On The Air

Fashion Killa

Music journalist Sowmya Krishnamurthy stops by the Culture Crush studio to talk about her new book, Fashion Killa: How Hip Hop Revolutionized High Fashion. In conversation with CC founder and French and Italian Vogue veteran Debra Scherer, the discussion traces Sowmya's trip through the music blogging era and the never-ending cycle of gatekeeping, the powers that be, and those in the culture whose passion and innate style broke down those doors and claimed both the front row and eventually the backstage so completely, fashion will never be the same again.

Ricky’s NYC

Culture Crush founder Debra Scherer and photojournalist Sofie Vasquez in the studio with New York City beauty retail impresario Ricky Kenig discussing the cultural landscape of downtown NYC in the '80's and the curiosity that guided him throughout his inventive career. 

Bruised Beauties

We're back in the Culture Crush studio after a long hiatus with photographer Sofie Vasquez. Talking about new projects and Sofie's work overall with subcultures and the characters she documents for us in our latest beauty zine—exploring the indie wrestling scene, Mexican superstar Cassandro, breaking kayfabe, Lin Manuel Miranda, Cameron Crowe, and her dream of photographing the cast of Cats.

Kelly Cutrone

As New York Fashion Week began, publicist, author, and CEO of People’s Revolution, Kelly Cutrone joined Debra in the Culture Crush studio to discuss all things fashion and culture. Their conversation begins with Debra telling the origin story of The Culture Crush, and the role that her experiences at Italian Vogue played in its development. Then they discuss their history in the fashion industry and how the landscape has changed over the past few decades. Finally, Kelly explains her views on the role that shopping plays in women’s lives, propaganda, Voodoo, and how social media is changing, or ruining, the fashion industry.

On The Streets Of Jacksonville

A quick stop down in Jacksonville Florida to talk southern street photography with Malcolm Jackson, while he was preparing to work on a project for the tenth issue of the Culture Crush print edition. We discussed the peculiar cultural history and the beauty of documenting life in the largest city in the United States.

Matthias Vriens-McGrath

As the influence of the aesthetics of ‘90’s Paris seems to grow and grow, it’s interesting to get a feel for some of the pieces of the puzzle that made up that particular ecosystem. Then, stylists, photographers, creative directors, press agents and designers were working in a freer, closed world, interacting with each other and allowing for chance work and experimentation that is now difficult to imagine. 

But photographer Matthias Vriens-McGrath remembers it well. He discusses the creative mindset that led him to picking up a camera in the first place, as well as the aesthetic spontaneity that reflected a time that was both the end of an era and the very beginning of a now unstoppable regurgitation of imagery fueled by the high stakes multi-billion dollar machine that the fashion industry has become today. 

Saturday Nights at Giorgio's

The Culture Crush is out in Hollywood with Bryan Rabin, who, along with DJ Adam12, is the mastermind behind Giorgio's, a special nightclub space, named for legendary producer Giorgio Moroder, which is devoted to the idea of the discotheque and the values of pre bottle service club culture, where connections are made and tribes are formed. We worked with Bryan on issue 7 and were just setting up for the launch party when we sat down (on the floor) to discuss the important role nightlife plays in both the creation and reflection of culture. 

Deconstrct

On this month’s episode we sat down with Michael Faso out in Los Angeles just as he was about to go and shoot his first Culture Crush feature story. Michael, a.k.a. @deconstrct grew up in the valley around ‘zines and early visual internet culture. We discuss his evolving interests in photography, graphics and media, the making of his own 'zine, and the way he and his friends respond to these industries from their unique point of view.

Britta Phillips: Luck or Magic?

Britta Phillips is a vocalist, songwriter, and actress, best known for her role as the singing voice of Jem, the title character of the ‘80’s animated TV series Jem and the Holograms. She also starred in the girl band movie Satisfaction alongside Julia Roberts and Justine Bateman and is the bass player in ‘90’s indie pop band Luna. In 2007, she married Luna and Galaxie 500 frontman Dean Wareham.  They have performed together as the duo Dean & Britta since 2003, and have jointly composed film scores for Mistress America and The Squid and the Whale.  In addition, they wrote 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, a series of scores that correspond to a selection of Warhol’s screen tests. In tis episode, we talk to Britta about making her upcoming solo album, how she rescued her waning passion for music, and what makes for a good cover song.  She also shares her thoughts on the joys of performing live, and dispels the current societal panic about a supposed dearth of exciting new music.

The World of How and Nosm

While working on the Creative Class issue of The Culture Crush magazine, we sit down with artists How and Nosm out at their Long Island City studio to talk about their careers. From their beginnings as graffiti artists in Europe, to their arrival in New York City, and eventual breakout into the world of fine art, their work touches so many communities.

Listen in as we talk about our work in progress documenting different aspects of their world, as well as some of their upcoming projects and the characters we encounter along the way. Just don't call it street art.