Category Archives: People

AVANT/GARDE Update: Modeselektor and their view on the Avant-Garde

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Posted by splendidsquare on November 25, 2011 – 4:37 pm
Filed under AVANT/GARDE Diaries, Art, DJ-Sets, Internet, People, Uncategorized

Here’s another pick from our AVANT/GARDE  Diaries series:
Say hello to Modeselektor!

German electronic music duo Modeselektor featuring Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary are currently playing a tight schedule of gigs throughout Europe and are as energetic as their mind-blowing shows. Pinning these guys down is no easy task. Between their arrival to London and soundcheck, our friends at the AVANT/GARDE Diaries managed to sit them down and get a few minutes of their attention in order to ask them about their view on the avant-garde.

“Today, avant-garde is a very blurred term,” Sebastian says “this is due to the mischief that was done to it in the 20th Century. The term’s current connotation probably reflects something completely different.”

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Meet the Team Series Volume 1- Fabian, our new intern

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Posted by splendidsquare on November 25, 2011 – 4:28 pm
Filed under Internet, Jobs, Office, People, Team, Uncategorized

Welcome to our new “Meet the team” series where we introduce ourselves, the Play.fm Team, to YOU. We start off with Fabian, our new Play.fm intern!


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Originally from Stuttgart/Germany he just moved to Vienna/Austria to join us at the Play.fm headquaters. Fabian is 23 years old and has been studying economics until October 2011. Now he will be supporting us at the office for three months.

Find out more about him in the following Q&A interview:

What is your job as an intern at Play.fm?

Mainly I will be helping to add fresh content on Play.fm and supporting the team at the editorial website management. Play.fm also has many partners and sponsors and there’s always a lot of work to keep all the liaisons updated. Visiting events and festivals is of course one of the highlights, because you can meet many interesting people such as DJs and Promoters. The social media activities like Facebook and Twitter play also an important role. It’s good fun to keep in touch with the people online (plus I am a Facebook addict anyway, hah).

Why Play.fm?

A few months ago I was desperately searching for an old live set by James Blake. All the sites Google turned up with had the newer sets I already knew, only Play.fm had the set I was searching for. Call it a first positive impression. After I finished my business studies (which were pretty boring sometimes lol) I wanted to do an internship in an area that really interested me. I googled and again Play.fm turned up with a great result, and here I am .. Play.fm headquarters baby

Whats the Play.fm feature you like the most?

That’d be the mobile app. I am an absolute music addict and I need my music with me, anytime, anywhere.

Is there something in the Play.fm office that attracted your attention right on spot?

Definetly the high ceiling. I love oldskool buildings with those 3 meter high ceilings and you can find so many of them in Vienna.

So whats your favourite mix on Play.fm?

There are many great sets but I guess I enjoy the Radio Sir3ne Radio Show the most. Funky from Dubstep till Jungle.

Tell us something about yourself. Which activities fill your (everyday) life?

I am a DJ since 5 years because I always loved to present the music that moves me to other people. Me myself as DJ SRP and together with my mate Dub Kick as Mighty Dubz Stuttgart. Besides that I am promoting my own party series in Stuttgart, called Dub Roulette and  participating in the YouTube DJ Tutor team since 2008, producing instructional video tutorials on DJ equipment and tips & tricks on the art of DJ mixing. Since one year I am putting effort in music production and drumming, but it’s still a long way to go with that ;)

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AVANT/GARDE Update: André Saraiva aka. Mr. A and his story about amity and inspiration

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Posted by splendidsquare on November 25, 2011 – 2:33 pm
Filed under AVANT/GARDE Diaries, Art, Fashion, Internet, People, Uncategorized

In this episode of our AVANT/GARDE Diaries series we would like to introduce André Saraiva (also known as graffiti and street artist “Mr. A”) and his best friend and source of inspiration Olivier Zahm.

Years ago André used to tag his graffitis onto walls all over the urban landscape of Paris. Today he’s an established artist, club owner and now art director of L’Officiel homme.

“Avant garde is the opposite of the conventional, the opposite of the system […] I need the people around me to be creative and unconventional.”

André finds those qualities in his best friend Olivier Zahm, who publishes the famous Purple Magazine in Paris. Both share an outré taste when it comes to art, fashion and lifestyle and express in their sophisticated work.

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Both André and Olivier are relating much to the term “avant garde” because of their eclectic view on new influences. Together they’re exploring the future of art, fashion and culture. Over the years André experienced that it needs to take risks and always step ahead, even if most of the people won’t like your ideas and would rather stay with the conventional.

In their opinion “not trying to please everyone” is a key fact in order to be unconventional.

“There is nothing to be afraid of and everything can be explored.“

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AVANT/GARDE Update: Meet Bella Berlin the Living Disco Ball

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Posted by splendidsquare on October 25, 2011 – 3:28 pm
Filed under AVANT/GARDE Diaries, Art, DJ-Sets, Music, People, Uncategorized

As another episode of our AVANT/GARDE Diaries series we introduce you to Berlin-based Bruno Kolberg, illustrator, tape artist and founder of the studio “Süper Design”.

“In a visual sense,” Bruno says “avant-garde, are things that are new, that amaze you, that move you when you see them”.

That’s what he experienced when he saw the living disco ball-performance by Bella Berlin for the first time.

“I was in a in a small illegal club when suddenly lasers flashed up and she came on stage in her disco ball outfit. The room fell silent and everyone was stunned because nobody there has ever seen anything like this before.”

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AVANT/GARDE Update: Walkman sound performances by Aki Onda

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Posted by splendidsquare on October 13, 2011 – 5:45 pm
Filed under AVANT/GARDE Diaries, Art, DJ-Sets, Music, People, Uncategorized

Since we teamed up with the AVANT/GARDE Diaries in August we’re always on the hunt for interesting stories and people we admire for what they do.
Rather than labeling people avant-garde we feature contributors from the creative field that introduce somenone or something they consider to be ahead of time and explain why.

This time you’ll meet Helen Homan – a former artist who founded her multi-media production agency “Opalnest” back in 2007. With projects based in New York, Hong Kong and Berlin, Opalnest is devoted to producing contemporary visual and new media art, experimental music, interactive installations, and performance art.

While focusing on artists who work with interesting sounds, Helen’s attention was drawn to Japanese sound artist Aki Onda who she considers to be ahead of time.
In 1990 Aki formed the Band Audio Sports and quickly established himself as producer and sought-after studio technician due to his in-depth knowledge of music production.
From 2002 on, Aki started to dedicate more and more time to his art, in which he chooses to go against the development of technology by working with old school Walkmans and cassettes.

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