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Aug 2011 12

by Karen Coltrane

“There is nobody involved that I don’t trust”
– Slug of Atmosphere

There are striking simularities between the evolution of SuicideGirls and the career of underground rapper Sean Daley, better known as Slug from the Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere. Slug has been a supporter of SG for years, contributed his music to the Black Heart Retrospective and even name-drops the site in a song title on Atmosphere’’s 2003 record Seven’s Travels. But there are also more subtle career links to be explored. Like Suicidegirls, Atmosphere are known for their punk-rock ethos and DIY approach to distribution. They have been touring for over a decade now; winning over heads and hearts one city at a time. It seems like Slug is finally reaping the fruit of his efforts.

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Aug 2011 11

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“I’’ll be real bold and blunt.”
– Travis Barker

I should admit this right off the bat: I’’m not a huge fan of Travis Barker’s music. The only work of his I’’ve really gravitated to is The Transplants; I’m still spinning that disc ever since I interviewed Skinhead Rob nearly a year and a half ago. But Barker’s new band +44 is good and a lot of fun. He’’s teamed up with another former member of Blink 182, Mark Hoppus, as well as former Transplants touring guitarist Craig Fairbaugh and the lead guitarist of The Nervous Return, Shane Gallagher. I had a very open and honest conversation with Barker about the new band and his trials and travails with the paparazzi and various famous blondes.

Read our exclusive interview with Travis Barker on SuicideGirls.com.

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Aug 2011 10

by Marisa DiMattia

“Tattooing doesn’t need to be dressed up as anything.”
– Chris O’Donnell

Chris O’Donnell doesn’t have the rock star swagger. He hasn’t learned the art diva shtick nor developed an eye-catching wardrobe. Yet he’s one of the most sought after tattoo artists in New York by serious collectors and celebrities alike. It’s his work that garners all the attention while the boy-next-door persona sits quietly in the background.

Named one of the best tattooers in NYC by Time Out Magazine, Chris has been needling clients since 1993, specializing in classic Americana, Japanese, and East Asian iconography.

Read our exclusive interview with Chris O’Donnell on SuicideGirls.com.

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Aug 2011 09

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“I wanted Jane Eyre to look more punk rock”
– Dame Darcy

Dame Darcy is best known for her Fantagraphics comic book series Meatcake. But now she has taken on the ambitious project of adding illustrations to the Charlotte Bronte classic Jane Eyre for The Illustrated Jane Eyre. I got a chance to talk with Dame as she was traveling the country doing signings and shows with her band Death By Doll.

Read our exclusive interview with Dame Darcy on SuicideGirls.com.

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Aug 2011 08

By Andrea Larrabee

“I like to be surprised.”
– Olivia Wilde

“You’re going to get so sick of me,” quipped Olivia Wilde, when a journalist at a recent press conference noted that she was “going to be everywhere in the next couple of weeks.” Though it’s true we’re going to see a lot of Wilde (who took her stage name from a certain Oscar), the likelihood that we’ll tire of the actress – who is as smart as she is attractive – in the immediate future is slim to none.

She first came into her own as Thirteen in House, but her role as Quorra in the 2010 blockbuster Tron: Legacy firmly established her as big screen leading lady material. This summer she has two major films opening back to back: Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens, which also features Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, and The Change-Up, which is, by and large, the topic of this Q&A.

Styled after classic body swap movies like Freaky Friday, the set up for The Change-Up sees Dave, the over-stressed and over-married lawyer (Jason Bateman), and his BFF Mitch, the too happy go lucky and very single actor/stoner/whatever (Ryan Reynolds), coveting each other’s lives. Wilde enters the frame as Sabrina, an associate at Dave’s law firm whom the guys mutually covet, however she refused to play her as your run of the mill, caught between two men, one-dimensional love interest.

The daughter of two renowned journalists, it’s perhaps instinctive that Wilde worked closely with the film’s writers, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (of Hangovers 1 and 2), and director David Dobkin (Friends With Benefits and Wedding Crashers) to ensure that Sabrina jumped off the page as a fully fleshed out, post-modern woman. Though the film is somewhat flawed, it’s these moments that she brought to the table –– such as a tattoo scene in which a gaggle of Sons of Anarchy-types gather between her well-spread thighs –– that are among the film’s most memorable.

Here Wilde talks about why she took on Sabrina, and how she avoided the stereotypes associated with such a roll.

Read our exclusive interview with Olivia Wilde on SuicideGirls.com.

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Aug 2011 05

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“I never read the original Dracula before.”
– Jae Lee

Over the past 15 years Jae Lee has become one of the most stylish and innovative comic book artists in recent memory. He burst onto the scene with a stint on Namor the Sub-Mariner and since then has worked on dozens of other books from Fantastic Four to The Sentry to his creator owned Hellshock.

But recently Jae Lee has a wild time throwing himself headfirst into the horror genre by working with two of the great horror creators, by proxy. I use that word because currently he is working on a series of comic book miniseries based on the Stephen King novels The Dark Tower with the legendary Peter David doing the dialogue. But I was lucky enough to get to talk with Lee about his work creating the pictures for The Illustrated Dracula.

Read our exclusive interview with Jae Lee on SuicideGirls.com.

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Aug 2011 04

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“The ideas tell you everything”
– David Lynch

If I didn’t know better I would think David Lynch was Italian. He uses his hands to describe ideas more than anyone I have ever met. It’s fascinating to watch this man communicate. He pulls out the cigarette pack, the lighter, moves the ashtray, lights the cigarette, puts the pack away the and then, once his hands are free, resumes emphasizing his words with enigmatic gestures.

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