Beautiful beach girls The Beautiful Girls: Australian tour 2011
Mat McHugh, Paulie Bromley and Bruce Braybrooke have packed their instruments, surfboards and barbecue equipment and kicked off their around Australia. They spoke with Bella Papadopoulou Dobrowolska about their second single My mind is an echo chamber from their latest album Spooks.
Mat McHugh, Bruce Braybrooke and Paulie Bromley (L-R). Image: Bella Papadopoulou Dobrowolska.
While on tour, The Beautiful Girls take time out of their schedule to enjoy the Australian summer.
“It is really all about going to the beach, having barbecues and travelling around the country, meeting up with our fans,” Bromley said.
The band is hosting the Pre Gig Swig, an opportunity for fans to meet and enjoy a drink with band members, while raising money for Surfaid International.
“We like meeting our fans and it is a good environment to do so before the show. For us it is not only about the music but about the lifestyle and the culture so I thought that it would be a fun idea to have a barbecue every night and invite people down. We like to share our life with all of those who come to our shows and hopefully get a stronger connection, become friends and build a big family,” McHugh said.
Pre Gig Swig manager, Tatianna Alpert, told Reportage Online of the bands efforts to raise awareness of humanitarian issues.
“Last October the Mentawai Islands were hit with an earthquake and tsunami that devastated the area. The band has been an ongoing supporter of a humanitarian organisation who works primarily in this area, SurfAid International. When they decided to host these barbecues, it was a perfect fit to fundraise for the most recent disaster. They wanted to meet the fans, but they also wanted the fans to meet them, and that means knowing about how involved they are in the global community,” she said.
The Beautiful Girls also devote their time to assisting young musicians with their careers.
Peter Goetz is a Californian musician who is joining the band on a couple of shows on this tour.
“I grew up listening to their track La mar, so it feels a bit surreal being here playing with them now, but it is an honor to be a part of this tour,” Goetz said.
The Show
What should the audience expect from this tour and what is the band expecting from the audience?
“We are expecting to see a lot of people dancing, us having fun and hopefully making a few mistakes so that we can laugh about it later,” Braybrooke said.
“As for the audience they will enjoy almost all of the new tracks from their latest album as well as some old goodies.”
“Something that we think is important when we structure a concert is not to show all the history of the band but for us it is more about playing a mix of songs that creates a good mood through out the evening,” Bromley said.
Music and Labels
Up until now, we have seen a lot of people trying to put a label on this band describing their music with one word. Some call it surf music, others call it roots music. What do you think of your music?
“Some people call our music surf music, but if you think about it, surf music in the sixties was 20 electric guitars while in the eighties it was heavy music and now it is acoustic music. In the end it doesn’t mean anything just that for some reason or other we have been associated with the surf culture,” Braybrooke said.
“We don’t mind roots music as a classification, but to me it’s not really the case when it comes to our music,” Br said.
Paulie agreed, telling Reportage Online, “this is a complicated question because to me roots music is music that is true to a cultural or spiritual form or belief and that is not our music. We just love music and are true to the roots of music in itself.
The roots of The Beautiful Girls music starts when Mat McHugh takes his guitar and starts to write a new song.
“I get my inspiration from everything around me because everything can be inspiring if you just look at it the right way,” he said.
“Touring around the world is a big part of musical education. It is not about pretending to play another country’s music, but you can add some of the flavour to your own music style.”
The Message
The one message that The Beautiful Girls want to pass through their music is love. For life, music and humanity.
“Life is hard enough as it is with all the intolerance, hatred and disasters in this world, but at the heart of every human being lays always the same concern and that is to love and to be loved in return. This is what we want to put out through our music, the positivity and the love,” they said.
Beautiful beach girls
Beautiful beach girls Michelle Siwy: New York's It Girl Denim Designer (PHOTOS)
Michelle Siwy is a bit of an anomaly: she's half-Vietnamese and half-Polish; she's a designer who's even hotter than her models; and, perhaps most strikingly, she's a woman in the male-dominated field of denim. In fact, she's the only female denim designer based in New York. Since she began her line, Siwy Jeans, in the spring of 2005, the 34-year-old Rhode Island native's jeans have been embraced by the likes of Kate Moss and Sienna Miller as well as everyday women in search of jeans that embody a tough, downtown aesthetic with a flattering, feminine cut.
For her spring/summer collection, titled "Strange as Angels," Siwy was inspired by the constant movement of gypsy life. "As icons of freedom, gypsies travel to faraway places, adopting native styles that mix and cross cultures," she says. "This is not only an aesthetic but also, a way of life and state of mind." The collection, which includes the full spectrum of fits from super-skinny to super-wide leg, features soft, sun-faded colors that Siwy says evoke vintage beach colors.
HuffPost caught up with Siwy to talk about the collection, her design process, her life in New York, and what it's like being a girl in the boys' club.
HuffPost: Tell HuffPost readers a little more about Siwy jeans and what makes them unique in the premium denim market.
Michelle Siwy:Each jean is adorned with a signature label, limited edition derived from vintage feed-sack material from the turn of the century though the 1940's. Side seams are gently pushed forward and edge stitched to slightly give the allusion of slimness in the thighs. The signature pockets are quilted in a trapunto style that raises design for the purpose of capturing the subtleties in wash detail and aging with beauty. A work of art is developed over time. The rounded signature pockets are strategically placed and add to give the illusion of lift while giving a nod to traditional vintage styling, look and feel of the 70's. The curved back yoke works with the curves of a woman by providing the ultimate fit and lift with a flattering and feminine look.
HuffPost: How long have you lived in New York City? How has it influenced your work?
Michelle Siwy: I moved to New York City in 1996 to attend FIT. I started off living in the dorms, but then moved out to the Hotel Chelsea, where I had a new appreciation for the city. Meeting and living amongst iconic New Yorkers really made me dream big. For the first time in my life, I never felt alone because there is a silent understanding of what drew us here. New York is the type of place that attracts people from around the world who are in search of something greater, something bigger than they are or to find themselves. The rich cultural history of this city and the interaction with people from around the world exposes you to new ways of thinking minute by minute. There is never a boring day in the city.You can meet the most fascinating people and have great conversation just walking your dog or meeting through other friends.
HuffPost: Where in the city do you live/work/spend your time? What local spots inspire you?
Michelle Siwy: I have been living on the Lower East Side for the past 12 years. I tend to stay below 14th Street but since I've been traveling so much, I have a new appreciation for the city. I split my time in Los Angeles and with the amount of driving I do there, taking a subway to 23rd Street or anywhere else in the city doesn't seem so far anymore! I love checking out young, new designers and artists. They are so hungry and talented that it keeps me on my top game. We are dealing with the best of the best in this city.
HuffPost: How does your process work? How long does it take you to conceive each new design?
Michelle Siwy: In denim the general inspiration for design works the same, where I conceptualize a mood and start to develop the line in two separate ways and then unite them. I have to first take my concept and apply it to the actual washing of the denim, to produce as many new shades that are not only beautiful, but technical and also flattering on the female body.
Denim is an emotional fabric that can translate into millions of different shades and the only fabric that can handle the extremes. Then the next part is coming up with new silhouettes that are not only beautiful but functional as well. In denim, it's the subtleties that can completely transform your body for the better. It's something I have to spend a lot of time designing measure by measure to perfect for the best possible fit, style and flair.
HuffPost: What are you thinking/planning for Fall/Winter?
Michelle Siwy: The most exciting part is that we are expanding into a full sportswear collection with knits, wovens, sweaters, leathers, furs and lots of sophisticated rock n' roll style!
HuffPost: What's it like being a female designer in New York -- particularly in the male-crowded denim field? Do you think it puts you at an advantage or a disadvantage?
Michelle Siwy: I always tease my male colleagues that a man may know what they think a woman should look like, but only a woman can tell you that and how you should feel in the denim. I try on each and every single style right before we ship. I know what to hide and what to flaunt!
It can only be an advantage as far as design and detailing. I get a ton of fan mail, with very personal questions about how people want their denim to fit and feel. I don't know if they would ask those same questions to a male and yes, I almost always try to respond with personal guidance on selecting your Siwy's. It's like having one of the girls (me) help you look your best.
I don't feel one bit intimidated because male or female, because really, what has staying power is the love of design and the talent to produce beautiful works of art with denim.
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Beautiful beach girls
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Beautiful beach girls
An image is said to be worth 1,000 words. Checking around one of my accounts on these sites where you make friends all over the world, I found this nice picture. Beautiful girls on an empty beach (for what I can see). There is not much of what I can say about the pics, the girls aren't my friends, I don't know the beach, I don't see anyone else around. But still, there is something in the picture that makes it quite nice and innocent.... of course is the girls, but it's also more than that.
The Huffington Post Grace Green First Posted: 01/21/11 01:19 PM Updated: 01/21/11 01:23 PM