The inaugural launch, the first in a six series showcase, featured live performances by BEAU, AZUL, MARGOT and SONJA, and an interactive VR experience with Tilt Brush.
Half Taiwanese-half french and currently based in Paris, Louise Chen founded the Girls Girls Girls night at Social Club in 2012 inviting acts like Kelela, Sampha, Jackmaster, Moxie, Ikonika, Lil Silva, etc. always aiming to bring together live performers and club culture. After a 5 year run, she now promotes Summer Parties under the pun-name “Chentertainement”, so far inviting prestigious guests Methodman & Redman to perform live! Parallel to her promoter job, Louise has always written about music and travel in magazines like Modzik, I Heart Magazine, Snatch Magazine and she’s had the chance to host a segment on France’s national Mouv’ Radio on Laura Leishman’s night show and later talk music on French TV shows Clique and Le Before du Grand Journal on Canal+.
Originally starting off as a hip-hop and R&B DJ, Louise has grown up with sampling culture and been a crate-digger for a long time. Her endless quest looking for soul, funk, disco and jazz has led her to build her own sound when playing House inspired by acts like Theo Parrish and Floating Points. Today she brings her records to online radios around the world (The Lot Radio, Le Mellotron, NTS, Hotel Radio Paris…) DJs alongside acts like Santigold, Jamie XX, Solange Knowles, Ellen Alien & Bambounou and works on digital content projects with brands like Airbnb, Beats By Dre & H&M.
Collection of Photographs taken while in Suriname, 2014
Series 1 of Research & Documentation
In 2014, traveling back to her native Surinamese roots to establish an on-going research and documentation project exploring the core of her identity in a country made up of 90% rainforest.
Along the journey, NVS was sent into the Amazon to visit Maroon villages and to the top of Suriname at Galibi beach with the Carib Indingeous tribe on a video and photo project commissioned from Surinamese Holistic Healer, Loraine Van Tuyl, PhD.
The Suriname Journal is does not end in 2014, Nicole Van Straatum is finding ways to further discover her heritage through personal and sourced experience, photography, writings, and interviews. Series 1 is only the first chapter of Nicole’s life-long voyage of cultural, historical, and individual understanding of being a second generation Surinamese-American.
DROOL introduces a new music series which offers an intimate exploration of the collaborative process between artists.
The audio-visual album created by Cara Stricker and John Kirby, LA Born keyboardist, producer and songwriter best known for his work as part of Sébastien Tellier, Blood Orange, Kindness and Rodriguez.
The 11 track Album is be available through custom cassettes and digital international release. Upon purchase of the custom cassette, an individualised love note allows access to download and view the 40-minute film and album at www.drooling.co.
A natural progression from the previous collaboration between Cara Stricker and John Kirby, ‘ Make Love to the World’, DROOL’s music seeks to examine sex as a concept of experiential utopia, rather than the form in which it exists in humanity, isolated.
It’s a dream-like space where you can experience a very open-minded way of living without the boundaries that our logical world has placed on us, exploring the conversation of universal consciousness, beyond sexism, toward sex, equality and unity.
Stricker and Kirby have lived, created and experienced their evolving art, performing a collaborative piece at New York Fashion Week and Sugar Mountain Festival in Australia and side shows alongside artists Connan Mockasin, Ariel Pink, Swans, and Kim Gordon.
DROOL is performed by Cara with a legion of female tranquility. Stricker performs with instrumentalists Madeline O’Moore, Margot, Kate Silver and Sonja Mauro. The sound lends itself to instinct and intuition, capturing the delicate sensual nature and expression of this project coming to be.
The Album launch in New York, took place amongst an instillation and performances at The Hole, Elvis Guest House, Babies alright, and Max Fish, with select performances across LA, and Aus.
The inaugural launch, the first in a six series showcase, featured live performances by BEAU, AZUL, MARGOT and SONJA, and an interactive VR experience with Tilt Brush.