There was a time, and it wasn’t all that long ago, when you would have to wait for stuff. No joke. For instance, musicians would spend years working on albums, release them, and then, it’d be years—sometimes decades—before fans could expect new music from them.

Not so in this digital age, where everyone’s free to binge virtually all forms entertainment. Today, music is released online in dribs and drabs, because appetites are never fully sated.

For three decades, lifelong musician Philip B. Price—who is perhaps best known for his enchanting work with Massachusetts indie rock outfit Winterpills—has written and recorded solo tunes he was just too busy to release. That is, until now.

Over the last year and a half, Price has been digging through his past, coming away with a dozen albums’ worth of material he has remixed, re-mastered, and in some cases, reinterpreted. “It’s been a little stressful because, well, it’s kind of a lot,” Price confides. “I’ve wanted to work on this project for years, and I really thought it would go quickly. For a while, I felt like maybe I bit off more than I could chew.”

But he got through it, and on Dec. 8, the 12 solo LPs—the result of Price’s “neurotic compulsion to write songs” in his downtime from 1980s art rock act Memorial Garage and 1990s power pop group The Maggies—will be released digitally. “I couldn’t help myself,” Price admits of the group of songs, which range from dance-noise to shoegaze. “And now, I’m quietly dumping a huge load of music on the world.”

Price understands 143 songs is a lot of music to unleash all at once, so he’s compiled a 39-track best of album he’s titled Without Your Love I’d Be Nowhere At All. “I’m glad this stuff is seeing the light of day and I can finally distribute it properly,” says Price, adding he’s working on new tracks for a solo album he’ll issue in 2018. “It feels good to get it all out there.”

Price, who plays guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards, has been a New Englander for most of his adult life, and lives in Northamption with his wife, Winterpills keyboardist Flora Reed. But he grew up outside of New York City before moving to Los Angeles, where his father, Eugene, worked as an established screenwriter.

He says he can’t imagine what his life would be like had he not moved to Massachusetts after graduating from Bennington College in Vermont. Price—a member of Fountains of Wayne frontman Chris Collingwood’s solo band, Look Park—says his songs are largely influenced by New England’s landscape, although he doesn’t discount the influence his peers have had on his style. “For an area of this size, it has a lot going on, and it has cycles of renewal,” Price says. “It’s like every eight years, it feels like it’s dying off and then, it surges back with all these new artists.”

A sampler from Price’s new collection is available here. To hear what’s on his playlist when he’s not combing through his musical archives, check out our Take a Listen Spotify Channel. You can also hear the playlists of other musicians we’ve featured.

Philip B. Price, guitarist and vocalist, Winterpills
Northampton, Massachusetts
Website
Facebook
Soundcloud

The post The Price is Right appeared first on Take Magazine.

We’re headed back to Vermont for our next installment of Showcasing the GIFted. In the spotlight today is Jonah Nigro, a Burlington based artist and designer. He graduated from Bennington College in 2016, but had his first freelancing animation job with Perrier when he was only a sophomore.

Nigro’s work connects the visual and visceral, and Variety included him on its 110 Students to Watch list in 2015. Since then he’s gone on to do work for clients such as MTV, CÎROC, and even tried his hand at directing a music video.

Take: Do you use a particular moniker for your GIF art?
Jonah Nigro: My moniker for this particular project is Popsicle Illusion!

via GIPHY

T: Where are you from?
JN: I grew up in the Putney/Brattleboro area of Vermont.

via GIPHY

T: What got you started making GIFs, and why GIFs rather than something else?
JN: The GIF format of continuously looping frames is very appealing to me. It allows you to take a single instance of animation and turn it into its own complete work of art. Growing up watching animations I was always blown away by the small details that are just on screen for a couple of seconds and GIFs finally allowed for those moments to be celebrated.

via GIPHY

T: What do you do when you’re not creating GIFs? (i.e. other jobs)
JN: I just finished my first directing project doing a music video for Flux Pavilion. I also do live visuals for shows when I can and dabble in software development on the side.

via GIPHY

You can follow Nigro on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr or his website.

Top image: Leg Flower Pattern. All images courtesy of the artist

The post Showcasing the GIFted: Jonah Nigro appeared first on Take Magazine.

Rachel DeCavage is one of the lucky ones.

“I’m fortunate to have always known what I wanted to do with my life,” she says. “As an artist and environmentalist, it’s long been my calling to create eco-friendly art. I have a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and a love for design and fashion; all roads led me here.”

So as soon as she graduated from Bennington College with a degree in Fine and Studio Arts, DeCavage started building the brand now known as Cinder + Salt.

Cinder + Salt Blue Octo tee

“It was never a question of if,” says DeCavage, “just a journey trying to get here.”

Named for “the residue of a weekend well spent; the scent of campfire on your clothes and the taste of saltwater on your skin,” Cinder + Salt is a low-impact lifestyle brand that strives to design and create innovative, stylish, and fun products out of landfill-destined clean waste and reusable materials. While the flagship store in Middletown, Connecticut has almost achieved this goal, DeCavage hopes that in 2017, all of their stores will be closer to achieving zero waste.

“We believe small steps and actions add up to a lot of good work, so we take time to consider every design decision and its impact on the Earth before we move forward,” says DeCavage.

Currently, Cinder + Salt is recycling all kinds of clean waste into window and in-store displays, and they’ve even implemented collection bins for ‘unrecyclables’ in their stores so customers can bring things to them as well.

“Our print shop has always been about low impact,” she says, “so we use biodegradable and water-safe materials in our printing process, and all the fabrics we source for garments are organic, of eco-origin, or are made in the USA.”

When DeCavage began searching for her flagship store’s location, she sought out space with a retail storefront, but also an industrial back room so that Cinder + Salt could have a store and print shop in the same place. She saw the space in Middletown and was immediately sold.

“Middletown is very small, business-friendly, and entrenched with artists. The community is great for our brand,” says DeCavage.

Flamingo 3/4 Sleeve Slouchy

When DeCavage set out to create Cinder + Salt, One of her career goals was to create meaningful jobs for artists; so everyone on her team of nine is an artist or creative person in some regard. (It’s also worth noting that her team is all female #GirlPower.)

“Work is a big part of our lives, and I feel that people should actually enjoy going to work,” she says. “Our flagship store has a 140-square-foot sandpit so we can pretend we’re at the beach year round. Oh, and we always have a cold bottle of champagne in our fridge—you never know when you’ll need to celebrate!”

With these kinds of office perks and job titles like Chief Awesomeness Officer, Print Shop Ninja, and Flagship Tribe Luminary, it’s clear that only good vibes are to be found at the Cinder + Salt stores.

Kitten Skinny Tie

Speaking of good vibes, this spring Cinder + Salt is launching a new women’s tank called “Good Vibes,” which DeCavage claims is her absolute favorite of all the designs she’s ever made.

“I think the drawing, the ink colors, the shirt fabric, and cut all just work perfectly with each other! We’re all a little obsessed with it right now,” she says.

Outside of women’s apparel, Cinder + Salt also produces clothing for little ones and men—including some awesome skinny ties—as well as accessories, bags, stationery, and home goods.

Rachel DeCavage, Founder of Cinder + Salt
Middletown, Connecticut
Website
Facebook
Instagram

Top photo Printed Ladies Tee | All photos courtesy Cinder + Salt

The post Cinder + Salt appeared first on Take Magazine.