5# Mr Lee of HURWUNDEKI -

I don't usually meet such sincere people, but Mr Korean born Kichul Lee is super sweet, super laid back and super real - He's a family man with 2 children and is also the Creative director and owner of Hurwundeki. I first met him when I cheekily asked if I could take a magazine from his new unopened, unready shop. He was in overalls - getting stuck in decorating. With a cafe, hair salon and Hurwundeki boutiques in East London - Many owners would just hire decorators. So when Lee told me he's the owner I was a little suprised. [ Yeah. Me and my JUDGMENTAL eyes - blah blah ] But it also told me he's passionate and hardworking - and I respect and admire these people the most.

J- What does Hurwundeki mean?

K- It means Hair. It's a dialect from my home town which is called Jeju, island of Korea.

J- What made you start a fashion brand?

K- I was interested in starting it all my life.

J- How did you start Hurwundeki?

K- I started it 18 years ago in Seoul - Korea, as a hair salon as I was only a hair dresser at the time.

J- You're a hair stylist as well as the owner of your company, which do you love the most ?

K- If you have 4 children can you say who is your favourite child?

J- You moved to London in...?

K- In 2000.

J- Do you prefer Korea to London? Or vice- versa?

K- Anywhere I need to be.

J- What is your favourite about London?

K- Gives me hard work.

J- Is there anything else you are interested in, in terms of Art?

K- I like any kind of unique objects.

J- Your aims right now?

K- Die to work.

J- Do you regret anything?

K- Yes, I do. Spent too much time for nothing which I can’t take it back.

J- If you could erase a stage of your life what would it be?

K- Too much going out and met too many people who I didn’t love.

J- How did you get through the tough times?

K- Life and job are hard, so if you don't expect too much from it, it'll never be tough.

J- Go relaxing or keep working?

K- I don’t know the meaning of relaxing because I’ve never worked extremely hard.

J- What do you remember about your 'two/zeros'?

K- The shining of light.

J- How would you end this interview?

K- Thanks for giving me this space as I know there are so many talented and great people in London.

God bless you

J- Thank you -

A quiet man of very few words and very cool clothes - www.hurwundeki.com/

4# Street snapper - Mr Dennis Swiatkowski

Meet Dennis Swiatkowski - the creator of getyourplanerightontime.com
He captures the street styles of London and the world beyond.
His blog is about a careful selection of the individuals with a - as they call it - 'sick' dress sense that oozes character and fusion.

Part of the Vice magazine blogging network, his blog fans are growing, and each time I visit - I always find something interesting to gaze at.
Remembering our very long conversation a few months back - Dennis strikes me as a guy who knows about style and has 'the eye'-I like his style of simplicity with a palette of minimal tones.

In London? - Watch out for the curly haired Dutch guy with the camera. -

J- Tell me about you.

D- Well, I’m Dennis and I travel around the world. My home base is

in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

J- When did your blog come about?

D- The blog already exists for a couple of years, but I only started

it as a fashion blog a year ago. [Before that it was more personal].

J- How was the response?

D- Since I turned it into this street style fashion blog thing the response has been very good. You should check it out haha!

J- I'm a fan! Did you have a specific aim starting it?

D- The aim is to attend fashion weeks across the world and shoot pictures of people who look interesting.

J- Are you building your 'getyourplanerightontime.com' as a brand?

D- That is a good question, because I am currently working on a few projects linked to GYPROT and it will be more than only the blog in the future. So yes, it is a brand.

J- You obviously enjoy fashion and art. How are you going to take

your blog to another level?

D- The next level for my blog is to incorporate the side projects that I am working on, but I cannot disclose too much information about them right now.

J- What kinda stuff excites you?

D- Ear piercing sawing synth lines in electronic music, original story telling tattoos and amazing aesthetics in anything design(interdisciplinary)

J- What are your future aims for now?

D- Graduating in June 2010 is top priority.

J- Are you hungry for success or you’re a go with the flow’er?

D- I want to be successful within a couple of years.

J- We are baby adults. So being in your 20’s to you mean?

D- The twenties are there to experience things and figure out who

you are and what you want to do.

J- Where do you go for play time?

D- In Amsterdam I usually go to the Sugar Factory and Melkweg. In London I used to roam Shoreditch.

J- What kind of music are you into?

D- Many different styles really. But a selection of my favourite

artists are: Midnight Juggernauts, SebastiAn, Yuksek, MGMT, Justice, Aeroplane and MSTRKRFT.

J- What else are you into?

D- Many things, but to keep it short what I really like to is to travel, snowboard and surf.

J- How would you end this interview?

D- Good luck with your fashion label. :)

J- Dank U.

www.getyourplanerightontime.com - Go clicking.

3# BlogMag - Hip -Hop rapper. Mr Jin Au-Yeung

Back in my college days a friend of mine who's into Hip-hop mentioned a guy named Jin on some US free-styling battle show.
Don't think 'You Tube' was even created then - So a few years later, when I saw the videos I realised this was the guy he was referring to.- Pretty impressive.
He can free style in English - and Cantonese. Once signed to New York based Hip-hop record label Ruff Ryders he was then introduced to Hong Kong by Catch Music Group and Universal Music. From rapping in English in America to now living and working in Hong Kong as MC Jin - the jump must not have been easy.
He has his clever style of Cantonese rapping - those 'Wow - why did I not of think of that' type of lyrics, all creatively written and usually hits the nail on the head.

Now he is fast growing to become more and more popular in Hong Kong - Winning awards and many collaborations with different singers. -
What's the story behind the perfect picture? - I want to know the behind the scenes. The journey from the bottom. -

J- How did you start?
Jin- From zero.

J- Did you struggle a bit? - Difficulties in the beginning?
Jin- The struggles didn't come until I realized that this was my life path. In the beginning, the innocence and purity of it all made it actually quite enjoyable. Not to say it isn't these days..

J- What kept you going?
Jin- Sheer determination.. and my undying passion for this thing called Hip-hop.

J- Do you prefer Hong Kong to the US?
Jin- I spent the first 25 years of my life in the US. Hong Kong is unchartered territory for me.. So it's not so much a preference thing. More of an exploration.

J- Cool places to go play in Hong Kong?
Jin- I'm a homebody.

J- To hang out in the US?
Jin- I'm even more of a homebody in the US than I am in Hong Kong.

J- What other creative stuff are you into?
Jin- Creativity knows no bounds. Neither does what kind of stuff I'm into.

J- Whats your music style?
Jin- Worldly.

J- Why do we go craving for success?
Jin- It's better than craving for drugs.. but can be just as addicting.

J- Can you tell who are the fakes and reals? [people wise]
Jin- As long as I know what category I fall into.. I'm good.

J- What do you think being in your 20’s is all about?
Jin- Missing the day's of being in your teens.. and having the 30's creep up on you unsuspectingly.

J- How would you end this interview?
Jin- Thanking God. Thank You God.


Loving his latest track titled [女朋友] with Hanjin.
Official Site - www.ayojin.com

2# BlogMag with Japanese producer Tatsuji Mikajiri aka Pop -

The best thing about London is the multiculturalism. Through many of my "super kawaii !" - [ with the V finger sign] Japanese friends, I met Tatsuji - A music producer. Through his albums he is known as Pop, signed with the major label Pioneer LDC in Japan.
He was first discovered by Sony Music in Tokyo and has worked with one of Japan's biggest selling artist Ayumi Hamasaki. Performed at many shows including the MTV awards in Japan and Singapore. Now he has moved to the Capital - Producing soundtracks for films, and working on his up coming album. - With so much under his belt I'm suprised it's not fallen off. Ok. Lame. Dry gag. But "Kawaii neh"? -




J- Was it tough at first?
P- Not at all. Just I'd been having fun, excited & obsessed with playing the guitar like a monkey found how to entertain himself.

J- How did you get to work with some of Japan’s top artists?
P- By the wind of life. Thank you, E!

J- What’s cool in Japan?
P- The amazing blend of being mesmerized & politeness.

J- Why did you come to London?
P- I felt even more mesmeric.

J- Besides music, what else are you into?
H- You, maybe.

J- What is the best age to just chill?
H- 88 in Edo.

J- What does being creative mean to you?
P- Everything.

J- Do you think I'm random?
P- Totally, you are :) Well, actually I need to know about you more to answer the question properly.
Are you free tonight?

J- Ha! What is the best environment for you to really work with no distractions when making music?
P- Perfectly self-designed studio by the sea.

J- Are you better at making music or making tea?
P- It's a good question really... am into teas a lot as well. Briefly music, I would say.

J- How would you end this interview?
P- Ha ha, that's the thing I was wondering while following your lines.
" Tea you soon! "

Don't you just heart the Japanese? I do.
Check out his work -

www.stereoart.co.uk

1# Mini Blog Mag Interview with Mr Hanjin Tan -

I first learnt of Hanjin back in 2004'ish after listening to the song 香港地 [Hong Kong Dei] which features him rapping in Mandarin. Then I also learnt he can actually sing and thats not all - Hes a music producer, song writer - for many of Asia's top artists, to name a couple - Jacky Cheung/Eason Chan. Arranger/mixer, the list goes on... But what I want to know is how he got there. -? Lets be real. Nothings ever handed to you on a plate - Unless you're born filthy rich.

J- Let me ask you the cliché question of how did you get into music?

H- Failed grade 7 piano exams. Shun by piano teacher. Sang in the school choir. Learnt a thing or 2 about the naturalist school of singing. Picked up the guitar. Played @ clubs for free booze and some change. Earned some experience points. School of Economics. Got a regular gig that paid the school fees. Got a publisher’s contract to write Chinese pop songs. Got a break as record producer in my final year at University. Started a production team in Hong Kong. Still doing production work for records in Asia.

J- Did you struggle a bit? Was it difficult from the beginning?

H- The struggling was mostly self-inflicted. With ideals, with pragmatic concerns, with parents and social expectations, with materialistic concerns, with greed with procrastination.

J- What kept you going?

H- I’d like to see how good I can be at performing and producing. Long way to go, I hope.

J- What do you like about Hong Kong?

H- If someone wants to rip you off, they often let you know right off the bat.

J- Cool places to hang out in Hong Kong?

H- Home, wherever that may be for you. :D

J- What other Art are you into?

H- I like the idea of photography and painting. It’s still just ideas.

J- When are you most creative? Morning? Night?

H- Mostly, when I’m sleepy, whatever time that may happen to be.

J- Are you into all kinds of music? Which is your most passionate?

H- The life changing music for me was Rock and Roll. It changes from time to time but Rock is it for the most part. For now, I’m really excited about Sa Ding Ding’s music.

J- Which other countries are cool to you?

H- For now, I like big cities, no specific countries per se.

J- When does life start to you?

H- It’s never stopped. When it does, you might like to take a look in the obituaries.

J- What do you think being in your 20’s is about?

H- Finding something to be ballsy about. I feel I might have been quite a failure in that department.

J- Why do humans crave for success?

H- The other options just aren’t quite as attractive.

J- How would you end this interview?

H- Tactfully.

.....but I just flunked that too, didn't I?

J- No - I like it . Your Cool.

Go check out his pipes! Pick up his latest album - "Raw Jazz"

www.tanhanjin.com