Semi Precious Weapons appear in the new promo for Lady Gaga's 2011 VMA performance on 8.28.11 along with other members of the Precious Empire and the Rivington Rebels. The promo also features some Justin face art, whiskey, blood, and lots of blonde weave.
In the full promo, scenes of Gaga hanging out with her crew — drinking, dancing and being merry — are mixed with Gaga chilling out with a jazz band performing a slowed-down version of the latest Born This Way single.
Sitting at the piano during the shoot, Gaga tells the room, "I'm so happy my friends are here." MTV News was on hand when the promo was shot, and Gaga said it's meant to give fans an inside look at what it's like to hang with the Mother Monster. "I really wanted it to be real, and I knew that MTV wanted it to be a true documentation of my life, and as someone that lives halfway between reality and fantasy, so do all my friends," she told us on set. "So I felt [it would be] an injustice to not sort of honor them in this short film that we did."
It seems that living "halfway between reality and fantasy" means just having a really, really great time listening to tunes and living it up. "I brought my friends here, and we did a jazz rendition of 'Yoü and I,' and we sort of just hung out together," she said. "And played around and did what we usually do, which is be creative with one another and talk about music and art and fashion and f--- around."
The Precious Empire has been busy taking over NYC and the globe. Lady Starlight was spotted in Glasgow selling some new un-mentionables. Darian Darling modeled some new pop-art and worked those infamous crimsom lips, and Breedlove is busy working the NYC scene with his mega-popular Magic Monday!
Lady Starlight Takes Over the Cathouse Nightclub
Lady Starlight stormed the Cathouse Nightclub in Glasgow a few days ago, spinning records and selling her new Starlight panties!
New Pictures of Darian Darling
Darian Darling modeled a FABULOUS dress created by Hally McGehean. Pop art ostrich feathers? Pearls? Darian? Count US in!
LIGHT AS A FEATHER, STIFF AS A BOARD - THE DRESSES Models Darian Darling and J David McKenney Photography by Chip Miller Makeup by Maria Ramagli Hair by Darley Junqueira
Darian Darling wearing LIGHT AS A FEATHER, STIFF AS A BOARD. Photography by Chip Miller Makeup by Maria Ramagli Hair by Darley Junqueira
Starry Nightlife
NYArtBeat.com's Victor Corona mentions Precious Empire members Breedlove, Darian Darling, and the Joce in his review of NYC's latest 'Starry' nightlife.
"At St. Jerome’s on the Lower East Side, for example, the work week is inaugurated with carousing instead of grumbling. Magic Mondays at the Rivington Street bar consist of a vigorous revelry generated by the songs of Breedlove, a friendly singer usually seen sporting garments typical of the ’80s and ’90s. At a recent Magic Monday, a fog machine started its work and the small bar quickly filled. The crowd of bar regulars enthusiastically sang along to cheery, rousing songs like “Oh, Pierre!” “OK By Me,” and “New York City Rooftop,” whichBreedlovesang with a robust voice as he walked among partiers, beer in hand. Richie Rich, an original club kid compatriot of Alig and a founder of the Heatherette fashion label, arrived alongside Jocelyn Saldana, who daringly posed in a subway sans any garments for Zach Hyman’s Decent Exposures series. Remaining devoted to the creation of his magic musical moments, Breedlove has amassed a fan following that includes veteran practitioners of the art of New York nightlife and recent college grads eager to plunge into the various strains of local culture."
"Immersed in the uptown Columbus Circle chic of the Hudson Hotel’s Library, Thursday night’s Ladyland is described on the party’s Facebook page as “a motley cast of muppets, models, and musicians” by organizer Kelle Calco. In a setting that meshes bookish décor with a violet billiards table, Ladyland’s dazzling duo of hosts,Darian Darling and Tommy Hottpants, cultivate a rock and roll atmosphere that attracts fashion industry toilers, neon-haired club kids, and suit-and-tie types. Noting the inspiration for the party’s name in a Jimi Hendrix song, a recent write-up in On Makeup Magazine reported, “The feel is reminiscent of The Rolling Stones documentary Gimme Shelter or a sexy Warhol Factory party—complete with the characters and creativity that originally made New York City the creative capital of the world.” Recent visitors at Ladyland have included Brian Newman, the debonair trumpet player at the Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room and lower Manhattan’s Duane Park, and rock icon Debbie Harry, who has collaborated in the past with Ladyland’s DJ, Miss Guy."
While pillaging through some images of Stella McCartney's FABULOUS Spring 2011 Presentation, And after perusing through a few shots of Filipa Fino and Anna and Graydon Carter, I spotted a rare, leather-clad/mystical creature among all the bleh pastels and flyaway hair -- and who could that be??? It was none other than Darian Darling!
Can You Spot Her?
"Shit! Am I not supposed to wear leather to a Stella McCartney fashion show? What's rock'N roll without leather??" - Via Twitter
Jon Chattman and Andrew Plotkin of Thecheappop.com interviewed Justin Tranter this week about their new studio album, jewelry line, and touring. TheCheapPop.com has been following Semi Precious Weapons since before 2007 and have plenty of great interviews on their website for you to check out! I spy: Darian Darling, Breedlove... and a black cabbage patch doll??
The interview was also posted in the Huffington Post:
"Justin Tranter probably knows it by now. How could he not? All signs continue to point toward rock and roll domination, and the lead singer of Semi Precious Weapons is just days away from another sweet taste in that direction. So, yeah he probably knows what's on the verge of happening.
As he plucked his glossed lips, and subtly-clicked his high heels together (yeah, you read that right), the Chicago native discussed going on tour next week with pop's reigning queen, Lady Gaga. For Tranter and SPW, it's their second "Monster Ball" tour of duty with Ms. G, but the first time they'll be doing it while in the midst of promoting their new album "You Love You" - which, of course, was produced by Gaga.
While the band has a long, loving history with the artist formerly known as Stefani Germanotta (she used to open up for SPW back in the day), SPW have actually been building a loyal fanbase of their own...on their own for years. Rigorous touring and buzzworthy songs like "Magnetic Baby" (You know you downloaded it for RockBand2) have made for a legion of followers who haul ass to each show wearing little, dancing a lot, and making for likely some of the finest moments in androgynous rock music scene history.
From a swanky Queens hotel, I spoke with Tranter on everything I just wrote about, his burgeoning jewelry line (Fetty), and what the future holds for SPW."
Check out this GORGEOUS vid posted by Darian Darling For More Fabulousity visit http://dariandarlingnyc.blogspot.com/ or click the picture on our link bar!
"Before Semi Precious Weapons moved to New York or even met, we all dreamed that the city would be like it was in the Warhol documentaries. And it just wasn’t. It was more like girls wishing they were in Sex and the City and dudes swearing that they hate The Strokes when they look and sound just like them. We moved there and hooked up, but the whole place was just boring us to tears, so we said, “Fuck it, instead of complaining about the New York party scene, let’s just start a fucking trophy party band and create our own one.”
Around this time we met Lady Gaga, through Lady Starlight, who was an acquaintance of mine. She told us about Gaga and got her to open for us, and she came and was just amazing. She and Starlight lit their hair on fire, they stripped, they broke everything and they were wasted. It was beyond fucking fabulous, so I came up with the name Filthy Glamour for us all. There are two parts to it – our sound is harder and filthier than glam rock, so firstly I thought, “I’ll just go for Filthy Glamour”, and then when people say, “Well, what is Filthy Glamour? I’ll say, “It sounds like Dirty Fucking Showbiz.”
But at that point it was still very difficult – we were still on our own and it was hard for us to get booked in normal music venues. Our music was fun and we look… well, I’ve been dressing like this since I was 15… but we all look weird. I think people just didn’t know who to put us on a bill with, and as a result we started playing these dance parties in places like Coco 66 in Brooklyn, and downstairs at Webster Hall. Our music is nothing like dance, but it was just easier for us to play a 30-minute set in the middle of a DJ party than to play a show with four hipster bands.
That was a beautiful mistake, because all the dance parties were fucking packed with people there just to drink and get laid – but then they accidentally see a band! So we ended up building this scene out of nothing and creating a world of our own. We became superstars of this world that probably only 1,000 people knew about.
There were all these different people who we started playing with, who have become a part of Filthy Glamour. A girl named Tokyo Diva – she’s hip-hop, but it’s really fucking filthy and glamorous. There’s another character called Breedlove. His fashion and music motto is ‘dress to depress’, and he wears the most ill-fitting sweatpants anyone could ever wear and these dirty T-shirts with his own face painted on them. The band he’s got is sick – if you heard them and didn’t know who they were you’d be positive it was 1977.
Nico Vega fit into the Dirty Fucking Showbiz world too. They’re a three-piece with a girl singer. She’s a much different type of glamour than I am though – she performs barefoot, but as a band they look unbelievable and she sings her fucking ass off. And then there’s another band outside of LA called The Ringers, who we’ve brought to New York a couple times. They’re Iggy Pop meets kids’ cartoons! They’re fucking ridiculous. Darian Darling is a blogger and personality who’s a central part of the whole scene too – look her up. And as far as the fashion is concerned there’s a store in Brooklyn called Alter that’s kind of a home-base for Filthy Glamour. It’s cheap, it’s exciting, and it’s ridiculous. Much like the music.
Saying all that, I don’t think the New York Press is really ready for Filthy Glamour yet. I do think the kids are though. In fact, I know that for sure. When we went back and played Radio City with Gaga recently, we filmed a video at The Trash Party and it was amazing. It was the filthiest thing ever… there are actually people fucking in the video, I mean, you can’t see penetration, but it was full on. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s really fucking weird and really amazing that even though we’re away on tour, this filthy world we started back in New York – full of important characters just going for it – is still thriving. "
Today's Weapon Wednesday features Deadly Weapons, Emma Louise and Sydney Magnetic. Check out her fab letter and her fab SPW inspired art!
"My name is Emma Louise and it's pretty safe to say that before Semi Precious Weapons, my life was incredibly boring.
I live in St. Louis and had no idea who they were until maybe 8:00 on January 7, 2010. the night i went to see lady gaga with my best friend in the world. Talk about looking "shocked" when Justin Tranter changes clothes onstage and sends champagne to the audience. But we were the best kind of shocked, the "holy shit this is what we have been waiting for all our lives" kind of shocked. Of course, the night only got more awesome when Lady Gaga took the stage and rocked our worlds, but neither of us could forget the filthy glaMOUR we had been introduced to.
We had the next day off from school, and I spent the whole day listening to Semi Precious Weapons on Youtube. A friend lent me the "We Love You" CD and my world was rocked. Permanently.
So when I needed a new gym bag, I seized the opportunity and made the most kuntFABULOUS tote bag in the entire world.
It's pretty easy to make at home yourself, even! Just find a fab picture of someone (or two people) who is incredibly fabulous and open it with photoshop. make it black and white and then print it out on tough paper like cardstock. Cut out the black parts with an x-acto knife, tape it down to your totebag or whatever fabulous thing you are spray painting, and spray paint the fuck out of it! i used fluorescent pink spray paint which is always the best color. and then you can add words like "glam and gorgeous" if you want super glaMOUR.
My best friend and i are such glamorpusses that when we found out about Weapon Wednesday on SPWworld, we had a picture of Justin Tranter developed to take a picture with so you can see our gorg. faces. Then we made this video (which was retweeted by Semi Precious Weapons themselves!) of us putting on makeup and looking magic.
Emma and Sydney's video started a trend among others and SPW Fan Performance art is running rampant on youtube -- Check out these videos of Darian Darling and Breedlove performing to SPW:
In the full promo, scenes of Gaga hanging out with her crew — drinking, dancing and being merry — are mixed with Gaga chilling out with a jazz band performing a slowed-down version of the latest Born This Way single.
