Soho and Old street files - London

Stop wearing blacks, greys, blues, wear colors and bring summer in our streets, and please, have a look at what is hanging at the girl on the left necklace, perfectly perfect!

Verena Stefanie

LeMagazine pubblication

Hello guys, here are the pages from LeMagazine where some of my pictures have been published, hope you like it!

http://www.leblackbook.com.au/

Covent Garden sunny thursday

Everywhere in London you can find a personalized outfit around. This girl has got a real personal own style, that do not follow trends but gets inspiration from and make it personal.
I would have loved to show you 'all' of her, but she kindly asked me to not show her face, hope you can see it is enough to appreciate it.

Love

En cualquier lado de Londres puedes encontrar a una persona con estilo personalizado y original. El pasado jueves estaba con mi friend por Covent 'Jardìn' y me encontre con esta chica que atrajo mi atenciòn. Su estilo era muy personal, me gustarìa ensenyarlos todo de ella, cara incluida, porque era el toque maravilloso a todo el estilo, pero me pidiò cortesemente que no ensenyara su cara. Espero que podàis apreciar igualmente.

Amor

Verena Stefanie

YOUNG BRITISH URBAN MUSIC - NYLON MAGAZINE

Finally NYLON is out now, and you can buy it in every shop u find it.
The photoshooting I did one month ago with all the most influencer music artists of the grime and hip hop scene in UK is been published (and my name as well ;)
I'm really proud and happy. The article is really interesting especially for all of you who are into this kind of music.
It expreses the idea of how these artists see this scene growing. How it influences across the Ocean as well, where the influences have always come from.
UK is giving a lot and it will always do.
Read the article, see the pictures,

Photography: James Pearson Howes
Photographer assistant: Verena Stefanie Grotto

INTERVIEW WITH ACKEE JUICE

Some couple of months ago I had the opportunity to meet personally this italian duo of DJs for an interview and a shooting. I would love to have a video of all the time I spent with them, because they're not just talented but also very funny, I couldn't stop laughing.
After some minutes of coldness, they got ready and started to get into it and get confident in front of camera.

This italian duo is ready to break all dance floor around, as they've already started doing around north Italy, getting against all the elctronic scene that seems to not let possibility for any other different and more innovative thing.
but they're getting it, in a dry and difficult ambient as italian closed music scene. They're trying to break the rules, and we from appeal to the eye are totally sipporting them as I hope you are gonna do after getting knowing them and their music.

But I let knowing them through their own words not mines.
hope you enjoy it and the more feed back the better

Download for FREE their new mix for 2010 here

Facebook fan page

Myspace

Pictures and interview: Verena Stefanie

Me: Hey guys how’s that goin?

Ackee Juice: Good, even if Ali has been evicted from his house, but…Ackee Juice is Pic-Nic as well.

Me: So just tell me in few words who Ackee Juice are?

Ackee Juice: They are King P and Ali Selecta two Italian DJs that have nothing to do with the electro scene that spread in Italy lately.

Our music perception is quite different; our research, our attitude to music is not just about dance floor, we try to be different, and bring something new and personal instead of sitting down and getting along with all other people that surround us do.

Me: So you are talking about being different from the Italian music scene?

Acke Juice: Yes of course, especially from the Italian music scene, the problem here is that for people who wants to do different things is pretty difficult. What we want to say with this is that now there is an ‘invasion’ of electronic djs, everybody playing and spinning the same thing. Most of the clubs want to give nights to djs who played that kind of music, so for people like us, trying to do different and bring some fresh new air is not that easy to get dates to play, but we are showing some how, to those few like us, that nothing is impossible if you, in first place, show that believe in the music you’re playing and things you’re doin.

Me: And how do you feel right now, in general I mean?

AJ: Great as usual, with a lot of ideas and thoughts…..do we go to the psycologist ot do we not?

Me: Yeah a bit of psycologist would be good for everybody nowadays…

And did you feel yesterday?

AJ: Yesterday great as well….it always happens when we go shopping to Tosano (kinda Sainsbury’s)

Me: I kinda prefer sainsbury’s or Tesco lol, but tell me a bit more about ‘Ackee Juice’

AJ: We met at DIESEL, we both used to work for it. We both arrived at the car park with loud music playing from our soundsystem, me (King P) with mixtape of DJ Premiere or other mixtapes ready from the night before and Ali with the albums of Metallica, or Soulfly, what remembers man….And starting talk and getting know each other we exchange different ideas and passion for hip hop, dancehall, reggae, soul, metal….we found hip hop even in metal music.Ali was almost becoming a famous football player, and me… arguing with everybody, dismissing from jobs, and spending all the severance pay in holidays and travels and music. All this happened between 2000 2004. For Ackee Juice we have to wait till 2008, 5^th of September to be more precise, date of our first live exhibition at the famous music-art festival ‘INFART’ in Italy.

It has been a while talking about this project before we started doing something real. Ali was insisting to start a collaboration while I was all focused on my dancehall scene and the dates I have all around North Italy. Since, a day, I thought: You know what? What da fck, let’s do it! And I could not be more gratefull to Ali for getting the pressure on it for so long. Thanks Mate.

Me: So we can actually say Thanks Ali for insiting, Thank you Ali.

But Ackee Juice, who are ‘em in real life?

AJ: Wait wait, hold on a sec. what real life are you talking about? What are you actually talking about?

If you’re talking about the day by day well, we are exactly what we are on the stage, bad asses with springly knees. King P is part of the old school, playing with record player since ’99, Ali has been playing since 2004 with a deep strong music culture and knowledge. Our REAL life is MUSIC.

Me: sure you have been asked plenty of times, but what ACKEE JUICE means? Why this name?

AJ: It really seems that everybody is interested in this topic. In fact you’re not the first one who ask us this. Ackee Juice means:

(Italian): Abbuffiamoci con I Kraffen Enormi…. (he takes a break and remain serious)

English translaction: Let’s stuff us with huge Krapfen.

Just kiddin… Ackee if a fruit with Caribbean origins. It grows in Jamaica, country we love. The idea of Ackee juice, a fresj squeezed Caribbean juice, is the closest thing to our way of making music.

Me: it seems that things are working out properly for you now, where do you see each other in 10 years?

AJ: obviously in some sunday tv program, shitty Italian tv, with the subrette, the cocaine addict, the procurer pander, the rented public, and Maestro Mazza at the orchestra.

Me: What’s your music background?

AJ: King P from the hip hop of the 90’s, reggae and dancehall, Ali Selecta more about metal and soul black music. I know it sounds weird but That’s the way it is.

Me: How do you keep informed about music news?

AJ: When we are not watching X-Factor and Mtv not working properly we do not go and play.

Me: Ok, now I understand everything, lool

And what about producers? Who’s in your list?

AJ: J Dilla R.I.P. , Bangladesh, Swizz Beats, Diplo, Buraka Som Sistema, Jakwob, Pinch, Sly & Robbie, Daseca, Major Lazer and many others.

Me: an artist who you think stand out and you especially admire?

AJ: M.I.A., because, a part from being a great artist, she represents the real possibility of standing out even if the surround is pretty hostile.

Me: Everyday more we hear complainings about how the music scene is becoming boring and based on same lines. What do you say about it? What do you think about the nowadays music scene?

AJ: What is happening lately is a blessing for two people like us. We have so many different songs, very different one to another, after long researches. When we listened to Diplo for first time we said: ‘So we can do it tho?!’. I still remember that day, but to tell you the truth we needed only 6 dates and we got into the right direction. We took out what we really had inside.

Actually, the mediocre level, the presence of dogs at the console and an overbooking for shows that seems to be all the same shit demoralized us but at the same time pushed us to do it better and better and to take us out from that situation all printed with the same stamp.

Me: And what about Italian music scene?

AJ: We are REALLY demoralized for this reason, we look at our ‘Bel Paese’ first of all and it is exactly in Italy where we see the biggest rot. There are reality that pull really good the electro scene but there fuck the booking up, giving dates to ‘improvides’ dj, almost for free. We fighting everyday against this.

Me: How would you define your music style?

AJ: A very simple recipe: 500g of hip hop, 2 good ripen sinth, a bit of drums, and some kgs of bass. Make everything wither in a baking tin, sprinklyin sometimes with a bit of red wine. Put the baking tin in the oven, let it cook at 130-135 bpms for about an hour of dj set.. take it out of the oven and flavour with some dancehall voices. Enjoy your meal!

Me: And your style?

AJ: COUNTRY!

Me: Yeah yeah I can see that, where u left the horses?

You played in many cities around Italy as I know: Rome, Milan, Treviso, Venice, Bozen, brunico, Bologna and in Bassano del Grappa during the famous music art festival INFART COLLECTIVE, have you got any plans for the future focusing abroad?

AJ: We are really working hard on it, especially on London and Berlin. We want to test our sound in these two cities that we consider really important for Ackee Juice.

Me: Talking about ‘INFART COLLECTIVE’ how were you related with that, what is it exactly?

AJ: Infart Collective is a group of artists bron in Bassano del Grappa (ITALY), who gave life to one of the most important street art and music festival of 2008: Say Yes! To Infart!. Me (King P), I am one of the organizers and promoter of the event. It has been a three-days-festival all focused around street art and music, this last one characterized by the performance of DJ Spiller, Lrst, Dj Boma, Dj Tech and us, Ackee Juice. The success is being great, website visited by 1000.000 people, national and international press, almost 30.000 people, all in three days. The project for 2010 is an exhibition in Chile, all under the Infart supervision. How o you see Ackee Juice in South America? I see it big!

Me: wow that’s sound amazing I see it ‘SUPER GUAY TIO’.

You played to other important events, didn’t you?

AJ: Yeah, exactly, you’re right, you know a lot girl, lol, you should have written this interview by yourself, I feel like useless here lol anyways, We played already with most of the famous reggae artists scene, General Levy, Ward 21, Zion Cuts, Mad Kid, Supersonic, Soundquake, other artists from the Italian hip hop scene, Guru, Esa a.k.a. El Prez, Dj Skizo to name few of ‘em. We opened set of Mstrkrft, Spiller, Guns’n’Bombs, Punks Jump Up and other Italian producers.

Me: Somewhere you would like to play?

AJ: When we think where we would love to play in the future New York stands out, Miami and of course Kingston.

Me: Have you got any ‘ritual’ before getting on stage?

AJ: King P always have a picture of a man with bear with him and Ali Selecta a black Madonna. Before playing, or alone in the backstage we shout out mumbo jumbos, sentences without any meaning, word with a lot of ls in it like: Alla pallllaaaaaa! Do not ask me why! I don’t even know why! We just do it, u know? We’ve been doin it since we were working in Diesel, during breaks, it is something is put us in a good mood, that’s all.

Me: Allaaaa pallaaaaa though. The interview is over guys thank you so much for your time, it’s been a pleasure, and thank you for spending this grey morning wiv me.

AJ: Thank you V, t has been a pleasure, even if we are a bit bothered, but don’t worry it is not you, it happens everytime after an interview when we read what we said.

But, ok, you promised us a glass of wine, where is it? Don’t think you can go away like that! loool

Peace guys.

Lady Chann Performance at Old Blue Last - March 2010

http://www.myspace.com/ladychann