FRESH!FRESH!JONNY FOUND
A RAYGUNthe interview
KROKODILthe heroin substitute
rotting russia
WHAT’S FRESH THIS MONTH?
The new urban brand taking fashion by storm!
ISSUE 1 - FEB 2013
BEST BEFORE:28-02-13
Hit up FRESHmag..com to keep up to
date on upcoming freshness
Feb 2013-£4.50
CONTENTS
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ONE OF THE HOTTEST NEW INDIE BANDS FROM THE SOUTH WEST ON GIGS, GIRLS AND MORE!
Krokodil: Russia’s new drug craze that is slowly rotting its people away…
THE BATTLE OF THE NEXT GEN GAMES CONSOLES!
DREAM BUT DO NOT SLEEP
THE NEW ‘LIFESTYLE BRAND’ ORIGINATING IN THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE
We chat with Andy Broadhurst, AKA the founder of Countless Apparel on designs, prints and his new lines for this season!
JONNY FOUND A RAYGUN
What gave you the idea to create Countless Apparel? The idea for Countless came from a photographyt college project, I asked my friend to design a tee so I could photograph it for a time related brief (the first shirt was a pocket watch….) Then people showed interest so I just went for it really!
Have any brands or artists inspired you in your clothing range? I would say ‘Cheer Up’ clothing would be one of my biggest influences, just simple aesthetics, not over complicated is what I enjoy wearing so I make the garments simple and not over ridden with graphics.
What is your brand’s ethos in terms of style and ap-pearance? Our style is a mix between the indie and street genre’s of clothing, we hope that people enjoy wearing it, not covered up, on display to show they love it! Our motto is ‘stand up and be counted’ and I think that our prints certainly stand out from the crowd!
Have you had any media recognition in the past? I.e. magazines, blogs, websites. We’ve been into one publication before and also a blog which I can’t really remember because it was when I first started Countless Apparel at the beginning of last year, and a lot has happened since then! I’ve now started at University, and I am looking to branch my brand out further from Ex-eter where it first started.
When are you dropping the new range for the Spring/Summer season? We don’t really do it season by season, we just like to add new lines that are appropriate for the season, vests in summer etc…. but we’ve just dropped the script range which we’ve had great feedback about on our Facebook page!
Where can people reading this grab your garments from?
If they go to Countlessapparel.bigcartel.com then people can check out our store which has our full range of designs and prints! And we now even ship worldwide for anyone outside of the UK!
Finally, your chance to give a shout out to your customers and fans! We’d like to thank you all for your support over the past year or so, which has made a lot of things happen for me and the brand! And remember guys to ‘stand up and be counted!’
We’ve managed to get an exclusive interview with Andy Broadhurst, who started his own clothing brand ‘Countless Apparel’ as a college project. Now a year on he’s expanded his idea into an up and coming fashion cult to watch out for!
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JONNY FOUND A RAYGUN - THE INTERVIEW We speak to Elliott Gunn, mandolin player, band manager and artwork designer about how him, Jon, Ben and Kian got together and what’s in store for the future of Jonnny Found A Ray Gun!
• So how did you guys first meet?
Well me (Elliott) and Jon have been friends for a very long time and then I’ve known Ben for a few years as well. Then Jon met Kian at college and it all started from there! • What made you decide to become a band together?
Well we didn’t really decide to just become a band, I started playing the Mandolin which I blagged off Jon, then Jon met Kian and found out he played Bass Guitar so we just came together from that. • What would you describe as your music genre? I would say we don’t really have a specific genre as such but if we had to put ourselves into onethen Indie Folk/Pop but more to pop than folk.
• Have you had any recognition in any forms of media? I.e. magazines, blogs, reviews etc. Nope not yet , would be really nice to be! The music industry is a very hard thing to get into! And it seemsto be filled with artists with not much talent right now!, but hopefully we can break through and do it!
• What’s the biggest gig you’ve played so far?
Well last year we played at this event which was for the Olympics in the summer, and that was to about 300/400 people! Which was really massive for us!
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• Do any of you pull pranks on one another? We don’t tend to really pull pranks, but there is a lot of banter between all of us! Which makes playing together much more fun and eventful!
• So who’s the biggest joker of the group?
That’s totally myself; well I like to think so! But most of the time it’s more they laugh at me rather than with me! • Who’s got the best and worst dress sense? Were all pretty well dressed, but Ben has a ‘different’ style to us … meaning he wears what ever is in front of him when he gets up haha!
• Where can people find your music and check it out?
They can hit us up at either on youtube or sound cloud right now, just search for ‘Jonny Found A Ray Gun!’
• Is there an album on the way? And if so when are you expecting to release it?
Hopefully there is in the future, but were just writing more songs at the moment, which can take a long time! But yes hopefully we will have an EP coming out called ‘Take A Chance’ but I wouldn’t want to put a date on it’s arrival just yet. • Finally, a message for your fans out there!
From all the guys at Jonny Found A Ray Gun: thanks for listening to our music and please keep supporting us!
UP AND COMING BRAND: DREAM BUT DO NOT SLEEP
Starting from humble beginnings, Dream But Do Not Sleep is an up and coming brand from the South West that has its roots firmly in the electronic music scene. And with the brand due to release new lines for the spring/summer seasons, it’s certainly one to look out for!
The brainchild of Max Birtles, Dream But Do Not Sleep began with graphic t-shirt designs and sweater jumpers with the brand name across. But the brand has grown from this into a more cut and sew approach to its garments, using sourced fabrics to give the products a real quality feel and uniqueness to it’s wearer. And this approach to new threads and looks has branched out to beanies, hoodies and snapbacks coming out in recent months, expanding the idea into a firm brand.
Dream But Do Not Sleep also has an innovative design of it’s own on it’s website, with stickers being available to buy for just 99p! All they ask in return is for the people sticking them to take a photo of the location, particularly those stuck in unique places all over the world, from the back door of a toilet cubicle to along Miami Beach. This is a great way of spreading the word of the brand for the rest of the world to see and to watch out for!
Max himself believes that brands that are looking to try and do something different are the ones he aspires to, as Dream But Do Not Sleep wants to be known for it’s quirkiness and originality. And instead of taking the ‘pile ‘em high sell ‘em cheap approach’, he believes in quality over quantity when it comes to sourcing the materials for the garments, which gives their wearer a well made garment that will last the length of time and wear.
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The brand has been recognised in the media before, across people’s blogs and in lifestyle magazines, which has helped to promote it further. Music producers who are well known in the industry such as SYNKRO and Addison Groove have also endorsed the brand at many of their gigs and shows, representing the garments to many of their fans and students. This is really important to the brand and to Max, as the idea stems from the Electronic and Dance scene in particular, and he is keen to keep the brand to it’s roots.
It seems that Dream But Do Not Sleep are certainly one to watch out for in the near future! And us here at FRESH! are looking forward to seeing what they have to offer in a very exciting year for the brand!
If you want to see the full range of their products, then hit up their website at: dreambutdonotsleep.com!
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the people of Russia had to adapt completely from being under a totalitarian rule to that of a capitalist society. This was difficult for many who had become used to a communistic life, living in small communities in which everything is shared between them, with no exploitation or profit involved. But in the twenty or so years Russia has been free, corruption has spread across the nation, and with that corruption comes crime and in particular drugs.
Unofficially, Russia itself has the largest population of Heroin users in the world, with an estimated two million people shooting up on a daily basis, but where does such a large amount of heroin come from?
The majority of heroin importation comes through its bordering country Kazakhstan after being sent through from its origin: Afghanistan.
But this isn’t your stereotypical ‘Borat’ Kazakh man, who is transporting it over to
Russia; it is believed to be far more sinister than that. Although it is transported over in trucks bearing the Kazakh initials ‘KZ’, some Russians believe that terrorist organisations in Afghanistan run the trafficking of heroin from their homeland to Russia in an attempt to ‘weaken’ the country that once colonised Afghanistan and it’s bordering countries. It’s a dark concept, but one that can easily be believed if you look closely at it.
Heroin has obviously become a massive problem in Russia, not only because of the devastating effect it has on its users, but the expense it is to them also. Costing up to the equivalent of £60 sometimes, many users can no longer afford to carry on using heroin anymore so they find substitutes to replace it, with one of the most popular being called ‘Krokodil’ or ‘Crocodile’ in English. Made out of ingredients that cost less than an estimated six times the amount for heroin, Krokodil (chemical name desomorphine) has become the poor Russian’s answer to their heroin craving, containing legal and easy to get hold of ingredients such as
Krokodil: Russia’s new drug craze thatis slowly rotting its people away…
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caffeine tablets, eye drops and unbelievably: petrol.
Once they have boiled these and other ingredients together, they then find a vein and inject the substance into themselves, giving them an ‘opiate effect’ similar to that of heroin. It is reported that Russian heroin addicts first discovered Krokodil in 2007 after looking for a cheaper solution to their problem.
Her flesh is falling off and she can hardly move anymore.”
But like heroin, Krokodil can have devastating physical and visual effects to its user, resulting in rotting skin and eventually in most cases: death. This is caused through not injecting the substance into the user’s vein, but instead their flesh, which can soon be seen as a sort of abscess under the skin. If this happens often, then the user’s skin turns to a grey colour and starts to peel away, leaving only their bones in some cases. A Russian woman named Sasha told the Independent in 2011, of one of her friend’s who had been taking Krokodil: “She won’t go to hospital, she just keeps injecting. Her flesh is falling off and she can hardly move anymore.”
An estimated 30,000 Russians die each year due to heroin addiction, around a third of the drug’s average annual death toll, but it’s the drug’s sister substitute that is becoming increasingly more concerning, with a projected 100,000 plus users in Russia already. Viktor Ivanov, the head of
Russia’s Drug Control Agency, spoke also to the Independent in 2011 and told them of a visit to a drug-treatment centre in Western Siberia. He said, “They told me that two years ago almost all their drug users used heroin… now, more than half of them are on desomorphine (Krokodil).”
It’s a very sad story and a very hard one to understand considering the size of Russia as a super power and as a country, but it is a day-to-day reality that many have to face every day of every week. And although there are many organisations such as religious sects and Orthodox Christians trying to help those who need it, it seems there has to be a stance nationally in order for something to be done sooner, or Russia could soon fall into a serious drugs epidemic.
(If you enjoyed reading this article, then please check out Vice’s YouTube account for more on drug problems in Russia and a very good documentary on Krokodil.)
One of the major side effects of Krokodil is if it is injected incorrectly, it rots the skin
and turns it to a scale-like texture, similar to a Crocodile’s skin.
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THE BATTLE OF THE NEXT GEN
CONSOLES!
This image seems to be the most circulated around the internet, with many claiming it to be a leaked image of the offical console. And if its true, what a beauty it is!
This image of a possible controller design, taken from playstationgang.com could very possibly be what the controller actually looks like, with reports on Tech Radar also claiming it will have an OLED multi-touchscreen in place of the usual select and start buttons and also a ‘share’ button to make sharing your amazing moments much easier. We certainly like this idea and hope it’s true!
Although it is highly unlikely what the PS4 will look like, this design got the FRESH! team all excited! The console itself looks pantomime in it’s appearance and the controllers look like a Star Wars spaceship, but it’s the kind of console you’d imagine in a 22nd Century Range Rover! And if the official console has even a touch of this look in it, then we think it’ll be the best looking games system made to date!
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PS4!At the end of January, Sony released to the world and it’s gamers the date Wednesday 20th February 2013 only giving away the PS logo and the famous triangle, square, circle, cross logos to boot.This then sent the gaming world wild, as Sony had only released a new handheld console, the PS Vita the year before. Therefore signalling the launch of a new home games console to take over the Playsation 3 (PS3). Here at FRESH!, we have scoured the internet for rumours, possible images and release dates and put the most plausible and the more ridiculous here for our readers to drool over in anticipation!
The rumours, the build up, the ‘leaked’ images of what they could look like!
(Don’t get too excited, it’s still not official!)
This is the most popular rumoured image of the ‘Xbox 720’ on the internet right now, and looking at the image in detail, it certainly looks to be a very good concept design by someone who knows what they’re doing. However from a distance it does look very similar to the latest generation Xbox 360 on the market currently.
This controller is a supposedly ‘leaked image’ of what it will look like, but with the amount of buttons and sticks poking out from every angle, not only would you need about 4 pairs of hands to work this contraption, you’d need 4 pairs of eyes to see what you were doing also. It’s mad idea that’s just not possible.
This is a design made by an unknown source for the supposed ‘Xbox Infinity’ logo, and we’re very impressed with how it looks. And compared to using ‘720’, infinity has much more of a meaning than dou-bling the last number you had on a console, espe-cially when it comes to advertising. If you pardon the pun, the possibilities for Xbox using this name could be ‘infinite’ (haha, very funny we know!)
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XBOX 720!
Unlike Sony, Microsoft haven’t disclosed any details intothe so-called ‘Xbox 720’, but the rumour-mills lead you to believe they will be soon! Tech Radar, one of the most trusted gadget sites on the Internet even said they’d be ‘absolutely flabbergasted’ if the new Xbox wasn’t released in time for Xmas 2013! With many expecting the new Xbox to have a blu-ray player included also, it seems Microsoft have given into Sony’s own idea over their flop ‘HD-DVD’ concept. Tech Radar also looked at different names for the Xbox, particularly Xbox Infinity and of course Xbox 720 (twice the amount of the previous 360 console). Xbox Infinity is very much a possibility, as Microsoft recently went about buying up different web URLS, most notibly Xbox8.com, so watch this space in the future!
WHATS FRESH NEXT MONTH?
REACTION TO THE PLAYSTATION MEETING
LAST MONTH! (PS4 LAUNCH?)
INCLUDING ALL THE INFO ON NEW DESIGNS AND FEATURES!, FUTURE GAMES FROM
DEVELOPERS AND MUCH MORE!
THE FOUR OWLS + High focus
THE UK SUPERGROUP THAT’S BRINGING HIP/HOP BACK FROM THE GRAVE! PLUS OTHERS FROM HIGH FOCUS RECORDS!
FESTIVAL GUIDE - WHERE TO GO
THIS YEAR
PLUS A WHOLE LOT MORE!
