nooka sightings: kate simko

the lovely and talented kate simko gives a great interview to xlr8r dot com, one of my fave music magazines online and off. and for a few seconds you can see kate wearing a blue aluminum nooka during the footage of her set at sonotheque! timing wise, music from the atom smashers soundtrack out today- ghostly.com.

direct link to xlr8r page here.

the nooka kate wears is available at fine stores and here.

join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nookaNOW on twitter.

some music nooz

some music news for the weekend and beyond.

michna michna michna: i can't believe michna is still on tour, but nice to see the orange zub peaking out under his signature santa claus streetwear [foto by angela dawn photography] while playing tombone. you can still catch him playing, so look for shows the following dates and cities.
Michna with Raw Paw live
3/27 Orlando, FL @ Will's Pub*
3/28 Tampa, FL @ The Honey Pot*
3/29 Jacksonville, FL @ Freebird Live*
3/30 Knoxville, TN @ World Grotto*
3/31 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In*
4/1 Tuscaloosa, AL @ Mellow Mushroom*
4/2 Birmingham, AL @ Zydeco*
4/3 Athens, GA @ Tasty World*
4/4 Brooklyn, NY (DJ Set) @ Brooklyn Museum
5/23 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
6/18 Barcelona, Spain @ Sonar Festival
*with Eliot Lipp

deastro deastro deastro: deastro plays his very first NYC date this weekend, tonight and tomorrow night at cake shop and will release his new album. moondagger soon. news on that here. remember, you get a free copy of deastro's keepers when you buy a nooka on our e-store here.

nooka michna/adrian wears available at fine stores in your town and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka_ on twitter.

what a deastro!

can companies fall in love bringing a new dimension of B2B? i think so, as it is the case with nooka and ghostly records. well, ghostly records is celebrating their 10th anniversary and we are celebrating with them by giving a free copy of deastro's keppers with every web order of a nooka watch on us.nooka.com/buy from march 1st while supplies last.

why deastro? because keepers is one of my FAVORITE albums of 2008 AND i want to share that joy with as many people as possible.

more on deastro: Deastro is the brainchild of Detroit-area wunderkind Randolph Chabot, who's been recording music since he was 12. Deastro's Keepers contains a whirlwind of styles, as Chabot hops from shy synth-pop to instrumental robot-rock, whisper-soft ballads to sky-high anthems and coats it all in a delirious fizz of production. It's wildly positive, upbeat music tinged with an experimental spirit and a hint of melancholy. Deastro's next full-length, Moondagger, will be out this May on Ghostly International.

buy a watch after march 1st here or buy keepers on itunes here.

also, slightly unrelated, but if you're on facebook, join the "Love Nooka" group!

economic stimulus

i spend the valentine day weekend stimulating the global economy by shopping [research trip to see what's going on in retail]. i must say, compared to december, it seems like things are getting back to normal, stores were crowded and there were lines at the registers everywhere we went.

the crew: jason ng of cassius eyewear and his partner [both visiting nyc from new zealand], my partner frank nan of vinoly architects and our friend sergio. we hit [not in order]: prada, uni-glo, club monaco, bloomingdales, odin, alessi, kidrobot, ben sherman, jacques torres [bought yummy chocolates], and the 2 day only pop-up shop for alexander mcqueen's line for target!

i was dissappointed that the mcqueen line for only for girls, even the t-shirts were not cut so that i could wear them, they didn't even have the doll clothes used in the ad campaign as a product to buy! – oh well, they didn't get any of our money.

i went to uni-qlo specifically to pick up some thermal "heat tech" undies for the nooka ski trip next weekend – all sold out of mediums – so i bought $300 of stuff i didn't need. i LOVE their preview display which is all miniature doll-clothe versions of the next collection in well lit recessed glass boxes, real cute and effective.

prada was packed and i picked up their new look-book which surprised me in how poorly the creative direction is – is the theme ancient sculpture? 80s furniture? modern art? – not a cohesive visual experience. they describe it as: "an exploration of the collection's domain of inspiration...divinity, tribalism and primitive symbolism...". i guess prada is allowed some lapses.

i picked up a copy of a book on pierre cardin at club monaco [i didn't go there for the clothes, sergio wanted to check out something there]. they only had one water damaged display copy left, but i knew i wouldn't remember wanting it, so i bought it anyway. it's a great book as i remember being very impressed with his fashions when i was a child. this book focuses more on his furniture design which towards the end looked more art-deco than cutting edge futurism. great book though i'm sure there's a fashion monograph out there i need to buy.

i tried overpriced moisturizer at bloomies and saw Y-3 shoes i wanted but they didn't have my size. i saw great shoes at odin as well, but the one i wanted was also out in my size.

managed to squeeze-in a lovely brunch at blue ribbon bakery before most of the shopping with the addition of lisa anselmo of people magazine and nightlife impresario lapo belmestieri. frank and i dragged our bags with us the the ghostly records "an evening of sensual machine music" at 8:00 pm, so it was a hyper-social day for me. we ran into a few unexpected though not surprising to see people at the venue: my music instructor bryan with a date, nooka staff andrew [futuretron infinity] with his girlfriend, the schna [my new name for michna], etc.

i'm sure i missed something, but i tweated some other details and fotos during the process. nooka_ for twitter.

nooka can be had at fine shops from the where to buy section of nooka.com, and on our online store here.

sundance 2009 round-up

sundance was full of firsts for me: first time spending time in salt lake city, first time in park city, and first time eating a taco bell bacon cheddar gordita crunch [wow!]. our party had some setbacks though – jared gold and his clothes were a no-show due to a production over-run in germany for america's next top model! the venue and management were able to pull in some local designers for the runway show. the designs were not an ideal stylistic fit for nooka, but it was really one of those "on with the show" kinda situations. the models rocked the nookas and the colors worked well with both collections presented. so... with the dj skills of michna and kate simko, the hospitality of pierpont place and all the wonderful talent in salt lake, a wonderful party was enjoyed by all who came.

and now, let's talk about salt lake city: what good looking people! they were so warm and receptive to me and to nooka. i met so many wonderful people – i will definitely go back to spend some more time there again.

also, the nooka image video and signage really branded the whole affair as a "nooka" event. thanks again to my in-house design team for all their hard work and the peeps at pierpont place for getting the signage produced locally in such short-order.

great music, yummy UV brand vodka, good people = fun for all.

now the real work is to get some exposure for the professional photos from the event [not my crappy ones posted here and on facebook].

thanks again sam, missy, adrian and kate of ghostly!

nookas always available here.

report from utah

(return of the diary-format blog entry!)

i arrived in salt lake city on wednesday night as flights later in the week were booked. i shared a hotel room with adrian michna where we talked music, mostly about the new york no-wave and club scene of the early 80s. the next morning we waited for everyone elses flights to come in – kate simko and her boyfriend brian from chicago, and susan from itunes [san francisco] before we all head up with missy and sam of ghostly records to a rented cabin east of park city.

we stopped at the largest walmart i've ever been to for provisions before heading up to find that the cabin has no internet, no ATT signal and the house fones blocks outgoing calls! missy's laptop is the only one that can pull an intermittent wifi signal [yet another reason NOT to buy a macair]. the house does have a great over chlorinated hot tub though. we all cooked together and are having a great time, so no complaints.

thursday we celebrated missy's 30th birthday, played rockband on the nintendo wii they brought.

friday we spent in park city, but like i feared, no celebs this year at sundance as everyone seems to be off to DC for the momentous obama inauguration on tuesday. missy is still confident our party today in SLC will get a good mix of locals, visiting celebs and MEDIA because of the combined PR of the ghostly, nooka and jared gold PR teams. the defjam party was fun, got a free 10 minute massage and drank liquor-sponsored cocktails. we then moved onto the new media installation, and after dinner, their opening party. tried to get into the defjam mariah party after that, but the line was a bit rediculous.

i haven't spotted any nooka watches yet, so on one hand i can see why these kind of events and sponsorships can help...on the other, i can also see why we shouldn't. moot point as the big sponsorships are still a bit out of reach financially. it's all very educational though.

note: my Y-3 snow boots are not only incredibly functional for all the snow [we had to push 2 cars out of snow the 2nd day!) but getting compliments where-ever i go!

don't forget, if you're in salt lake city or park city, come to our party tonight at the pierpont.

nookas always available here.

nooka at sundance

For 3 years, Pierpont Place has been a preferred venue of the Sundance Film festival and has provided the community an opportunity to get involved to enjoy great talent and music in conjunction to the festival. The event will be a combination of networking, runway fashion, great music and dancing. Anticipated attendance will be 300-500 guests including local business an festival audience, media, dignitaries, film and festival industry goers.

This year, Pierpont Place has partnered with Ghostly International to provide “top caliber” DJ talent from Chicago and New York. Webb Audio and Visual is to provide state of the art equipment and Full Nelson is to provide The Fashion Delirium Tour du Jour which is a traveling runway party that showcases cutting-edge designers and their newest fashions featuring Jared Gold designer of Black Chandelier and Baskit Underwear. Jared Gold is expected to make an announcement of a new Television project. Along with Jared’s amazing fashions we will incorporate NOOKA watches as an official brand to be included in the show. Nooka is a perfect fit for this exclusive event. This amazing collaboration of brands, fashion, decor and music talent will definitely mark the calendar as the Sundance event to not be missed!

Event details:
Saturday 17th January
Ghostly Talent Includes:
Michna, Kate Simko & SV4
“The fashion Delirium Du Jour”
A New Collection show by Jared Gold
& Showcase of Nooka Watches
Pierpont Place
163 Pierpont Ave. SLC
8pm

january 5th 2008

very busy first full day back at the office. we had a meeting with the lovely missy of ghostly records and super musician adrian michna. nooka is co-sponsoring a dj event for sundance this year with ghostly records and fashion designer jared gold. also represented will be baskit underwear. i think it will be fun and i will blog with more details by the end of the week as the event is on saturday january 17th in salt lake city. check out michna on itunes or your local cd shop and on the ghostly website here.

the black zub michna loves is available at fine stores and here.

and the winner is...klaus nomi

here are some fotos from the ghostly halloween party.
pictured: the rapture dj as michael jackson, matthew dear/audion, winner of the costume contest, and a random lambchop character. you can buy your very own glow in the dark nooka zub here!

i am a huge fan of the rapture as well as matthew dear, so it was a fun night. the rapture is currently writing new material for an album to be released some time in 2009.

new band to watch

as you may know from a previous posting, i met school of seven bells at a glam ghostly records party over the summer. well...their full length album release is now slated for october 28th and they will be touring between now and well after that date.

their sound is reminiscent of M83, miranda sex garden [though i may be the only person who bought their CDs], and enya [i know it's fun to hate on enya, but "orinoco flow" is an enigmatic pop classic]. SVIIB's singers are twins so i can't help but get images of the peanuts in my head [their classic koi no fugue is a karaoke standard in japan and taiwain to this day though americans know them from the 1960s mothra vs. godzilla movies]. i find SVIIB's alpinisms to be especially transportative [is that a word? if not, i just made it. feel free to use] when riding my bicycle – it brings me totally into my head and i don't notice my leg muscles at all – making for an effortless ride.

i hope this makes it interesting enough for you all to run out [or go to itunes] to buy the album when it comes out. update: available now on itunes!

they came to my studio last week to chat about the album, life, crazy people, fall allergies, as well as getting some snazzy nooka watches.

their myspace page is here.

the perfect weekend

i love spending holiday weekends in nyc – there's no traffic on the street [making bike riding even more of a pleasure], and i can get tables at trendy restaurants without a wait. well, this labor day was no exception plus we had the most perfect summer weather everyday, not a cloud in the sky, warm and dry.

i started friday with my boyfriend at la esquina on the lower east side. i discovered last week that they have quesadilla de huitlecoche [corn smut in english]. huitlecoche is by far one of my favorite fungi and i've craved it since my first trip to mexico over 10 years ago. unfortunately, it is rarely on the menu in nyc, and when it is, usually from a can. it is fresh fresh at la equina and i've been there twice last week just to eat it!

saturday i had brunch in brooklyn with some designer/architect friends to discuss their product design ideas on their beautiful outdoor deck. i brought vietnamese sandwiches from atlantic avenue – DELISH. later, frank and i went to mr. blacks, a club that was once in the east village but is now in the flatiron district. it was a lot of fun, really reminded me of the days when nyc was fun to go out at night [then again, i was a go go boy when i was a club kid, but times have changed. a skinny hairy guy would never get work as a go go boy now]. the dj was good and the crowd diverse.

sunday i caught up with some friends and took my friend's kids swimming. sunday afternoon was the highlight of the weekend at the ghostly records party high atop THOR [the hotel on rivington]. as usual, missy and sam threw a fantastic party [see fotos]. it was a super duper friendly crowd matched only by the tremendous amount of young talent in one space. the boys were gorgeous as were the girls. the party could only have been better if everyone were naked. it was an early party and i had an amazing meal after in tribeca with my friend lisa [duck ravioli a souce of butter and olives + seared foi gras].

went for a bike ride monday in central park and had another amazing dinner, this time at bottega. ran into my friend marco and hiroki on the way home on 7th avenue, talking for 30 minutes on a busy street corner – totally new york and the perfect end to a perfect long weekend.

photos:
1. missy and sam of ghostly, 2. the beautiful danny of ghostly, photographer derrick gómez and film maker phil van, 3. the penthouse suite at THOR, 4. sunset, 5. the adorable english film maker matt tucker, über talented photographer timothy saccenti, and tim's girlfriend h.j [we chatted in japanese], 6. 2 of the 3 members of school of seven bells, a band i adore!, 7. me with the lovely jen of modular records [you know them, the presets and cut copy are on that label!], and 8. night view of manhattan....pretty huh?

i met other cool people but i can only blog about so much. i will add more in subsequent blogs. i love staycations.

ghostly swim, nooka and the sounds of nooismo

our friends at ghostly records have launched a mini-site in conjunction with the cartoon network's adult swim! there's a free downloadable album of their artists with tracks from matthew dear, deastro, michna, tycho, school of seven bells AND more! their line-up is the sound of nooismo™.

also, they are selling some nooka zubs on their site for the launch of their new animated series: BoyCatBird.



ghostly swim is here

the ghostly store here.