Most of us all love the arts in some form or fashion. Maybe it’s watching the newest Banksy piece go viral, or catching a piece of street art by Shepard Fairey or RETNA on an anonymous LA wall. Maybe it’s a video vignette by Levi Maestro or a photograph by Estevan Oriol. Whatever your creative fix might be, we love experiencing it, we love seeing it & every morsel of information we get just makes us relish it that much more.

That concept, in it’s essences, is what this mini series of video diaries has been all about. We have been privileged enough to see Alexander DCD at work, but we realized that most everyone else has not. When you walk into a gallery, no matter how much you love or hate the piece in front of you, you don’t really know what went in to making it. And that’s what this process is mostly about. Getting a rare glance into the artist’s workshop. Seeing the step by step meticulous processes that goes into each piece. That same piece that took days or weeks to make, we may only get to savor for a few brief moments.

Incase you missed any of Alexander DCD’s video vignettes, here they all are neatly packaged for you consuming pleasure… Enjoy!

The Fruition ::

Alexander DCD has a new gallery titled, AWARENESS that opens today. If you’re looking for a way to satisfy that art fix you definitely need to check it out.

SHOP ONLINE :: http://diamondcrewclothing.bigcartel.com

Men’s ::

Women’s ::

Here’s a look back at some of the steps that went into making this project Fresh to Death™.

::RELATED POST:: Fresh to Death: An Inside Look

::RELATED POST:: Moons Over My Meghan

Sasha Misfit: How have you been?

Ben Graupner: Good, Good. We are back in LA. We are gearing up and getting ready to release our new EP Faith in the Will on Valentine’s Day.

SM: Will it be available on Itunes?

BG: It will be available for pre-sale on our website next week and on Itunes in few months.

SM: Will you be doing shows any time soon?

BG: We will be playing shows in the Los Angeles and San Diego area. Later in the year we will hopefully be able to make it out to the East Coast or Southwest or Southeast . We are also playing the Spencer Bell Legacy Show in Madison, WI on May 12, 2012.

SM: How did you come up with the name Mechanical People?

BG: It literally was when the band first started when Ben [Johnson], Jake [Miller], and I had some down time in the studio in Baton Rouge after we had recorded our song Skyscraper, which has the hook “mechanical people with rhythmic hearts”. Then about a month later we realized that we were going to put out an EP and this was not going to just be a Sunday afternoon project so we needed a name. We began to write a sheet of band names. Our landlord, guests of the house, and anyone we asked would contribute to till we had 4 or 5 sheets of printer paper with just terrible band names. Some of them were the worst band names you had ever heard of. Mechanical People was one of the ones that wasn’t annoying and it was in the hook of the song. Actually that was the only thing we held against it.

SM: How would you describe the sound of the band?

BG: I think it was said best when we played the SBL in Austin last year. The Dallas Observer covered us and said “[We] sound like early Yo La Tengo trying to cover Prince songs in your Uncle’s garage”. I’m really bad at this and I just say we are a rock n’ roll band with a lot of 70s influences but that doesn’t quite cover it. Our music seems to be very moral and seems to focus on right and wrong, redemption and condemnation. I don’t know why it has not been a specific push to go and do that, but when I sit back and look at our 3 CDs we have now it seems to be a reoccurring theme in most of our songs. Which I think is really interesting.

SM: Which specific 70s bands inspire you the most?

BG: The Stones, The Doors, The Who, Jethro Tull

SM: Do you prefer playing in the studio or playing live?

BG: I prefer playing live. I think Ben and Jake would say the same. The joy of playing to a live crowd and interacting with an audience there is nothing like it. You can’t do that by yourself. You have to have a gathering of people to have THAT magic happen.

SM: When was the last time you just flat out fell on your face?

BG: It was this year. I was standing completely still, having a conversation with a friend and BLAM, hit the ground. I fall down a lot. I am not a graceful being.

Find out more about Mechanical People at their Website, Facebook & Twitter.

Ballista started producing at 18. As an ex-metal drummer, dubstep was a genre that gave him a head bangers outlet. After hearing his first dub-tunes like Swagga and Retreat he knew dubstep was a genre that could be heavy like metal, but in it’s own element. Ballista became infatuated with the music. Even before owning a set of turntables he was head over heels into music production, conjuring up demons within his computer.

Ballista has had the honor of sharing the stage with acts like KOAN Sound, Dubsidia, Helicopter Showdown, Vaski, Mark Instinct, Bar 9, Chaosphere, AC Slater, Bryx and many other incredible DJs that helped put him on the map. After being in the scene for less than two years Ransom was released on Monkey Dub Recording a few months after his debut EP Boombox Bangers Volume I.

 We hope all of you will help welcome the newest Diamond to the D,CREW family, DJ Ballista…

Rock, Shop & Be Fresh!

Spring 2012 available at :: http://diamondcrewclothing.bigcartel.com