SYNESTHESIA

Imogene Strauss is a creative director and set designer from New York. She's now based in LA and in the past 10 years she's collaborated with artists such as Blood Orange, Clairo, and Charli XCX. She takes us through the vision behind Charli XCX's latest album "Crash" and its ongoing tour as well as the journey that led her to work with some of the most disruptive artists of the past decade.  

Kenyan award winning movie-maker and creative director Jeremy Ngatho Cole and photographer and creative director Marco Grey are the founders of YOUT studio. Since 2019,  they've been working with some of the best talents stemming from London's underground scene: Little Simz, Kojey Radical, Pa Salieu, Cleo Sol, Jeshi… They take us through their main cultural influences, creative vision and collaborations – with a special focus on Little Simz's award winning album “SIMBI”.   

Pooneh Ghana is a music photographer from Austin (TX) who's currently based in Los Angeles. In the past 10 years she's been featured in all the most influential music and lifestyle magazines in the world. She takes us through her most important career steps, from her beginnings as a big indie music fan with a passion for Lomography, to her most recent North American tour with IDLES. 

Luis Perez is a visual artist and cinematographer who, in the past 20 years, has worked in movies and directed videos for the most influential hip hop, r'n'b and pop artists of our century. He tells us about how growing up in the Caribbean has shaped his creative vision and how his career changed after meeting with Tyler The Creator in 2010.  Most notably, he takes us through their most recent artistic endeavour for "Call me if you get lost". 

Robert Beatty is an artist and musician based in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. We talk about his background, coming from the alternative radio and noise scene of the early 00's. Then we delve into his long lasting creative partnership with Oneohtrix Point Never, with special focus on the work he did for "Magic OPN". Last but not least, he tells us about his most recent commission for The Weeknd's "Dawn FM".  

Qlowski are a London-based band that just released their debut album "Quale Futuro?" (What Future?), a music manifesto that conveys a poetic and compelling vision about the past, present and future of our communities. It's a story of struggle, faith and utopia. This vision lies both in the tracks but also in the powerful artwork by art director Harry Steel. Music journalist and writer Laura Marongiu chats to him and a member of the band about the inspiration behind the album's visual identity. 

Marco Meloni (aka Johnny FKN Ryall) is the art director behind the visual identity of Sardinian composer and producer Alek Hidell's latest album "Ravot". The album was inspired by the real story of a man from the village of Buggerru whose life was dramatically affected by witnessing a tragedy.  The cover picture portrays the place where the story begins, listen to find out the rest and how it inspired the sounds and visuals of this great album.  

Chiara Floris, aka BLUEM, is an artist based in London. She just released her debut EP “Notte”  ("night" in Italian), which stands out for its visual identity that celebrates Sardinia's landscape and ancestral aesthetics, re-framed through a contemporary, experimental art direction, curated by Chiara herself with photographs taken by Jasmine Farling. Together, we talk about the album and our island. 

Raissa Pardini is a visual designer and art director based in Glasgow. The V&A just added to their permanent collection some of the original posters she designed for artists such as Squid, Idles, The Orielles, Snapped Ankles, Pond, Damo Suzuki and so on.  We talk about this lifetime achievement; her most recent music-related design gigs as well as the music she likes; Italian crime movies and comedies from the 70’s and plenty of other cool stuff. 

Sophy Hollington is an illustrator, visual artist and guitarist (she plays for the band Novella) based in Brighton. Her relief prints, created using the process of lino-cutting, portray mystic, hazy universes, touching topics such as meteoric folklore and alchemical symbolism. We chat about her career, tarot readings, 60's music and her collaborations with Painted Shrines, Django Django, Khruangbin and The National.

Lewis Levi and Alex Motlhabane, aka The Rest, are the creative duo behind 99% of Slowthai’s videos and visual productions. They tell us about their teenage years, when the three of them were experimenting with sounds and visuals in Slowthai's bedroom. They talk about the layers of meaning is Ty's most  famous videos and the hidden symbolism in "Tyron"s record sleeve. Expect also conversations over b-movie horrors, the late 00's alternative music scene and the directors who had the biggest impact on their work.  

Nejc Prah is a graphic designer and art director who’s worked with artists such as Frank Ocean, Gillian Moss, and brands like Boiler room. After graduating from Yale, he spent a few years at Bloomberg Businessweek in New York. In 2019 he moved back to Slovenia where he’s from, and opened a studio in its capital, Ljubljana. We talk about his career and music-related projects along with co-host Eva Tkautz, product designer and creative developer based in London.  

Emma Shore is a graphic designer and art director who has worked for influential institutions and brands in the arts and music field, such as the National Theatre and Boiler Room in London. Since 2018, she's taken over the role of art director at Bandcamp: we talk about how she's been able to leave her visual imprint on Bandcamp's editorial features, her curation style, her way of liaising with artists and the coolest record sleeves she's seen recently.  

Jacob Adam Alvarez is the creative behind “Marquee Marauders Club”. He is a young angeleno who’s gained reputation among music lovers and artists for his music-related bootleg action figures, featuring some of the biggest acts of our times – and some old school ones too. We chat about his craft, his recent collaboration with Arlo Parks and his plan to turn this side project into a full time job, involving live shows, original merch and exhibitions. 

Riley Blakeway is an Australian award-winning filmmaker and photographer. His films have screened at festivals around the world and have been featured in leading international newspapers and magazines. We chat about his collaboration with Genesis Owusu – Australia's  2021 breakthrough act – on the videos of “Gold Chains” and “The Other Black Dog”. 

Weirdcore is an audiovisual artist who has created designs and animations for acts such as Aphex Twin, Arca, M.I.A, Radiohead, Charli XCX, Tame Impala, Oneohtrix Point Never and other game changers in the world of contemporary music. We chat about his background; his career's turning points; the places where he looks for inspiration and the cultural stuff he rates; his outstanding live shows and his latest experiments with NFTs.   

Ayomikun Fagbemi is the co-founder of “Play Nice”, a “creative studio building intersections between communities”, a cultural/social enterprise that incarnates the diversity of London's creative scene. We talk about “The New Rave”, their recent short film commissioned by the Design Museum, which highlights the role of black diaspora in the birth and evolution of club music, turning a spotlight on London’s contemporary underground scene.

Jason Jägel is a painter, educator, and commissioned public artist.  He's been living in SF for 30 years, collaborating with cutting edge artists such as Madlib and MF Doom. As for the latter, Jason designed the iconic cover of his 2004 album "MM..Food". We begin from this record sleeve to discover the artworks, stories, passions and influences of the artist behind it.    

Michael Leuffen and Philipp Maiburg are Heads of Music at Carhartt WIP. We chat about their careers before landing a job at one of the most influential streetwear brands in the world. Then we talk over the past, present and future of Carhartt's WIP commitment to independent music and counterculture; sharing insiders' stories about their radio, artist partnerships, and most iconic collaborations – from Motown and Trojan to the latest "Relevant Parties" capsule collection.

Gaurab Thakali, illustrator and artist based in London, is one of the most influential visual interpreters of South-London's contemporary jazz scene. We chat about his upbringing in Nepal; his coming of age in London; his discovery of jazz culture as a student at the Camberwell College of Arts and the musicians and clubs that shaped his imagination. Last but not least, he gives us a spoiler on the multidisciplinary exhibition "Return to Slygo", his latest collaboration with fashion designer Nicholas Daley, on display this spring at Greenwich's NOW Gallery.

In the second half of our journey throughout the history of denim in music, contemporary culture living encyclopaedia Samutaro takes us from the 80's hip hop explosion in NYC to nowadays' trap and pop icons. He rates quintessential record sleeves and killer denim looks, featuring the Beastie Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Korn, Kurt Kobain, Biggie, The Strokes, Kanye, Playboy Carti and plenty of other artists who've had a long-lasting impact on fashion.

Samutaro is an influential denim expert and consultant as well as a contemporary culture living encyclopaedia. He takes us on a journey through the history of denim in music, giving a lectio magistralis on the 70 year old thread that ties artists and jeans. The first half of this episode goes from the 50's to the late 70's: we begin with Elvis and end with The Clash.

Danny Miller is the founder and creative director of High Tide, a NYC creative agency that has launched “High Tide Sound System”, a series of Spotify playlists that feature great tunes but most importantly super tasty, very well curated covers by some of the freshest illustrators and designers from all over the world.    

Aaron Lowell Denton is an artist and designer whose distinctive retro-infused visual artworks have gained a significant reputation in the contemporary music industry. He has collaborated with artists like Tame Impala, Devendra Banhart, The War on Drugs and most recently Khruangbin, designing the cover of their latest EP “Texas Sun”.  We chat about the story behind this very artwork as well as his main artistic influences; the cultural relevance of the American road trip and how to make it as a small town creative.    

Stefano Libertini Protopapa is an anti-racist, queer,  creative director based in Milan. Along with producer Pierpaolo Moschino, he founded "Fluidostudio", a new creative enterprise that aims to launch and establish young artists from underrepresented backgrounds. A talent "who makes things happen", Stefano's one of the pioneers behind Italy's queer, underground scene's Renaissance.        

Ademide Udoma and Michelle Helena Janssen are the founders of UJ Studio; Crack Magazine’s art directors; and creative directors of the brand Abaga Velli. Influential interpreters of the contamination between music, contemporary art, photography and fashion, they talk about the importance of having a holistic approach to each project.

Kyle Ng is the co-founder of Brain Dead, international collective of creative minds and fashion brand. We discuss about Brain Dead’s deep connection with music culture: their long lasting friendship with NTS radio; their recent collaboration with Dev Hynes – aka Blood Orange – to support the BLM; and their new enterprise "Brain Dead Studios", a destination for horror movies, indie comics and alternative music lovers.

Kelsey McClellan is a photographer based in SF, her work has been featured in several influential publications, like The New York Times and New Yorker. She talks about her first music-related project: a collaboration with creative genius Chaz Bear, aka Toro Y Moi, for the cover of his latest single “Ordinary Guy” and a photoshoot for his exhibition “Someone––Anyone” , currently on display at the New Image Art gallery in Los Angeles.

Paul Nicholson is the artist behind the most famous logo in electronic music history: Aphex Twin’s. We talk about the development of his style throughout the past 30 years; his early passion for manga comics; his tales from the UK rave scene's golden age; his artwork for "Selected Ambient Works II"; and his latest sources of artistic inspiration.

Felix Heyes and Josh RR King are the duo of directors behind Khruangbin’s “Time (You and I)” and "Evan Finds the Third Room" music videos. We discuss the former, which along with the song itself was one of the most cheerful things that happened in 2020. Besides, Felix and Josh tell us about their creative paths, their love for London and China and their music idols.

Courtney MC is a visual artist, designer and creative director who has worked with Kanye West, Jay-Z and Rihanna to name just a few. She tells us about her new artistic path, starting from her recent artwork for Octavian's "Endorphins", in which she explores themes like raw emotions, mysticism, sexual liberation and ultimately evil and inner demons.    

Lorenzo Senni is an experimental musician and visual artist: he’s been described by The Guardian as a “rave poet”. We chat with him about the cover of his latest album "Scacco Matto", out on Warp Records, which shows a picture from John Divola’s "Zuma" series (1978): Lorenzo tells us why he picked that very shot, talking about his main cultural influences and sharing some great anecdotes on his Californian adventure with the legendary photographer.

Jonathan Zawada is a multidisciplinary art director and visual artist who has worked with the best Australian music exports; artists of the likes of Flume, The Presets, Mark Pritchard and most recently The Avalanches:  he talks to us about his latest collaboration with the Melbourne duo, who are dropping their new album “We will always love you” in December. 

Nicole Ginelli is a visual artist, director and animator with a focus on the music and tech industry. She talks us through her career, cultural influences, inspirations, and most importantly we chat about her video for Sufjan Steven’s song "Video Game", which casts TikTok superstar and dancer Jalaiah Harmon.