization and focus on precision. It works for me--it's a productive pairing of things.

Which of your pieces are you the most proud of? 

This latest Connotations is my favorite thing I've ever created, I think. They are very satisfying. I am also really happy with a project I did last year with my girl Erin Frost. 

Where are you from? Do you think your upbringing manifests in your work?

I am originally from Tracy, California, right outside the Bay area. Tracy is nothing like the bay area, though: it's one of those middle-of-everything towns, super corporate. It was the largest growing town in the USA when I left because its right between Sacramento, SF and San Jose, so everybody just lived there and commuted, which made it a weird town. It was run by the teenage kids of commuter parents, all working at the myriad chain stores.

I moved here after high school. I love it here, but i feel like there is a ceiling you hit here in the art world. It's comfortable, and you can do well for a long time, but you can't reach past a certain point. 

As for my upbringing having an effect on the work, I think the content of my photography was more a direct result of that. However, I am attracted very much to vintage imagery, and I am unsure where that nostalgia comes from, since the suburbia I knew is not what appears in these images I choose. Maybe some kind of longing for a past I'll never have? Getting deep here.

Did you have a summer highlight? 

My trip with my girl to Portland was pretty great. We went down there to see Twin Shadow and stayed in a fancy hotel. It was hot there at the time, too--it wasn't quite summer yet here, even mid-August. I really like Portland!

Do you have a favorite record of all time?

I have a few. I used to have a real hold on that in my twenties... at-the-ready lists of favorites. But now it's hard to really call anything an absolute favorite. I can always go back to Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips, and I really love Microcastle by Deerhunter. I'll listen to most anything by David Bowie or the Beatles, standards like that. Pretty much every Pulp record. Tender Buttons by Broadcast. Sunset Rubdown's Shut Up, I am Dreaming. Holiday by Magnetic Fields. I listen to music all the time. 

Do you have a go-to karaoke jam? 

Yes, These Eyes by The Guess Who.

Where do most of your inspirations come from?

Being a web developer, I spend a lot of time online, including plenty of time browsing design and art blogs, clicking through my Tumblr dashboard. I save graphics with shapes and patterns I want to try to generate with the thread and refer to them when I need a kickstart. I love color, and I'm always grabbing more and more embroidery thread. 

Are there any local artists you've been blown away by recently?

Casey Curran is always amazing. A long time favorite of mine is Victoria Haven–I'm really looking forward to seeing her contribution to the Elles exhibit at the SAM. As far as projects go, I think everything that Todd Jannausch does is really smart. People should give him more money to do his projects. 

If you could do a public project of art, where and what would you do?

I mentioned bumper stickers earlier–a few years ago when that was my thing, I got a grant to produce an outdoor exhibition which would feature a series of stickers promoting everyday stuff like air, trees, sidewalks, walls, and on and on... which would be illustrated texts in the style of band stickers and campaign slogans. Unfortunately, for that project at least, by the time the money was available, I had lost interest in stickers. Thinking about it now, though, I feel like there could still be something to it. I wonder if I can still get that $1000...


Thanks to Shaun for the interview and we are excited to see you for the opening on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11TH at CAIRO!

Cairo Digital Mixtape #12: Bouquet

Stream the latest Cairo mix from Carolyn of Bouquet, curated in anticipation for their show with Mt. Eerie October 12th. The mix features songs from band members solo projects and from Bouquets Cave Life EP. Download it over at the Cairo Bandcamp page and don't forget to purchase your tickets to the show online! 

Interview With September Artists Bryan Ray and Devon Varmega

Cairo is excited to announce September art show titled Bummer Vibes, a duo show featuring local artist Devon Varmega and California artist Bryan Ray.

According to the artists, Bummer Vibes is the celebration of our life experiences that, in one way or another, bum us out.  Love lost, waves missed, landings come short, sunsets unseen, songs unheard, downer times, and wanton hurt; without these moments, life would be too peachy. What begins as a negative experience forms a catalyst for creativity that is otherwise unattainable. Life is never quite what we expect, and a complete bummer at times, but out of it all comes a unique and welcome opportunity for a greater depth of self-expression. We all suffer the joy that is bummer vibes.

Each artist will be showing individual collections based on this topic, as well as limited edition printed shirts and tote bags.

I was able to interview the two earlier this week to get a little insight into their individual inspirations. Check out the interview now, and the art TONIGHT!

The Interview

Tell me about your show, "Bummer Vibes".

DV Me and Bryan haven't been friends for that long, but we really wanted to do a show together. We each have very  different styles. The name is a common term in skate and surf culture. 

BR Yeah, my inspiration comes from a different place than [Devon]. I think the name came from the process of making art. its something we enjoy doing but there is also a very emotional part of the process--there are always other things in play when making something. 

How would each of you describe your personal artistic style?

BR I think my process and style changes quite a bit from collection to collection, and thats always been the case for me. I don't really like that, because in order to be a reputable artist, your work has to be recognizable. I've been doing fashion design for the past six or seven years, and I really pulled from that influence for this show. The idea of picking a theme for a specific collection was something I pick up from that experience. 

DV I'm generally just inspired by a lot of different styles of art. I like to use repetitive lines and symmetry and to jumble them up. I like trying different mediums like screen printing and drawing. 

How do you think they compliment each other?

BR I think that there is some similar inspiration. We draw from the same geometric patterns, as well as balance and symmetry. 

How did each of you get started? 

DV I used to do art contests as a kid. I never won them, because there was a girl whose mom was the judge, so she always won. It really damaged me. Then I started doing show posters for the Old Redmond Firehouse, I asked Nat Damm if I could do a poster. Later, I got involved with The Vera Project before they had a silkscreen ing studio, so we made a makeshift studio in the back. 

BR I feel like I've always made stuff. I've never stopped making stuff. By the time I was in highschool I was already making doing graphic design and working on websites. As far as my art, I tend to take breaks-- I haven't done a show in the last four years. 

What are each of your artistic greatest influences, for this show and otherwise? 

BR A lot of the old masters. In more recent artists, Dali's art has had a huge influence on how I see things. As far as my artistic influences, I draw mostly from my friends and the internet, unfortunately. 

DV Henri Matisse,  Hisham Bharoocha (formerly of Black Dice), a lot of 80s and 70s skate magazines, and the Cascades.

What are you listening to right now?

BR Bob Seger and Future Islands

DV Real Estate, Girls, Leonard Cohen

Thanks to the boys for the words, and see YOU all TONIGHT, Thursday, September 13th. 7-9 PM @ CAIRO. 

Photos from Vibrations

It's been a little over a week since our second annual Vibrations Music Festival took place, and we're pleased to see photos are still rolling in. Take a few moments to relive the momentous weekend and glance at some of the photos and write-ups from local press. 

The Seattle Times' Andrew Matson captured some good Vibrations moments with photos and a few personal highlights. 

"There was a general enchanted feeling in the air, especially at night when the nearby wooded grove lit up with rainbow colors, projected on dresses and sheets hanging from trees. With no disturbances or major hiccups, the whole thing ended promptly at 10 p.m."

You can read his entire article here. 

Our media intern Kate Davis captured the afternoon in a slideshow of photographs for Impose Magazine.

You can view here and even here.

Capitol Hill Seattle stopped by and took some great photos. 

                        See them on the CHS Blog and Facebook page. 

Photos from the Cairo photobooth are up! If you haven't glanced at the album, it's totally worth a visit. While your there, go ahead and tag yourself and your friends!

View them here.

Next Silkscreen Workshop is Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m.

Make your own t-shirts, posters and more! $45 gets you this great workshop, teaching you the basics of silkscreening shirts and posters + 1 month's worth of 7 day a week access to our studio to create your very own goodies. Stop by or email alchemy.of.time (at) gmail.com to reserve a spot!

Truckasauras talk DANTASIA with Robin Stein

Truckasauras will be closing out Vibrations festival this year with a three-channel VHS  masterpiece: "Dantasia,"  which has only been performed once before at Vermillion to a small and unwitting crowd.    

Truckasauras continually push to the periphery of the expectations put upon them as Seattle band, or even the expectations of what it means to be a band. Having easily maintained a regional reputation as a raucous speaker-blowing analog-authentic outfit, and for their impromptu street throw-downs ;  Truckasauras' reach and identity has gone further - being featured recently in the exhibition Soundworks at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) in London.  Bothell Trance -  their exploration of phasing in superimposed rhythmic structures - was featured as part of a companion exhibit to the ICA's staging of a major Bruce Nauman sound installation. Perhaps this pairing is just as appropriate as performing with Flying Lotus or Egyptian Lover. 

Dantasia is merely one portion of the multi-part unveiling of Truckasauras 2012, which is to culminate in October with the release of their third LP on the equally adventurous brooklyn-based label: The Journal of Popular Noise. 

I had Tyler Swan of Truckasauras to answer a few questions about what they are going to be doing on Saturday evening. 

Robin Stein: Can you explain what Truckasauras 2012 is?

Tyler Swan: Truckasauras 2012 is a series of local events we put together to exercise ideas that don't necessarily work in a normal tour type show. Culminating in the release of our new album.

RS: Can you describe a bit what you're going to be doing for Vibrations festival? What is Dantasia  and The Ultimate Beginners?

TS: For Vibrations Festival we are doing an encore presentation of Dantasia featuring The Ultimate Beginners which is an audio/video presentation done with two VCR's, a video sampler and three projectors. 

RS:  What was the process for composing these videos and songs?

TS: It's all made out of samples from an instructional music VHS series called The Ultimate Beginners. Chopping them up to make songs then matching the video sample to the audio samples used.

RS: What led you to working with The Ultimate Beginner tapes and what influences went into the process of creating Dantasia?

TS: Danbo [Dan Bordon] made a video back in the day by chopping up the vocal instruction tape and it kind of became a Truck classic. He kept finding tapes from that same series at different thrift stores until he had a whole stack. Keyboards, drums, bass, guitar, vocals. This gave Dan the idea to chop up and combine them to make a full band. We call this band The Ultimate Beginners.

RS: What's unique about using only The Ultimate Beginners series as source material for making music and videos?

TS: It's cool, it worked really well. All the tapes are like the intro first lesson for each instrument. They all teach the same stuff. It's all blues scales, open chords, C major, A minor type stuff. So they all went together really well with tempo and harmonics. It's like they were already playing together.

RS: Can you talk about the constraints of your equipment (synching VHS tape decks,   the midi video deck, only using a single source material…) and how it informs the way that you guys create this kind of piece?

TS: It falls into what the whole Truck thing has been. Limitations of gear creating a style. You can try out different styles and ideas and that limitation kind of keeps a cohesive thing. Also we have been experimenting with having no sync and the chance occurrences with that. The VCRs are cued manually creating a slightly-different-every-time type of thing.

RS: In the process of doing Truckasauras 2012, what are some things that you have gotten excited about (music, art, whatever...) as a product of this project? Things that might inform what you see coming up for you as a band.

TS: During all of this, Ryan has really gotten into building a modular [synth] and a lot of ideas have popped up with that. Also the Dingus and the Buttfucks[*] , live drum stuff has been inspiring.  

[* Dingus and The Buttfucks - an all live drums incarnation of Truckasauras]

Chocolate Grills & Bananas Arrangements: an Interview Between Erik Blood & OC Notes

With collaborations being something of an unofficial theme with this year's VIBRATIONS festival, we thought it would only be proper to curate a collaborative interview between two artists involved. So we had Erik Blood & Otis Calvin (OC Notes) hook up to pick each other's brains a little bit. Take a glimpse into the minds of two of Seattle's perennial musical geniuses, who just so happen to be making a record with each other! 

Erik: So you came up in the south end like me. Black mother, white father, like me (or is it the other way round?). When you make your music, you do it alone, like me (though I have my people who I rely on for drums and extra ears). Here's my question. Why haven't we started a religion together so that we can make some real money and stop living like poor people? I think we could bring a lot of peace to this world, no?

Otis: Both of my parents are actually black, my grandfather was adopted in the midwest and there is a suspect unclear history on that whole situation.  Either his mother or father was white but we can’t get the adoption records so we will never know.  I dont care anymore.  All I know is that my light skin has been an epic headache in my life.  I’m hated on by whites and blacks, I’ve always felt like an alien.  Starting a religion has always been a back up plan of mine.    Growing up in church with a preacher dad I feel like I have learned the game.  No disrespect to the church but I’ve seen a lot of hustlin & hustlers in church, I think my church swag is pretty hard.  Reverend swag on a million.  I think we could have one of the most loving and effective churches in the game.  I’m all about love, peace, & taking care out your earth brothers and sisters.

 Erik: I'm right there with you. My whole life people think I'm trying to "pass for white" like it's the fucking 1950s or they're steadily trying to figure me out. Had a guy come up to me in a bar and say "what's a nice Jew boy like you doing in a place like this? I could tell by your nose." ?!?!?!?!?!?! But we learn to not give a shit. Just being is all we can do.

Not to bring up old shit, but when I first heard your record Secret Society, I though you'd been spying on my dreams. That track "Nowhere" is one of those jams that made me jealous as fuck. But since then, you've put out three more records (maybe 4?) and your sound keeps evolving. How the fuck do you make so much good music and never repeat yourself?

Otis: good question.  I enjoy makin music, I make music no matter what my mood is. I do it because i like it and its fun to me, it makes me feel good.  I dont like sounding the same.  I’m influenced by far too much sound to stick to just one sound.

Erik: Yes! No one should survive on a steady diet of one sound.

 Art=god. Music=my religion. For me, Prince=Jesus. Who's your Jesus?

Otis: The one from the Lebowski movie.  Him or ODB. Swag.

Erik: I know we gotta get back to work on our collaboration soon. But what's this thing you're doing for VIBRATIONS and what are we going to hear from you the rest of 2012?

 Otis: I guess I’m doing some sort of improvised collaboration with the white rainbow cat Adam.  Should be dope. He's a boss.  As far as the rest of 2012 goes, I’e got a record comin out entitled "pre future post modern love songs: aka alien booty bass" I’m very excited about the record. No samples, a lot of singing.  I wrote and played all the music on the record, I’m really proud of this one. That & our collaboration are the 2 things I’m most excited for this year.  I want to perform more this year outside of Seattle too. I can’t tell you too much though, next thing I know somebody in the town will start bitin.  Chocolate grills.

Erik: Can't wait to hear that new shit. And our collaboration is going to blow some minds. Honored to be working with you.

Otis: You’re in the top 3 nicest people I’ve ever known in my life, you’re also one of the most humble ninjas I’ve ever met. How did you end up meetin Shabazz and what was the first meeting like?

Erik: Aww. Thank you, sweetie! I met Ish through my good friend and mentor Bubba Jones while they were working on Cherrywine. I dropped my copy of Blowout Comb at his studio for Ish to sign for me and while he did that, Bubba played him my old band, The Turn-Ons, album "East". I didn't meet him in person until a Spiritualized show a few months later and I was a straight up starstruck nerd. He was a hero (still is) and he was so gracious and cool to me. After that we talked about working together for a couple of years until we started the first Shabazz sessions. 

Otis: You grew up in Tacoma durin the lawless 90's in its prime time.  What was it like growin up around so much gangsta shit as a spirit in the package of Erik Blood?  I feel like you would have gotten mad love from OG's since you’re such a genuine and unique spirit that doesn’t front, was it like that or am I totally wrong?

Erik: Tacoma was a strange place then. The violence was becoming not only commonplace, but admired by stupid ass kids. I had a gun pulled on me by a kid who "thought I was someone else", got hit in the head with a rock and my jacket stolen a block from my house, and had to be careful who called me by my full name in public. That said, I had people around me all the time who weren't into being a part of that shit. I just stuck to the sidelines, played video games, and made music. 

Otis: Were you in any bands as a youngster, if so, what was your first band, what instrument(s) did you play, & what kind of music did you play? Cover songs? Original tunes? Were they good or bad?

Erik: I did a lot of bedroom recording as a youngen. For a very short time I made shitty beats for my friends who rapped. I had a short lived hip hop crew called Young, Gifted, and Black that was...of a time. Middle school. Picked up a guitar after hearing Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine when I was 16 and retrained my brain. No bands until I was 21 when I joined Mountain Con and was their DJ/producer. That's my sorted past. 

Otis:  I listen to your records all the time, I feel like you make the music that I hear in my head but I have trouble getting it out. Your sound is lush as fuck, your arrangements are bananas. How do you manage to make it all happen?  Is it difficult wranglin up musicians to play your music & do you have trouble sometimes gettin cats to figure out the parts to your songs?

Erik: Again, thank you and right back at you. I don't know how it happens. I sometimes hear a complete song in my head for weeks and then I just put it down piece by piece. Usually it's not exactly what I had in my head originally, but that's how it goes. Other times I just sit down and let shit come out. I've worked with so many cool cats who play music really well, so I just try to get them to play with me. My whole band is poached from bands I've recorded. Sometimes it's a little hard to get people to learn my shit, but the folks I fuck with are the real deal so they get the hang of it. I'm eternally grateful to them. 

Erik Blood and OC Notes are playing Cairo's VIBRATIONS festival on August 25th at Volunteer Park! Thanks for your time guys. IKJ