Interview: The Misshapes in Jakarta
Some time earlier this month, Joyce, Ming and I headed down south to Jakarta with a steadfast mission to shop local designer garb, gobble down as much nasi padang as we could, and to party hard with the Misshapes. Between songs and a couple of drinks, I managed to squeeze in a little interview with them. Read on to see what went down!
But before I get into all that, let me give you a little background check. The Misshapes are a New York City-based DJ trio comprised of Geordon Nicol, Leigh Lezark and Greg Krelenstein (the latter didn't come down to Jakarta).
They started out in 2003, cultivating a huge following via their regular dance party, Misshapes; named after a Pulp song. Nicol and Lezark had to lie about their age, while Krelenstein falsified his resume to start the party as a way to hang out with their friends.
Despite starting off at a small joint in the West Village, the party's popularity grew through their blog that archived events with an in-house photographer employed to take portraits of everyone who was anyone.
A few years later the party moved to SoHo, and rapidly became the go-to event for downtown it-kids, Parsons alumni and celebrities alike. As the years went by, the trio became fashion darlings renowned for their signature jet black hair, blank expressions and monochrome wardrobes.
After a successful four-year run, the trio discontinued Misshapes as a weekly party and began to venture into outside projects including publishing a style book, remixing for bands and film soundtracking, spinning at fashion shows and parties, dabbling in fashion journalism and photography, and in Lezark's case, modeling.
Interviewing The Misshapes was such an intimidating experience. They appear exactly as they look in pictures - cold, but the epitome of fierce. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they were the nicest people.
Over the next few days we hung out with them quite a fair bit, wore Burger King crowns eating takeout together and desperately tried to dissuade Nicol from forcing us for a 6am swim (our flight back to KL was at 8.30am)... But before I start going off course, here's the interview!
Hello, I'm curious. How does the fashion show setlist-making process happen?
Nicol (N): Well, normally we check out the inspiration boards, then meet with the designer who'll brief us on the mood for the collection. Then we'll both work on our separate ends, and meet up once more to view the line to see if we totally captured the collection.
Lezark (L): It's a collaborative process that has to work in tandem with one another.
N: But a lot of the time, this can all happen anywhere between months to days before the show. A lot of the time designers don't have their pieces, some times even their samples ready. Once in France, we had to change an entire setlist a half hour before a show.
L: But we've been doing this for six years - it doesn't faze us that much anymore.
What's your iPod Top 5?
N: Ducksauce's Anything, The Plastiscines's Barcelona, Apache Beat's Your Powers Are Magic, Classixx's I'll Get You and Lady Gaga's Alejandro.
You've heard Gaga's new stuff?
L: Oh sure, we'll play some for you.
Who are your favourite people to work with?
N: Karl Lagerfeld, Jeremy Scott and Henry Holland. Definitely
L: There was this one event I'll never forget. It was this party held at this huge mansion in Milan organized by Donatella Versace and Mario Testino and sponsored by Campari. Each room had a different concept. One was an igloo, another had this ongoing catwalk. We were spinning as part of an installation. And outside was this perpetual red fog. It was intricate, professional, and so surreal.
Which was your personal favourite self-spun party?
N: There was this one time Beth Ditto came to our party, and she stripped down to her underwear because it was too hot and she was just way to drunk. She headed onto the DJ console, grabbed a mic and began singing in her undies.
L: That was cool.
N: There was also this time we ordered a pizza during a gig, and it fell on the circuit board. There was a short fuse, a black out, and then we got kicked out of the club at our own gig!
Is it hard to spin projecting a brand image for a fashion show when you've all got your own sound and personal style?
L: No, we only work with brands we like. And we wouldn't wear a product just because we're spinning for it. I mean, Versace was pretty alright when we mixed up their line with second hand finds. It just all depends on how the collection is fitted to our personal style.
What are your five must haves for any gig?
Diet coke, vodka, a flat iron, black eyeliner, and a pair of scissors for shredding outfits and fending drunk people off!
What's in your bag?
L: A camera, a video camera, cigarettes, and a bottle of Chanel Cristalle.
N: Cigarettes, mints, a camera, condoms, and my Blackberry!
How would you describe your style?
N: If you can describe your personal style, then you don't have one! Our looks aren't premeditated, they're just an expression or extension of the person we woke up that day.
L: We don't dress for anyone! But I do love my Chanel.
Who are your style icons and influences?
Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Piaggi, The Ramones and Edgar Allen Poe.
What's the one thing you'd never get caught dead in?
L: Brown. It clashes with my hair.
N: Flip flops at a club. Uggs, Crocs and sandals are the deadly trio.
Any memorable faux paus?
N: When we were young we thought spray painted t-shirts were cool...
L: And crazy eye makeup going clubbing.
N: We've also lost our computers tons of times. That's not cool!
How would you describe our fashion era?
N: Hedi Slimane, Pugh, and Karl...
L: Streamline, futuristic, structured and androgynous.
N: Everything now is all about using past references to push boundaries.
Who would you like to spin for?
L: We're pretty happy working for ourselves...
N: Yeah, and everyone we've admired, we've worked with.
L: Ooh, Grace Coddington!
N: Ooh, good one. Oh oh, and Yves Saint Laurent.
L: Yeah, we've done YSL, but it'd be awesome to have done Yves Saint Laurent.
Do you have any future fashion collaborations in the works?
N: Ooh! *He then proceeds to whisper in Lezark's ear*
L: No!
N: But...*He whispers a little more*
L: No, we cant! *She turns to me* We've got a couple of things lined up, but nothing's really on paper yet.
N: Yeah, you'll just have to wait and see!
Related posts: Where & Wear: Blackout X The MIshapes (JK), Music Genres that Moulded Men's Fashion, Interview: Couple (MY), TiC Tunes: Little Boots, TiC Tunes: La Roux
[Photo Credits: torontoist, imeanwhat, gawker, ndmindset, dailywhatnot, rottenfresh, zimbio, nymag, thefashionspot]
