Last night I went to Bardot for the first time! Very cool spot. Feels very loungy and chill. Jesse sounded amazing and the vibe in the room was very lovey-dovey! And when we left we had the surprise of seeing our sticker on Jesse's car...;)
I'm writing this post from our first day in the studio. Yay!
Nope it's not soul glo, it's afro glow. Well, at least that's what I like to call it.
Afrobeta closed art basel weekend on Sunday with an awesome performance (they always are) at the miami independent thinkers event. Christy had been to the warehouse during the week and came up with the idea of shooting inside a black light lit room while wearing one of her Krel wear pieces (that glow in the dark).
Therefore, we had an impromptu mini shoot. The room was tiny and we were all sweating - sauna style.
Enjoy :)
xo,
Kar Gar
ps. it's 3:00 am and I have a heavy case of insomnia.
oh and some of the wide shots get cut off bc of the blog format :( meh
and here are some non-glow performance shots I also took:
I recently photographed the lovely afrobetans and shortly developed a lovely friendship. I'm their adopted 24-year-old child and the rest is history :)
On the real, I love this band and I believe in it 150%. So I'll be contributing on this bloggity-blog and sharing some fun, random, sometimes insightful information. I'll also bring some sights for all to see.
Dale! Go get the projector in Hialeah then! These were words spoken at some point in the night at the premiere of the Borscht Film Festival. The scene was 1500 people seated in the floor and mezzanine of the historical Gusman Theater. There we sat with drinks in hand and anticipation in our hearts to see a compilation of the best and brightest film and animation work by and of Miami.
Only problem was, the projector at the Gusman wasn't working. So after the scheduled musical performances by Sirens and Sealions and Animal Tropical, they needed more entertainment to keep people around while we waited for the projector to arrive from Hialeah.
Tony and I were sitting in the back row of the floor next to my sister, who did make-up on our music video short that was premiering at the fest. Matty and Lucas came up to us and said, we're sorry to bother you, but would you guys mind playing?
So we borrowed a guitar from Sirens and Sealions and played 6 of our songs acoustic-style.
I remember going to the Gusman as a little girl on a school fieldtrip and as I grew up I always admired it as such a classy venue. And now I can say I played there. It was kinda like losing your virginity though. You know you look forward to that moment and then afterward you think, "I wasn't supposed to be like this."
That's kinda how it felt. Bittersweet. There was a lot of chatter throughout the audience. People were understandably antsy about when and if the films would begin, making them not the best crowd to play for. But for all the chatters, there were people who genuinely enjoyed the show and said so and clapped. So thanks guys!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Afrobeta secret free show tonight at 10 pm at the epic hotel downtown. 270 biscayne blvd way.
We can't wait to see how this is going to develop*! :) We shot in B&W with film lovingly donated by Kodak!
Come see the reel* deal in its entirety at the premiere at the Gusman Theater 7pm on November 28th for the Borscht CCCV Stories!
*cheesy puns make me smile!
luv, cuci
Ps: Below is the link for the interview with Anna Karina...Enjoy!
Pss: Oh! When I found the interview on YouTube I also found a fan vid for a Crystal Castles song mixed in with a scene with AK in "Vivre sa Vie". I can see that CC's Alice loves Anna Karina's signature bob and black-rimmed eyes!
Heya! So our next show is Saturday November 21st! Which is also my dad's bday, so maybe there will be a Papi sighting at the show??? It's not just any gig either, its the 97th Anniversary of Miami's oldest bar, Tobacco Road. Legend has it Al Capone hung out here during prohibition! Simply put, this place has magic oozing from its walls. The Road kinda defies all kinds of conventions, it's divey but not small, it's cheap! (97 cent drinks?) but the food is rich, and most anyone can/and does play here but I've yet to see a terrible band there. Can't say the same for one of my other all-time Miami faves, Churchill's.*
In any case, we are playing the anniversary party this year! TB is tearing it with 2 nights of music, Friday the 20th and Sat. the 21st till 5 am. We play the second night...A big honor if you have ever been in past years, because they close out the parking lot and the party is JUMPIN'! We play at 12:45 till 2 am. Last year I was there for the Spam set at the same time and there were at least a thousand people! crazy! What am I going to wear?
So as we announced earlier, we are taking a break from Jazid to concentrate on recording our debut album. But here it is, the first Tuesday night off and I gotta admit I'm feeling nostalgic. So enjoy a cool jam with Tim. He just brought his horn and said he wanted to play. We had never met him before, but we got to know him onstage! ;) love you, cuci
Thanks to Diego Tosoni for posting this and being one of our "regulars" at Jazid.
Yay! So Halloween was cool cuz I finally got over the flu that had ominous overtones of swine-niness... Here's what the Miami New Times had to say about our Halloween performance: "In an ode to the 1972 American porn industry, Gen Art held its Other Hollywood party at Awarehouse. The highlight on the night was definitely Afrobeta's smurf-tastic performance."
Look for our name waaaay down there next to Jose El Rey's as a special performance... See it? No, further down. Ok! There it is! I guess if it's supposed to look like a movie poster, Jose and Afrobeta are the extras. Regardless we are putting on our costumes and learning the lines to our special cover for the evening... It promises to be a super fun! event to complement the other cool stuff that is happening on Halloween in Miami.... If I had a driver, this is how I would plan it... Check out Neckface's opening/Haunted House at the O.H.W.O.W. gallery early. Then go to the Awarehouse for Jose, Afrobeta and some of Son of Sound and DRRTYHAZE. Late night, check out Busy P at Electric Pickle. 5:22 am, come home. done.
So I don't know what everyone else is doing this weekend but we are playin a big ol' partay for Halloween! And! We are also in pre-production for our debut album anddd a new video!
So if you come to the Halloween party, there is a chance you could appear in the new Afrobeta video!
Soooo! See you there! The party has a disco theme, free drinks, special appearance by Jose El Rey...What more can you ask for! We are working on the disco cover for that night now!
So I find out people actually fly down, or drive down to Miami for this once a year event. Yesterday was the 25th Annual Carnival Miami. I saw a license plate on a car driving down Biscayne from Arkansas! I just went to have some cafe con leche with Tony at the Latin Cafe on 25th and Biscayne and realized the booming music that I was hearing when I was still in bed must have been coming from this!
The festival was held at Bicentennial Park in downtown but NE 2nd Ave was shut down and the parade came as far as 24th. Maybe they went as far as Little Haiti? This is, after all the Caribbean Mardi Gras! Here's some of what we saw...
So this morning, I'm doing my email checkin' and I read up and listen to Fool's Gold "Surprise Hotel". So I'm like, "Wait...isn't Fool's Gold a record label? Yeah, it is. I know cuz I'm a fan of A-trak, Kid Sister and Treasure Fingers who are all on Fool's Gold, the label. When I was listenin' to Fool's Gold, the band, I was thinking, "This doesn't sound like it would be something that label would put out." And it didn't. There is also a movie called Fool's Gold, w/Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, that didn't get the best reviews. But I really want to put you on to the band, Fool's Gold. Their sound is African-pop with Hebrew/English lyrics which is crazy. The music vibe reminds me of El Guincho's Alegranza Album but El Guincho's sound is WAY dirtier. Also in comparison, El Guincho sounds like he used lots of samples and mashed em' up together as opposed to Fool's Gold, who sounds like a bunch of musicians playing together.
So without further ado, Fool's Gold, THE BAND! Read their super great bio on Jambase. And watch the vid for the song "Surprise Hotel" here! Their debut album drops next week on Sept 29th on IAMSOUND Records. Get involved! And then you can watch the Stone Roses' classic song "Fool's Gold"!!!
Hey! After spending the day today relaxing at my mom's house with her new kitty Misha and my Suki, I think I am ready to expound on my feelings about the Future Classic Festival. ((Deep breath)) Ok. So we flew in from Trinumeral on Saturday to come home for FCF. I was really excited. We had just spent the last 15 hours in this beautiful festival in the woods of Asheville, NC. Which ruled right? Right. We met and saw THE COOLEST BAND, we've seen live this year since Late of the Pier at Coachella. They are Break Science. More on that later... So we barely slept, got in the van for the 2 hr bus ride to the Charlotte airport, got on the plane, arrived in Miami at 2:30 pm and drove around the terminal for 2 hrs. Literally. Between Tony getting the gear at baggage claim and then realizing that my case (with my keys and sampler) had not arrived, filing the lost claim, etc...it took THAT long. Then, after finally arriving home around 6, we started getting ready for FCF and trying to re-structure the set because of the missing equipment. Right. So we find out from people at the show that the schedule is about an hr and a half behind. Ok, cool, it's Miami right? We were scheduled to go on at 9:20. ArtOfficial was scheduled before us, and they actually started their set at 10:20. No biggie! Then they finished and we were standing at the back of the stage with our gear setup ready to set it centerstage. When we were promptly made aware that there was a breakdancing competition. Also cool. Great. So, then we see the members of Awesome New Republic (who we LOVE) setting up on stage. Um, what? Kinda confused here? Wait. What's happening? So. We. got. bumped. Or so we thought. Then they gave us some bullshit story about putting us on AFTER N.E.R.D. We had faith. We believed. The host got on the mike and apologized about the bump and told the crowd that Afrobeta was going to play and to stick around. Not true. Did not happen. But despite our exhaustion, we stuck around 4 hrs after our scheduled set time because we believed that what they had told us earlier was true. That we would play AFTER N.E.R.D. And that's what we told everyone who asked as we were ambling around the cavernous Soho Studios. Later when I realized I had blabbed around a HUGE lie, I was embarrassed and distressed.
I really had high hopes for this local fest. And all in all, they had a great turnout. BECAUSE OF THE LOCAL BANDS. This is the part that is upsetting. Yes. Maybe some people did go there ONLY to see N.E.R.D. About 250. EVERYONE ELSE there was part of the local scene who did their part to support the musicians, artists, dancers and performers who comprised the lineup and PROMOTED the shit out of this show. And got handed the short end of the shit stick.
Phew.. Ok. I feel better now! So Break Science was freakin sick at Trinumeral AND they are super nice guys! The weather was beautiful and WAY nicer than expecting your festival fans to rock a 10 hour day in a concrete-oven convention center... Here's a clip from their performance at Rothbury this year. As the comments below say, the vid of them live does NOT do them justice. You must see for yourself. But since I want to end on a cheery note, here goes! ;)
Hi Luves! So excited to share some news with you! We have just been invited to play at two end of the summer festivals! Trinumeral Festival in Asheville, North Carolina and Future Classic Festival right here in Miami! So here's the scoop on Trinumeral... If you wanna come it's a 4 day fest from September 10-13th at the beautiful Deerfields Retreat and Music Park!
This is a sandcastle built during last year's fest. It's a beautiful camping situation in great September weather in NC! The trees are amazing and there is a big pond in the middle of the area... We play on the 11th. Other South Florida artists are also gonna be there! Our friends Bhakti Baxter and Tao Rey design the official fest tee every year and PG13 of Junc Ops is playing as well as jam band The Heavy Pets. The headliner is Glitch Mob. One of their members had a really cool track that I like called "Certified Air Raid". Listen to it!
Then we fly back to Miami just in time for the Future Classic Festival at Soho Studios, Sept 12th! The interesting thing about this first year fest is that the lineup is COMPLETELY comprised of LOCAL MIAMI ARTISTS. Like Awesome New Republic, Spam All Stars, Locos Por Juana, Volumen Cero, Suenalo, Mayday, Artofficial, Jorge Moreno, The Hongs, Soniko ,Elastic Bond, and DJs Danny Daze, Contra, Induce, Aramis, DJ Pauer , Ray Milian. The only national act on the bill so far is N.E.R.D. which I found out also stands for New England Reptile Distributors! After the cancellation of the big L, Langerado, it's interesting that a promoter has chosen to put on a new festival in the current financial climate. HOWEVER, all the acts are "local", i.e. "cheaper" than taking the risk of booking a ton of national acts and not making the $ back on ticket sales. There is a great lineup of local acts and it will be a true test of the local scene music fan. Are we willing to pay a (?) ticket price to see all our fave local bands at one show??? The ticket price is mysteriously not listed on The Future Classic myspace or facebook pg.
I'm not really super shure how much of a draw Mr. I-love-to-record-in-Miami Williams' band is. I have all the hope that come September, Miamians are gonna be ready to kick in the fall with a kickass show. It's up to us tho...I'm just sayin...
You should know! The Toners show is opening tonight for an encore run!!! It's important for Miamians to note, yes, the shows start on time. Andd! The free beverages start flowing an hour before curtain! I have to go to the theater now for dress rehearsal at 3pm. After the Toners show this evening at New Theater: I am going to go see Raffa and Rainer at Books and Books in the Gables. Watch this for a warm up...
Tony told me he is going to the Dreaming in Stereo CD release party before at Kitchen 305. Andddd then we gonna meet at the Pickle for Matthew Dear in his AKAness as AUDION! Check out this intro at Love Parade...
I called Tony while I was driving back from a wardrobe fitting (for a commercial I'm acting in tomorrow), and he told me that he was at Ben's house with Jesse Jackson. He said they were jamming and that Jesse was cooking! So I'm like, wurrrd, these are a few of my favorite things... so I went over. When I got to the house, there was a car parked in the street and crazy noise coming from inside the house. So I grabbed my tamborine and walked right into the session. Jesse was on the steel drum and Tony was on the guitar, which was tuned really funky cuz it was Jesse's.
Then Tony hooked his laptop up to Jesse's vintage '64 amp head. Holy crap.
So fun! It has two imputs so I was able to plug the guitar in as well...check out the tubes in the back of that baby!
You know it's true! So I was driving down 836 eastbound and had to take these pics. Then I started daydreaming about "What if I were to crash right now?" And about how if I perished in the car accident, they would find the pics in my phone and know that I was taking pictures of clouds in my final moments.
We met Niña Dioz last week at LAMC and met her at Coney Island to hang out, pay 50 cents (not the rapper) to see the headless woman and other island freaks. I paid 25 cents to peep into the cage of the World's Largest Rat. I did it because my biggest fear are rats. But when I looked inside it ended up being a REALLY big guinea pig. And then I just felt really sorry for it cuz when I looked into its eyes, it reminded me of Suki.
This evening we are going to be playing our weekly at Jazid! I'm calling Ben now to ask him who is playing with us tonight. If you don't know Ben, he is a local poet who has single-handedly* created a vibrant open-mic scene in Miami at a bunch of different spots. Now there is a place for you to spit your verbal diarrhea almost every night of the week! The cool thing that he curates at our weekly Tuesday at Jazid is B.Y.O.Beats. It's free and open for anyone to bring their laptop/hardware/cd's? and plug in to play for a ready-to-dance audience. Ben does have his crew of regulars that rock the upstairs weekly like Hialeahbass.com's Joel the Hut, FTG, Obed, Line Noise, and Eden Grey.
Ok, so Ben called me back. I didn't realize how early I called, (12 noon). He does the open-mic at Churchills on Mondays. He says he doesn't have anyone lined up to play before us tonight. Oh well, we will be there by 11pm. And if you are interested in playin, hit us up!
Thanks to everyone for reading my first post! There is so much going on, this is going to be a great way to get it all in one place!
*Ben would likely say that without the kids who wanna get down it would not be possible.
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