Sam Valenti

Today’s edition comes from previous WITI contributor Sam Valenti (6/24 - The Factory Records Edition). Sam runs Ghostly, a unique brand that collaborates with musicians and artists who make amazing things. - Noah (NRB)Sam here. I was headed to the airport in LA when I heard that Kobe had died. The radio newscaster made a point to say how “people felt they knew him”. Fame creates intimacy. Legacies are as much a function of when as what.A day after the Kobe news another public figure died. He was nowhere near as famous, but Jason Polan was a friend and collaborator. And then just last week, the passing of an underground music hero, Andrew Weatherall, filled my feed. Put together, this year has left me spending a lot of time thinking about grieving and remembrance. People, like art, go through waves of appreciation beyond well beyond their time. Their lives are re-examined as both new evidence and cultural contexts emerge. Upon Andy Warhol’s passing and the planning of an official museum archive, no major NYC institution dared fund the building of it. The museum finally found its home in his native Pittsburgh. The assumption in 1989 was that Warhol was “once-great,” even though he was arguably cemented as the most influential American post-war artist. Last year the Whitney hosted the most ambitious Warhol show to date. What happened? Taste? Distance? Hard to tell.Hollywood has found a way to re-seed influence through the biopic. Be it Straight Outta Compton, or The Imitation Game, these films have been an effective way to recontextualize and re-assert the importance of the subject. Our expanded cultural sensitivity around race and sexuality (for those two films at least) allow for an appreciation that was absent, or at least uneven when the person or group was alive and working. Death reminds us of the impermanence of life, but art constantly reminds us of the impermanence of culture.Why is this interesting?The AFI published a list of 100 greatest movies in 1998. It was updated in 2007. It will surely be revised again. These changes aren’t just to add new entrants, but also to redefine what “great” means. Films like Parasite and movements like #OscarsSoWhite have forced Hollywood to reappraise the canon, looking outside the typical stories told in American filmmaking. Best is a mutable thing. Anyone who cares about art knows the “top” album or movie of the year is not indeed (ok maybe rarely) the best in hindsight. They are often what publicists and critics can agree on that year amidst the fog as being “award-worthy” which is a particularly time-sensitive accolade. In music, reissue culture, as explored in Colin’s recent piece on the lost Disco Jazz album, threatens hierarchy too. What if we haven’t heard or seen what is best yet? Obscure catalogs coming online and becoming readily available aren’t likely what large corporations want you to watch or hear.Also, there is increasingly more backstory involved in our understanding of culture. Thanks to loads of new documentaries and long reads on what have long been considered “niche” topics, we have become more interested in the arc of a career, the rising and falling (and rising) action which is what defines life itself. And perhaps just as importantly, who you were and who you inspired, is maybe more important it seems. In thinking of my friend Jason Polan or Mr. Weatherall, the lion's share of notes about them are less about a perfect image or album, and more about character, perseverance, and kindness. I’ve become increasingly unsure if perceived fame whilst living is the true marker of immortality. We’ve seen artists posthumously come back to life, be it Arthur Russell in music or Mary Blair in illustration/animation. In some ways, I wonder if what fame chips an artist doesn’t cash in life might be returned in reputation on the other side. The bigger truth is that what we do or did in our life may not “stick to the wall” at all. In the ephemeral age, our actual work very well may be forgotten amidst the noise. And that might be ok. In one of my favorite scenes from a flawed (or maybe great) film, F Is For Fake, Orson Welles stands in front of Chartres cathedral draped in Johnny Cash black and a large-brimmed hat, gazing in awe of its beauty. He muses, on the work before him, on its authorial anonymity, and perhaps his own melancholy as a once-great artist. It’s a meditation on legacy and how we lack control of it at all.  “Our works in stone, in paint, in print, are spared, some of them, for a few decades or a millennium or two, but everything must finally fall in war, or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash—the triumphs, the frauds, the treasures, and the fakes. A fact of life: we're going to die. "Be of good heart," cry the dead artists out of the living past. "Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing.” Welles concludes, “Maybe a man's name doesn't matter all that much.” (SV4)Thing Of The Day:Jason Polan’s goal was to draw everyone in New York. He knew it was unattainable but that was the joy in it. Jerry Saltz documents his encounters with Jason and his drawings: “Polan was an illustrator-drawer-artist of modern art and life. There was no irony in his work. His was an art of taking pleasure in and appreciating the people, places, and things of the world. His oeuvre is a mirthful illustrated encyclopedia of modern life, body language, styles, and habits.” The outcome is the wonderful Every Person in New York. (SV4)Quick Links:Our Ghostly obituary for Jason Polan. (SV4)Fans crowdsource 900+ hours of Andrew Weatherall DJ mixes. (SV4)Jason Polan is remembered this Friday in NYC by his collaborators Uniqlo and MoMA, encouraging folks to see the world as he did, totally present and with enthusiasm. They’re offering free postcards/pens and museum tickets, maybe Jason’s favorite things. #worldsbiggestdrawingclub is an homage to Jason’s Taco Bell Drawing Club, which have been popping up all over the world since his passing. (SV4)Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Sam (SV4)Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).

Why is this interesting? - The Legacy Edition

Sam Valenti (SV4) is a longtime friend and founder of the incredible record label and design brand Ghostly International. He’s been a champion for the idea that a label can be more than something that just releases music, but rather a platform for art, curation, and a strong worldview. Here, he writes about the power of archives in one of my favorite WITIs to date. -Colin (CJN)Sam here. Amy Auscherman is the Head of Archives and Brand Heritage at Michigan’s Herman Miller (employee headcount ~8,000) which, in their words, has “for more than 100 years, played a central role in the evolution of modern and contemporary design, producing timeless classics while creating a culture that has had a remarkable impact on the development of the design world.”Herman Miller archivist Amy Auscherman. Photo: Lance NelsonThe wonk image of the archivist as someone buried in banker’s boxes in a dusty basement now has street-level cred. Auscherman has a hit Instagram account called Acid Free (a nod to the preferred, long-lasting paper style for the job), and was recently featured in the psychotic fashion-centric newsletter, Blackbird Spyplane. She is also responsible for editing the eminently gift-able Herman Miller: A Way of Living book. In her own words... “I manage the historic resources for a hundred plus-year-old furniture company. That ranges from photography, design drawings, advertisements, any sort of publications that are generated when you're trying to sell furniture to people. Herman Miller was started in 1905 so there's a lot of material there to go through and find the goodies. That's what I do.”With an abundance of moodboard and archive accounts casing the internet for rare finds in art and commerce, the distinction of who is let into the vaults is real and coveted. There has never been such a wealth of material available, yet there is plenty of honest work to be done to make sense of it all. It’s not uncommon for fashion designers to tout their respect (or sometimes dismissal) of archival pieces when they join a storied brand. This constant referencing of the past means we’ll likely see more jobs opening for archivists. And not just for brand vanity, these folks are increasingly acting as essential elements of marketing and R&D. Thanks to Amy, I was able to visit the Herman Miller archive in Zeeland, Michigan a few summers back. Cool Hunting sums it up best: “There we found many expected things like correspondence, old catalogs, sketches, swatches and rare pieces of furniture, along with unexpected treasures like shop floor-made templates for cutting wood pieces of modernist masterpieces and the negatives for the Eames‘ seminal 1977 film ‘Powers of Ten and the Relative Size of the Universe.’ The archive of course plays a significant role in discovering, managing, and sharing the company’s past, but it’s also used as a navigational tool in charting the company’s future.”Photo: sv4Whether or not this work ever comes to market, that’s not the point. The point is knowing these items exist. In a culture where vintage is obsessively sought from movie promo tees to sneakers, the idea of the grail item is no longer the province of the antique dealer. Thoughtfully culled bedroom collections are now archives too. Why not?“I think I’ve just been super lucky to also make my job my own and seek out projects that I care about within the company,” Amy says. “It helps to have my IG to share all the cool things I get to see day-to-day. And that is the job of an archivist! To liberate and contextualize information. At heritage brands, in particular, it is also good business to tell stories.”Photo: sv4Auscherman is, of course, not alone in this game. My limited research found Dave Moore at workwear company Carhartt who shared his thoughts on building their archive in 2019. Also, Nicole Rodriguez Woods who works as an archivist and brand marketer at Rimowa just put together a monograph. Even museum archives are getting in on the action, with fellow Michigan modernist landmark art school and museum Cranbrook turning its archives into a destination by offering tours for its collection of work that isn’t currently on gallery walls.Why is this interesting?With infinite shelf space and increasing levels of fandom made possible by direct patronage and social media, the impulse is for enthusiasts to seek ever-deeper cuts to differentiate themselves. As a result, the vaults are no longer confined to the basement:  increasing their value for both corporate research and fan fuel. Understanding which bits are worth keeping, and more importantly, worth sharing, will be increasingly useful.Across media, the “lost tapes” are giving shape to catalogs of all stripes. As the slew of expansive Prince reissues has come out, including a group of Sign O’ The Times editions that includes 60 unreleased songs plus two full concerts, there has never been more interest in the lost, obscure, and partially finished.What this means for fans and employees of these companies is perhaps a better sense of the process of work, which, depending on where you stand, is both a good or bad thing. The desire to “show the work” is often seen as an aesthetic choice for artists. This impulse also brings with it a sticky set of concerns. Prince, a perfectionist, by many accounts (including that of his former manager), didn’t want his archives released and had planned on burning everything in his vault. Without leaving a will, it looks like the choice wasn’t his, which will change the way future generations experience his artistry. Maybe for good. Maybe for bad. But definitely different. In fine art, we have Michaelangelo’s unfinished work to marvel at, which has helped burnish his image all these years later—making tangible the difficult reality of the medium he mastered in a time that’s hard for us to imagine. In the end, it will be the decision of the archivist to decide if volumes of digital drafts will enhance or diminish the finished, “perfect” thing. (SV4)___Partner Post: WITI x TaikaWe’re coffee obsessives at WITI and have tried a lot of hacks, like taking L-theanine with our morning brew to counter the jagged feeling of too many cups. Fortunately, Taika (read co-founder Michael’s MMD here) is a few steps ahead and ushering a new wave of innovation to the category. They make perfectly calibrated, delicious coffee blended with adaptogens to make you feel awake, aware, and inspired. Plus, they have deep coffee credentials; the co-founder, Kal Freese, is a two-time Finnish Barista Champion and Top 10 World Barista Champion. They are approaching their versions and iterations like technologists, which is also quite interesting, putting out versions of the coffee as they improve and experiment. We’re partial to the Macadamia Latte, but everything is delicious and recommended if you want a shot of crisp, focused energy. Buy a case for 15 percent off with the code FRIENDSOFWITI. (CJN)Music/Culture Documentaries of the day (All streaming on Amazon Prime)Wild Combination: A Portrait Of Arthur RussellIndustrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! RecordsStyle Wars, streaming on Amazon Prime (SV4)Quick Links: How fast do Hippos swim? (CJN) On a place that many of us logged some hours: Max Fish. (CJN) A beautiful disco record: Gloria Ann Taylor: Deep inside of you (CJN) Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Sam (SV4)—Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).

Why is this interesting? - The Archivist Edition

Sam Valenti (SV4) is an old friend of WITI. He’s the founder of Ghostly International and a new dad. Sam has some of the best taste and we’ve been pestering him for an edition. Enjoy and have a great week. -Colin (CJN) Photo: Dina Chang & Tim Saccenti, Setta Studio NYCTell us about yourself.I’m a new father, and it is 5:17 AM. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, then lived in Ann Arbor for most of my 20’s, and apart from moments in LA, have lived in New York City since. I started Ghostly in 1999, which is a record label and also a platform/brand for visual artists, acting as a global collaboration network of designers, writers, photographers, and the like. Simply put, my colleagues and I help artists get their projects into the world. I collect physical music stuff (records, tapes, CDs, ephemera) and spend a lot of time at record and book stores, virtual and physical. Describe your media diet. I don’t have a digital routine and am pretty inconsistent in where I source things. I use social media and newsletters as my main news source and always have a lot of open browser tabs. Newsletters that come to mind are Ana Andjelic’s The Sociology of Business, Paul Munford’s Lean Luxe, and Perfectly Imperfect. I also see good retail as editorial, as it often acts without a recency bias which is important to me. Music retail emails like Boomkat and Bleep, and the newsletters and Instagrams of bookshops like Harper’s Books, Jeff Hirsch Books, and Karma Books are often how I discover artists and source gifts. I also lump “aesthetic Instagram” in this category and love the feeds of Alison Gingeras and Matthew Higgs and the basketball culture brand Franchise. We started Ghostly Moodboard as our addition to that party. Suggestions welcome.What’s the last great book you read?Rachel Kushner’s The Hard Crowd (Essays 2000-2020) had some excellent stories. I’m a sucker for stories of the world that is slowly disappearing, in this case, a wild, reckless way of life. True Believer: The Rise and Fall Of Stan Lee wasn't great but it sets the record straight on a lot of historical comics stuff or professes to. I'm a “pick up a book and turn to a page” person and can tell within 2 paragraphs if I’ll have a chance at finishing it. I'll read 3 or 4 things at the same time and maybe only finish one. What are you reading now?Finishing up No One Is Talking About This. I love the poetic and surreal tone. Like DeLillo’s White Noise achieved in the 1980s, there seems to be a new language in the 10’s/20’s emerging across literature, film, and music; a clipped, hyperreal voice. The last 30 minutes of the film adaptation of Annihilation is one of those moments. Bizarre but strangely beautiful moments that could only be born of this moment.What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?My print strategy is to do a light read through a newspaper or magazine and rip out what I want to read. It’s a bit juvenile but helps me focus, though there’s often a ton of tear sheets next to my bed. I subscribe to the Sunday Times, FT weekend, and New York Magazine. When I subscribed, I used to let too many New Yorkers pile up so I just buy one if I encounter them in the wild. If I pass a proper magazine shop I'll flip through the usual fatbacks like 032c and Kaleidoscope, and if there are more than 3 things I want to read, I'll cop an issue. This feels like the height of luxury.Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?When Ghostly was first coming out, there was still space in print for music journalism beyond major interviews which really helped new artists and labels, but I think there’s an interesting wave with newsletters/substacks picking up on that impulse again. A lot of good writers are using the medium to go deeper into their interests. Todd L. Burns Music Journalism Insider is a great bird’s eye on the whole space. A few sites/stacks of note are Matthew Schnipper’s Deep Voices, Joshua Minsoo Kim’s Tone Glow, the often incendiary First Floor, and of course, Jeff Weiss’s Passion of the Weiss. On the same tip I'm loving the deeper dive music podcasts like Open Mike Eagle’s profound Hip-Hop interview project What Had Happened Was and Yasi Salek’s Bandsplain which unpacks classic bands through conversation with journalist superfans. What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? The return of radio and always on music is great. NTS Radio is plenty famous but will mention, as it's sort of the standard-bearer of the space. Ghostly has a monthly show on The Lot Radio which is run out of a little shed in Greenpoint. I'm also playing with Blast Radio as artist friends of mine are using. It's sort of a “disappearing ink” system where artists can go live with a session or DJ mix and anyone can listen (and even tip) for 24 hours. It reminds me of the early days of SoundCloud when it was very personal.Plane or train?I don’t remember many flights, but I remember a lot of train trips. One major one was about 20 years ago when I took an Amtrak from Michigan to visit a friend in Kansas City (soundtracked by a yellow Sony Sports Discman playing Brian Eno and Sade) and the other was in Tokyo with WITI co-founder Colin Nagy, a bullet train to Karuizawa. But if I’m honest now I want the shortest trip, so flights are preferred.What is one place everyone should visit? Museums were the first thing that came to mind as they can seep you into a city’s sense of place. Memorable ones for me are Copenhagen's Louisiana, and of course the NYC staples like the Whitney, the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, and The Cranbrook Art Museum near Detroit. (SV4)Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Sam (SV4)—Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).