NVU with Carri Mundane aka Cassette Playa-photos by Melanie Bonajo

CARRI MUNDANE with AFRICAN BOY for Exatitudes photo by Ari Versluis

Dear Shaded Viewers,

I've been loving the energy of Cassette Playa ever since I saw her first collection in London and have been following her escalating career ever since.

DP: How was your most recent Tokyo experience? Any funny stories you can
tell me? Did you sign lots of autographs? Did anybody ask you what
your blood type was?
CM: HAHA KINDA I DID SIGN A FEW AUTOGRAPHS LOL N HAD ONE GUY + GIRL RUN DWN THE STREET AFTER ME TO GET A PICTURE.AND WHEN I WALKED IN ONE SHOP THE GUYS EYE BALLS NEARLY POPPED OUT! WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF THEY D STARTED BLEEDING. I WISH I HAD THAT KIND OF SUPERHERO POWER..WALK IN ROOMS AND MAKE WALLS BEND AND SHIT.. ONE DAY :)

CM: I LOVE TOKYO!!! ITS TOTALLY HOME TO ME.. IT’S SO NOISY (IN EVERYWAY..SONICALLY N VISUALLY) BUT THERES A HARMONY ITS TOTALLY FUTURE..
I FIND A KIND OF PEACE IN ALL THAT NOISE..

I MET SK8THNG ..DESIGNER AT BAPE AND BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB..= TOTAL GENIUS :)
THAT WAS MY HIGHLIGHT :) THAT AND THE Akihabara's Electric City REGION - THE COMPUTER GAME ARCACDES..N HANGING OUT WITH VERBAL FROM TERAKI BOYS (FUCKING COOL) AND HIS WIFE AND OTHER FRIENDS.. EVERYONE IS SO AWESOME/NICE.

DP: To someone that does not know you, how would you define the Cassette
Playa universe and how did you come up with that name?

CM: T E C H N O /// T R I B A L // P O S T I V E // P R I M A L

ITS LIKE A PARRELL UNIVERSE WITH WARPED REFERENCES INHABITED BY A PIXEL WARRIOR TRIBE.
I SAY PARRELL COS ITS LIKE VIRTUAL REALITY, U DNT HAVE TO STEP OUT OF THIS REALITY TO ACCESS. LIFE IS LIKE A COMPUTER GAME.. WE ARE ALL CHARACTERS IN OUR OWN GAME FIGHTING TO GET NEXT LEVEL .
THIS IS THE UNIFORM FOR THAT GAME..4 PIXEL WARRIORS.. ITS ABOUT BEING PROUD OF WHATEVER IDENTITY YOU BUILD FOR YOURSELF. THE COLOURS ARE LIKE WAR PAINT.THE PRINTS SYMOBOLSIM/CODED COMMUNICATION

THE NAME COMES FROM MY OWN NAME AND ALSO REFERENCES MY INTEREST IN TECHNOLOGY BOTH RETRO AND FUTURE

I TAKE INSPIRATION FROM STREET/SKATE/SPORTS CULTURE.SUBCULTURES AND TRIBES BUT ALSO MUSIC, ANIMALS, COMICS. COMPUTER GAMES, SCIENCE AND SCIENCE FICTION

DP: You’ve been working with videos to express your world from early on
How do you plan to translate this into a computer game? Are you?
working on this idea or is it still a dream?

CM: VIDEO IS A PERFECT MEDIUM BECAUSE IT ALLOWS ME TO BUILD A COMPLTETE AND INFINITE WORLD

THE ANIMATION AND FILMS I'VE MADE REFER DIRECTLY TO THE PRINTS AND COLLECTION . IN FACT THE PROCESSES ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME. FOR EXAMPLE IN BOTH SS07 L.S.I AND SS08 FUTURE PRIMATIVE THE DIGITAL PRINTS FEATURED WERE CREATED USING CIRCUIT BENDING AND DIGITAL FILE CORRUPTION. AND THE VIDEO FOR AW0708 WAS MADE IN THE SAME WAY.

I'M WORKING ON THE COMPUTER GAME /// BUT RIGHT NOW I'M MORE INTERESTED IN MAKING REAL LIFE MORE LIKE A COMPUTER GAME :)!

DP: Recently you decided not to show full collections every season, what
made you take that stand and what is your new plan of action?

CM: YEAH SOME PEOPLE SAID THAT WAS SUICIDE BUT I BELIEVE IN MYSELF ENOUGH TO KNOW ITS ACTUALLY THE OPPOSITE :)
I JUST FOUND SHOWING SEASONALLY TOO RESTRICTIVE, WHEN I HAD SO MANY PROJECTS AND IDEAS I WANTED TO EXPAND ON. I THINK SHOWING SEASONALLY IS KINDA OUT DATED NOW, CULTURE HAS ACCELERATED, PEOPLE ESP MY GENERATION WANT THINGS MORE INSTANTLY AND MORE OFTEN.

THE WHOLE WAY WE SEEK N CONSUME INFORMATION HAS CHANGED. COMMUNICATION HAS CHANGED ..MY PRINTS/DESIGN EXPLORE THIS CONCEPT. AND UTIMATELY I WANT EVERY PROCESS / EVERY PART OF MY BUSINESS TO REFLECT AND DEFINE THAT.

DP: You sell at some of my favorite shops: Dover Street in London,
Colette in Paris, Seven in NYC and Side by Side in Tokyo, how do the
markets differ in the way they buy you.
CM: APART FROM CLIMATE WHICH OF COURSE DICTATES, ACTUALLY IT'S NOT SO DIFFERENT, I THINK THAT IS INTERESTING, THE INTERNET HAS REALISED DREAMS OF A GLOBAL COMMUNITY AND WHEN YOU TRAVEL YOU REALISE THINGS AREN'T SO DIFFERENT, YOU FIND YOUR TRIBE EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

DP: Nicola Formichetti, Fashion Director of Dazed & Confused owns Side
by Side in Tokyo, which came first, the press on you in Dazed &
Confused or the shop? How did you meet Nicola in the first place,
and what does he mean to you?

CM: NICOLA STARTED IT ALL :) HE WAS A BIG HERO OF MINE WHEN I WAS STUDYING. I HAVE ULTIMATE RESPECT FOR HIS VISION AND DRIVE. HE'S AN ARTIST AND A BUSINESS MAN, TOTALLY UNIQUE AND FUTURE.
IN MY FINAL YEAR I DID A SHOW (@ KASHPOINT WITH GARETH PUGH AND SOME FRIENDS) AND INVITED HIM, HE BOUGHT MY GRADUATE COLLECTION FOR SIDE BY SIDE WHICH WAS JUST OPENING. HE/SIDE BY SIDE CONTINUED TO BUY AND SUPPORT ME EACH SEASON RIGHT UP TO NOW :)

DP: How did you get involved with MIA and the other groups that you work
with? How do you work together?
CM: I' VE KNOWN M.I.A ABOUT 7 YEARS // WHEN SHE STARTED DOING MUSIC I STARTED WORKING WITH HER. I WARDROBED GALANG AND I MADE HER AFRICAN PRINT TRACKSUITS FOR TOUR AND PRESS. MORE RECENTLY I STYLED SOME SHOOTS FOR HER, MADE SOME GRAPHICS, I ALSO SPENT A MONTH IN INDIA WITH HER WHEN WE DID BIRD FLU AND GOT TO WORK ON THE BOYZ VIDEO IN JAMAICA. WORKING WITH MAYA IS THE ULTIMATE COS SHE IS THE ULTMIATE ARTIST, SHE IS FEARLESS AND TOTALLY COMMITTED TO EVERY AREA OF HER CAREER AND IDENTITY. SHE'S PUSHING BOUNDARIES SONICALLY AND CULTURALLY AND SHE STILL AS REAL AS EVER, SITS AND CHECKS HER MYSPACE, MAKES HER OWN GRAPHICS, CO DIRECTS HER VIDEOS.

I WORKED WITH KLAXONS AT THE START OF THEIR CAREER. WE MET THROUGH FRIENDS AND I WORKED ON ALANTIS TO INTERZONE VIDEO. THEY ALSO WORE CASSETTE PLAYA ON THEIR FIRST NME COVER
IT JUST FELT RIGHT WE HAD THE SAME REFERENCES AND NRG BUT I FELT WEIRD ABOUT THE WHOLE NEU RAVE MACHINE, IT WAS EXACTLY THAT A MARKETING MACHINE THAT I HAD NO CONTROL OVER.
THEY REALLY TOOK THINGS NEXT LEVEL, I AM SO PROUD OF THEM.

I HAVE ALSO WORKED WITH SCOPE AND DJ MK (HYPEMAN + DJ FOR DIZZEE RASCAL), BOY BETTER KNOW (JME MODELED IN MY SS07 SHOW / SKEPTA WORE MY TEE IN ROLL DEEP CELEBRATE VIDEO), RUFF SQWAD, TEMPA T, JAMMER, AFRICAN BOY, NU BRAND FLEX. GRIME IS THE ONLY FUTURE AND TRUELY BRITISH MUSIC AND SUB CULTURE TO COME OUT OF THE UK IN MY GENERATION. I 'M TOTALLY INSPIRED BY AND WANT TO SUPPORT THIS SCENE.

I WANT TO DO MORE MUSIC VIDEOS // AND THERES A FEW BANDS AND ARTISTS I'M REALLY EXCITED BY AT THE MOMENT/THAT I WANT TO WORK WITH :)

Carri Mundane aka Cassette Playa at the Wolfgang Tillmans exhibition at Maureen Paley in London a few nights ago.

DP: I remember sitting at a dinner for Jeremy Scott next to Ben Reardon
at I-D, it was early on in your career, and he was telling me how
you came to the office with a shopping bag with all your belongings,
that seems far away now but how did it all begin for you and how did
you end up in Reardon’s office in the first place?
CM: HAHA I D'NT KNOW ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR OCCASION I THINK THAT WAS WHEN I WAS LIVING WITH BEN, HE GAVE ME A ROOM FOR A MTH AND HALF WHEN I WAS HOMELESS AND DOING L.S.I (SS07)
HES SO AWESOME ;) AND I REALLY VALUE THAT HE BELIEVES IN ME AND WENT ALL OUT.

I FIRST ENDED UP AT THE ID OFFICE WHEN I HAD A MEETING WITH HIM AND DEAN TO SHOW THEM MY BOOK, I MET TERRY AND GOT SO NERVOUS I WALKED INTO A DOOR. I 'M AWKWARD/ KINDA SOCIALLY RETARDED SOMETIMES. BUT THAT’S OK. I'M OK WITH WHO IAM // GEEKS RULE THE WORLD/ ALL MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE ARE SPECIAL (NEEDS)

Carri Mundane at the British Fashion Awards

DP: It was not that long after the shopping bag incident in the I-D
office that you were nominated for Best Menswear designer against
the established names Christopher Baily and McQueen, how did that
feel? Which came first that nomination or the Rolling Stone’s Best
of Rock 2008 listing you as the Best Fashion Designer? What kind of
Recognition does that bring to you and does it physically change
anything in your life or in your bank account?
CM: MENSWEAR DESIGNER OF THE YEAR WAS LAST YEAR AND SUCH AN HONOUR.
ROLLING STONE WAS THIS MTH :)
BOTH ARE PRETTY SURREAL :) !!

DP: I am really looking forward to your party in Florence, can you give
me a hint as to what is going to take place and tell me something
about the exclusive new silk digital collage Utube Utopia tees that
will be revealed?
CM: THE UTUBE TEES ARE DIGITAL PAINTINGS/COLLAGES BASED ON ABSTRACT NARRATIVES FORMED FROM YOU TUBE THREADS.
ITS A LITTEL DARKER THAN B4.. THE TRIBE BECAME A CULT !!

DP: How does it feel to be showing in the ‘Fashion V Sport’ exhibition
at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum? Is this your first museum show
and what comes next for you?
CM: I M REALLY INTRESTED IN WHEN PERFORMANCE / SPORTS WEAR BECOMES SPORTS CULTURE/FASHION.
SPORT AND STREET CULTURE IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE CP ISNT FANTASY ITS VIRTUAL REALITY. IT’S KEY TO ME THAT MY WORK IS OF THIS WORLD AND ANOTHER. CASSETTEPLAYA IS LUXURY BUT NOT ELITIST.

IT S REALLY EXCITING TO BE SHOWING IN THIS CONTEXT. THE V+A IS SO ESTABLISHMENT BUT WILLING TO TAKE RISKS/THINK FUTURE . I RESPECT THAT.
I M ACTUALLY PLANNING MY OWN GALLERY SHOW / EXHIBITION LATER THIS YEAR ..

I ALSO WANT TO MAKE MORE VIDEOS ..MUSIC VIDEOS AND DIGITAL MEDIA ART, TAKE MY PRINTS 3D (IE SCULPTURES / INSTALLATIONS/ JEWELERY / TOYS),THE CP NIKE BLAZERS DROP EARLY FALL, LOTS OF COLLABS AND PROJECTS THIS YEAR, RELAUNCH THE WEBSITE AND WEBSTORE..IN THE FUTURE MY OWN STORE ///////

SO I GUESS THIS IS JUST THE BEGINING :) LEVEL ONE :)

CARRI MUNDANE

WWW.CASSETTEPLAYA.COM
www.myspace.com/cassetteplaya

Later,

Diane

all photos except graphic by MELANIE BONAJO