We're back! ful took a quick trip out to California for Coachella--and we have some fun photos from our trip. Aside from mingling with some of music's finest, one or two ful bags also fought their way onstage and managed to rock out with a couple bands. Overall, it was super fun and we were excited to see some of the musicians with our bags.
Here are some highlights:
Rapper B.o.B. with his ful bag
Joy Bryant hanging around the festival with pals
Beth Ditto of indie rock band Gossip with her ful bag
Bob Motherbaugh of Devo with his ful bag
Boots Riley of Street Sweeper Social Club
De La Soul with their ful bag
A ful bag hits the stage at Coachella (yep, that's De La Soul performing!)
Hey, it's Chelsea Gossett here, guest blogging for ful. On a recent trip to Nashville, I had the pleasure of dining with Kimberly Novosel, one of the on-trend women responsible for making today's music stars shine their brightest. I know we often think that a singer or actor wakes up with perfect extensions, a knack for pairing studded Balmain blazers with ripped denim, and flawless makeup. Alas, this is not the case. Often it takes an army. And if I may carry on my analogy, Kimberly is on the front lines.
A Q&A with Image Consultant/Celebrity Stylist, Kimberly Novosel
CG: How did you become a stylist? KN: I moved to Nashville with the goal of becoming a tour manager, but fell in love with fashion working retail while getting my music business degree at Belmont University. After school, I worked awhile in tour promotions, but then I put fashion and music together when I began styling as an intern on Nashville Star in 2007.
CG: Who are some of the celebs you've dressed? Can you share any memorable moments (events? garments?) with us? I have worked with Jessica Simpson, LeAnn Rimes, Julianne Hough, and Kellie Pickler. Each girl had her own stylist and I was there to help out anyone who needed it. What a fun bunch of girls! Jessica had on the most beautiful black YSL pumps.
I also helped Miley Cyrus get ready when she hosted the Country Music Television (CMT) Awards. She wore a gorgeous red and white print Roberto Cavalli gown on the red carpet. But my favorite thing she wore that night was a fun little black, red and yellow dress with red cowboy boots. That dress would have a nice home in my closet.
Miley's Roberto Cavalli gown
CG: What advice would you give to women trying to break into the industry? KN: It takes more than just fashion sense. I am my own marketing director, publicist, and business manager. Some people in this industry are fantastic to work with, but others put their own agenda way ahead of yours. Be gracious, and you'll be one of those that anyone prefers to work with. LEARN TO BE FLEXIBLE. The director or photographer's vision may differ from yours, but they hired you. Also learn to make quick decisions. Especially in my television work, there's no time to mull over the blue top vs. the green one. Blue. Go!
CG: Who are some of your favorite designers? KN: Two words: Marc! Jacobs! His own lines clearly show his style as a whole, while being totally different from each other. Everything about the man is very impressive. Not to mention his work for Louis Vuitton. Max Azria, another, takes up half of my closet--at least. Sophisticated, always ahead of the curve, and so wearable. Chloe is one of my favorite lines as well. I also love Theory for basics, French Connection for dresses, Seven for All Mankind for jeans.
Kimberley (in pearls), her assistant, Jill (in black) and models
CG: What are some of the trends you are loving at the moment? KN: One shouldered dresses. This is one that comes and goes every few years, and I think it's so stunning. I wore a purple one-shouldered satin BCBG Max Azria dress to the CMA parties this winter, with gold zipper detail on the shoulder. So fun! I love all of the Mad Men inspired styles too, whether it's the Betty Draper housewife dresses or Joan Hollaway's curve-hugging ensembles. My favorite color for spring and summer is white. Just a hint of tan is all it takes and you know its time to pull all your white to the front of the closet!
To learn more about Kimberly's styling, visit her site or her blog.
This week's edition of ful Music Insider features Sing It Loud, a pop rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their new album, Everything Collide, is dropping May 11 and we're pumped they took a second to chat with us during their busy schedule.
Sing It Loud is comprised of Pat Brown (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Kieren Smith (Guitar/Backing Vocals), Nate Flynn (Bass), Ben Peterson (Piano/Keyboard) and Chris Lee (Drums.) They toured for two years with bands like We The Kings, The Spill Canvas, Motion City Soundtrack, Hit The Lights, and Cobra Starship and also did a stint on the 2009 Warped Tour.
We got a chance to chat with Pat Brown, the lead singer. He told us his favorite venue, which bands he'd love to play with, and the most difficult part of recording their latest album.
ful: You guys have a ton of live shows coming up in the next few months. Do you have a favorite city to play in? A favorite venue? Pat Brown: I have 2 favorite cities to play in. One is our hometown of Minneapolis, MN, of course, and the other is Chicago. My favorite venues are First Avenue in Minneapolis, The Fillmore in San Francisco, and The Metro in Chicago.
ful: What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show? PB: Outside at Texas A&M University during passing hours in front of a fountain while everyone was walking around.
ful: Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list? What's your favorite song to play? PB: Best Beating Heart, Come Around, Bite Your Lip, and No One Can Touch Us are our most frequently played songs. We have done a cover of KC & The Sunshine Band's Get Down Tonight for an MTV original movie called Turn The Beat Around and we are also covering a Foo Fighters song on our next tour! We actually do have a set playlist. We have an iPod with a bunch of songs on it that we play during the set change with songs by a bunch of rap & pop artists. My favorite song to play is definitely a new song called Only One.
ful: What was the last song you wrote? Can you tell us about it? PB: The last song I wrote is a brand new song and it doesn't even have a name. It's super '90s sounding and the lyrics are very happy and uplifting. When I hear it or play it it reminds me of the magic carpet ride night time scene in Aladdin. Haha!
ful: You're new album Everything Collides hits iTunes and stores on May 11. What was the most exciting part of making this record? The most difficult? PB: The most exciting part was that we got to record the album song by song. We've never done that before. Most bands record all drums, all bass, all guitars, all vocals, then all keys, but we took a chance and took our time and really focused on the songs one by one. It really helped give each song a different feel. The most difficult part was the vocals. Our producer, Jordan Schmidt really pushed me hard vocally. He didn't let me get away with anything and it ended up turning out amazing.
ful: What bands do you guys love right now? Who would you love to play with? PB: I've been in love with the new Gorillaz record. I'd love to play with Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday because they're my favorite bands.
ful: What advice do you have for people who want to give it a go in the music industry? PB: Get your feet wet, put yourself out there, be confident, and take chances. Too many people think that just because they're knowledgeable the opportunities will come to them. Start a band, work merch for a friend's band, look for internships.... Whatever it is you want to do in the music business, I guarantee you will learn more from hands-on personal experience than any teacher in the country could ever teach you in a year.
ful: We at ful bags are super excited to be working together. Have you had a chance to use our luggage/bags? What do you think? PB: Of course I have! I just went to Florida then straight to California for some shows/hanging out/shooting a music video and doing some photo shoots, and I brought almost every single peice of clothing i own and my bag wasn't even overweight at the airport! We looked like a gang rolling up to MSP with all matching suitcases! It was awesome. :)
To hear Sing It Loud's music, check out their MySpace page and their website. Thanks again Pat!
A couple of weeks ago Kobe Bryant hosted the Qonquest Gamer event at Boulevard3 in Los Angeles--and ful was there! Bryant invited 300 people to come out and try the new Guitar Hero 5. The highlight of the evening? Kobe taking on football star Ray Lewis in Guitar Hero. Check out our exclusive photos from the event:
We couldn't be more excited! A couple of weeks ago, ful scored an interview with Adam Young, aka Owl City! Owl City is a synthpop musical project created by Young. He started making music in his basement and posting it on MySpace and soon his unique sound started getting noticed. After releasing two albums on his own, Young was signed by Universal Records and together they released a third album, Ocean Eyes. Owl City topped the Billboard charts with the single Fireflies from that record. In addition to his current U.S. tour, Young will be joining John Mayer on tour later this year.
Again, we're so excited to present our interview with Owl City. Here's what Young had to say...
ful: What aspect of making music excites you the most right now? Owl City: Pizza.
ful: What was the last song you wrote? Can you tell us about it? OC: I've been writing a lot of music for commercials and other projects as well as doing a bit of remixing lately. It's kept me a busy bee but things like that are easy to do on the tour bus and it's been a blast.
ful: What is the most exciting part of recording? The most difficult? OC: The music is the most exciting, the vocals are the most difficult.
ful: Do you have a favorite city to play in? A favorite venue? OC: Not really. Every big city sort of feels the same to me, and while I'm not particularly fond of big cities, I suppose I don't have a good answer. I like the countryside and I'm not much of a social person.
ful: Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list? What's your favorite song to play? OC: We play a mix of old and new music on the road. We've been known to cover the title theme from a video game from 1996 called Wave Race 64. My favorite song is called This is the Future.
ful: You have such a unique sound. Who and what inspire you? What kind of recording equipment do you use? OC: I become really inspired by reading and art. It's the visual aspects of imaging that really get me going and I think it's a fascinating thing to try to portray that via music. I run Pro Tools and Reason.
ful: What bands do you love right now? Who would you love to play with? OC: I don't really listen to a lot of "bands" nor a whole lot of current popular music, but I am a fan of Thomas Newman and just about everything he's written for film. I tend to be more inspired by nature and things that exist naturally.
ful: You just announced you're touring with John Mayer this summer. Have you met him before? Are you friends? What are you most looking forward to on that tour? OC: I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited to see places I've never seen before and equally excited to return home with a slew of new memories. We haven't played much in the south east part of the states and I'm really looking for to it.
ful: What advice do you have for people who are trying to break into the music industry? OC: Don't run with scissors.
ful: We at ful bags are super excited to be working together. Have you had a chance to use our luggage/bags? What do you think? OC: Yes! I LOVE them! I'm sitting on one right now. It's comfy.
For more information on Owl City check out their official website and MySpace page. Thanks Adam and hope to see you live soon!
One of the years biggest music festivals is only days away--and we can hardly wait! For the first time ever, ful is providing bags for the artists performing! And we're so excited to be involved with such a passionate music festival. And news broke today that it's officially sold out!
This year's lineup includes some killer artists like Jay-Z, Faith No More, MGMT, She & Him, Imogen Heap, Corinne Bailey Rae, Vampire Weekend, Thom Yorke, and many, MANY others. Here's a link to the full three-day lineup. And following tradition, almost all of the musical acts are non-repeating.
Coachella officially started in 1999 and is held each year in Indio, California, which is part of the Colorado Desert. Though it started as a one-day event and eventually expanded to two days, it's now a full three days of music. After years of not allowing it, Coachella started to offer camp tenting as an option for attendees.
If you're going this year, have fun rocking out! If you're not, stayed tuned for some photos and videos from the festival coming soon...
As a Memphis-based company, we are always excited to talk with some of our city's VIPs. And we're pumped Lawrence 'Boo' Mitchell, son of the legendary Memphis music producer Willie Mitchell, found time to give us a peek into his world.
Boo Mitchell (left) with brother Archie Mitchell
Willie Mitchell changed the face of music in the '60s and '70s when he produced acts such as Al Green, Ann Peebles, and others soul icons. And his son Boo Mitchell was there for most of. Once he was old enough to follow in his father's footsteps, Boo joined the family business and started producing music. Currently he's working with new artists in his Memphis recording studio.
Here, Boo talks about growing up around legends, what he loves about Memphis, and the best advice he ever received from his father Willie...
ful: You grew up surrounded by some of music's biggest legends, including your father. What's your favorite memory during that time? Boo Mitchell: One of my favorite memories was at a Jackson's concert in the mid '70s. Right after the show Jackie and Tito came and got my brother and me and took us backstage to meet Michael and his brothers. They yelled "Hey, Mitchell boys..." I mean, come on!
ful: What's the greatest piece of advice your father ever gave you? BM: The greatest piece of advice would be to treat people with compassion.
ful: Who are some of your favorite artists you've worked with? Why? BM: Al Green, John Mayer, and Solomon Burke.
Al is charismatic and full of energy. He gives everyone a charge when he's around.
John is very laid back, cool, and uncomplicated. The exact opposite of what you would expect of someone with his accomplishments.
Solomon Burke. Mr. Unpredictable. He never sings anything the same way twice. You just press record and hold on!
ful: What artist would you love to work with? BM: One artist I would love to work with is Justin Timberlake. Partly because he's from Memphis, but mostly because he is extremely talented and creative.
ful: What song (or songs) moves you each and every time you hear it? BM: One song that moves me most is Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." It's special to me because it was written and produced by my father, Willie Mitchell.
ful: What's the most exciting part about working in the music industry? BM: Working with people that have amazing talent.
ful: What are you working on right now? What are you hoping to do in the next few years? BM: Currently I'm finishing production on the Alaskan duo "Deering and Down." They have a unique sound: it's like soul, folk, and country all rolled into one. In the next few years I would like to create a boutique record company and release some of the special projects I’ve been working on.
ful: What's your favorite kind of music? Favorite artists? BM: I don't really have a favorite kind of music. I like everything from Alanis Morissette to Jay-Z. Some of my favorite artists: Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, Black Eyed Peas, Louie Armstrong, Likin Park, Robin Thicke, Al Green, and India Arie.
ful: You call Memphis home: what is the best part of living there? BM: One of the best things about living in Memphis is its rich musical heritage. Rock and roll was born here, soul was invented here, the blues were made famous here, and great music is still being made here.
