A Refugee

I am looking for a young, up and coming fashion designer.

I want some custom shirts, jackets, vest, and hats made.  Mainly military influenced.

The vest would be more of a down feather vest. I want some special pockets made for it to house a camera lens or two.

The key is to integrate the A.Refuge logos and branding into all the designs.  A.Refuge themed pieces that support the idea that I am leading a revolution.

I think of myself as a general in this war on the forces that crush innovation and dreams.  I really want to look the part.

I am completely broke at this point in my life.  However, I am more than willing to barter photographic services or to trade advertising as well as feature the designer(s) that help me.

If things work out I would love to make the pieces available for sale on my site www.aRefuge.com All profits from sales would be split three ways between the designer, aRefuge.com, and a charity.

If you are a fashion designer or if you know of a fashion designer please get into contact with me.  Let’s collaborate!

=)

gary[at]garylivingston.com

————–Here is some inspiration————–

The A.Refuge logos/branding would be these designs by Zack Custer

Zack Custer designs

Zack Custer design

Artmada is this Saturday, June 20th.

It is my first attempt at organizing the A.Refuge spin off event. It is meant to be a physical and interactive experience of what www.aRefuge.com is.

A great collaboration of artists, fashion designers, musicians, and fans. All looking to help support the other.

This first line up is spectacular and my hat is off to my friends for coming together with such short notice to make this happen.

If you are in the LA/Ventura area please come out. It will be a blast!

Music By

Jason Evigan (of The After Midnight Project)

With Engines

Codi Caraco and Megan Park (of Frank & Derol)

Antidote featuring Jacob Fatoorechi on guitar

River of Suns

Night Horse

Andy Ellsworth

Fashion By

ReRe Clothing

Art From

William Carroll, Ryan Chin, Gary Livingston, Nate Siggard, Shane Hirschman, & Collabo.

It was as dark as San Diego but, at least it was lit interestingly. Jacob of Automatic Love Letter at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles ©2009 Gary Livingston

The second date of the ALL & ACM tour I ended up at was in Los Angeles.  The hometown show!  Well, LA is home to Jacob and a lot of the guys in the two bands at least.

The crowd really did not hide that fact.  It was everything the San Diego show should have been.  Too bad Soma sucks.

The Knitting Factory had great sound.  I was finally able to hear what the music should sound like and what fans hear on the albums.  It may have been a little loud for some people (I was wearing earplugs) but, the mix and clarity was a complete 180 from the Soma gig.

Magnify all the energy, all the fans, all the singing, and all the dancing of the Soma show by 2789 and you have the KF show.

The lighting was a bit of shit due to it being very underpowered.  I was shooting at about 1/10 of a second the whole show. That doesn’t do much at stopping action when you are shooting energetic people like Automatic Love Letter.  But, at least the lighting set up provided some sort of depth to the images.  It’s nice to have some side lighting and background lighting on stage instead of just a front light and anything not in that light’s path going completely black like in the Soma pictures.

This show made me understand how both bands fans could be so into their music. Especially, Automatic Love Letter.

Juliet of Automatic Love Letter at the Knitting Factor in Los Angeles ©2009 Gary Livingston

Juliet is a very strong singer.  This fact went over my head at the Soma show due to the sound.  It’s kinda easy to read the talent of other components of a band even when the sound may be a little off.  The singer…not so much.  So, I want to make it clear she is very talented.

This show like San Diego had some time to hang out with the bands and their friends.  It was a cool vibe and everyone involved was fun to get to know.

Here’s mega heap of photos from the entire night:

Hanging out in A Cursive Memory's RV with the two bands. Scope out the N64. These dude's know how to roll.

The main reason to go to San Diego was to visit Jacob on his first tour stop near our home in LA. I got there a little early and spent some time hanging out with Jacob, the band he was touring with, Automatic Love Letter, and their supporting band, A Cursive Memory. (fuck yeah, dig on all those commas).

Jacob gave me a little tour of the areas of the venue he is used to spending time in. They included the “green room”:

Jacob in Soma's "green room" which happened to be blue.

And, of course the “artist bathroom”:

Jacob is upset we had to manually turn on the water to the sink and at the lock being something MacGuyver repaired in 20 seconds.

The MacGuyver lock

After getting the tour we hung out with the guys in A Cursive Memory until it was time for them to get on stage. Those guys are legit. They are generous with their living quarters, video games, and beverages. Big thanks for adopting me into their home on the road =) You can see those photos below in my earlier entry.

Automatic Love Letter went on immediately after A Cursive Memory. It was the same kind of experience as ACM’s set. A lot of bad sound and horrible lighting. At one point I thought Juliet’s vocals sounded like she was doing country. It was a very strange mix and if it were not for seeing them in Los Angeles I would have been left with the wrong idea of what ALL does.

Again, even though the sound and lighting were bad I was able to walk away with a few good notes. ALL’s fans are pretty excitable and connected to the band and the music. There was not a huge turn out but, the ones there were singing along and dancing. It made sense. Juliet lays herself out there pretty well. Even though the vocals sounded strange to me her energy transcended that.

Of course the other guys in the band were a joy to watch and brought some great energy. James looked like he was playing mathcore at one point. haha. Dude can headbang. It was a shame none of them were really well lit.

Juliet of Automatic Love Letter at Soma in San Diego ©2009 Gary Livingston

Here are the rest of the images from the night:

rock!

lolz, women.

lolz.

Some photos from the Thrice concert coming tonight after I get back from it or tomorrow afternoon. About to go pick up Jacob. Just gotta make sure the Kings game is being taped. =P