wishing wellissue five

1 cent

2013

Weʼre all about multi -faceted ar tists and Sophia Danai is the latest on our radar.

- ION Magazine

Debut EP from SOPHIA DANAI

Featuring 7 songs, with production from 2 time Grammy award winning producers Chin Injeti & DJ Khalil, including

AVAILABLE

Wishing Well”“

“Falling feat. Shad”

The Hastings Set Presents

04/23/13SOPHIADANAI.COM

http://facebook.com/thehastingsset

I've trusted Al Pacino for life lessons since the Godfather, and I'm going to continue by referencing The Devil's Advocate; remember to beware of the people who say they can make your dreams come true. Sometimes you want something so badly you jump right down the well with the wish you threw in, even if it's painful. So attached to this one idea, this one person, you can't let go and the more you wait for your expectations to be realized, the harder it is to admit that it will never be. Our expectations, in my experience, cause us the most pain, especially when we place them in people who are bound to dis-appoint. But alas, 20/20 vision still alludes us and we have to just say fuck it, and live sometimes. Usually the big mistakes take you where you need to go anyway, if you are willing to learn from them.

My belief is that if your wishes are anywhere, they are still with the shooting stars, eyelashes and birthday candles, waiting for you to claim them. Don't place them in the hands of someone else, there is a reason we are supposed to keep them secret. You are the wish, the well, snow white and the prince. Guess what, you're the Evil Queen too, so kill that bitch and get on with it. Samael says "Underneath your blackest emotions, far above your brightest wishes, stands a world for you to hold". This issue preludes the release of my first EP, Wishing Well. The following pages are filled with people who have been a part of this journey and whom I am so grateful to be aligned with. This is my world to hold, and I hope the music and the story speak to you in some way that helps you in your own.

SOPHIADANAI.COM

words. SOPHIA DANAI images. LISH REBMAN

Dream Walking is to leave the barriers of one's own mind while asleep and enter someone else's dream. This is the experience when viewing LISH REBMAN’S art, she allows us to visit a world all her own.

The landscapes she creates evoke a feeling simi-lar to when Mary Poppins took the children into the sidewalk chalk, or when Lucy disappeared behind the wardrobe into Narnia; You find your-self wishing you had the ability to go.

I am deeply inspired by this individual, and am thrilled to showcase this Editorial in Wishing Well, as well as introduce her as one of the Graphic Designers of the magazine. Enjoy imagining it could be.

with

F R E E D O W N L O A DG e t y o u r f r e e d o w n l o a d o f t h i s b o n u s t r a c k o � S o p h i a ’ s u p c o m i n g E P b e f o r e e v e r y o n e e l s e . O u r l i t t l e w a y o f s a y i n g , T h a n k Y o u ! f o r r e a d i n g t h e m a g a z i n e .

T A L I B K W E L Ifeat.

i wish i was a blogger

i wish i was a blogger

FEATURING: Alexia Anastasiou CREATOR OF: beautythemark.blogspot.com

HERE IS WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE...

However, a few things have changed. I now know that mis-takes are inevitable, and that I will make many of them. Prob-ably more than my share. But I have also become adept at laughing at myself, which helps. Even if the laughter comes after days of seemingly interminable tears.

When asked to write about “what I know now”, I laughed. And then cried a little, when I realized I don’t know much more now than two, five or even ten years ago.

1. You should never take it personally if your university boyfriend turns out to be gay. 1b. In fact, consider it a compliment. After all, out of

everyone you know, he has the best taste in, well…everything.

1c. No matter how pretty, cool, smart, or sexy you try to be,

When your older boyfriend’s friends find you a fake ID so you can surprise him at a bar, don’t drink two too many martinis and trip on the stairs. You might end up breaking your foot. And then breaking your relationship. 3. If he has to say

I’m sorry more often than any other words, he’s not sorry. And you’ll end up sorry if you don’t break up with him.

4. A guy who tells you he is a jerk is worse than the guy who doesn’t, but is. Because the former has just revealed per-sonal information that he hopes to use as a ‘get out of jail free card’ when he inevi-tably screws you over.

Plus, you have to be a real jackass to preface anything romantic or even sexual with that.

he will never be anything but gay.Don’t waste your time waiting for him to change.2.

6. Don’t plan a sur-prise birthday party when you’re unsure of the status of your relationship. It may end with him telling you he’s leaving you for the French ex-change student who puts out on the first date.

Don’t date the Swedish exchange stu-dent when you’re fresh out of high-school and very naïve. And he’s 5 years older than you. Chances are, you won’t have enough in common.

3rd degree burns.

Never hold a kettle of just-boiled water while trying to flirt or be coy with a boy you like. You will end up spilling the water on your bare feet and then standing there. Stunned. With

7.

5.

8b. Actually, just avoid French men altogether.

8. If you’re living in France and your boyfriend isn’t spending weekends with you, Break up with him immediately.

he’s married

You can’t be friends right after a break-up. One person inevitably still has romantic feelings for the other. If you ever want to be friends in the future, settle on being strangers for now. Because friendship equals respect.

Respect the hurting heart.

10. Sometimes you need to get hurt 2, 3 or maybe even 4 times by the same guy before you can really move on. No one who is objective or rational will un-derstand. It’s all be-cause of this silly little thing called

or complicated. And you’ll find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, time that you used to spend making excuses for his bad behaviour.

h o p e . Damned if you have it, damned if you don’t.

When he’s a good one, it won’t be hard

11.

9.

RICH KIDD

SonReal+

During my last venture to Los Ange-les, Canadian Em-C's, SonReal and Rich Kidd happened to be there at the same time recording their joint album, The Closers, and we got a chance to collaborate in the studio. In between takes and over a few beers, I managed to get a quick inter -view surrounding the topic of their first single Money Money; Apropos as I have a song on my record called Money - Pink Floyd and Biggie were the only ones missing at this round table. These are two charismatic and talented artists, and instead of tran -scribing the interview, I decided to share my iPhone recording to give you a glimpse into their entertaining dynamic. Great music is a product of great relationships, and it is clear that SonReal and Rich Kidd have both on lock. So... what are their most ridicu -lous purchases to date, and their big -gest aspirations in the future? Have a listen here.

be cool my babies

listen to the tracks

the wonder years mixtape

by. shad k intro. sophia danai

What time of our lives could possibly hold more naive hope, wish-ing, disappointment and disillusionment than our adolescence?

Holding hands. Being worried about your sweaty hands. First kiss. First love. First heartbreak. Getting your license. Getting drunk.

Getting sick. Dancing awkwardly. Hoping no one notices and hoping everyone notices. These are The Wonder Years. Shad is a

Juno award winning Em-C, and tv enthusiast; here he lists his top 5 song moments of the show we know and love. We all had a

Kevin, Winnie or Paul didn't we?

listen to the tracks

"god only knows" THE BEACH BOYS plays at the start and end of an episode called "heartbreak" in which winnie and kevin break-up at the science center during a �eld trip. need-less to say, it's the best. ben stein also features prominently in this episode.

 "tears of a clown" SMOKEY ROBINSONplays a couple of times in the series, both times in the same context: 1 - at a roller rink as kevin is trying hard to look like he's having a good time cuz winnie is there with her boyfriend. 2 - at a house party as kevin is trying to look like he's have a good time cuz winnie is there with her boyfriend. great song, appropriate usage.

“you are everything" THE STYLISTICSplays during an epic scene where kevin and winnie get back together on the dance �oor at semi-formal. this scene is teen romance at it's �nest; you can smell the hormones. 

"when a man loves a woman"PERCY SLEDGEplays at the end of the pilot during kevin and winnie's �rst kiss. killer ending narra-tion as well. weird song choice since kevin is about 11 during that episode but it works.

"we've got tonight" BOB SEGERplays at the end of an episode entitled "the accident" in which winnie gets in a car accident while hanging with some "older kids" for whom she ditched kevin earlier. despite winnie's shunning of kevin throughout the episode, kevin climbs up to her window the night she gets home from the hospital. winnie, laying in bed at this point, sees him at the window and is kind of creeped out at �rst but then he mouths 'i love you' and she gets all choked up and what not... this is, i believe, the �rst time in the series that kevin and winnie profess their love. deep.

Shereen Jamil is the creator of I Event, a website dedicated to music, fashion, events

and artist interviews. This woman is go-go-go and a breath of fresh air to the Vancouver

art scene. She doesn't miss a thing, and within the first few months of starting

I-Event, she has already landed features with Dragonette, Hey Ocean, Evy Jane

and Tops to name a few. High-lighting the who's who and what's what of Vancouver,

Shereen is helping the little city that could get some

much deserved attention. After a day with this charm-

ing lady, her camera, and the exchange of a few q's

and a's, I left inspired and more in love with the

place I call home.

HOME TOWN GLORYHOME TOWN GLORYQ: You are releasing your new EP Wishing Well, tell me about the vision and melodies it executes that make it different from your past EP's?

A: This is my first official EP, but in terms of how it's different from the music I created and recorded in the past, I consider it a complete evolution. Working with Chin Injeti and The Hast-ings Set I have had the opportunity to learn and grow so much as a musician. When I started on the journey of this record I had no idea how it would turn out, every song was a discovery process, and a story was created along the way. The only rules I have when making music is to feel the words and melodies I am singing, everything beyond that is subject to change. I wanted to make a record that felt cinematic and sincere, with songs that help you to escape and ones that invite you to reflect, and I am happy to say I believe we achieved that. 

Q: In one of the songs you worked with Canadian Hip Hop artist Shad. How are working relationship with other musicians when creating something that can be so per-sonal? 

A: It can be a bit nerve racking when you are first meeting someone you respect and admire to make music. It's kind of like dating, sometimes you hit it off and everything feels easy, other times you wish you pre-arranged a fake phone call to get you out of the room. In my opinion, the best music is made when those involved can put their ego aside and do what is best for the song, also when you can feel free enough to express your ideas and leave space for others to do the same. However there are times when you never meet the artists you collaborate with, which is the case with Talib Kweli who is featured on "The End";

pictures & interview.SHEREEN JAMIL

 

 

 

an experience unique to our generation and makes me remember how cool the internet is. All of the artists who I worked with, which include Shad K, Skratch Bastid, DJ Khalil, Danny Keys and Chin Injeti are incredible, and I am so grateful to be in the company of such talent. 

Q: Your magazine is called Wishing Well, whats the story behind matching your EP album name with the magazine?

A: The reason I called the album Wishing Well is based upon the two songs that laid the foun-dation for the rest of the record: "Wish You Well" and "Falling". The title of the first explains itself, and "Falling" was inspired by the song Wishing Well from Snow White. I also love the symbolism that surrounds the image; It's hopeful and nostalgic. A well is also a source - which is a reason why I loved the name for the magazine, and when we began, the intention was to use it as a vehicle specifically to promote the EP, but fortunately it has grown beyond that and will continue independently from the record.

Q: Will you be touring soon after your EP release?

A: Yes! Tour dates will be announced soon. I am beyond excited.  

Q: What made you decide to start a maga-zine? 

A: Aidan Wright, one of my project managers offered the idea because initially I was resistant to social media. I couldn't understand why someone would want to see or hear about what I was doing everyday. However, it is essential to being an artist in the industry these days, and the magazine is way to make it more creative, and feature other artists that inspire me, some who I've had the opportunity to work with. It is also a platform to write, design, interview, and has become a new passion of mine that is quickly growing.

LET’S PLAY !

{�eir disagreement on this matter left themunsure of their relationship. But we thinkChin may have had the movies confused.}

http://kinbykin.com

The Time Machine

Nostalgia is a beautiful thing, time moves so quickly and sometimes the only way to hold onto our memories, is to reminisce. Sophena Kwon has been described by close friends as living art, and her pho-tography is a re�ection of that. She moves subtly through busy streets, quiet afternoon picnics and unforgettable nights with her polaroid camera, docu-menting, and keeping alive the moments we never want to forget. Even if all the faces in these photo-graphs are nameless to you, they will tell you a story you feel you already know.

sophena kwon

SD: Why a polaroid camera?

SK: I started using polaroid only 3 years ago. I -

alities. I love how physical the experience is. How it slows

dime a dozen. You've got 8 to a cartridge - sometimes 10 if you have the old stock. I love that people respond outwardly to the polaroid camera and the exposing photos - curiously, inquisitively, excitedly.

SD: How did you select the pictures for your last Exhibit, Portraits and Polaroid?

show was a joint photographic collaboration with a friend and incredible portrait photographer, Tim McLaughlin. Being called Portraits & Polaroids, our focus was around people mostly... however, a cow & an elephant were in there as well. My collection is a window into my day. On both sides of the world. The people I'm on this planet with. The ones that make the experience.

SD: photography?

SK: It's been an amazing tool to travel with (if you can justify the bulkiness & have clever enough negotia-

airport x-ray scanners). It all becomes worth it when you get to share something kind of 'magical' with someone. I always try

with the people I photograph. In this way, you are giving a real tangible piece of your experience together to your subject - this goes a long way! Now it feels like an exchange rather than the photographer taking.

SD: What is a perfect photo?

SK: A perfect photo is not always clear or in focus... but always has something unexpected. Like the image of the Elephant & the Bicyclist. I was in a jeep driv-ing past and managed to duck my head out the window to capture the painted elephant... once the image started to show I was quite proud that I managed to get the whole trunk in the frame while in a moving vehicle on Jaipur streets... then something unexpected hap-pened! Also perfectly framed was a man on his bicycle

cart overtaking the elephant. Had I ever seen this man? No. He was not my focus at all and he never existed in my conscience until the polaroid had developed him.

SD: Why is documenting your life, in journal and pho-tography important to you?

SK: I'm a recorder. I have always been this way - gathering little bits of my life from all angels - and leav-ing a trail behind. Journaling (both abroad and at home)

of reading them down the way. Its a genuine kind of 'time travel' that can be experienced. Images are an acute way of tapping into this. Scattered through more recent journals are polaroids captured. Also in my home - walls and window frames - are tagged with polaroids!

SD: Favourite moment captured in the last six months?

SK: I was leant a Mamiya RB67 Pro camera by my friend Arseni whilst on his travels in Africa. This camera is a masterpiece. I've never worked with such beast. It's a

-ing. Also in the kit was a polaroid back you could attach to the camera. So on Christmas morning I pulled it out - mounted it on a tripod (it weighs 8lbs) and one by one got all my family to sit for me. My grandma who is going on 90 this year and a total inspiration to us all - doesn't like getting her photo taken one bit! However, I think

more familiar to her. Something she was resonating with. She sat for a couple exposures - happy as a clam. This was my absolute favourite moment captured in these past 6 months.

"I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never real-ises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past." -Virginia Woolf

www.madchild57.com/

THE MUSEINTRO.SOPHIA DANAI WORDS.INDIGO

Artist. Dancer. Writer. Creator. Indigo is an inspiring individual. Her art has travelled from Vancouver to South Africa, and many places in between. I am always drawn to her enigmatic presence and intrigued by her wealth of ideas. I asked her to create something in-spired by the song Wish You Well from my EP. this is what

she had to show and tell.

Commute

It’s five thirty Wednesday on the train and the girl standing next to me shifting hip to

hip to hip

is wishing for less fashionable shoes.Anything without heels,

even the fold-up kind meant for drunken walks home at 3amthe cheap ones, disposable

like plastic dishes that wear florals,pretending to be china. Those ones thatsome PR company sent you in the mail once

and you swore you’d never wear thembut then were ohsohappy you brought them “just in case”

stumbling home together through gastown,cobble streets lined with moonglobes in the half light

All of us glowinga short lived mollyphoria

the kind that washes away with the sweatfrom that guy in the club who kept dancing far too close

until I had enough and pulled your smile between us

can you just pretend to be my girlfriend for a minute

not knowing those sixty seconds would last the next five yearsend with each of us holding the others broken parts at arms

length and walking away

It’s five thirty four Wednesday on the train.The girl next to me has found a seat

and when she sits her legs flash and the guy in the Canucks jersey across from her looks at least three times

and in my head I think she is nothing compared to you, who would

have noticed and stared back with “What” not as a question but a statement on your face until he shifted from foot

to foot tofoot in his too-white running shoes

with that beer gut I highly doubt those shoes have ever gone faster than a slow walk

You who at the present moment are likely staring down strange dudes

On the subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn, as southbound as I am north

You for whom I spent three hours a day in transit, a tidal commute from bus to train to bus and back again,

each night spent on familiar shores

You who felt as fiercely connected to West as I did East, and in the end swayed me to move

and even then, we were seeking different poles

It’s five thirty six Wednesday on the train, the girl is falling asleep and there are

more heels above our heads avoiding the steel traps of sidewalk grates.

Men with tired eyes and neckties loose thinking onlyof the game and a beer

and nobody has reception down below yet we all keepone hand on our smartphones,

phantom rings pitched in tones not even a dog could hear

wikipedia says that an intense "need" for contact, such as experienced during involuntary extended isolation may produce a similar effect

But hear them we do, fumble through pockets and handbags, frantic glances at the blank screen,

thumbs scroll through digital archaeologies of drunken texts, emails from that

one guy still working back at the office, Facebook messages from parents

who have learned the usefulness of social media in keeping tabs on their offspring.

the word need with quotation marks around it, as if the entire internet was doing that little hand thing while speaking, as if the act of needing another human being was outdated,

ironic.

There are no new messages, the light wasn’t flashing and we knew there wouldn’t be any,

but still.

and I remembered you saying once that only wannabe hipsters and alanis morissette depend on irony to make a point, and even they usually get it wrong.

It’s five thirty eight Wednesday on the train and one by one by one we put our phones away

shift in our seatswish we had something to read

avoid eye contact like your light blue heels around that patch of sidewalk at Hastings and Columbia that never dries com-

pletely,not even in July.

Wishing Well Magazine by: Sophia Danai & Aidan Wright