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secondlookblog · 4 years ago

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I’ve always maintained two separate wardrobes: my urban wardrobe and my outdoors wardrobe. My urban wardrobe asserts itself, each piece selected for its potential to, when married (ideally in odd-couple fashion) with other bits and bobs of my sartorial collection, express (enchantingly) my titillating take on style and taste. It’s preciously curated vintage, amusing, unique, and often vaguely uncomfortable to wear. Certainly my clothing is a framework through which my interaction with my physical environment is mediated: a subway car, a downhill slant, a muddy shortcut each presents their own trials. Frequently I am prompted to modify my impulse to sit, run, stride, and lift based on the clothes I am wearing. I am a feminist who sometimes chooses to take mincing steps in tiny barbie shoes. Clothes are how I dance with the world. The terrain offers a provocation, and I respond with movement. Creativity, as it is often said, flourishes under constraint.

My outdoors wardrobe is analogous to a mute button. Its form, most decorously, follows function. Its colors are utilitarian: black, mostly…navy, some…a few light blues in shades I would never otherwise entertain. It is engineered for superior performance and then produced en masse, designed to become industry standard. Perhaps this is why I feel so erased when I wear it. Or perhaps it is because I purchased it for value, on the spot, without going through the formative stage of covetousness, which builds the foundation for true love. Unlike my urban wardrobe, this clothing is made to enable movement without constraint; an invitation to the dance of my wildest dreams. Yet when I don that drab apparel I feel deeply…unchallenged. Now, mind you, what I mostly feel is grateful: in the mountains after sunset I am thanking god for the tech fabrics on my back, no equivocation. Without a doubt, function is paramount (on the Mount). It just feels wrong, though, that if the outdoors is where I go to realign with nature, and thus a higher spirituality (natural facts are symbols for spiritual facts,,,thank you, Emerson), I am forced to engage in this sacred ceremony in borrowed costume, in garb that presents me to the world in my most uninspired form.

I’m ruminating on this morass of personal identity because I’ve just spent the past four months living in two weeks-worth of outdoors clothes, the very same I’ve just disparaged, repeating the combinations and permutations of a limited set over and over. At first, in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Washington, I was exhilarated to discover how little it took to stay warm, dry, and comfortable in all sorts of environments. Back in California a month later, living in my childhood bedroom (where there was no room to house the rest of my wardrobe, which thusly stayed in storage), the charm wore off. As the days passed, I expected to reach a moment when I stopped caring that I was wearing the same fleece-lined pants, hiking boots, and cotton t-shirt again. It never came. Every morning I issued an internal groan and laced up my motherfucking boots.

Now that I am blissfully reunited with my marbled silk dress, my full-length poncho, and my steel-toed cowboy boots (among many other treasured johns), I’ve decided never to live that way again. It is time, I believe, to begin curating my outdoors wardrobe with as much wit, adoration, and intentionality as I do my urban wardrobe. Cue, vintage image research! I aspire to reach into the past and revive a time when functional outdoors clothing still consisted of beautiful garments. Despite being useful, these clothes look stylish, heavy, and hard (see Noah Johnson’s manifesto on “hard clothes”). In short, they look challenging.

Outdoors-wear is a wonderful opportunity for a statement hat. Loving the matching (collared!) sweater. C. 1930

Actress Dorothy Sebastian “trout fishing” in the CA mountains in the late 1920s. I would recreate this outfit head to toe. I own a pair of wader-style double-front pants (hunting pants, I think) and they are truly the most versatile item of clothing in my closet. Frequently used to offset a particularly dainty blouse or shoe.

I want a peaked little pixie hat so badly. Once my friend Eliza tried on the perfect fur pixie hat in a vintage store and neither of us got it and Ive never found another one as good. Still think about that hat at least once a week. I’m on a fair isle cardigan kick, too. The polka dots are little tiny hearts if you look closely. Would love to incorporate a feminine print into my outdoors wardrobe. Photo by Gunnar Lundh, 1942.

Another head-to-toe perfect outfit. The white collared shirt! Denim, as we know, is the original outdoors fabric.....

Buffalo plaid WITH the tartan hat. Pattern mixing just does not get any better. Colby College Mountain Day, October 1950.

One of the first female climbers, Miriam O’Brien Underhill, had to? chose to? climb in a NECKTIE (that looks like it’s about to strangle her, honestly). Makes the look, though. C. late 1920s

Rope belt, and is that a black tight with a run in it that I spy? If not, it should be.

I would wear either of their looks, but DAMN, THOSE JODHPURS. Actually, I want to scream about those boots and that perfect little jacket from the rooftops, too. Sometimes I look at these pictures and really wish I could be friends with these gals.

Speaking of gals I’d like to be friends with... If the earlier photos are how I’d like to look in my new outdoors wardrobe, this is how I’d like to *feel.* Jaunty scarf and harlequin socks included, please. C. 1931

Elaine, Rocky Mountain National Park, 1946. Well, Elaine, you sure knew how to dress. This is my template for the marriage of form and function. And I would like a bite of whatever is in that packed lunch. Obviously something good, because it needed to come in the photo.

Okay, I, too, would like to wake up in the woods, throw on some men’s slacks (preferably ones belonging to my sexy lumberjack bf), partially button my perfect flannel, and either do my hair up in a whimsical braid or else pop a turban over it.

I tried to leave this one behind but then the memory of those culottes refused to quit my sweet little brain.

Okay, side note, SO MANY images had campers eating bananas. Not the perfect travel food, due to the stink and propensity for bruising, no? Much ~suggestion~ was made online about these two ladies getting cozy with their bananas. I am above such tomfoolery. Beautiful fits.

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itsworn · 7 years ago

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Mooneyes Xmas Party 2017: An Epic Going-Away Bash

In its January 2018 issue, Hot Rod Deluxe announced that Irwindale Event Center—the home of a dragstrip inaugurated in 2001—would cease operation in early 2018. Another track bites the dust. Southern California has indeed lost several of them over the last couple of decades, including Carlsbad and L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale. Thankfully, our friends at Mooneyes, led by Shige Suganuma and Chico Kodama, managed to squeeze in a final major show at Irwindale a couple of weeks before Christmas: the aptly called Mooneyes Xmas Party.

It seems that enthusiasts felt the urge to visit, one last time, the beloved venue, turning out in droves at the gates as early as 3 a.m. Ultimately, more than 1,500 vehicles and 15,000 visitors joined the organized mayhem to enjoy a busy schedule of activities. Mooneyes’ extravaganza is a great way to sample SoCal’s custom car culture, as it mixes a most eclectic array of cool rides: hot rods, kustoms, lowriders, vans, muscle cars, air-cooled VWs, and more ape-hanger-equipped motorcycles than we’ve seen in a long time. It looks like some bikers chose to attend the Mooneyes show rather than the Chopperfest that was scheduled for the same weekend, but canceled due to the terrible fires dangerously close to the event’s venue in Ventura.

The Xmas Party also offered a huge vendor area, which enabled the crowd to buy new car parts, artwork, vintage clothing, and even haircuts. Mooneyes had an impressive booth, of course, to promote its diverse product line, some going as far back as the company’s early days when Dean Moon opened shop in 1962. The same part of the vendor area was home to the stage used by several invited bands and, later, by the always popular Pinup Contest.

The Mooneyes Xmas Party is more than a static show. Some folks came to watch—and participate in—the Run-Whatcha-Brung drag races, which once again combined a vast range of cars and a handful of bikes. The A/FX sideshow, led in part by gasser guru Dale Snoke, proved entertaining as usual with plenty of wild wheelies.

With the demise of Irwindale Event Center, Shige and Chico are now on a hunt for a new venue. We’ll keep you posted.

Oh yes, it got crowded. In fact, we don’t remember such a turnout at Irwindale since Mooneyes adopted the site in 2006. The awning on the right covered Mooneyes’ booth, while bands played on the left. (They included Dynotones, Hot Rod Trio, Gamblers Mark, Colony Boys, and Delta Bombers.)

With unseasonably warm temperatures in the 80s, visitors came by the thousands to see great rides in the vein of Robert Rojas’ trick ’31 Ford roadster (left). The venue quickly filled with spectators’ cars as well. By mid-morning, the less fortunate had to find a spot outside Irwindale Speedway—some miles away.

Longtime journalist Pat Ganahl (who’s now retired and very happy about it) has been the owner of the Ike Iacono dragster since 1988, though he completed its restoration much later, with help from various heroes of the hobby such as Pete Eastwood. The attractive six-cylinder racer graced the cover of HOT ROD in January 1959 and ran 150 mph on 50 percent nitro. Many will recognize the yellow rail sitting behind it. That’s Mooneyes’ replica of the dragster campaigned by the company circa 1963.

In the foreground, you can admire the GMC six that propels the Iacono dragster, equipped with a 12-port Wayne head and Hilborn injection. The vehicle shares the space with Billy Crewl’s Model A on ’32 rails, an accurate tribute to Jack Calori’s iconic roadster. Built in the 1940s, Calori’s roadster ran 128 mph at the lakes in 1947. One of the most distinctive details of the car remains the set of exhaust pipes sticking up on each side.

The success of the event should be attributed in part to the numerous car clubs onsite. The Gearheads displayed a handful of excellent hot rods, such as Rick Tokiyeda’s ’25 Model T (left), flanked by a trio of ’28-’29 Model As driven by Carlos Marin, Kirk Munday, and Bryan Bailay. The Gearheads are based in the city of Glendale, a hotbed of rodding activities since the 1930s. Think SCTA’s Sidewinders and Stokers clubs.

Dubbed “The Dirty Farm Truck,” Jeff Martin’s pickup has a unique appearance, courtesy of a heavy channel job, suicide-mounted I-beam, and unusual choice of wheels. It first sat on 16-inch rims, later replaced with tall 21-inch wires, plus skinny rubber front and aft.

If you had $26,500 burning a hole in your pocket, you could have purchased this frame-off-built ’30 Model A, which hints at the 1960s gasser scene and occasionally ran at Irwindale. Interesting features include a 383ci stroker, 700R overdrive trans, Moon tank fitted in front of the grille, and bobbed rear fenders, although you cannot see them in this photo due to the XXL-sized slicks!

What a great-looking hot rod! Chopped top, Deuce grille, no hood, triple 97 carbs: It’s all there. Peter Rodriguez drove from nearby Azusa in his ’30 Ford, which made some waves in the Suede Palace at the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show. He belongs to the Throttle Kings, a club that co-promotes the annual Rhythm Collision music festival and car show in Riverside, California. v

Built by Sinister Hot Rods in Lewisburg, Ohio, this ’33 Ford coupe (with 1934 grille) belonging to Conrad Garcia relies on a stout 283ci motor with a nice, lopey cam and a four-barrel Holley. The ’33 roadster behind it, formerly owned by Lynn Pew of Pews Place, is the property of Ray Dunham, a gearhead known for his good taste in cars (’39 Lincoln Zephyr, supercharged ’36 Ford, and so on).

The staging lanes remained busy all day long, with more than 130 participants enjoying the eighth-mile. They drove a wide range of vehicles as exemplified by this picture, with domestics representing the bulk of the entries. In the foreground sits Ryan Brown’s ’55 Chevy looking excellent with its gasser attributes: lack of front bumper, nose-high attitude, headers poking through the fenderwells.

Here is a cool lady. North Hollywood’s Kendra Fleharty wanted a hot rod and eventually bought the body of a ’29 Ford roadster about a decade ago, thanks to a tip from friend and Burbank Choppers Car Club member Aaron Kahan. Kendra built most of the channeled jalopy herself in her garage, installing a Cad engine and a windshield from an old wooden boat. Jimmy White at Circle City Hot Rods built the headers and a handful of other components.

The Don Waldron collection focuses heavily on original gassers. He purchased the Silly Willy four-door sedan six years ago as a bare shell and eventually managed to trace its racing history all the way back to 1959. In 2013, Don installed a rolling chassis from another Willys and a 409ci motor. He sold the gasser to Mark Sladovich in 2015.

Yep, that’s the back of the driveshaft resting on the asphalt. No luck indeed for Galpin Auto Sports/Steve Carpenter’s entry, a ’57 Ford equipped with a 502-horse Ford 302ci bored over to 331ci. The car has all the elements of a genuine gasser, from the Moon tank in front to the straight axle from a 1950s Ford truck. Its finish is better than most, including the Pearl White diamond pattern upholstery.

“What can be better than racing your buddy?” asked Dale Snoke when we showed him this picture. Dale competed with his well-known ’64 Comet, seen burning rubber against the green ’62 Dodge Dart, which he co-owns with U.K. resident Brian Gibson. (“When he occasionally comes to the States, he hops in and races it.”) For the occasion, Dale elected to let his friend Nick Magaña play with the genuine 1960s So-Cal Super Stock entry. v

Todd Hoffman’s ’64 Plymouth Savoy named Sayonara competes with American Nostalgia West Drag Racing, a group devoted to 1960s vintage A/FX and Super Stock racers. (“Our cars are larger, heavier, and have huge American motors compared to their modern-day counterparts,” explains their website.) Powered by a 528ci Max Wedge motor, the coupe leaves many in the dust with its 6.00 e.t.’s at 112 mph over the eighth-mile.

Arizona’s Glenn Gibbons returned to the Xmas Party with his popular ’64 Pontiac LeMans. He based his “Pouncin’ Poncho” contender on a hulk found in a salvage yard. Notice the rear wheel opening moved toward the door, in true A/FX fashion. Motivation comes from a 455ci Olds V8, punched to 462 ci and topped with Hilborn injection. Like most class entries, the Pontiac performed some fantastic wheelies to the delight of the crowd.

Nicknamed “The Fat Lady” by the A/FX gang due to its sheer size, Ernie “The Attorney” Algorri’s ’67 Ford Fairlane makes it down the track thanks to a 440ci Windsor-based small-block, which delivers 1,000 hp. Ernie has been racing his steel-wheeled beauty for years, managing a personal best of 9.15 at a blistering 150 mph, mighty impressive for a heavy car occasionally street-driven.

Chuck Hoffman and Cliff Lozis teamed up to build this very red ’69 Mustang, with Chuck typically handling driving duties. They juggle with different powerplants, but when they drop in their 460ci V8, the wheel-standing A/FX crosses the quarter-mile finish line in 9.70 seconds.

Car Craft magazine teamed up with several established names from the custom world to build a nasty Street Machine with a cool 1960s vibe, using a ’71 Dodge Demon. They based their exercise on an unfinished Pro Street project car, purchased dirt cheap on Craigslist. Among the shops involved: Circle City Hot Rods (fabrication), The Harpoon (paint scheme and patterns), and Grant Petersen of Born Free (welding). The twin-turbo Hemi coupe runs deep in the 9s over the quarter.

We remember seeing the Victor Cacho ’50 Merc at the 2013 Grand National Roadster Show, an elegant build by Cacho Customs by all accounts. Look closely and you might notice the discreet flames over that PPG Sunburst Orange. The lake pipes pretty much rest on the ground once the Firestone airbags are deflated.

Originally a Business Coupe model, Jesse Loera’s Pearl Copper–colored ’50 Ford received a heavily chopped sedan roof, along with other traditional lead sled alterations: frenched front and rear lights, smoothed bumpers, and a ’49 grille. Under the shell modified by Los Diablos hides a Ford 302ci V8 hooked to an AOD trans, in addition to an Air Ride suspension kit.

Founded in 1996, the Rumblers have become a prominent hot rod and custom car club, as demonstrated by this clean ’54 Chevy. Robert Miret has been the driving force behind the group; you might know his name if you listen to punk music and the band Agnostic Front in particular. The Rumblers have chapters across the United States and Europe as well.

We couldn’t find the owner of this ’55 Cadillac convertible but feel compelled to show it to you. It looks excellent sitting low to the ground on airbags. The vintage trailer happens to be severely lowered, too!

Mooneyes’ Xmas Party gathered an impressive troupe of lowriders based on pre-’55 GM products, aka “bombs.” Here, Lorenzo Dominguez’s ’49 Chevy truck keeps company with Gerry Orozco’s topless ’39 Pontiac, which he purchased from the original owner. The rare convertible runs a 222ci inline-six. Gerry belongs to the Bridgetown Oldies Car club.

We dig the appearance of this ’54 Chevy truck, looking bone-stock until the owner lays it on the asphalt thanks to an airbag setup hidden in a box above the rear axle. Under the hood lurks a Chevy 235ci motor. Nothing wrong with this inline-six, being the engine of choice on early production Corvettes, with slightly different specs. Note the contrast between the nicely painted truck and the other Chevy pickup (and ’38 five-window Ford) parked next to it.

When Studebaker introduced its new truck in the late 1940s, characterized by its round shapes, who would have thought it would continue inspiring customizers 70 years later? The design of the model did not evolve drastically during the following decade, though the ’55-’60 version (aka E-series) seems to be a favorite within our scene. Here is a tasteful ’59 hauler.

The lowrider scene encompasses an eclectic assortment of vehicles, with 1970s and 1980s barges playing a key role. Even HRM devoted pages to the subject, as far back as the April 1974 issue, featuring the Imperials Car Club. Check out this arresting lineup, dominated by cars running wire wheels, with a few sets of Cragar five-spokes thrown in for good measure.

The post Mooneyes Xmas Party 2017: An Epic Going-Away Bash appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/mooneyes-xmas-party-2017-epic-going-away-bash/ via IFTTT

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tune-collective · 8 years ago

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Thundercat's Style Is As Funky and Out There As His Music: Exclusive

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About 30 minutes into his set at Chicago’s Concord Music Hall, Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner drops both hands from the guitar resting on his chest as his keyboardist and drummer, too, take breaks from their early evening concert. He looks up at the adoring audience who sold out the venue on a frigid Saturday night in the windy city and asks, “You guys feeling good?” Screams, cheers, and applause confirm that they are, in fact, quite well. “That’s tight,” he says. The Los Angeles native is a day removed from releasing his thoughtful, star-studded (Pharrell Williams, Kenny Loggins, Kendrick Lamar) third full-length studio set, Drunk.

Then he locks back into his music—a smooth, velvet-textured amalgam of jazz, soul, Hip-Hop, and funk partnered with lyrical content fit for both talking head social-political programs and inner-city barbershop dialogue. Each song he performs seemingly gets its own 30-second improvisational period before returning back to the realm of familiarity, stirring the crowd into a frenzy. As he’s bathed in green and blue spotlights, Drunk’s “Them Changes” earns the loudest cheers. He also sprinkles bits of Kendrick Lamar’s “Complexion” and “These Walls,” which he assisted in producing for the rapper’s critically acclaimed To Pimp a Butterfly album.

In purple camouflage sweatpants, a black tee under a red lumberjack shirt, Thundercat, 32, was having a chill day in comparison to some of the louder pieces he’s been photographed wearing in the past. Wolf hats with ponchos. Blazers that recall Michael Jackson’s vintage regal vibes. Outfits so heavily stylized and exaggerated that they’d make sense on the characters of the ‘80s cartoon heroes he named himself after. He’s rocked it all. Prior to this show, the eccentric artist sat down with Billboard backstage to talk about what inspired Drunk, why Lamar’s verse on this album is special and his generally flamboyant style.

What journey are you taking this listener on with Drunk?

I’m observing and reporting what my experience as a musician has been ’til now. It’s such a weird thing to be a musician nowadays. If you’re not in a rock band, music doesn’t exist for a musician. You’re just a “session” musician. Nobody tells you that. So you wind up figuring it out. Somewhere between those lines, there’s this existence where you end up drinking. That goes for everyone that I’ve worked with. It’s part of the business. It’s something to talk about. It’s me telling a story from that perspective.

I try not to think too hard about music. I like to see where it goes. I try not to give it a direction. I figure out what it is as it’s forming. I don’t have any goal in mind other than to make the best music I can. I always start with the bass [guitar]. Things get added, but it always starts with the bass.

“Walk On By” has Hall & Oates nods to it musically. Would you say they’ve influenced you?

Hall & Oates is everything. Fuck everything else. [Laughs] If it’s not Hall & Oates, it’s nothing. They’re a titan duo of songwriting. Being able to convey ideas through song, I had to learn that from different places. The best thing is knowing that there’s somebody out there who doesn’t know who they are, just so you can be like, “Sit your ass down and let me play you this.” It’s timeless. They’re a major influence on my songwriting. As a bass player, that’s what comes easy to me—the bass playing. The songwriting, I didn’t fully understand what it meant.

How’d you get comfortable as a vocalist? You essentially didn’t become an active singer until your late 20s.

I’m looking at people like Beyonce and Trey Songz and Jamie Foxx—people that sing like they’ve got chicken all in their throat. I didn’t know where I was supposed to make sense. I would feel around it a bit. I would sing on other people’s albums, their backgrounds. And I’d ask, “Was it cool?” By the time we got to [sophomore album] Apocalypse, it was a weird moment for me. I was like, “I have to sing?” I had references and different things that made me feel comfortable, like, “I know I can do it.” But I didn’t know to what extent I could. I had to deal with people laughing at me. I had to deal with my friends telling me, “You can’t sing.”

Really?

Of course. I’m not going to name any names, but that was the honest criticism. And I could take it. But it wasn’t going to stop me. There was one time when I was in the studio and I’m recording vocals for Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly track, “These Walls”, and a few of my friends had never seen me sing before. I literally had to kick everyone out of the room, because it was weird. Someone told me I had to put Auto-Tune on my voice and I told them, “I am not that guy.” I had to find my comfort zone. Kendrick was comfortable. I usually just sing at home by myself with my bass. It was a process of having to open up.

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You have a great working relationship with Kendrick and he’s on “Walk on By.” What’s your favorite part of his verse?

There’s one line where he says, “Immature and retarded is what you call me.” It was one of the things where when he said that, you felt that you understood the inner-workings of what we feel a lot of the time. You have these internal moments where you’re trying to figure it out. And Kendrick always has those moments in his verses where he’s speaking to a guy like me.

On his Unmastered, Untitled album, there’s a line where he asks, “Why you wanna see a good man with a broken heart?” It hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m thinking, “Yeah, why would that be your goal?” I love his ability to connect with that deeper part through music. And when he laid his verse to “Walk on By,” it immediately became this portrait. I was in shock and awe that he could see it.

On “The Turn Down,” you sing about how trashed our world has become in different ways. There’s even a Captain Planet line.

That’s really how I feel. “What’s going on? Why can’t we all just see each other?” There’s a lot of amplified bullshit. Infinite, magnified bullshit. And it’s piling up. “Being Black” is always a thing. Even moving the Black thing to the side, two white people can’t even figure this world out. Nobody wants to make sense of the other. Nobody loves each other. Nobody really cares. Is that how this is supposed to happen?

“Show You The Way” features Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. Today, people still can still easily hear Michael’s husky soul voice and know it’s weight. But folks sleep on Kenny’s catalog of classics. Why was it important to have him on it?

Kenny Loggins pours his heart and soul into the music he makes. He’ll take you with him through everything he’s going through, which is not easy. People don’t survive shit like that. We see it all the time. Like a Janis Joplin. Kenny’s still here. My favorite song of his is “Heart to Heart” [featuring and co-written by Michael McDonald]. You can tell he’s talking to someone. It’s too intimate. He takes you to where he’s at. Along with that, the music and the vocals are just jamming. I learned that from Kenny, along with people like Leon Ware. Good lord.

Leon died yesterday and I know that he was someone you knew and worked with. Drunk’s “Tokyo” is inspired by you touring with him in Japan, right?

It’s making me sad just thinking about it. You have these moments where you play in somebody’s band and the person leading is smart enough to show you the bigger picture. Leon Ware took me under his wing, man. He invited me into his life. I was a teenager and he took me to Japan for the first time. It was surreal. It was like playing with Marvin Gaye. I got a chance to see how he created and how his music affected who he made it for. I got a chance to play “I Want You” with Leon. I was 17 and crying on stage.

Up until his death, which is when my album came out, all I could ever talk about was that moment. I can’t even remember what happened yesterday. But I remember every day in Japan with Leon. It was magical. I talked to his son today. I had to tell his family that “I love you guys.” I wish I could have said something to him before he passed. It’s just the way of the world. “Tokyo,” as funny as it seems, was about that experience. It was bigger than life.

To take a turn, your style is super dynamic and out there. Let me show you what comes up when you search Goggle for “Thundercat” images… What would you say about this guy’s style if you weren’t him?

[Laughs] I would think that he’s just wild as hell. Good god!

A post shared by @thundercat_music on Dec 30, 2015 at 9:05am PST

Is there any strategy to you getting dressed for a regular day or for stage?

A lot of the time I’m in the moment with stuff. Sometimes to a fault. I’ll look at superheroes and comics and stuff and wonder, “why wouldn’t you dress like that if you could?” With fashion, I look at it as a way to express that. I don’t really pull any punches on it; otherwise you get caught up in this nexus of dressing like everyone else. Or finding something that’s a little above the standard. But to dress the way I’m really thinking? I do that.

What are the cartoons you admire for their quality and style-wise?

I’ve got some high standards when it comes to cartoons, man. There’s always Fist of the North Star. That’s one of my favorite all time movies. Quiet as it’s kept, that was the inspiration behind To Pimp a Butterfly from my perspective. And [my work on Flying Lotus’] You’re Dead! And [2015 EP] The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam. I’ve been watching that since I was a child religiously. I can quote the movie verbatim as it’s happening. It’s that amazing.

Style-wise, it’s also amazing. I’d watch him and say to myself, “I want to be that guy!” There’s cross-play and character-based dressing up. And there’s a place between higher end fashion and what designers don’t want to admit they pulled inspiration from. You’ll see some shit come out from Gucci and be like, “Man, that’s straight off of Neon Genesis Evangelion.” And I know that. I’m always looking for that connection. I try to find my place in those pieces and try bring that vibe with me onstage. There have been times where I’ll freak my friends out because we’ll go to the store and I’ll go for the weird thing on display and they’ll be like, “You’re not going to do it, are you?” And I’ll be like, “You shouldn’t be here with me.”

Where do you shop?

A lot of my stuff is handmade. Or it’ll come from a boutique and be a one of four pieces.

What’s the oddest thing you’ve worn?

The Native American garb is a very touchy subject and why musicians think they can appropriate culture. So something definitely my Native American headdress. I’m actually part Comanche. That’s in my blood. My family is from Detroit, Michigan and they were there. So just a slight bit off of my generations of Black, there are actually Native Americans. My great grandmother was named Prudence. She had all white hair. I have a picture of her next to her shotgun. Her husband was exiled for murder. He murdered someone because the man raped a woman. He committed an honor killing and was exiled for it. He was a Comanche. That’s why they couldn’t charge him the way they would charge a regular criminal. I never tell people, “I’m part Comanche!”

A post shared by @thundercat_music on Dec 30, 2015 at 8:59am PST

But that would be the most controversial thing I’ve worn; a Native American headdress. Nobody ever tripped off of me wearing the wolf. But the chief headdress, that’s a thing where people go, “Who do you think you are?” And I try to respect that. Cultural appropriation is corny. Imitation is the biggest form of flattery a lot of the time. People forget that even with the dark past things come from, if it translates into good, you’ve got to be happy for that. Sometimes the timing is too soon.

Do you ever wear clothing to speak about the world’s issues—politics or humanity?

Yeah, man! I’m not very political. It’s nice to make a statement with something like a “Not My President” tee or something like that. It’s a way to identify with other people. But I’ve mostly been identifying with the earth through color tones. The things that you see in the world from that point. I look at animals and think, “Wow, that’s not fair! I just have one color and a bunch of moles.” And you see butterflies or cats and you’re like, “What the hell?” I’m identifying with them.

This article originally appeared on: Billboard

http://tunecollective.com/2017/03/01/thundercats-style-is-as-funky-and-out-there-as-his-music-exclusive/

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