Dear friends,

It is with sadness in my heart that I announce today that we are closing up shop here at the 138 Collective. After a year-long run, I believe it is finally time to lay down the pens and cameras and let the 138 float on into “internet heaven.”

Above all things, the 138 Collective was a team effort. I would like to thank each and every writer, contributor, editor, copy editor, designer and plain old crazy person who was bold enough to dream with us.  I will always remember our time together as a testimony to team work.

To our readers, thank you for your undying support. Thank you for your time.

We came. We saw. We blogged. To the dreamers go the spoils.

Best,

Phillip Domfeh
Editor-In-Chief

“USA! … USA!” chants Nikki Lane on stage at the House of Blues in Anaheim on Tuesday, November 22.

Patriotic country sweetheart Lane, graces the stage showing her support for her tour-mates, London natives Noah & the Whale, by wearing a dress with the Union Jack emblazoned on the front.

As a teenager, Lane dropped out of high school and headed west for Los Angeles in pursuit of something grander than her small hometown of Greenville, South Carolina.

Celebrating the September 27th release of her first full-length album, Walk of Shame, Lane shared a lot of her new country-inspired songs that speak of her wanderings.

In “Gone, Gone, Gone” she shared her experience of heading west to seek meaning and purpose and she “won’t be back for far too long.”

The country belle also sings about the downs of love. “This one’s for the assholes,” said Lane before singing the opening track to her record, “Lies.”

“Funny how you think you know a man, but in time you’ll understand,” sings Lane.

Lane ambition has led her to sign with Los Angeles based label IAMSOUND Records. She currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. She is also a stylist and a model, while running her own vintage accessories shop called High Class Hillbilly.

Her sweet country accent and vibrant personality inspires a lust for wandering and a longing for the South.

As Lane left the stage, the rowdy crowd at the House of Blues was anxious in anticipation for the quirky antics of Noah & the Whale.

Amidst the infectious hand clapping, whistling, and Charlie Fink’s carefree humorous lyrics there’s nothing not to love about these five
British lads.

The band has compiled a very eclectic cult following since their debut in 2006 with the release of their first album Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down.

Since their first album the band has lost a couple members (Laura Marling being one of them, who left to start a solo career), and they have pursued a completely different sound. Their latest album Last Night on Earth released in March was entirely recorded in a converted synagogue in Venice Beach. The record’s main thread, birthed by Fink, is the “limitless possibilities of the night life.”

They began their set with “Give A Little Love” from Peaceful, appeasing the crowd with a beloved favorite.

“Our shows are primarily split up into two sets,” said Fink to the crowd. “The romantic section and the good time section.”

The romantic section began with “The Line,” from their latest album. A melancholy tale of an embittered relationship.

The good time section kicked off with another single from their new album, “Tonight’s the Kind of Night,” a fun dance-poppy number.

Since their debut, Noah & the Whale have cast off most of their cutesy eccentric visions and have matured musically and lyrically.

Although Noah & the Whale progressively separate themselves from their earlier slappy lyrics, the crowd enjoyed the former sunny simplicity of their first album.

As they closed with “Five Years Time,” the audience was echoing Fink until the end, singing, “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Sun, Sun, Sun.”

Written by Christina Helen and photographed by Kelsey Heng

In a small shopping center in Costa Mesa called The OC Mart Mix, a small coffee shop dubbed Portola Coffee Lab is making a big impression on coffee aficionados in the L.A. area. Portola is a privately owned coffee bar and café that has a serious dedication to real coffee and top-notch customer service, as can be seen by their diverse list of daily roasted beans and their friendly, helpful, and good humored staff. Their laboratory-themed design and brewing method are also unique twists that make the ordering and tasting process refreshingly different.

Upon walking up to the counter to order, the first thing we noticed was that there were no overhead menus. Instead, ordering is done via clipboard, which was very systematic and easy to understand (think a chemist’s notebook). Choices of bean origin vary on the season, but this autumn evening found us deciding between an organic Kenya (bright acidity, a lingering sweetness, and an incredible black currant flavor/aroma), and an organic Guatemala (full-bodied, a fine acidity, and rich, energetic aroma).

However, Portola’s many different brewing methods prove to modify levels of the coffee’s flavors. If a customer enjoys a lighter, smoother cup, the barista may suggest the siphon method, which heats the coffee to a perfect temperature before pulling it through a fine cloth filter. If the customer prefers a stronger, more full-bodied cup, the Bunn Trifecta or Hario pour-over method may be a better choice. For those who enjoy iced coffee, the 10-hour Kyoto drip is unlike anything we’ve ever tasted, with an extremely smooth and low-acidity mouthfeel.

 And then, of course, there is the espresso. Espresso fanatics may be pleased to hear that Portola owns and operates one of the rare Slayer machines, unique for its ability to allow the barista to tune and adjust pressure and water flow to pull a precisely perfect shot. Pair that with Portola’s intensely sweet and syrupy espresso beans, and you get an espresso shot that ranks near the top of the entire L.A. coffee scene.

To sum things up, Portola Coffee Lab is worth the trip and the price. Come expecting a great atmosphere suitable for day outings, study sessions (plenty of comfy seating), or simply for your morning cup. Either way, Portola impressed us on all levels, and will definitely earn a place in the heart of every coffee addict who walks in the door.

Written by Jesse Greenwood & Photographed by Rachel McCord

Mates of State, the piano and drums married duo from Stratford Connecticut played a show at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on November 8^th to promote their newest album, Mountaintops.

The show was a dance party, with poppy piano, synthesizer and dance-beat drums.  The songs were interesting and fun and the husband and wife duo seemed to be enjoying themselves throughout the entire performance. The stage was dressed like a forest dreamland with leaves and clouds filling the air.

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel have been touring the world as Mates of State since 1997 and their stage presence really shows it. Their chemistry was undeniable with glances of acknowledgement and double-checking throughout the show. They looked like they were at home on the stage, completely comfortable with each other and the environment. At one point, Jason even said, “I’ve been playing these drums for 45 minutes, I just looked up and realized you all were here.” They were having a blast and that energy was transferred to the audience. People were singing and dancing along to all of the songs, mouthing the words to most and enjoying the show. It seemed very familial. Mates of State had a true appreciation for their fans who came out to the show, thanking the crowd repeatedly, and the crowd seemed to have no fear of dancing and singing along. It was truly a rare concert experience.

If you are looking for a fun, poppy, upbeat dance band, Mates of State just might be the band for you. Their songs are laced with melodies and harmonies that are constantly switching back and forth between Kori and Jason, adding another layer of complexity to the bands already complex songs. Their material is a really great listen and I would encourage you to check out their newest album, Mountaintops, as well as their six previous albums.

Written by Josh Kaye.  Photographed by Jen Trahan.

I’m just a nerdy guy with tattoos and glasses,” confessed Dallas Green, to the crowd at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, November 3rd.

Click on photos to view photo album.

Green’s tale of his trek to buy Doritos chips at the Ralph’s on Broadway Street before the show proved to the audience that there is a quirky personality behind the mostly melancholy music.

There are many surprising qualities about Green; the fact that he is friends with female pop star P!nk, he has time to keep up to date on the latest Bieber rumors while he is busy touring, and he has seen Niagara Falls more than he can count.

Dallas Green is the name and face behind his band alter ego, City and Colour, because his name is in fact a city and a color.

Green and the band were recently back from their European tour that took them all the way from Vienna, Austria to Dublin, Ireland. When asked to share a crazy experience in an interview, he shared a story of his bassist and friend, Scott Remila ending his seven-year commitment to vegetarianism to meat in an Italian market.

“I bought these bacon wrapped sausages in a cone.  I was eating it and I looked at Scott and he was like, ‘Give me that,’ and he ate it,” said Green. “He was in Italy in a market, he was like I have to eat it.”

After returning from Europe in October, Green made his way back from Canada to the Orpheum Theatre to start off his US tour. Green has played in L.A. many times, but is a newcomer to the Orpheum.

The Orpheum, on Broadway Street in Los Angeles, presents a regal atmosphere for the audience who are seated in what looks like an old-fashioned opera house. The sit-down venue could normally cause the audience to feel disconnected with the artist, but with Green it provides an intimate setting where listeners can feel like they are watching an extremely personal screenplay of Green’s music.

The singer spends most of the year touring.

“My whole career has been made off of touring,” said Green in an interview. “I’ve never really been one of those people who make money making records, I always thought if I made a living I would make it off of touring.”

Green, growing up in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada, had many great Canadian musical influences.

“I was lucky enough to have a lot of great Canadian bands to listen to,” said Green.  “In the early 90s I was just becoming a teenager and that’s when I feel you’re most impressionable. Now, I mean Canada rules: Arcade Fire, Feist, and Bieber.”

In comparison to the Canadian music scene Green finds Los Angeles atmosphere to be extremely different.

“Sometimes I get a sense from the crowd like ‘Okay impress me,’” said Green. “Which is sort of a bummer, but I’m lucky to have really good fans who are interested in the music.”

Opening for Green was his guitarist Daniel Romano and Hacienda.

Green began his set with the evocative “We Found Each Other in the Dark,” the opening track to his latest album, Little Hell, which came out in June. With slicked back hair, bowties, and suspenders the band’s vintage style echoed Green’s bluesy folk sound.

Followed up by “The Death of Me,” which wasn’t complete without the twangy pedal steel.

In Little Hell, an album that touches on the singer’s personal relationships, Green reveals his relationship with his father in “The Grand Optimist.” He also played his mother’s favorite song, “Like Knives,” from his first album Sometimes.

The most intimate moments of the show was when it was simply Green and his guitar.

Green said, “I’m going to play a couple songs for the fans who stuck by me since the beginning.” He sang, “Day Old Hate,” from his first album.

Then Green made a unique request of the audience for the next song.

“There’s always a point in one show where I ask everyone to take away their cell-phones and cameras, and just instead of trying to remember the night, just enjoy it,” said Green.

The singer was handed his Bob Dylan harmonica holder for “Body in a Box.”

Green then invited his mysterious “good friend” Alecia to sing on stage with him. Alecia, otherwise known as P!NK, emerges from behind the scarlet curtain to sing a duet of “What Makes A Man?” After the duet Green remarked, “Maybe I should have ended with that.”

Green concluded his set with the haunting “Fragile Bird,” who he dedicated to his friends Matt and Hilary.

Coming back on stage for the encore demanded by the audience, Green expressed his sincere gratitude.

“I am not eloquent enough to say any more than thank you,” said Green. “This is pretty unbelievable for me.”

He then serenaded his listeners with a mostly acoustic rendition of “Coming Home.” The theatre was filled with Green’s lingering vocals echoing off the walls.

With the apparel, venue, and music listeners get the sense that Green is an old-fashioned guy who wants his audience to enjoy his music.

When watching Green perform it is less about the audience and more about his emotional catharsis.

“I don’t write songs for other people,” he Green. “I don’t expect the songs I write to be a hit. I write the songs to make myself happy.”

Written by Christina Helen.  Photographed by Kelsey Heng.

Originally from Orange County, CA, Josiah Johnson of The Head and the Heart moved to Seattle in search for a change in his life after graduating from college.  138 Collective sat down and spoke with him about the bands he played in when living in the L.A. area, differences between L.A. and Seattle’s music community, and the future of indie music.

138 Collective: In november last year, I remember you guys (The Head and the Heart) posted on Facebook about how excited you were to be opening for David Bazan.  Over the past year you’ve gone on tour with Dr. Dog, Death Cab For Cutie, The Decemberists, and have performed on Conan and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  What has been the most surreal moment over the past year?

Josiah Johnson: We were in Charlottesville, Virginia over the summer.  We were opening for The Decemberists, which was awesome.   But Dave Matthews has a summer home out there, which we were all invited to.  We go off into the middle of the woods outside of Charlottsville, and it’s this old, big, brick manor looking thing, and stayed up drinking with him and his wife until three in the morning.  Jon [Russell] and Kenny [Hensley] were messing around on the piano in his house, and [Dave Matthews] hears it.  He comes over and is like, “Wow, I really like this thing that you’re doing.  What if you tried this?”  Then they got in this whole talk about it.  It was Jon, Kenny, and Dave Matthews writing a song in his living room.

At that moment it felt fairly normal, but if you think about it, it’s totally ridiculous.  It’s one of those things…he just became a friend, and they were writing a song together.  It was so strange.  I think it’s just generally indicative of this whole idea that we’ve met all of these great, established musicians, and the feeling that they’ve come to view our music in such a way that we’ve come to be more peers with them, rather than just looking up to them.

Aside from Seattle, do you guys have a favorite city you like to perform in?

That’s a hard question, just because, in general, every show is different, you know?  The vibe of the room, or the crowd from that night.  We’ve had great transcendent shows and mediocre shows in the same city.  So, it’s hard to pick one city.  There’s just moments and times that you treasure.  It’s not the city.  It’s the people that are there making it happen.

You originally grew up in the greater L.A. area, specifically Orange County.   When did you move to Seattle and what enticed you to move there?

I moved there almost exactly three years ago.  It was honestly just where I personally was in my life.  I graduated from college and had been in several bands in Orange County.  Then it’s, like, you record demo or EP, you write songs for a few months, play a few shows…then break up.  After college I wasn’t playing in any more bands, I was just working in an office.  Did that for about two years.  It was a really nice job, the people there were really cool, the work was easy,  but the atmosphere of working in an office…I just started feeling less and less creative, which is something I always loved to do.  I wasn’t meeting new people, I wasn’t trying new things, ya know?  So, I just needed a change.  And I had been to Seattle a bunch of times on road trips.  And [Seattle] just seemed like a good place to get a fresh start.

I think it’s something you can do anywhere, where you reinvent who you are and what you’re doing.  For me personally, the best thing was to just be in a different environment.

How did you meet the other members of The Head and the Heart?

I met Jon, the guy that sings and writes the majority of the songs with me, at an open mic night in Seattle.  We had both just recently moved there, and were both song writing, but not really looking to be in a band, and we both bonded over that.  We started playing shows that were just acoustic.  We didn’t have a band, but we’d always invite different friends and that we’d met in the music scene to come up and play with us.  And then over the next year, while we were doing that, we started meeting people that really made an impact on the way the songs sounded, and were just playing along.  When we met Kenny, his rollicking, Beatles-like piano, just wasn’t something we originally envisioned, but we really enjoyed.  And it was, like, “Oh, wow.  I can’t imagine ‘Ghosts’ without this piano line you had.”  So, every once in a while you’d meet someone that you felt like should stay, when other people come and go.  And it turned into a band that sounded different from what we originally had in mind when it was just the two of us.

Back when you were living in Orange County, how and why did you get involved in writing music?

The first music I listened to was very much underground music.  I don’t mean that in a snobby sense, but just in the sense that they were playing these tiny shows, and you feel more like they’re people and not these inaccessible musicians.  When you realize that these [musicians/bands] are people just like you, you get this idea “Oh, wow, I can do that.” And then it was just like, theses people have written songs that have impacted me and changed my emotional state.  I always wanted to write songs that impacted people that same way.  So, I just started writing songs. [At first] they were really bad, and then over years and years of doing it, they get less bad.

Are there any memorable shows in the L.A. area or favorite bands you listened to during high school?

It was actually more college when I started getting more into music.  I was sort of a late bloomer in terms of listening to music and going to show especially.  But yeah, Further Seems Forever was a big one, and there was a band from San Diego, dieradiodie, that was good.

And I just totally shifted and stopped listening to that sort of emo/screamo stuff, and started listening to Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, and Sigur Ros.  I saw Sigur Rose at the Hollywood Bowl, like, outside, with the trees and stars overhead, and that was pretty incredible.  I saw Sufjan Stevens on the Illinois tour at the El Rey, and that was pretty incredible.

Prior to moving to Seattle, were you in any bands in the L.A. area?  If yes, what were they like?

I was in two bands.  The first one was called Bambie, and that was…just a terrible band all around.  We wanted to sound like Thursday.  The second one was actually pretty good for what we were capable of at the time, which was Billy Sunday.  Our first show was actually at the El Rey, which, ya know, just has that legendary quality to it.  And that one, we had been listening to The Killers, who just came out with their first album, and I was really getting into Radiohead.  So, my voice was kinda doing sort of that and the music was sort of dance-y.

One of Josiah's first bands in Orange County. Photo was taken outside of Fox Theatre in Fullerton, CA.

From your experiences, how does the Seattle music scene compare to L.A.’s?

The main one that I’ve noticed – and I don’t want to talk too much shit on the L.A. music scene – but there was this vague, unspeakable vibe in the back of your head that felt if some of those L.A. bands were doing well, then you were, like, jealous of them, and kinda begrudged their success.  And there was this competition that felt if that person was into that other band, then they wouldn’t be into your band as much.

In the Seattle music scene, people listen to so much music, you don’t have to worry just because someone else gets successful.  And it’s, like, very incestuous.  There’s all these people that play a bunch of different bands, and give each other shout-outs, and help promote bands that they’re friends with.

L.A. is definitely known for producing a lot of great bands.  But the dominant focus is the more glamorous L.A., Hollywood lifestyle, just as an overall cultural thing.  And Seattle’s dominant cultural thing is music.  People from Seattle’s idea of things to do on the weekends to a much greater degree involves going to a show for entertainment.  Also, there’s a really great radio station that plays a lot of local Seattle bands called KEXP.  And they have a national reach, too, which helps [Seattle] bands not only do well in Seattle, but do well outside.  And there’s a lot of music blogs that are very humble with their involvement in the music seen, whereas I feel a lot of L.A. music-critic-type people feel a little entitled and feel bigger than they ought to feel.  But there’s a lot of people in Seattle that do it for the love helping bands do well.

After seeing your guys perform four times already, it seems that “Rivers and Roads” is your big hit with audiences.  And just to quote some of the lyrics, “I’ve been talking about the way things change, my family lives in a different state, and if you don’t know what to make of this, then we will not relate.”  What’s the story behind these lyrics?  

Well, what prompted me to write the song was actually the lyrics prior to that, and it [was about] a couple of my really good friends that I met in Seattle.  They went to New York to be more involved in community service organizations, and it was totally for the better, but I was going to miss them.  And it was just idea that things change sometimes, and it’s a bummer for you when, you know, people go in and out of your life.  And then that line, “my family lives in a different state,” was literally “I did that, I moved out of my community of people” to do something better and bigger and better.  All of us in the band were in this transitional state when we were writing songs.  And we could all identity with that sentiment.  And it turns out that a lot of other people identify with that sentiment.

Over the past couple of years, indie music has seen a pretty big shift.  A lot more indie bands/artists are utilizing electronic/digital instruments (e.g. synthesizers, drum pads, etc.).  Do you see this style becoming further separated from the folk side of indie music?  Do you feel they may come in conflict?

Well, there’s definitely folk bands and then there’s definitely electronic based bands.  The cool thing is when bands incorporate both sides.  The new Bon Iver record has synths, textures, drum pads, and also has that weird 80s piano on the last song.  But it still has folk rhythms, and stuff like that.  There are definitely some bands that straight follow a genre formula, ya know?  But I think the most interesting bands are the ones that aren’t just a folk band or just an electronic band or just a pop band, but incorporate of all those different things into a sound that may be compared to another, but can’t be straightforwardly categorized.  That’s pretty cool and interesting to me, and it’s something I always hoped we would do more of.

It may be pretty early to talk about this, but do you think it’s possible you might incorporate some electronic instruments in the future? 

Tyler (The Head and the Heart’s drummer) has a drum pad he’s using for like minimal things, that he bought before this headlining tour.  He only uses it in, like, two or three parts of songs in a very minimal way.  It’s nothing crazy going on.  But that’ something he’s learning as we tour.  And Jon’s running his guitar in a Fender reverb, to get a bigger sound.  One of the things about our album that I think is a strength in some ways, in terms of highlighting the lyrics, there’s not a lot of textured layers to the album.  The album is how we play it live, you know?  We didn’t record a whole lot more than what we’re doing with guitar, piano, violin, bass and drums.  We haven’t had a ton of time to look into [new stuff] because we’ve been touring all year.  Even now, I can definteily see a several people in the band getting really interested in messing around with that sort of stuff.

Over the past year, L.A. indie music scene has really embraced a more electronic feel.  Foster the People just came out of L.A. and countless other bands here have picked up on it.  Would you say Seattle has embraced indie-folk more than other U.S. cities? 

I mean, honeslty, I think the combination of Fleet Foxes and [The Head and the Heart] quick succession, coming to prominence in Seattle and being folk-based bands, has actually made it really hard to justify yourself being a folk band in Seattle.  ‘Cause now it’s starting to feel, like, “Oh, wow, really? You’re playing folk, too?”  You know what I mean?

That’s starting to become a thing.  And there’s countless bands doing things different than that, like Lemolo has a piano, dreamy-pop music, and using loops and synthesizers.  Kind of like a Beach House kind of feel.  They’ve been doing that for two years when everone else in Seattle was trying to make it big as a folk band.  There’s another band starting to get big now that actually just got signed to Billions [booking agency] called Pickwick.  They’re this sort of neo-soul music.  Seattle definitely did embrace folk music, but now it’s starting to feel like this faux pas, “I can’t believe you’re still trying to do this kind of thing.”  We just have plenty of folk bands in Seattle.

Josiah performing with The Head and the Heart at The Music Box in Hollywood. Click the photo to view photo album.

A lot of musicians/artists have been debating how Spotify will affect the music industry.  I know a lot of independent musicians are predicting it’ll have negative effects.  Do you have any thoughts on it?

Honestly, I can’t really say yet.  From what I’ve heard, there’s definitely this idea that Spotify will be paying people a little more fairly for streaming music than a lot of the other streaming services on the internet.  I haven’t seen any numbers on what we’re paid for that, so I can’t really tell.  But the hope is that they monetize it where [musicians/bands] get paid a reasonable amount.   Some of the streaming services, like Zune, give about two-fifths of a cent every time someone streams your song, which is ridiculous.  But ultimately I still feel getting people to pay to listen to your music .  The trend is already that people who don’t want to pay for music, then they don’t.  Spotify at least are trying to at least figuring out a to monetize music.  Obviously, it’ll pay more if someone actually buys your album than when someone streams it.  The theory is that they’re finding better ways to pay people when people listen to their music on Spotify.  And when people really treasure your music, they will buy it.  And there’s a lot of casual music listener that might stream your album on Spotify or download it illegally.  But that was available before Spotify, I don’t think it’s going to hurt the music industry any more than when people just downloaded albums for free [illegally].

Is there something you can share that none of your fans would ever know about you?

I really love female pop singers.  Like, I really love Gwen Stefani’s solo stuff, I love Florence and the Machine.  But even like Gwen Stefani and, to a lesser extent, even Katy Perry, I just have a soft spot for those.  I know sometimes the lyrics are so bad, and for being someone who puts a price on writing my lyrics, you would think I would be totally outraged, but for some reason I can’t help it.

Interview by Samuel Santos. Photographed by Kelsey Heng.

Any event with a guest list stacked with the Ninja Turtles, Batman, Captain Jack Sparrow, Mickey Mouse and the Ghost Busters would give the impression that the comic convention was in town.  But last Sunday night there were no comic fan boys to be found, just die-hard music enthusiasts in Halloween garb ready to party at FYF Fest’s the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Click on photos to view photo album.

Costumes ranged from the commentative, the  Jehovah’s Witness bicyclers, over-grown babies, Tea Party supporters and the obligatory zombies. There was a bizarre aura of eccentricity swirling around the night; it felt as if the entire night were ripped out of an episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees intensified the crowd’s energy to a near boiling point with support from opening acts; The Soft Pack, Total Control and Tijuana Panthers. It was a crowd that you either participated wholeheartedly in the pushing and shouting or retreated to the rear in hopes of finding escape from the mosh.  There was no middle ground.

Black Flag and OFF!’s Keith Morris almost anonymously DJ’d in between acts from the back of the room while large, overwhelming projections of 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead” overtook the center stage. One could not help but wonder what he felt of the “Black Flag” costumes being sported by some of his fans.

All in all, it was a night well worth the hike out to the city and one I’m sure the Ukrainian Cultural Center will not soon forget.

Written and photographed by Joshua Watson.

Elizabeth G. Browne is a young photographer from Los Angeles. Much of her work is a quiet look at a vast California landscape. I’m not sure if all of her landscapes are located in CA, but I can see she is comfortable in desert, ocean, and mountains. Her portraits are lovely, also quiet; she relies heavily on light and human expression/form. See her work right here.

Written and compiled by Corey Vaughan.

We spoke with Sarah Ahn, the genius behind NAMI fashion, following her Los Angeles debute at the 2011 Concept Fashion Week. Held in the Ace Gallery on Wilshire, Concept featured several emerging designers and was the kick-off event of the L.A. Fall 2011 fashion season.

Ahn, a 2006 UCLA alumna with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, has since turned towards her enthusiasm for fashion design. Once a volunteer dresser for Concept’s 2010 Fashion Week, she has returned as one of L.A. and New York’s most recognized, burgeoning fashion artists. NAMI, branded after Ahn’s Korean middle name, released its first full length collection for Spring/Summer 2012 at Concept in New York in September. The line is based primarily on landscape inspirations from her travels to Japan last year, specifically cherry blossom trees.

138 Collective: What were some of essential pieces for this collection that you wanted to see executed best?

More than just individual pieces per se, I feel that as a collective, not only is it the inspiration of the cherry blossoms – it’s actually a larger representation of Japan’s culture. I really fell in love with oragami as a kid and wanted to incorporate the culture, or art, of it into the fabric. You can see it translated into the chiffon’s pleating and specifically, the navy blue dress. Likewise, in the blazer you see the interesting pointed feel. And the triangular sleeve of the gray dress folding into the shoulder – it’s like you’re playing with the fabric like its paper. It’s this illusion of oragami worn on the body. The last dress was inspired by my Korean heritage and the tradition “hanbok” dress. I was drawing from my past experiences on top of the initial imagery I was creating.

138 Collective: As you approached this line, were there any unexplored ideas you specifically wanted to tackle?

My team and I were surprised by the large popularity of the halter dress that A-line’s and has sheer side panels and pockets. It was very popular after my first show in New York, so you just never know what people will most fall in love with. You are working so close with the fabrics towards completion, and afterwards, you step back and say, “Wow that piece turned out steller.” As a whole, the collection is very verbal and feminine. It really shows off the pretty collarbones and the wearer.

138 Collective: What is the inspiration behind the hinge necklaces and how do they comment on the rest of your collection?

I was sort of surprised that so many people loved the necklaces. It came out of an accident: I had turned down a wrong isle in a home improvement store and turned around and saw these stacks of unfinished door hinges. I fell in love with them and their shape. It can be a little shocking, but sometimes we look past every day objects and don’t think: “there’s a specific thought that went into these pieces of metal.” It’s really a way to slow down and appreciate the things around us. I added this to the collection because I felt as if they were actually romantic and whimsical and very feminine. I really enjoy mixing and matching. I love the word “juxtaposition” – to contrast something soft with something hard and more edgy. The metal added weight to the collection and masculinity.

138 Collective: Your hope is to apply principles of “reducing and reusing” whenever possible. Were you able to incorporate this much into your latest line?

Not quite yet, but so far all of our paper products have been used from recycled material. Starting off as a company, it’s difficult to maintain an operation at this rate along with those goals. However, I do have very specific plans to visit Napal in March. I was there recently, and it didn’t occur to me until after i came back that it would be an amazing resource. Bamboo is a huge part of the local economy, so I’d love to go back and visit factories where i can source fabrics and possibilities using bamboo.

138 Collective: Should we look for elements of this season to be subsumed into future collections?

I’m already working on the next season! There are elements that are similar, but I feel that as a new designer I’d like to experiment and see just how different each season can look and what I might be capable of. It will be interesting just to see how the collection will come out next time. I’m the same designer, so there will naturally be elements that will appear again.

138 Collective: Out of curiousity, what designers would you most love to see yourself collaborate with in the future?

I love Lanvin! Alber Elbaz is amazing and so talented. I think he really understands femininity and what a woman wants to look like and to feel. He understands the woman’s body and curves. I really want for my collection to make a woman feel more beautiful and confident because of the clothing.

Written by Alyson Luthi. Photographed by Katie Juranek.

KCRW is putting on two nights of music for their “Are Friends Eclectic?” concert series this December. Held at the newly renovated and historic Orpheum Theatre, the event will feature Iron & Wine, Jimmy Cliff, and L.A.’s own Fool’s Gold along with many other artists.

Here are the details…

WHAT: “Are Friends Eclectic?” Holiday Shows

WHEN: Friday, December 2 and Saturday, December 3

WHERE: Orpheum Theatre

842 S Broadway

Los Angeles, California 90014

TIME: 8pm

TICKETS: From $55 to $200 (All Ages)

DETAILS & TICKETS: http://www.kcrw.com/holidayshow

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