Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
How rad is it to have a friend who started her own shoe company? How rad is it that she would release a kick-ass Dinosaur Jr. shoe that comes with a 7″ picture disc of J Mascis covering Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You”? Hot damn! I had to ask Una Kim for more details about this shoe and how it came to be.
MW: I have no doubt people are going to listen to the record, which is a real dream. Do you expect to see guys out in the streets wearing the shoes or are they more like collectibles?
UK: I hope so, though purple is a bold color. I appreciate collectors–some of my closest friends are mega collectors–but I’ve always liked seeing Keeps on the streets. To each his or her own. I know I will wear mine. I hope collectors will buy one to wear and one to save, like they’d do with magazines or records. Keep one sealed! Since all net proceeds benefit the humanitarian work of Amma, J’s guru, it all goes to a good cause.
MW: How did you approach J about the project? Did he require much convincing?
UK: My awesome friend Tiffany Anders connected me with J. She brought him over to a BBQ at my house and it all went pretty easily from there. I am really grateful to Tiffany because this project, in particular, has a lot of meaning for me. Getting the chance to collaborate with Dinosaur Jr. is a like a dream come true, and when I listened to the test pressing of the 7″ I almost cried. These kinds of projects really make me feel stoked and appreciative.
MW: What was the collaborative process like? Did you run options by him? Did he throw ideas your way?
UK: J knew exactly what he wanted. His favorite color is purple so that was pretty clear from the start. And he liked this Guitar Strap Ramos that we had made in a previous season, so he got ideas from that design which ended up as an embroidery along the back of the shoe that was inspired by his own guitar strap. The shoe is very, very much a reflection of J.
How rad is it to have a friend who started her own shoe company? How rad is it that she would release a kick-ass Dinosaur Jr. shoe that comes with a 7″ picture disc of J Mascis covering Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You”? Hot damn! I had to ask Una Kim for more details about this shoe and how it came to be.
MW: I have no doubt people are going to listen to the record, which is a real dream. Do you expect to see guys out in the streets wearing the shoes or are they more like collectibles?
UK: I hope so, though purple is a bold color. I appreciate collectors–some of my closest friends are mega collectors–but I’ve always liked seeing Keeps on the streets. To each his or her own. I know I will wear mine. I hope collectors will buy one to wear and one to save, like they’d do with magazines or records. Keep one sealed! Since all net proceeds benefit the humanitarian work of Amma, J’s guru, it all goes to a good cause.
MW: How did you approach J about the project? Did he require much convincing?
UK: My awesome friend Tiffany Anders connected me with J. She brought him over to a BBQ at my house and it all went pretty easily from there. I am really grateful to Tiffany because this project, in particular, has a lot of meaning for me. Getting the chance to collaborate with Dinosaur Jr. is a like a dream come true, and when I listened to the test pressing of the 7″ I almost cried. These kinds of projects really make me feel stoked and appreciative.
MW: What was the collaborative process like? Did you run options by him? Did he throw ideas your way?
UK: J knew exactly what he wanted. His favorite color is purple so that was pretty clear from the start. And he liked this Guitar Strap Ramos that we had made in a previous season, so he got ideas from that design which ended up as an embroidery along the back of the shoe that was inspired by his own guitar strap. The shoe is very, very much a reflection of J.
These days, going to four shows in seven days is a pretty rare and awesome treat for me. Even more amazingly, I took my five year-old daughter to three of them (not Channel Three at Alex’s Bar, above).
The Three O’Clock played their final reunion show at Fingerprints Music in Long Beach last Monday. I missed their shows at Coachella, The Glass House, and The Troubadour, and was stoked that they played a couple of in-stores to celebrate the release of their essential new CD which compiles demos, alternate mixes, and favorites. At Fingerprints the Paisley Underground standouts played the entire Baroque Hoedown EP, including their signature cover of The Easybeats’ “Sorry,” and three songs off of Sixteen Tambourines LP with “On My Own” and The Bee-Gee’s “In My Own Time.” Wow.
I recall my twin brother and I were promoted from junior high, our parents bought us $40 worth of records. Our first batch included The Clash’s London Calling, David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, and Baroque Hoedown. One of our first concerts was seeing them play at Magic Mountan on the very stage featured in KISS Meets The Phantom of The Park. Who would have thought that I’d be taking my daughter to heard that record performed in its entirety and meet the band? Yes, they were very cool…
On Friday afternoon, I took Eloise to see SISU celebrate the release of their great new EP at Origami Vinyl. It was incredibly hot and humid that afternoon and the acoustics are tough playing in the loft-like space, and maybe that’s why the band showed a really raw, almost dubby side that I never noticed before. The new songs sounded amazing. Too bad Eloise passed out as I carried her. Gotta arrange a lunch with my daughter, Sandy and Jules to make up for her missing the end of their set… She was bummed when she woke up at home because she loves them in SISU as well as Dum Dum Girls.