Profile: La Catrin

GGotW: What prompted you to go solo after a career as a frontwoman?
LC: It was time. I was already writing songs for my debut and they clearly weren't anything like what I was already doing. I wanted to explore my autonomy. You can't do that when you're in a band, at least not entirely.

GGotW: What inspires your songwriting?
LC: Everything. The world is a pretty fascinating place to me.

GGotW: What got you started musically?
LC: It's what I've always done, ever since I was a little baby girl. Maybe it started in the womb, who knows? Possibly even before that.

GGotW: Were your parents musical?
LC: My grandfather on my mom's side was a saxophone player. My mom is tone deaf but she can sing, albeit off key. She's got great vibrato. When I was little we used to sit on the porch and she would be like "Okay Kari, (Karina is my middle name) let me hear you 'swing' ". That meant she wanted me to end every line in a song with Vibrato. Other than that, people aren't musical in my family. My bio dad was, but he doesn't count.

GGotW: Any thoughts of a tour? Canada maybe?
LC: I would love to tour! I love traveling & waking up in a different city each day. I miss it. I'd love to perform all over Canada! Have your people call my people

GGotW: What fascinates you the most right now?
LC: People watching. I do that a lot. I like to watch people interacting with one another. It's like watching a silent movie. It's fun to guess what's going on based on their body language. I don't have a tv so that's my substitute

GGotW: Where do you see you and your career in five to six years?
LC: I see myself out of America  overseas a lot, performing in some of the worlds highly mystical places.

GGotW: When you're in the studio, are you the kind to lay down tracks quick, because you do a lot of prep, and get out? Or do you take your time and make absolutely sure they're 100% perfect before leaving?
LC: The latter, for sure. I don't do much prep before the studio. There's a huge part of me that approaches life by 'winging it'. I feel like I'm doing myself a disservice by calculating too much so i just set the intention and let the Universe unfold the path for me. A tiny bit of prep and mostly magic & serendipity. That's how I work best :-)

Profile: HearseCon

HearseCon
GGotW: How did Hearse con get started?
Zach: I started HearseCon in 2007 partially by accident. I had wanted to get all of the hearses in our local club, the Denver Hearse Association together in one place for an aerial picture, a show of force kinda thing "Look at how many hearses we have!" but I knew most people wouldn't stick around for long unless something was happening, so I invited a band. Then I figured screw it, let's invite some dancers. Before long I just decided to do events for 3 days and see how it turned out if I made it open to out-of-towners. Ironically I forgot to take that picture, not just in 2007 but also in 2008 I spaced it out as well.

GGotW: How many people showed up for the first one?
Zach: 32 hearses showed up, 3 from other states.

GGotW: Did you know then that you were going to keep doing it?
Zach: Well after the first one went off well I decided to keep going. I set it up so that I wouldn't lose any money. I had done another meet a few years prior for another club and they left me holding the bag so I decided to make everything free, that was there was not a bunch of money involved, it was simple and affordable which is good because this hobby attracts people who aren't rich (myself included)

GGotW: How did you get your first Hearse?
Zach: I bought my first hearse in 1994 directly from a mortuary in the mountains.

GGotW: Did you have to do much work on it?
Zach: You always have to work on hearses, especially if they are your only car. If you've got a regular car and only bring the hearse out on occasion then you don't have as much to deal with, but a lot of people in this hobby use their cars as their daily drivers so you're pretty much always working on it which is why I advocate learning some automotive skills, it saves money.

GGotW: The HearseCon has gotten a bit of media attention, how did that happen?
Zach: The media stuff always cascades it seems. I had made an ad last year that was an A-Team parody which got noticed by Attack of the Show on the G4 network and it rolled over into Associated Press and Discovery noticing us and sending out reporters to cover the story.

GGotW: Why is Alexi equipped with flamethrowers?
Zach: Because traffic is too congested in Colorado for rocket launchers.

GGotW: I understand you have multiple unusual vehicles, have they caused an police issues?
Zach: Alexi causes less attention from police than you would think, I probably only get pulled over 3 or 4 times a year, but in my 1964 Olds I will get fucking harassed non stop because I've got purple scallops on it, and I think cops equate that with the car being a hot rod. Somehow the thought that I might be the kinda guy who would speed is of greater concern than the solid fact that I'm in a car that has fire capabilities.

GGotW: What kind of acts are scheduled for this years HearseCon?
Zach: Good question...well, we usually have dancers and a DJ, we usually invade a diner or two and we always do a graveyard picnic on the last day. As for actual "acts" it all kind of depends on who decides to show up and crash the event.

GGotW: How did the HearseCon commercial come about?
Zach: We do a commercial every year. I do films on the side as sorpfilms.net so making a short video is something I always do to help promote it. People are always willing to take 2 minutes to watch something with girls and cars in it.



GGotW: Who are the HearseGirls?
Zach: The Hearse Girls usually start out as friends of mine that I've met at clubs or around town and I ask them to model for me or they are people I've met online and approached that way.

Some of the girls have modeled professionally but quite a few are completely new which is a lot of fun to work with as well because sometimes they think they're not cut out for it. The fact is, if you model for someone and the set comes out bad about 99.9% of the time it's the fault of the photographer because they didn't know how to showcase someone's beauty correctly or what angles would compliment them well. I'm not the worlds most advanced photographer, I didn't go to art school, I don't own a camera lens that is gigantic (I have a theory that your camera lens should never be longer than your dick because if it is, it's a sign you might suck badly at photography) and I shoot on a fairly cheap Nikon. I feel like if I have all this extra stuff I'll rely on it to make fancy photos instead of just making good, well composed photos.


Click on the images that appear with the article to see larger versions. Please feel free to leave comments below, you don't need to be a member to leave comments.

Profile: Miss Alternative

Happy Anniversary GGotW. I started this little venture four years ago, and am very happy with the way it has turned out.

I thought I'd take a break this week from the normal Features and Profile something a little different. Australia's alternative scene have banned together, something most other areas have a hard time doing, and created a Miss Universe-like pageant. Miss Alternative.

To see all the models click on 2010 Models at the top of their page. You'll see a drop-down menu appear and some letters. For those not familiar with Australia, it's divided up in to six states: NSW (New South Wales), SA (South Australia), Vic (Victoria), QLD (Queensland), WA (Western Australia) and TAS, (Tasmania). Each state has a large slate girls representing it and the voting, which ends September 15th, will help the judges par down the girls for state finals, then in January they all come together in Sydney to crown one as Miss Alternative. I encourage our readers to get out there and help pick your favorite. If you are in Australia, I encourage you to get out to your regional finals and cheer on the contestants, and have a Foster's for me ;)

With nearly $2,500 in prizes and three guaranteed photo shoots to the winner and great prizes for 2nd and 3rd places too, I think Miss Alternative 2010 will be a very happy girl.

I have already Featured one contestant and will be Featuring more in the near future. While it seems like the Miss Alternative contest might be a great source for me to get Features, I don't want Alternative girls in other countries to think I wont be doing any Features on them. I currently have seven interviews in various stages, and am more than willing to take ten or twenty more. If you want to be a Goth Girl of the Week, and be in our own contest, Goth Girl of the Year, just send an email to submit.ggotw@gmail.com or look at our submission page.

Profile: Keariene Muizz

Keariene Muizz is the resident artist of the Muizz Gallery in OC (Orange County). Keariene is a talented artist who focuses on Tombstone Art, that is painting influenced by the tombstones in cemeteries like Pere Lachaise Cemetery. The Pere Lachaise Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in the world and it is located in Paris, France. 

GGotW: What is your connection to the goth community? 

KM: My high school closet was my connection to the goth community. Til the end of my sophomore year I only wore black, I would lie down on the floor of my bedroom and listen to music for hours and write very dark but very beautiful poetry, Siouxsie and the Banshees especially. 

Makeup didn't interest me as much as the darkness I felt as an outcast. I was a recluse though I had a reputation in school for loving everyone equally. One afternoon my mother opened the room to my door and interrogated me. She said, "Are you doing drugs? What kind of girl only wears black! Who wants to paint their fingernails black?" 

 Then she opened my closet door and said, "You are so morbid. A closet full of black." She couldn't see I was sorting things out in my own way.

GGotW: What do you enjoy about the Goth Community? 

KM: The Expression and the eye. The goth community is often misunderstood and the women especially confront (mainstream) society using art, by being the walking embodiment of art. When a person looks at someone in the goth community their eyes begin to ask questions, and much like my mother those questions are distorted; they may ask "why is she dressed like that?" rather than asking themselves why they feel attacked by that individuals desire to not conform. Goths provoke dialogue upon a glance, and usually it is a one-way dialogue that speaks more about the person opening their mouth than the girl or boy all dressed in black.

Click on the images that appear with the article to see larger versions. Please feel free to leave comments below, you don't need to be a member to leave comments.

Profile: Frontline Films

Brian Clements is the Writer and Director of the films from Victoria's Frontline Films, a small company gaining recognition in the world of independent films. Last year's release of Meat Market 3 is being released on DVD this weekend at Lucky Bar on Yates St and now Frontline has another film ready for a Halloween release at the Roxy Theatre on Quarda St..

Meat Market 3 leaves behind the comedic elements and amateur production values of the
first two entries in the —Meat Market series in favour of a more straight-ahead horror approach with an additional psychological thriller influence. The movie opts primarily for a taut atmosphere of dread with a few good shocks and scares, and gore used only for maximum impact in generating ever-escalating story tension.

The Victoria DVD release will be at Lucky Bar at 517 Yates street on the evening of Friday, October 16th, from 8:30PM-midnight. Admission is $5. DVDs will be available for only $10, discounted $5 off the regular price of $15.

---

In the 1980's a book called Michelle Remembers helped dub the city of Victoria as the second Satanic Capital of the World after Geneva, Switerland. Brian Clement's new movie Dark Paradox explores the idea that this myth was not only partially true, but also partially inaccurate in suggesting the cult activity was Satanic when in fact it was based on the worship of ancient extraterrestrial "elder gods" in the vein of HP Lovecraft's fiction.

The Victoria premiere will be on Saturday October 20th at the Roxy Theatre at 11:30PM, after the theatre‘s regular screening schedule. Admission will be $7. The screening will be hosted by director Brian Clement, and DVDs of his other features will be available after the show.

Profile: NightShadows

NightShadows Photography is run by one of our own members here at Goth Girl of the Week. We've wanted to do profiles as part of the Goth Girl experience but a few interviews have failed and we've run out of Girls for the site so now is the time.

If you've got a Gothic related business from clothing maker to fangs or photography or any thing else, contact us at victoria.photography@gmail.com and we'll get you Profiled here where nearly 1000 people hit a week. If your a model or just want to be one and you've got some Gothic pictures of yourself, send us a line too.

---

GGotW: Why the name NightShadows?
NS: I got the name when my wife and I were writing the script to a Vampire short film we were making. The film is called NightShadows and the name came out of the fact that Vampires are creatures of the night and keep to the Shadows.

GGotW: When did this all start?
NS: It was 1997, I was working for a guy with some Pro level Hi-8 video cameras that he said I was free to use any time he was busy in editing.

GGotW: Is that when you started photography?
NS: Hell no, I was taking pictures with my dad's Canon AE-1 back in the mid eighties. Then I got a gig with a newspaper shooting at the David Foster Celebrity Softball Tournament. That started my long life as a photographer.

GGotW: Who have you worked for as a photographer?
NS: The list is pretty long, but I started with The Victoria Star Newspaper, that's who I covered the David Foster games for. I then moved on to Cut: To Magazine and worked at Attractions Magazine for seven years. Other than that I've been freelance with some nice gigs here and there.

GGotW: What kind of camera do you shoot with?
NS: My wife and I just picked up a Canon 400D and she has a Canon T2, we both have Canon AE-1's and that has been my main camera for about 25 years.

GGotW: What is the differance between the Canon AE-1 that you've been using and the new Canon 400D?
NS: The Canon AE-1 is a film camera and in my opinion the work horse of the Canon family. The 400D, or Rebel XTi as it's known in North America, is a 10.1MP digital beauty. I'll be using it on the next goth shoot.

GGotW: So are you going to shoot film and digital now?
NS: No actually I'm looking at going completely digital so I'm selling off my film equipment on eBay. Once I sell all this I'm going to purchase another Canon XTi (400D)

GGotW: Last year you did two goth shoots, what are you plans for this year and why haven't you done one yet?
NS: Last summer I gathered four models and two photographers, my wife and myself, we shot two rolls of film each at the back of Victoria's Legislative Grounds and came up with some fantastic images. Then a little later in the year I took Rowen Bellamy and her boyfriend, Photographer Greg Forsberg, into Beacon Hill Park and did another shoot, so far the weather and my schedule have not co-operated so now we are looking at an August 26th shoot.

GGotW: What do you have lined up for that shoot?
NS: We have five models at the moment and a MUA (make-up artist). The theme we're aiming for is Elegant Goth, we want to get away from the Street Goth that we had last time. We're set to shoot in Beacon Hill Park and my wife and I have picked out some awesome locations.

GGotW: What else have you got planned?
NS: Not too much, I work full time as a Retail Sale Manager and have had a lot of overtime, but were I can I want to do more photography and model photography is what I really enjoy.

GGotW: Where can people find you on the net?
NS: Wow, I seem to be all over the place, but my main website is NightShadows and I spend a lot of time on DeviantArt. I also have accounts on Model Mayhem and Model Place.

---

Click on the images that appear with the article to see larger versions. Please feel free to leave comments below, you don't need to be a member to leave comments.

Site News: February

We've updated the Rules for submitting to Goth Girl of the Week, and are getting ready to make our first Profile. We'll surprise you with it in the next week or two.

Profile: Gothic BC

Gothic BC is a wonderful site full of links, art and images of parties and people.

The more than 5000 images are sorted by place, event or the venue that they occurred in or by person, a great way to sort and view the many images on the site. Their calendar is one of the best events calendars I've seen on the web. The forums talk about everything from clubbing to music and while the site is Vancouver based, the topics bleed into other areas of the gothic world.

This eight year-old non-commercial site is worth the visit for anyone in the scene, locally or not.

Check it out here.

Tags Goth Clubing gothic fetish Vancouver BC