April 10, 2007
Crazy Like A Fox: Inside the mind of Little Loca
By Rob Brink
Missbehave, April 2007
Twenty-two year old Stevie Ryan looks like Sherilyn Fenn. This is hella distracting since I'm a lot obsessed with Twin Peaks. LittleLoca, on the other hand—Stevie's YouTube video blogging, virginity-bearing, 4.0 GPA-having, dark lipstick and hoop earring-rocking, opinionated-yet-irresistible chola alter-ego—does not. But she's ridiculously hot, too. Sure, critics are gonna be critical saying Stevie, a white girl, is getting all racialist portraying a Latina, but she swears up and down that Loca is an homage. Stevie jocked the shit outta the Latin girls she went to high school with in Victorville, California. A town where the 24-hour Wal-Mart had to change its hours of operation due to crime, where the per capita income is just shy of $15,000, and where Ms. Ryan—like a whole slew of ya'll—started loving that dark lipliner.
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April 10, 2007
Kat Von D's Ink
By Rob Brink
Missbehave, April 2007
Usually we love nothing more than to gawp and nosily inquire about the inked embellishments of our favorite celebrity tattooees. This time we look to 24-year-old, Mexican-born, heavy metal and Beethoven-loving; Los Angeles-residing-and-adoring star of TLC's Miami Ink Katherine Von Drachenberg for the other perspective. Kat's first tattoo came at age 14. Fast-forward two years to early 1996, and her first attempt at needle wielding—a Misfits skull done with homemade equipment. A decade later, Ms. Von D is on TV, tattooing all over the world, chilling in Bam Margera's Lamborghini, designing her own clothing line, marrying fellow artist Oliver Peck, appearing in H.I.M. music videos and getting ready to take it even further. But not before sharing a little bit about her divergent experiences as a tattoo artist with Missbehave…
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April 10, 2007
Santi White
By Rob Brink
Missbehave, April 2007
Santi White, the singer, had her first performance at a mock hair salon fashioned from a bathroom closet. She was 7. "I had hair supplies and perfumes all lined up on the floor, and drew a couple pictures for the walls," begins the Philly-bred, Bed Stuy-residing songwriter, "I think I even put up 'Grand Opening' flyers around my block and was kinda bummed when no one but my little brother came on the big day." Couple years after her humble entrée into a tough business Santi White, at 9, began writing songs. "I never wanted to be a performer or anything," says White. "But it makes sense [since] I really hate office jobs."
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September 19, 2006
We HEART Regina Spektor:
The New York singer is confusing critics, snubbing comparisons and stealing hearts…namely ours.
By Rob Brink
Missbehave Autumn 2006
This is my first piece for Missbehave magazine. Stoked to be a part of this project. I'm already having a blast doing it. They even gave me a bio! Stay tuned for my far lengthier unedited interview with Regina Spektor.
Bronx-bred singer Regina Spektor is headlining a gig in Portland, Oregon. It's one of the weirdest she's ever played. The bizarre, half hippy, half-corporate crowd reminds the 26 year-old of White Plains, New York. Maybe Westchester. Spektor feels like she's being observed. She probably is.
“I think it's like the pot capital of America or something right?” says Spektor of Portland, “Maybe everyone was just high and withdrawn and sitting there spaced out. I'm curious to go back there and play again,” she muses., clearly deriving enjoyment from the act of performing itself, not just the response. For her, a lackluster audience is a no-lose situation. “I'll just start playing for myself really. You have a room, you have a piano and you get to sing your songs,” she reasons. “I'd be doing it in my bedroom without anyone else there anyway.”
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July 5, 2006
Guidance Counselor: Liquid Todd
By Rob Brink
May 2002
Here's another one that was intended for Stance and never made it to the mag because it folded. The column was called Guidance Counselor and it showcased cool jobs that the audience might be interested in learning about. Although this piece was from May of 2002 and Solid State is no longer on the air, Liquid Todd is still working in NY and has a show on KTU and another on Sirius Satellite Radio.
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December 26, 2005
The Last Days Of Opie And Anthony
by Rob Brink
Stance August 2002
This interview took place just two days before a married couple, trying to win NYC radio jocks Opie and Anthony's “Sex In Public” contest, got caught getting it on in the Big Apple's holiest place—St. Patrick's Cathedral. A week after the stunt, Opie and Anthony found themselves out of their four-million-dollar-a-year jobs, where they reached millions of listeners in seventeen cities across the country.
After a brief hiatus, the duo found a new home for their show on XM radio. Only about three of the following questions and answers ever made it to print in Stance, back in 2002, but I have included the full, unedited interview for all you O&A fans here.
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November 27, 2005
Books, Pandering, Fan-dom, and Chuck Pala-"how do you say his name?"
By Rob Brink
ChuckPalahniuk.net June 2002
Dennis, the webmeister of ChuckPalahniuk.net (official site of author Chuck Palahniuk) asked me to write this story once he found out I had attended Chuck Palahniuk's Lullaby book signing at the 2002 Book Expo America in New York City. This is how it appeared on the site.
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July 12, 2005
Young Bucks: Shaun White
By Rob Brink
Stance September 2002
Shaun White, snowboarder
Age: 16
Most people pick one activity in life, whether they love it or are naturally talented at it, and go with it. Maybe it is art or music, or a sport. Some are lucky enough to turn it into a career, while others just enjoy it as a hobby. Shaun White must have had trouble making up his mind, or maybe he is just too damn evolved for the rest of us humans to keep up and can master more than one discipline at a time.
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July 12, 2005
Scribble: Leanne Biank
By Rob Brink
SG Magazine February 2005
Leanne Biank is a dear friend of mine and the best damn artist I know. I pitched her to SG magazine and they liked her work so much that they decided to let me write a feature on her. Here's the story as it ran in SG:
“When I first learned to talk, I told my mom that I hated coloring books and that I wanted a blank piece of paper to make my own lines,” says Biank.
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July 10, 2005
Free Pinball, Security, and Missing Balls:
The 7th annual Classic Pinball show
By Rob Brink
GameRoom March 2003
Saturday, September 14 was beautiful. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, children were frolicking and giggling, and all was right with the world. One couldn't ask for a more pleasant day to host or attend a pinball show in the lovely town of Wayne, NJ. This was Kevin McHugh and Classic Pinball's 7th annual show. Aside from being the roving reporter, I was an attendee, and fairly excited to go play free pinball and video games all day. Of course, walking around and taking notes of the ridiculousness at an event like this is also something I enjoy. On a side note, Kevin had been holding my Williams Fire machine hostage for a few months trying to sell it for me—and dammit it was time for me to collect my hot, stinky, dirty cash.
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