Wednesday night we had the hottest (and dare I say chicest) ticket in town. Over at RS POP Shop on 47th and Lexington, IN*TANDEM Magazine has the pleasure of sponsoring “Fashion Art Gallery Presents: Studio 2020″, an intimate look at a modern New York City single woman’s closet - but set in the year 2020. The Pop Up boutique is the brainchild of the ultimate modern woman (and IN*TANDEM featured New Creative) Kelly Mills, whose future woman is an obvious extension of her current self. As the wine flowed and the cupcakes were devoured, we were truly inspired. Designs in collaboration with LaQuan Smith, Telfar, Mari J. Brooklyn, Mercury Sunglasses, Original Women and Gabriel Barcia-Columbo were on showcase and a little more than a twinge of jealousy flared up as we drooled over the futuristic accoutrement. And, did we mention the best part: all of Studio 2020 is up for sale, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to Care.org.

You gotta check this out!!!

Gucci Group, the owners of the late designer Alexander McQueen’s eponomous clothing line, announced the label’s new creative designer today and her name is……..drumroll, please………………..Sarah Burton! The word around town is that she’s basically the only one who could truly take over McQueen’s line. Having studied at Central Saint Martins and McQueen’s first assistant from 1996 to the day he died, Burton was the woman responsible for turning McQueen’s runway vision into successful commercial collections.

She’s been an intergral part of the McQueen brand for over a decade - and not some superstar designer Gucci Group picked out of hat. And I think that is truly where Alexander McQueen’s legacy lies. He was such a gift and and a talent to the fashion world, only someone who knew him so intimately could follow in his footsteps.

We’re on the eve of a scandal! We are self-proclaimed Francophiles (among a host of other ‘philes) and the purest form of art lovers (and by that, I mean we love art - pure and simple). So, when we see something that infringes on an artist’s copyrights, we cannot protest enough. Over at Le Blog De Betty, the ever so lovely Betty found something strange going on at the popular clothing shop Zara - specifically, one of their shirts had her face on it! And, it was not just a mere resemblance - it was almost identical to a picture she posted on her blog a while back. We at IN*TANDEM call foul!!!! We are artists, freedom fighters, weirdos, and lovers. And the internet is supposed to be a place where our voices are heard, not where a bunch of corporate f*ckers can come and steal our work, uncredited and unrepentant. Vous devez lutter pour vos droits!!!

Summer is here, and it’s freaking hot. Honestly, I spent the last couple of days sleeping in drippy sweat.
But the fact that I know something wonderful is going to be in New York soon keeps me all cold and wonderful inside.

The New York Asian Film Festival is back in town! That’s right. Crazy Asian movies are invading the city.

Fuck yes. Expect more coverage when the date gets closer.

Full lineup after the cut!
IFC @Midnight Lineup
Death Kappa (Japan, 2010, World Premiere)
L.A. Streetfighters (U.S.A., 1985)
Pink Power Strikes Back: Japanese Wife Next Door, 2, Groper Train: School Uniform Hunter
Power Kids (2009)

Hong Kong Films
Bodyguards and Assassins (2009, New York Premiere)
Development Hell (2010, North American Premiere)
Eastern Condors (1987)
Echoes of the Rainbow (2010, North American Premiere) 
Gallants (2010, North American Premiere)
Ip Man (2008)
Ip Man 2 (2010, North American Premiere) 
Kung Fu Chefs (2009, North American Premiere)
Little Big Soldier (2010, New York Premiere)
Red Cliff Uncut (2008/2009)
The Storm Warriors (2009, US Premiere)

Mainland Chinese Films

Cow (2009, North American Premiere)
Crazy Racer (2009, North American Premiere)
Sophie’s Revenge (2009, New York Premiere)
Tian An Men (2009, International Premiere)

Japanese Films

8000 Miles (2009, North American Premiere)
8000 Miles 2: Girl Rapper (2010, North American Premiere)
Alien vs. Ninja (2010, World Premiere)
Annyong Yumika (2009, North American Premiere)
The Blood of Rebirth (2009, New York Premiere)
Boys on the Run (2010, North American Premiere)
Confessions (2010, International Premiere)
Dear Doctor (2009, New York Premiere)
Doman Seman (2010, World Premiere)
Golden Slumber (2009, New York Premiere)
Live Tape (2010, North American Premiere)
Mutant Girls Squad (2010, International Premiere)
Sawako Decides (2010, New York Premiere)
Symbol (2009, New York Premiere)
Yatterman (2009)

Korean Films:

ACTRESSES (2009, New York Premiere)
ANIMAL TOWN (2009, North American Premiere)
BLADES OF BLOOD (2010, International Premiere)
CASTAWAY ON THE MOON (2009, New York Premiere)
CHAW (2009, North American Premiere)
A LITTLE POND (2010, International Premiere)
MISE EN SCENE SHORT FILM PROGRAMTHE SCANDAL MAKERS (2008, New York Premiere)
SECRET REUNION (2009)

Indonesian Films:
MERANTAU (2009, New York Premiere)

Thai Films
RAGING PHOENIX (2009, New York Premiere)

The NYAFF will be held at the Lincoln Center from June 28 - July 8, presenting the festival with the Film Society. From July 1 - 4 the they NYAFF will be co-presenting entries in the Japan Society’s own screeening series, Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film.

For more info check out the Subway cinema blog.

Daryl Wein’s first narrative feature film, Breaking Upwards, is a romantic comedy that follows the mishaps of two young New Yorkers.After being together for four years, their relationship is at a turning point. The couple struggles together throughout the film to either make the relationship work,
or subconsciously strategize their own break-up. The film, loosely based on the filmmakers’ real relationship, takes place in a world of twenty-somethings that
is reminiscent of the mumblecore films coming out of Brooklyn in the last decade or so. However, Wein makes it his case to stand apart from the almost predictable “mumblecorps”.

The two leads, Daryl and Zoe, basically play themselves, as the film’s story is based on their real life relationship. This kind of thing tends to make me nervous a bit – like how Woody Allen always casts himself to basically play himself. It can easily turn self-indulgent. Thankfully, Breaking Upwards is different. There is something very likable about Daryl and Zoe. They are attractive, they are funny, self-deprecating, if not somewhat emotionally stunted, but they are charming! This is a big deal and helped make the film work. Everybody else in the film is also really good. Olivia Thirlby makes a small, cute, but forgettable appearance. But I have to give kudos to both Andrea Martin and Julie White who play the leads’ respective mothers, they easily have the funniest lines in the film. Throughout the film, you kind of have the feeling that the cast gets along with each other or they are friends that hang out together all the time or something.
The writing in Breaking Upwards is pretty great. I was surprised to find out that most of it was scripted, although there are expected bits of improv. Wein and his co-writers, Peter Duchan and Zoe Lister-Jones, have managed to capture banter and conversations that are natural, smart and witty too. The characters of the film are intelligent and hyper-aware of their emotions, and for the most part of the film they don’t even really flinch when presented by a possible stress to their feelings. But it’s the deadpan self-deprecation, matter of fact, overly articulate tone that made the film charming and relevant. I personally feel that the relationship portrayed in Breaking Upwards is one of the most realistic ones I’ve seen in a while (another notable one is in Baumbach’s Greenberg). The interaction is complex and layered with moments of emotional overdrive, but it’s also restrained while at the same time unpredictable. It really does feel real. The lingo in the film kind of reminds me of Juno. But unlike Diablo Cody’s try hard, I actually kind of get the references in Breaking Upwards. I mean, I am a twenty-something living in New York, so that would make sense. After the film, a friend of mine asked me, however, whether somebody who is not twenty-something and familiar with New York or just the current youth culture would have the same connection with the film. This is true. The film is very specific in its audience, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing. After all, Breaking Upwards is an indie. It is definitely easier to reach an audience when you reach to a specific one instead of trying to please everybody.

From my interview, it is clear that Wein really wanted to stand apart from the mumblecore label. It is completely understandable since most of the films coming out of the genre have such negative connotations associated with them. Aside from the story and characters themselves, Wein wanted the film to be visually different than most of the mumblecore films. He certainly has achieved that, but I’m not quite sure whether or not it is a success. Wein shot the film with a long time friend and collaborator, Alex Burgman, who also shot Wein’s documentary Sex Positive. In our conversation, Wein mentioned that he wanted the lighting in the film to be evident. But the problem that I have with this is it’s too evident. The contrasty, gritty look that the film has presents us with an interesting juxtaposition to the film’s quirky tone. But it is so stylized, or even sloppy at times, that it constantly tugs at me, taking me out of the film. Wein did not want the film to look too “low-budget” like the mumblecores, but I think there is a critical line that was crossed in this film. While Wein wanted production value to be apparent in his film, I think he and Bergman forgot that sometimes less can be more. There are times where I just find the lighting in the film to be unrefined and too much. It feels too forced and not right – a total opposite of the writing and acting in the film. It is as if he was too focused on making the film look bigger in scale and missing out on what would actually work with the narrative.

Wein is really perceptive of the modern human interaction and how they deal with their feelings – I give him that. However, while his ability to work with plot and characters is remarkable, I wish he’d spent more care with the more technical side of the film. That doesn’t mean that you should not see this film though.

Wein and Lister-Jones live in the same independent spirit that has propelled Aronofsky to his current stature. While Breaking Upwards ultimately feels like a lukewarm experience for me, I would keep an eye out for what comes next.

Oh, I personally think his short, Unlocked, is fucking amazing. You should definitely look it up on his website.

Breaking Upwards is currently playing at the IFC Theater, NY.

A couple of days ago, I got the chance to talk to Daryl Wein (Breaking Upwards, Sex Positive). We chatted about his first feature narrative, working with a girlfriend, mumblecore and a bunch of other stuff. Daryl was obviously tired from a busy day, but he was nice enough to be barraged with more questions.

——

Alex Thebez: Where do you see yourself in relation to the current generation of Brooklyn filmmakers today? Do you associate yourself with the mumblecore genre?

Daryl Wein: No, I don’t consider myself to be part of the mumblecore movement at all. I would consider myself to be part of the “D.I.Y.”, Do It Yourself film movement, but I’m trying to do something much different from the mumblecore movement where the characters are more thoughtful and more interesting and more complex and there’s more production value and story than in the mumblecore movies.

AT: Totally. One of the reasons why I brought that up is that I saw the movie with a couple of my friends and they mentioned [mumblecores]. But I think there is a fundamental difference that is very evident in your movies but at the same time there are similarities because Breaking Upwards is about young people.

DW: The difference is also that [the film] has such a strong inter-generational storyline with the parents that no other mumblecore film really has, which is yet another departure from the mumblecore movement. Like what you are saying, we do share the similarities that the story focuses on twenty-somethings, but I think the parents definitely set it apart.
AT: Yeah, I have to say the parents in [Breaking Upwards] are pretty awesome. They definitely bring the film together, at least for me personally. Julie White, especially, is really awesome. I read that the film is based on your real life experiences with [Zoe Lister-Jones]. I’m wondering how much of it was real and how much of it was fictional to serve narrative purposes of the film?

DW: Well all the broad strokes of it are real but the details and the majority are fictionalized. So it is inspired by a real open relationship that we were in, but the rest is fiction. You know, the main plot points are things that we actually went through.

AT: Oh, so the characters and stuff are pretty much mostly fictional?

DW: Yeah, the story is all fictionalized.

AT: But the emotional points of the relationship between you and Zoe in the film are based on the real life experiences?

DW: Exactly. The broad strokes were real.

AT: Yeah. I think your film kind of captured the feeling of a modern relationship pretty accurately.

DW: Oh, thanks!

AT: It’s funny that after the movie, one of my friends was telling me how he felt the movie brought up some of the most stressful moments that he had experienced in his last long term relationship. Hearing that, it kind of confirmed that you are onto something here and are very perceptive of the generation.

DW: Awesome, thank you.

AT: Yeah. Well, sorry if I’m probing but are you still seeing Zoe?

DW: Yeah, we are a couple in real life.

AT: Oh, when you guys were working on the film, what motivated the two of you to decide that this would work as a film, or as a project in general?

DW: Right when we entered into breaking apart from each other and eventually seeing other people, from the beginning I thought it would be a funny idea for a romantic comedy because we were strategizing how to break up together. So immediately I wanted to start making it into a screenplay, even though Zoe felt differently about that. I actually started writing it with a friend of mine, Peter Duchan, who I grew up with and we actually wrote it together for about a year and then Zoe came forth later. All three of us developed the idea together later.

AT: What convinced Zoe to finally join in on it and develop the project further?

DW: We got back together, that was one thing and I always wanted Zoe to play the part before I was going to play the part. That had something to do with it. We just wanted to collaborate with her.

AT: Did it prove to be challenging, working with Zoe, especially considering your history? Or was the making of the film rather therapeutic, bringing you guys closer because of the experience?

DW: Yeah, it was intense since it was based on our relationship. But, we worked well together. It is always stressful when you are collaborating on a movie with someone that closely. Working together and being a couple, the movie started taking over our personal lives. But it strengthened us in many ways. It made us better with communication and trust, and it all went well!

AT: That’s good to hear. One of the other things about the film is that I find the banter and the conversations that the characters have in the film feel really natural. I was wondering whether there was any improv involved in the film, if at all?

DW: The majority of the film was scripted. Like, 95% of it was script. But the actors were always encouraged to add something that they got inspired to do too. There was definitely some improvised lines especially from Julie White and Andrea Martin.

AT: That’s really cool, because I find the dialogue works really well. It does not feel forced and is really smart and witty at the same time. Oh, Breaking Upwards also looks very different. Like, one of the things that made Breaking Upwards stand apart from the mumblecore genre is its aesthetics. It looks very gritty and contrasty even though the story was cheeky and lighthearted. What ideas and thoughts did you and your DP, Alex Bergman, share while working with in the film? And what kind of technical decisions did you guys decide on for the film?

DW: We wanted the film to look as beautiful as we could even though we were shooting on a digital camera. I didn’t want it to feel like there was no lighting like mumblecore movies that are shot low budget. So the lighting and the colours are meant to make it look better than a $15,000 movie, so it’d look like a bigger movie - but also to reflect on the heightened emotional state of what the characters are going through, which is why the colours have so much pop and punch as to reflect the emotional intensity of the events in the film.

AT: What was the hardest part of putting a narrative fiction together? How was it different from your documentary, Sex Positive?

DW: You know, a documentary can take a long time because you don’t always know where the story is going. My documentary, it was based on a man’s life, but it was mostly historical footage. It was a shorter process. I think it took only about eight months. But for a narrative like Breaking Upwards, we spent a lot of time writing it. It took like a year and a few months into shooting. But what I learned from the doc process is how to concisely organize information in the editing process and really make sure you are telling an interesting focused story that’s not repetitive and uninteresting. They are similar and different.

AT: What are your influences? What pushes you to keep making movies? Is there a theme that you are specifically attracted to? I saw your short film Unlocked, and your documentary Sex Positive. They are definitely a lot darker in comparison to Breaking Upwards.

DW: I think Unlocked and Sex Positive are much darker movies, but I’m not just interested in one tone or one subject. As a filmmaker, I’m just looking at whatever will be an interesting, relevant and fresh subject. That’s what all my films are born out of. So in terms of influences, I mean, for Breaking Upwards I think Woody Allen is definitely an influence and a bunch of Hal Ashby movies, Norman Jewison who made Moonstruck. Yeah, a bunch of other filmmakers but yeah those are a couple.

AT: What’s next after this?

DW: Zoe and I have a couple of scripts that we wrote, and we are trying to get those made. They are New York-centric relationship stories, but we’d like to make them on a bigger scale, more than $15,000.

—

Thanks again to Daryl for taking the time to talk to us. You can check out his short film Unlocked and the trailers for his films over at his website.

I know the guys at Twitch love the Edgertons brothers and their collective, Blue Tongue Films (They also have another movie called Animal Kingdom, another crime movie that is getting rave reviews). But to be honest, the only thing that I have ever seen out of the famed Australian duo is a little violent and poignant film called Spider.

The Edgerton brothers first real feature film feels familiar but fresh at the same time. The Square is essentially a neo-noir, following all the troupes and conventions of a noir film but with a contemporary setting. The film follows Raymond Yale (David Roberts), an ordinary contractor who supervises the construction of a honeymoon hotel. Aside from his affair with a neighbor, Carla (Claire van der Boom), his life is pretty ordinary. Everything inevitably changes when Carla and Ray stumble on a bag of cash that offer the promise of a new life. The couple plots to get away with the money, but then everything starts to spiral out of control rather quickly.

Ray and Carla are not innocent, they are well aware of their actions and their mistakes. While their struggle to be happy together is something that we, as an audience, sympathize with, these people are definitely flawed. As the film unravels, the actions of both characters become more and more questionable. One thing that justifies their actions throughout the film is this world that the Edgertons have managed to conjure up. Ray and Carla live in a very threatening, claustrophobic world. Everybody knows everybody, and everybody is pretty violent or unstable. Almost every single character that you come across in the film is on the verge of exploding in a violent rage. This kind of stuff makes you grit your teeth when you watch Ray fumble his way to get away with the money.

The script is tight, the directing and cinematography are slick and modern, and the acting is actually quite phenomenal. I have to give props to Joel Edgerton, who plays Billy, a pyromaniac who is struggling for his own redemption.

Nash Edgerton, the director, definitely has a very distinct style in his treatment of violence and humor. The film has such an ambiguous boundary between the two that they ultimately blend together into one morally wishy-washy world. How Nash treats violence is definitely fascinating. In no way does it feel forced, or out of place. The existence of violence in the film is somewhat entirely justified as a very natural occurrence in the Edgertons’ world, which makes the film scarier and more disturbing.

The Square, to me, is almost a perfect movie. It’s funny, it’s poignant but not pretentious, and it’s just plain good. Not to mention it’s a lot of fun.

The Square opens April 9^th in New York, it’ll be playing over at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. The Square will play together with the short film, Spider, during its upcoming run. Also, check out the other stuff that the people at Blue Tongue films are up to, they have another film called Animal Kingdom that’s worth checking out.

Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer | Photographs by Bill Sallans

The Brooklyn indie-poppers spontaneous trip to upstate New York led to the release of their EP, The Adventures of Mr. Pumpernickel and the Girl with Animals in Her Throat.. Since then, after receiving positive feedbacks from friends, Savoir Adore has built a loyal fan base all the while crafting a collection of pop experimental gems. Our Austin-based photographer, Bill Sallans, was able to catch the band in between sets for an exclusive IN*TANDEM shoot during South by Southwest. Savoir Adore spoke to IN*TANDEM days after their official South by SXSW debut in Austin, and opened up about the Savoir Adore sound, scheduling their lives around Google Docs, and how Federico Fellini films and New York City landscapes inspired the group’s creative process.

IN*TANDEM: Can you talk about how you two got started? Was it sort of a fairytale moment in terms of musical collaboration or was your formation spontaneous?

Paul Hammer: A little bit of both I guess. Deidre, you’re really good at telling this story. You want to take it?

Deidre Muro: Paul and I we first met at college. We had both been doing sort of solo music work for a while and then kind of out of a desire to experiment or try something new. We made a little game for ourselves and challenged each other to collaborate—for the first time— writing original music. We went upstate New York to Paul’s childhood home. We promised ourselves to write and record a concept album in one weekend. That was about any plans of becoming a band. It all started very spontaneously in that way. After we made that and gave it to our friends, we were just encouraged to continue and it just pored naturally from there on out.

PH: At first we were just doing it purely to work on the project together to see what happen. We hand no idea what to expect and the result became kind of special.

IN*TANDEM: Deidre, you mentioned working on solo music projects before, when did you two first start making music of any kind?

DM: Paul and I both came from musical families. We both raised playing music. We were both classically trained on piano. I play violin as well and we both were just doing it since we were very small. By the time we were in college and actually met, we were both been making music for a long time already.

PH: We both were already writing in high school to some extent. I was doing classical piano when I was seven and I think Deidre was doing the same.

Savoir Adore // “We Talk Like Machines” SXSW Powerplant Live from Cantora Records on Vimeo.

IN*TANDEM: Where did you record and mix “In The Wooded Forest”? Did you record at home or in a studio?

PH: After we recorded the EP, we decided to go back upstate to see what happen when we record again for a weekend. We ended up recording four of the songs that ended up on the LP that weekend. That was a second time we’d written together. It was interesting that the same kind of thing happened again, where we were collaborating; where something we were really into came out of it. Everything we recorded for the LP was done upstate and mixed upstate as well.

IN*TANDEM: What was the narrative behind this record? Did you have a plan ahead of time of just how you wanted this record to sound?

DM: We had started songs for it before we had even really known what to become of them — that they were going to become part of the full-length album. We were just writing to write, to have fun and continue was what we where doing. I think we definitely consciously made the decision we weren’t going to do as much as a narrative concept as the EP was where the EP was a very definitive story. The album was much more general with moods and themes but still remains taking a lot of inspirations from the first work that we made and the environment we created. There wasn’t really a time where we sat down and said “Okay, this is what the album’s going to be about. This is the story behind it.” But certain things definitely evolved and came out the process.

PH: The LP came out of the idea of the wooded forest, which we created, on the EP. I think through that it became more of an exploration of ideas. A lot of which having to do with nature versus technology and unscientific findings—and “we talk like machines”—these sort of ideas developed out of that setting. Like Deirdre, said it wasn’t really a narrative like EP was.

IN*TANDEM: Your band established a dedicated following after your EP. Did you expect that at all?

DM: When we first made that [EP], we had no intension of it being released publicly or anything. So it was all very surprising and enjoyable for us to be able to share this and have it grow so naturally. It was not schemed at any way. It just happened.

IN*TANDEM: How long did it take for your sound to emerge in your collaboration?

DM: Well I think…

PH: ..it sort of a constantly evolving thing because even between the EP and LP, the sound itself is still developing.

DM: I think our next record is going to be developing more. We are constantly changing people. We never sat down and said, “We’re going to be a shoegaze band and that’s the kind of music we’re going to make.” That was never what our collaboration was about. It was just about making music together. No matter what comes out of it.

PH: I think the kind of basis of what we wanted to do when we started. In a weird way surprise each other of what we come up with—there will always be a common thread in what we create because we have natural tendencies. The way Deidre’s voice and the way our voices sound together. I think the sound itself will continue to evolve because that’s basically the reason why Deidre and I are doing this because of our desire to experiment. Neither can really tell you what the next album to sound like. There will be a Savoir Adore sound to it but it may be different than it is right now.

IN*TANDEM: You were just at SXSW. How was that experience like and was it your first time there?

PH: We went down last year sort of last minute to do this sort of short thing for the EP and we ended up doing a couple of parties. This year was our first official year. It was awesome! Deidre and I play in another band called French Horn Rebellion so we had double duties during the week. It was pretty exciting! Where you down this year?

IN*TANDEM: I didn’t get a chance to go down this year.

PH: It’s crazy! We were talking about it when we were leaving. It’s a one of kind environment. I had a great time. I don’t know about you, Deidre. [laughs]

DM: It’s just an amazing experience to go down there with all the music going all simultaneously. It’s really overwhelming too! [laughs]

PH: It is really overwhelming! I think the hardest part about it is that you’re down there to play shows and to get as much exposure as possible but at the same time there all these amazing bands that you wanted to see. I wanted to see this Australian band called The Middle East. I made sure I had time the last Saturday to see them perform. That was the first time they were in the United States. It’s exciting on multiple levels. I don’t know if you’re into barbeque. That is the place for barbeque! [laughs]
DM: Yes, it really is.

IN*TANDEM: Are there any non-musical artists that inspire you in everyday life?

PH: Ooh!

DM: We’re inspired by all kinds of things outside of art in general.

PH: It might sound cheesy. Sorry Deidre continue. I didn’t realize you were…

DM: That’s okay. You can go.

PH: It might sound a little cheesy but nature very much inspires me and inspires Deidre too as far as the design of it. The design of the city even [is inspiring].

DM: I’m constantly inspired by new movies— anything really. Finding the kind of design and the natural planning of things are always really special.

PH: I get really inspired by everyday sound. Every so often there will be a construction truck or a drill that does something in a specific rhythm. I remember there was once crane in the upper east side that was emitting this flute-like tone and it was really interesting. It created an unusual sound.

DM: I feel like I’ve gotten into a lot of different types of movies lately–Felini movies, Woody Allen movies, film noir movies, and fashion–all kind of things.

IN*TANDEM: When people describe your music, what do you like for them to say?

PH: It’s tough to say. When I read something about our music, I think, “oh wow. that is a really good way to put into words.” I’m not a writer. I can write the music, I can make the sound but to describe what our music sound like is a tricky thing. It sounds like it what it sounds. I get really excited when people write things like when they say things is “magical” or someone once wrote—and maybe they were saying it because of what Savoir Adore means—to listen to our music is to “know love.” I think that’s a beautiful way of describing it.

DM: I think what I like people to take away from it a sense of hope and beauty. We’re both very positive people and I think we can’t deny the sense of hopefulness and bittersweet comes out through what our music sounds like.

PH: I would like our music to feel and sound like a good fairytale or a really good story where there’s tension or there’s something hopeful about it and there’s some conflict. That’s a really good way of describing it, Deidre. There is a sort of optimistic and beautiful way we approach writing and it and I think it comes across through the music.

IN*TANDEM: Do you two have day jobs? Is Savoir Adore a full time affair?

PH: I wish it was a full time affair.
DM: We both work.

PH: We both work freelance now and it allows us the opportunity to be more flexible. I do post-production stuff and I teach guitar lessons.

DM: I do voice-over work and some post-production and things like that.

PH: Every once and a while Deidre and I write jams for MTV and that kind of stuff. Little jingles here and there.

IN*TANDEM: If so, how do you balance your band and being employed?

PH: Google! Google Calendars! [laughs]

DM: Google Docs run our lives! How do we balance it? We balance it out of necessity. If we have to work, we have to work. If we have to make money, we have to work. We’re pretty organized in our planning and if we are assigned to do something that’s a month away, it’s on the calendar and that’s how it’s going to go.

PH: I do believe there’s always time for everything you want to do if you plan it right. The hardest thing is working around everyone’s schedule because Deidre and I record together and obviously, we work on our own. But getting three more people to do live shows that’s where it gets tricky–working out everyone’s schedule. We left in March for three and a half weeks for the tour and making sure everybody can do that. That’s probably the trickiest thing.

DM: When we play live, we have five people in the band and it’s not just the two of us.

IN*TANDEM: What can we look forward to from the band from the rest of the year?

DM: The album is finally going to be released in the UK this summer and we’re putting out a single in the first week of May. It’s going to be out in the US too. Right, Paul?

PH: We’re releasing “Bodies” as a single. We have a couple of great remixes done and a new b-side from our old recording. May 3rd is going to be “Bodies” single plus remixes in the U.S. and the UK. We are hoping to release “Machines” and a few remixes as well.
We have a ton of new ideas and nuggets, as we like to call them. We’re going to be going up to the studio to work on our next album soon. I don’t want to make any promises but we’d both like to get a new album out by the end of the year because we’ve had ideas we’ve been sitting on.

IN*TANDEM: Any closing comments for IN*TANDEM readers?
PH: Always wear tank tops. [laughs] That’s my closing comments of the day. I hope you’d take the time to check to our music. I hope it brings you a little bit of happiness. I don’t know what else.
DM: Yeah.

In The Wooded Forest - Savoir …

Savoir Adore’s In The Wooded Forest is available now from Cantora Records. For upcoming tour dates visit Savoir Adore’s Official site and MySpace page.

Breaking Upwards Movie Trailer from Breaking Upwards on Vimeo.

I have to say that romantic comedy is a tricky genre to nail. At least for me personally, it’s more often a miss than a hit. Often the ‘romance’ feels rather forced, or the ‘comedy’ would just fall kind of flat and secondary. Although I do watch bad Hollywood ones for giggles, out of boredom.

I actually bumped on the trailer on Apple’s trailer section before our own Jenny Francois told me to check it out.

Local filmmaker, Daryl Wein’s debut feature screeened at SXSW not too long ago and it’s about to premiere here in New York this weekend at the IFC theater.

Breaking Upwards is a little indie film that follows a young, real-life New York couple in a fictional narrative loosely inspired by their open relationship. After four years together, the two have grown stifled. Desperate to escape their ennui, but fearful of life apart, they decide to intricately strategize their own break up.

Not only the film feels sincere, at least from the trailer, it seems to have a cool bittersweet, quirky but dark thing that I expect from a ‘good’ romantic comedy. It’s also nice to see something coming out of New York / Brooklyn that’s just mumblecore, even though Breaking Upwards may have elements of that.

Definitely check the film out if you have the chance. Come by to the IFC theater this weekend too for a Q&A session with Daryl Wein and his girlfriend / co-star Zoe Lister-Jones at the 0745 and 0955 PM screenings on April 2nd and 3rd (Friday and Saturday).

Did I mention that the couple has a freaking great sense of humor?

More of their spoof promo vids over here.

In “Billionaire,” Peaches, joined by Shunda K, make their way through a magical world of a talking scarecrow, cowardly lion, flying monkeys, and witches. Kansas City based artist and songwriter, Cody Critcheloe (from SSION), was the mastermind behind the art-video.

As a kid, I was terrified by the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz and after watching this video, I’m fully prepared for a psychedelic, acid-trip nightmare tonight. Clearly, we are not in Kansas any more.

Watch the Behind-the-scene footage of the making of “Billionaire” | Part One

You can find part two of the Behind-the-scene making of “Billionaire” here.