Four Fashion Photographers Pick Their Favorite Songs - Ragged

Special Warped Tour iSSue 

feaTuring 

HEY MONDAY 

THE CAB 

& MOrE 

Welcome to RAGGED 

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PUbLIShERS: 

Alan Miller & Alan Sartirana 

EDITOR-IN-ChIEf: 

Patrick Strange 

STYLE EDITOR: 

Noelle Valdivia 

EDITOR-AT-LARgE: 

Pat McGuire 

LAYOUT DESIgNER: 

Melissa Simonian 

PhOTO EDITOR: 

Andrea LaBarge Mills 

WRITERS: 

Lauren Barbato, Kendah El-Ali, 

Matt Elder, Lauren Harris, 

Kyle Lemmon, Lynn Lieu 

INTERNS: 

Nazirah Ashari, Spencer Flanagan, 

Daniel Kohn 

PhOTOgRAPhY & STYLINg: 

All American Rejects and Eyes Set to Kill 

by Andrea LaBarge Mills 

Photo Assistant: Michelle Paulsen 

Wardrobe Stylist: Ashton Michael, 

House of Infinite Radness 

Wardrobe Assistants: Ashley Thomas and 

Rudeness, House of Infinite Radness 

Makeup Artist: Daven Mayeda 

Hair Stylist: Jessica Liparoto, Exclusive 

Artists Management with Sebastian 

Dog: Shoup 

The Cab by Tamar Levine 

Photo Assistant: Andrew Lee 

Wardrobe Stylist: Ashton Michael, House 

of Infinite Radness 

Wardrobe Assistant: Ashley Thomas, 

House of Infinite Radness 

Grooming: Alexis Swain, Artists by NEXT 

Automatic Loveletter by Alan Gastelum 

Wardrobe Stylist: Julie Williams 

Makeup Artist: James Vincent 

Hair Stylist: Ahbi Nishman 

Hey Monday by Alan Gastelum 

Photo Assistant: Laura June Kirsch 

Wardrobe Stylist: Julie Williams 

Makeup Artist: Emi Kaneko 

Hair Stylist: Amber Duarte 

Victory In Numbers 


Wardrobe Stylist: Ashton Michael, House 

of Infinite Radness 

Wardrobe Assistant: Rudeness, House of 

Infinite Radness 

Groomer: Heather Cvar 

Aqualung by Michael Robert Williams 

Sarah Jeanette by Andrea LaBarge Mills 

Jac Vanek by Alan Gastelum 

Michele Posch by Michelle Paulsen 

Heather Cvar and Anna Wood 


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WARPED TOUR 2010. Ragged is not responsible 

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STYLE 

1 Street Level: Nite Jewel in Los Angeles 

6 Trend: Calamity Jane & Varsity Blues 

10 You Wear It Well: Sarah Jeanette Refits a Classic Style 

18 Dress Code: One Piece Four Ways 

38 Play It Again: Four Fashion Photographers Pick Their 

Favorite Songs 

SOUND 

2 HEY MONDAY Looks to a Bright Future 

14 AUTOMATIC LOVELETTER Comes Clean 

22 THE CAB: Swagger Like Us 

32 EYES SET TO KILL: Metal is Beautiful 

42 VICTORY IN NUMBERS: Soldier On 

COVER 

26 THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS: Welcome the Unknown 

ARTIST ALUMNI 

44 Back From the Brink: AQUALUNG’s Sun-Soaked Return 

produced with support from 

cover by ANDreA LAbArGe MILLS 

questions, comments, concerns? avastagh@gmail.com - thank you. 

Nite Jewel @ The Echo / Los Angeles 

STREET LEVEL 

Whether it’s the low rents or the bevy of quality Mexican food, Echo Park is the latest neighborhood in Los Angeles 

to attract the young, the beautiful, and the musically-inclined. Recently, popular Echo Park nightclub The Echo 

hosted sharply-dressed headliner Nite Jewel, which seemed to attract all the tight-jeaned, shaggy-haired kids from 

a 10-mile radius. In the throng, we spotted everything from ’80s-inspired Lacoste looks to edgy leather shorts—we 

even came across one guy rocking a velour tuxedo. Guess that proves the old adage: There’s no such thing as being 

over-dressed. R 

raggedmag.com // ragged 1

the sounds photographed 

in camden, new jersey. 

all clothes 2 ragged by american // raggedmag.com rag. 

By Kendah El-Ali 

photos by alan gastelum

Life as rock stars has come pretty easily to the 

members of Hey Monday. Two years since the 

Florida foursome’s inception, the only negative thing 

lead singer Cassadee Pope has to say about the experience 

is that she gets heckled by boys on stage. 

“Boys are saying more provocative things from 

the crowd and I’m not really used to that,” she says on 

the heels of a New York photo shoot. “One guy said 

something bad, and then I said something really bad 

in return. Had I been playing ‘Candles’— I play guitar 

on that song—I would have smashed the guitar over 

his head!” 

Although Pope is technically the frontwoman of a 

punk band, she has a certain anti-punk demeanor that 

keeps her from repeating what the heckler said. And 

sadly, she never did manage to smash her guitar, but 

that’s not to say the leading lady doesn’t rock. After 

being signed to Pete Wentz’s Decaydance Records two 

years ago, Pope—along with band members Mike 

Gentile, Michael “Jersey” Moriarty, Alex Lipshaw and 

former member Elliot James—has had a meteoric rise 

to emo-punk-pop fame. Between a number of nationwide 

tours (including Alternative Press, Bamboozle, 

Vans Warped, and last year’s sold-out headlining tour) 

and a Fall Out Boy video (“America’s Suitehearts”), it 

seems as if little stands in the way of the Hey Monday’s 

success and the gratitude that has come with it. 

“We’ve learned a lot—I don’t think we’ve changed 

as people, but it’s changed our outlook on everything,” 

4 ragged // raggedmag.com 

Pope says. “It’s opened our eyes to the good things and 

the bad things in the world. We’re really happy, though. 

We’re so lucky to be able to do this.” 

For a band whose simplicity may be the key to its 

success, Hey Monday is also lucky—at least in a small 

way. Though nothing was mind-bending, much less 

ground-breaking, on the group’s debut album, Hold on 

Tight, it still landed them a deal with Columbia and a 

warm critical reception. The members are now penning 

their sophomore LP, Beneath It All. 

“This album is influenced by the ’90s rock I loved— 

like Michelle Branch and early Avril [Lavigne]—and it’s 

a bit more thoughtful and mature than before,” Pope 

says. “We were always so, ‘Go, go, go, go!’ before, and 

we’re trying to move away from that.” 

It’s hard to imagine what a girl born in 1988 got 

from ’90s rock, but then again, Pope graduated from 

high school via the Internet—perhaps the time-space 

continuum is no longer relevant. In the meanwhile, Hey 

Monday continues to thrive in the throws of what every 

accessible modern band should be, from video game 

tracks and Sony commercials to TV show appearances 

(The Hills and The Real World: Brooklyn) and…a whole 

lot of touring. 

“We pretty much spend our entire lives on tour 

at this point, but it’s cool,” says the ever-effervescent 

singer. “Being a rock star was always my dream, and 

I got to do that straight out of high school. I’m just 

grateful.” R 

hey monday 

photographed in new york 

all clothes by american rag 

from left to right: 

mike gentile, alex lipshaw, cassadee pope and michael “jersey” moriarty

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Sarah Jeanette Refits a Classic Style 

…On the Busy Streets of Los Angeles 

Sarah Jeanette is a songwriter, DJ, and the 

lead singer of Los Angeles-based band, The 

Mulhollands. She’s currently working on her 

first solo album. 

AMERICAN RAG SHOWS YOU 

HOW TO GET THE LOOK 

You Wear It WeLL 

10 ragged // raggedmag.com raggedmag.com // ragged 11

“I have a home video somewhere of myself singing 

‘Love is a Battlefield’ into a hairbrush while rocking 

a side-ponytail and electric-blue leg warmers,” says 

Sarah Jeanette, who today is stupefied to find herself 

working on her first solo album with legendary producer 

Mike Chapman (Pat Benatar). “He wrote ‘Love is 

a Battlefield!’” 

In recent years, Jeanette’s musical taste has grown 

significantly and that childhood hairbrush has now 

morphed into a working mic. However, she’s still got a 

bit of that spandex bravado lingering in her style. With 

wide eyes that could easily be mistaken for innocence 

and a fringe of black hair that might be too quickly 

written off as Goth, Jeanette’s look is full of contradictions: 

“My style is classic yet sarcastic, playful yet 

fitted, enticing yet proper,” she acknowledges. With 

a fondness for pairing school-girl staples like argyle 

socks and A-line dresses with short hemlines and 

stacked heels, she doesn’t just talk the talk, but walks 

the style-savvy walk. 

Style plays a big role in Jeanette’s various gigs. 

Besides DJ-ing with her sister Kate at nightclubs all 

across Los Angeles under the moniker, “DJ S.i.S,” 

Jeanette fronts the otherwise all-male band, The 

Mulhollands, whose first album, Oh My!, hit iTunes 

earlier this year. “Some of you may have already heard 

us but don’t even know it,” Jeanette says. “We’ve had 

songs on shows like The Hills,The Real World, Miami Ink, 

and The Rachel Zoe Project.” But making music in long 

form is truly where her heart is—“We are really most 

excited to get the album out. It’s something we’re all 

very proud of.” R 

For more info, go to mulhollandsmusic.com. 


By Lauren Harris 

PHotos By aLan GasteLum 

Automatic Loveletter’s Juliet Simms looks the part of a 

rocker—tattoos, smudged eyeliner and all—as she launches 

into her “naughty stealing” story. Not surprisingly, it involves 

addiction. Yet, in the often-overlapping pantheon of habit and 

theft, it’s hardly offensive. “We were at a venue and backstage 

I found this massive thing of honey,” Simms explains, her 

eyes growing wide. “So I took it, but felt bad. The next day 

we accidentally left it by the wheel of the van and [my tour 

manager] ran it over.” Freed of the guilt for enjoying her sin, 

Simms seems almost relieved with the justice of the situation. 

And from the sound of Truth or Dare—Automatic Loveletter’s 

first full-length since a label change left the pop-rock quartet 

temporarily label-less— it’s far from an unfamiliar feeling for 

the 24-year-old frontwoman. What should listeners expect? 

“Honesty,” Simms says…and a few songs about boys. 


Where did you mostly write and record Truth 

or Dare? 

A few songs had been written over the past year, but a good 

portion of them were written in L.A. with my good friend 

Jesse Owens. He was playing guitar on the record and one 

night was like, “Let’s hang out and jam.” So we went to his 

studio and ended up writing a song. We showed [producer] 

Josh Abraham and he was like, “Can you write again?” We 

wrote another really great song the next night: “Heart 

Song.” Then we wrote a third song, and it made it onto the 

album. So a lot of them were written in L.A. and recorded 

at Abraham’s studio in Silver Lake. 

Do you hear a lot of Los Angeles on the record? 

“Story of My Life” is definitely [about] coming to L.A., 

wanting to be the next big thing, and then reality hits you 

in the face and eight years later, you’re still trucking. That’s 

definitely my L.A. song. 

Since Truth or Dare is the first Automatic Loveletter 

record for RCA, your new label, was it a fraught 

process given what happened with Epic? 

No. I was excited because Epic was very opinionated in 

what they wanted, and RCA believed more in the artist and 

to listening to my ideas. It was cool because I really got to 

put my stamp on [the album]. 

It’s reported you wrote 150 songs for this 

album… 

[For] the first album with Epic, I went around and wrote 

with everybody they could stick me in a room with. It was 

ridiculous. We did the album, and I still had all those songs. 

When I transferred over to RCA, they had me write even 

more. We went through all of the songs and picked the 

best of the best. 

How did you do that? 

Cooks in the kitchen—everybody giving their opinions. 

“Well, I’ll compromise this one and …” It was literally 

weeks and weeks. 

I imagine a process like that could get pretty 

heated. 

Oh yeah! Are you kidding? So many emails sent where I 

was like, “All I want to write to you is, ‘[f---] you,’ but I’m 

not going to do that, because that would piss you off.” 

The promotional photos for this album are pretty 

rocker-boudoir. How did they come about? 

Those photos were the result of watching Robert Plant. 

He’s a huge influence of mine and I was like, “I just want 

to dress like him.” And there’s a little bit of boob action. 

Whatever. Everybody’s got ’em. R 

automatic loveletter 

photographed in new york 

all 16 clothes ragged by american // raggedmag.com rag 


DRESS CODE 

Lace is a curious creature—it can be innocent, sexy, festive 

or punk. We challenged four distinctly fashionable women to 

style American Rag’s white lace skirt their own unique way. 

PHOTO BY AlAn GAsTelum 


How do you pay the rent? 

Fashion. Music. Touring. Partying. 

Designing. Dramatizing. Creating. 

Inspiring. Laughing. Living. Loving. 

Learning. 

How would you describe your 

look? 

Offbeat and bizarre—my mom 

would always describe it as “homeless 

chic.” Most of my style icons hail from 

the grunge era of the ’90s with splashes 

of punk rock and hippy influences. 

How did this white lace skirt fit 

into your personal style? 

I paired the white lace skirt with a 

vintage rock shirt, ripped tights and 

boots. I adore the juxtaposition of 

mixing extremely girly elements with 

aggressive, bold components. I get to 

feel feminine and bad-ass at the same 

time! 

Designer by trade and music lover by night, Jac 

Vanek creates clothes and accessories that are in high 

demand in the national music scene. You can find her 

bracelets wrapping the arms of rockers (and their fans) 

everywhere. For more info, visit www.jacvanek.com. 

PHOTO BY AnDReA lABARGe mIlls 


I’m a storyteller. 


look? 

Big-girl dress-up. 

How did this white lace skirt 

fit into your personal style? 

I love lace, I love white, and I love 

femininity. It fit rather seamlessly, 

actually. 

Anna Wood is an actress who appears in Edward 

Burns’ most recent film, Nice Guy Johnny. 


DRESS CODE 

Heather Cvar is a make-up artist and esthetician 

who’s currently readying her own skincare line. 

For more info, visit www.heathercvar.com. 



I make musicians look polished in pictures 

and on stage. I also work at Le 

Pink in L.A. doing apothecary-style 

beauty treatments and brewing magic 

potions for people’s faces. 


look? 

My style can be Swedish immigrant 

meets 1970s Berlin glam rocker one 

day, and Old Hollywood meets 1800s 

French street merchant the next. I like 

to mix patterns, colors and decades. 

How did this white lace skirt fit 

into your personal style? 

It worked well with the feminine aspect 

of my style. I love a little lace mixed in 

with other textures and patterns. 

PHOTO BY AnDReA lABARGe mIlls 

As a stylist and costume designer, Michele Posch has worked 

on countless TV shows, movies, music videos and commercials. 

For more info, visit www.micheleposch.com. 


I’m a stylist, but it’s all smoke and 

mirrors. 


look? 

A calculated mess. 

How did this white lace skirt 

fit into your personal style? 

It’s pretty, but it still has an edge. 

PHOTO BY mIcHelle PAulsen 



the cab 

photographed in los angeles 

all clothes by american rag

“We’re pretty much like the Jonas Brothers,” says The Cab frontman Alex DeLeon, “but without the money, the fame, 

and the good looks.” They might not play to an empire of squealing teenyboppers but the barely-old-enough-toorder-a-drink 

pop-rock outfit that came of age on Pete Wentz’s Decaydance label has no shortage of star potential. 

Despite some major setbacks in 2009, including an almost deadly tour bus accident and the exiting of one 

of their founding members, The Cab—with the current lineup of DeLeon (vocals), Alex Johnson (drums), and 

Alex Marshall (guitar/piano)—have rebounded at full speed. For the band’s forthcoming sophomore album, 

they enlisted revered pop producers Danja (Justin Timberlake, Timbaland) and Claude Kelly (Britney Spears, 

Kelly Clarkson). Cynics might be quick to write-off The Cab, but the trio contends its upcoming record is as 

technical and varied as its influences, with tracks ranging from “very rock and roll” to “soulful pop.” And yes, 

all three members having the same first name lends itself as a gimmick, but The Cab are adamant about not 

falling into that trap—evident by how quickly the band shot down the suggestion to change its name to “The 

Alex Brothers.” 

OK, so maybe the Jonas Brothers comparison is unfounded. 

“I see us more as a Hanson trio,” DeLeon says, completely deadpan until he cracks a smile. “I’m just kidding.” 

Now that you’re a trio, did the writing process 

for the new album differ from 2008’s Whisper 

War? 

Johnson: It’s so different from the first record. [For 

that one] we all went into the same studio for six 

weeks—the same place everyday—and tried to write 

a song. But for this record, it’s so scattered. We were 

writing wherever inspiration hit. 

DeLeon: One of us will come up with an idea and then 

we’ll show the other guys and build around it. We don’t 

have a plan. Some of our songs have been written on the 

other side of the country, and some songs were written 

in Cancún. 

Marshall: It seems like when the pressure’s off—like 

when we don’t have to write songs—is when we’re 

writing our best songs. 

It’s been two years since your debut, yet you 

don’t seem to be in a rush to get this sophomore 

record out. 

DeLeon: The sophomore album is scary. The second 

album is—I wouldn’t say most important, because the 

debut album is pretty important, too—but the second 

album can either kill your career or catapult it. 

How would you describe this album? 

DeLeon: I can do it in one word: “Us.” 

Lately, much of mainstream pop music is driven 

by dance, but you seem to be going down the 

R&B road on this album. What led you in that 

direction? 

Johnson: Everything is so synthesizer-driven but for us, 

we’re trying to do something different, like have a supertalented 

R&B-pop band opposed to something that’s super 

synthetic. We’re trying to do it in a real way that can be 

appreciated with actual musicianship and craftsmanship. 

DeLeon: It’s like the people you see walk onstage 

and they press a button and lip sync along to the track. 

The one thing we don’t ever try to do is rewrite the 

same story somebody else has already written, because 

where’s the fun in that? 

DeLeon, you once said in an interview: “There are 

no rules in music.” Do you still feel that way? 

DeLeon: There are people who try to put rules out 

from left to right: Johnson, deleon and marshall 

there, but they’re broken before they’re even made. 

Music is self-expression, so to put walls around 

somebody’s mind and what somebody wants to emote... 

you can’t do that. Anyone that tries to put someone’s 

art in between their own lines is kind of hypocritical. 

With a label like Decaydance, which caters to a 

specific brand of listener, are you pressured to 

consciously create an image for yourselves? 

DeLeon: Image is not the most important thing, but it 

does matter. Your songs can be all Number One singles 

but if you don’t look the part and you aren’t something 

[a label] can sell, then it’s like a waste of money. There 

are so many people making music now—and it’s so easy 

to get music out there because of the Internet—that 

when choosing between a band that sounds great and 

dresses great or a band that sounds great and doesn’t 

dress great, people are going to choose the band that 

sounds great and dresses great. 

Marshall: It’s a package deal. 

What’s The Cab’s “package deal”? 

Marshall: Sleek and modern looking. 

DeLeon: Clean but with still a bit of swagger. That’s 

the only word to say: swagger. R 


THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS 

WELCOME 

BY LYNN LIEU 

PHOTOS BY ANdrEA LABArgE MILLS 

the all-american rejects 

photographed 26 ragged in // los raggedmag.com angeles 

raggedmag.com // ragged 27 

all clothes by american rag

oing from hit singles to platinum albums 

and from playing friends’ garages to 

headlining international tours, The All- 

American Rejects have lived the all-American dream. 

What began as a collaboration between two friends 

(lead vocalist and bassist Tyson Ritter and lead guitarist 

Nick Wheeler) has since led to countless nights on the 

road, numerous awards and three incredibly successful 

LPs. And to think that the fairy tale all started when an 

employee at Doghouse Records found their demo in 

the trash—talk about rags to riches. 

With their third and most anticipated album behind 

them and having wrapped up a tour at the end of last 

year, the Rejects—Ritter and Wheeler along with Mike 

Kennerty (rhythm guitar) and Chris Gaylor (drums)— 

have been busy working with the likes of Rihanna and 

Weezer, contributing to the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack, 

and writing another album. Even though the 

guys have had their musical plates full, they found time 

to move halfway across North America: After having 

publicly talked about relocating to Los Angeles for 

years, Ritter and his Oklahoma-based band mates have 

finally made the move to the West Coast. 

“When I was 21, I thought, ‘Well, I can probably 

move to L.A. now but I would probably end up getting 

eaten alive,’” Ritter says. “Now I’m 25 and I’ve put it 

off long enough.” 

But relocating is not the only change the guys are 

making. For their fourth album, The All-American Rejects 

are paving a different path. “It’s a huge departure for us—I 

think we might be burning some bridges and building 

some new ones on this one,” Ritter says. “I figured instead 

of doing the Tango; why not try the Pasodoble? I feel like 

in order to continue on as a band we need to change the 

music. If you liked where we were going on the last three 

trips—they were just baby steps. This next one is going 

to be our daddy-pants step. They’re going to be strides 

instead of steps from now on.” 

Ritter is not quick to reveal just how far these 

strides are going to take the group’s sound; however, 

he does drop a few ambiguous hints. “If I could describe 

our music in terms of fashion it would have to be red 

Chucks, black suits and spray-on glitter—there’s going 

to be glitter all over this next record.” 

Although the band’s freshman and sophomore 

efforts were successful, the Rejects decided to lay low 

on recording technology on their third, When the World 

Comes Down. “On our second record, each song probably 

had about 150 tracks and on this last one, each 

song had maybe 20 tracks,” Ritter says. “We cut it all 

to tape, which basically means you can’t screw it up. 

It made us better musicians and better songwriters… 

Now we’re just at a point where we’re like, ‘We can 

play, so let’s show them we can play,’ even though the 

kids don’t know the difference—it’s for us. It cost us 

five times as much to do it this way, but it’s for us.” 

Other than working to make great albums, The 

All-American Rejects have contributed to charitable 

efforts from supplying a song for Download to Donate for 

Haiti, a compilation album produced by Linkin Park’s 

i figured, instead of doing the tango, 

why not try the pasodoble? 

- tyson ritter 

from left to right: 

28 ragged // raggedmag.com tyson ritter, chris gaylor, raggedmag.com mike kennerty // and ragged nick wheeler 

29

Music for Relief project, to playing a concert on behalf 

of Nike’s Lace Up Save Lives event. Ritter, who started 

his own clothing line—Butter—has also decided to 

take matters into his own hands by utilizing his fashion 

know-how to develop the Don’t Hate on Haiti project. 

“We are selling T-shirts that say, Don’t Hate on Haiti on 

the front and the Website [donthateonhaiti.org] on the 

back,” Ritter says. “One way to create awareness is to 

keep it in people’s faces. So, I think this shirt makes a 

bold statement.” 

Ritter hopes to donate the revenue from Don’t Hate 

on Haiti to non-profits like Charity Water, an organiza- 

tion currently working on projects in Haiti that spreads 

awareness about the need for clean water. “It’s pretty 

much the source of all the terrible epidemics—it all 

comes back to filthy water. There are also nearly a 

billion people in the world—one sixth of the population—without 

clean water. If you’re starting from the 

bottom, this is where you need to start,” Ritter says. 

“If there’s anything to say about being in a band,” 

Ritter concludes, “it would have to be that I feel 

lucky to be afforded the fact that I have some sort 

of celebrity to create awareness—why not use that 

power for good?” R 


eyes set to kill 

photographed iN los aNgeles 

all clothes by americaN rag 


people think that girls can only play 

pop-rock or country—there are actually 

a lot of women in metal and heavy rock. 

In a genre characterized by amplified instrumentals, 

distortion, and heavy lyrics and vocals, leather-clad 

metal bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and 

Motörhead have thrived. Although the pioneering outfits 

that spawned during the ’70s and ’80s were almost 

always dominated by men, the 21 st century has, thus 

far, witnessed a rise of female-fronted groups. Among 

those ladies are sisters Alexia and Anissa Rodriguez, 

who decided to form their own heavy metal band while 

attending high school in Phoenix. Blending screaming 

male vocals with strong female lyrics and melodies, 

Eyes Set to Kill—composed of the Rodriguez sisters, 

Caleb Clifton, Greg Kerwin and Cisko Miranda— 

recently released a new full-length album, Broken Frames, 

following two previous LPs that both garnered plenty 

of Internet fame. But the road to popularity has been 

perilous, and if there is anyone who could write a stepby-step 

guide on how to be a female rocker in a maledominated 

genre, it’s Alexia Rodriguez. 

Step one: find strong bandmates. Since the formation 

of Eyes Set to Kill in 2004, the Rodriguez sisters have 

already seen more than a handful of members come 

— Alexia Rodriguez 

and go. “It was hard starting out,” Alexia says. “We were 

looking for people online. Once they found out in chat 

rooms that we were girls, they didn’t want to talk to us 

about trying out anymore.” The sisters eventually decided 

to just play with their friends, and that’s how they found 

the last three members to complete the band. 

“I thought we were good even back then and I didn’t 

really understand why guys didn’t think that. Maybe 

they were too lazy to even give us a chance,” Alexia 

adds. “Even these days, people think that girls can only 

play pop-rock or country—there are actually a lot of 

women in metal and heavy rock.” 

And step two in becoming a successful female rock 

star? Enlist a known producer to help push you to the 

next level. “For the third album, we immediately tried 

to make our sound different because I feel like each 

album should be a little different,” Alexia says. Broken 

Frames (Break Silence Recordings) is moodier than the 

earlier albums and was produced by Andrew Wade (A 

Day to Remember, The Word Alive). “Usually when I 

work with producers, I don’t agree with a lot of the 

stuff that they want me to do, but every idea he had 


was exactly the idea I had,” Alexia says. “He pushed me 

to sing an octave higher. Working with him was the 

ideal experience.” 

Finally, step three: maintain your womanhood. Over 

the years, Alexia found playing heavy music in a metal 

band wasn’t the only thing that drew people to Eyes Set 

to Kill. Her vocal melodies broke through the typical 

thrash and distortion of a metal or heavy rock band and 

earned the sisters the “hottest chicks in metal” label. “I 

decided we should play at least one acoustic song each 

set,” Alexia says. “We are going to try to play our slower 

alexia aNd aNissa rodriguez 

songs. We don’t want to just have a whole heavy set; we 

want to be diverse.” 

Along with the music, being one of the “hottest 

chicks in metal” requires some maintenance. “Every day 

on tour I have to try to find a plug to straighten my hair,” 

Alexia says, who admits she once considered designing 

clothes for a living. “I wanted to design my own clothes 

because my mom actually wanted to be a designer when 

she was younger, but then she had me and just didn’t 

want to do it anymore. I guess that part of me still tries 

to look good on stage.” R 

Presented by 

lace tops 


PLAY IT AGAIN 

Four Fashion Photographers Pick Their Favorite Songs 

...To Set the Mood 

Eric Ray Davidson is a versatile guy: “One day, I’ll be doing a fashion 

story for a magazine and the next, a portrait of Frank Gehry.” His 

ability to make fashion seem like intellectual fodder—and portraits 

like intimate conversations—is astute, and capturing that defining 

moment is his specialty. How does he do it? “Music is a crucial element 

to my studio shoots,” he answers. “You have to find the right balance of 

pacing that gets the right reaction out of your subject.” 

ERIC RAY 

DAVIDSON 

I Can Be One 

LUKE RATHBORNE 

Scared 

ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. 

Stork & Owl 

TV ON THE RADIO 

The Ha Ha Wall 

THE LIBERTINES 

End of the Road 

EDDIE VEDDER 

Kenneth Cappello has an uncanny ability to make musicians look like 

models—and sometimes he even treats them like role models, too: 

“I’m a huge fan of when Lemmy from Motörhead is sitting in your 

backyard drinking Jack and telling you about roadie-ing for Jimi 

Hendrix. That’s pretty cool.” So, what’s the closest thing to becoming 

a rock god without going on stage? Photographing them in your backyard, 

of course. 

KENNETH 

CAPPELLO 

From Out of Nowhere 

FAITH NO MORE 

Sea Foam Green 

JAWBREAKER 

Lennox & 7 th 

CAM’RON FT. VADO & 40 CAL 

I be Everywhere 

GUCCI MANE 


25 Years 

PANTERA

PLAY IT AGAIN 

“I let the model choose what she wants,” explains Jamie Nelson. “It’s 

important that she’s into the music so she can get into the role.” Nelson 

believes in the power of cool sounds when getting what she wants from 

her subjects, and personally, she has also felt the effects of music’s dreaminducing 

power: “I always wanted to shoot Mick Jagger or Steven Tyler,” 

Jamie Nelson muses. “And that may have something to do with my fascination 

with skinny guys with big lips.” 

JAMIE 

NELSON 

Elephant Gun 

BEIRUT 

Cet Air-La 

APRIL MARCH 

Syntax Lies 

THE FAINT 

Marbleyezed 

SOVIET 

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? 

SHE & HIM 

With a color palette straight off a dessert cart, Glynis Selina Arban imagines 

her work as “walking that line between the real and the magical.” 

The same could be said for her musical taste, which meanders between 

’60s-inspired Brit rock and American funk and soul. “Music can really 

improve the energy and moods of the crew, the client, and the subject,” 

says Arban of her soundtrack. “It’s sort of like finding the right perfume 

or cologne.” R 

GLYNIS SELINA 

ARBAN 

In Your Street Today 

STALKERS 

Dangerous Game 

REIGNING SOUND 

Down South 

TOM PETTY 

Mama Don’t Like My Man 

SHARON JONES & 

THE DAP-KINGS 

Method Acting / Cortez 

the Killer 

DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE 


It’s been over a decade since Vans and its skater posse 

first challenged the idea of “pop” as being a dirty word. 

But a single summer event—now an institution—has 

managed to blur the lines between punk and metal with 

the subtleties of everything audibly commercial. Today, 

fans know it as Warped Tour, and musicians know it as 

a rite of passage. 

Genre-hopping between influences when inclination 

strikes, Philadelphia act Victory in Numbers (VIN) is 

completely comfortable walking that fine line between 

pop and all of its sub genres: be it punk, metal, or 

even country. Equally inspired and awestruck by the 

summer touring schedule in front of them, vocalist/ 

bassist Nick Passio—alongside guitarists Brian Hannon, 

Bruce Wiegner, and drummer Joe Altomari—have their 

Warped Tour dates highlighted on the calendars in front of 

them. And what’s the hardest part of adjusting to touring 

life when shows stretch from coast to coast? For VIN, 

it’s living life in a kitchenette-equipped van, assigning 

laundry duty, and managing a growing pile of dirty socks. 

“I just hide them in different spots throughout the van,” 

Passio says. “It’s like Easter everyday.” 

This summer is your first stint on Warped Tour. 

Have you been itching to be on the other side 

of that stage? 

Bruce Wiegner: Absolutely, because it’s probably one 

of the only organic things left in music. You’ve had upand-coming 

bands really break out because of Warped 

Tour, and it’s cool to see that progression. You get the 

intimate sidestage of bands that you will love, and then 

you get the mainstage of bands that you do love. 

Your new album, Killing. Mourning. Love., suggests 

a wide palate of influences; you have 

hardcore pop breakdowns in “The King is 

Dead” and even a country-influenced call-andresponse 

interplay in “The Last Time.” 

Wiegner: I’m a huge fan of Rascal Flatts—don’t 

judge me. But seriously, we don’t want to be another 

three-chord guitar band. We wanted the album to be 

everything, and we found the people that could help 

make that happen. 

You’re speaking of Scott Stallone [Jedi Mind 

Tricks, Britney Spears] and Matt Carter [of 

Emery] I assume? 

Brian Hannon: They really opened our eyes. Scott 

would take something from a straight feel to a hip-hop 

feel. Matt would suggest things like, “Instead of playing 

a power chord, try a jazzier version,” just to shake 

things up a bit. 

Nick Passio: Basically, there are just too many people 

that wear their influences on their sleeve. 

Speaking of sleeves, this is your first 

extended time on the road. Who’s lugging 

the most luggage? 

Hannon: Bruce has the hair dryer, the nice clothes. We 

all secretly envy his suitcase. 

So you’re saying he’s the group’s diva? 

Joe Altomari: No one is over the top with it, but if it’s 

anybody, it’s Bruce. 

How blurred are the lines between music and 

fashion these days? 

Altomari: They coexist, but these fashion trends just 

sort of happen by accident. Like the vest trend that blew 

up in pop-punk. Everybody was wearing vests. Seven 

dudes in seven vests! 

Passio: Just to clarify, we’re a no-vest band. But I 

do have T-shirts from Little League that I think I’m 

still wearing. R 

victory in numbers 

42 ragged // raggedmag.com photographed in los angeles 

raggedmag.com from // ragged 

left to right: 

all clothes by american rag 

nick passio, bruce wiegner, brian hannon and joe altomari 43

What was it like moving your family from 

London to L.A.? 

There’s no way that moving your whole life to another 

place can be anything other than stressful. Wanting to 

have an adventure motivated the whole thing, and you 

can’t expect an adventure to be uneventful. When we 

arrived, the corner of L.A. we live in was on fire. We 

had to evacuate the second day we lived in the house. 

It’s very rare that you have to evacuate your home in 

London unless there’s been some sort of outbreak of 

sarcasm. 

On Memory Man, you addressed the trials of 

parenthood. Have you grown more accustomed 

to being a father? 

A few more years have passed, and on Memory Man I 

was in a less peaceful place. I was very conscious of the 

pressures and what was at stake with parenthood. It’s 

quite typical the first few years of being a dad and you 

worry that it will somehow be taken from you. You’re 

very conscious of the sharp edges in the world and the 

softness of your child’s head. 

Magnetic North is quite hopeful. How has your 

life changed? 

It sounds to me like I feel at the moment. I feel like 

I’m on an even keel and creative, optimistic and sort 

of edgy. I love it. I’m taking an enormous amount of 

By Kyle Lemmon 

Photo by Michael Robert Williams 

artist alumni 

The life of English singer-songwriter Aqualung (née Matt Hales) has changed dramatically since his debut U.S. 

release, 2005’s Strange and Beautiful. In fact, the exponential success spiralling from that breakthrough album finally 

caught up to Hales after dark ruminations on fatherhood (2007’s Memory Man) and quiet recollections of early 

recordings (2008’s Words and Music). Although he toyed with the idea of retirement, Hales found a new bearing on 

2010’s Magnetic North. The upbeat tracks—which include collaborations with Sara Bareilles, A Fine Frenzy’s Alison 

Sudol, and Kelly Sweet—reflect Hales’ move to Los Angeles last year. Here, Ragged chats with a poolside Hales 

about his new environment, parenthood, and his “magnetic north.” 

pleasure from my family. There’s a rooted feeling in 

the new album. It’s my least self-conscious release 

in a way. 

2008’s Words and Music was supposed to be your 

final album. What compelled you not to retire? 

It had a lot to do with the songs. There was no certainty 

that I would record another album, but I was coaxed 

into doing it. I wanted to give the songs to my musician 

friend [The Blue Nile’s legendary Paul Buchanan]. He 

said, “It’s obvious these are your songs.” As time went 

on, the songs kept nagging me and I realized he was 

right. They had this strong life within them. I almost felt 

bullied into doing it. 

“Magnetic North” is a beautiful analogy for 

true love. Is that what you wanted to convey? 

I thought it might be time to write a love song for my 

wife. For all the romantic songs I’ve made over the years 

I never felt I was specifically writing to her. It was quite 

a challenge because the stakes are high and I wanted 

it to be good. It’s hard—we’ve been together for 14 

years. No standard love-song language would do it 

service. I used this tangential poetry, but it comes down 

to this idea of someone who represents an absolute, 

unwavering reference point that you’ve come to rely on. 

“Magnetic North” seemed appropriate—it’s magical but 

also a force of nature. R 

aqualung 

photographed in london, 2007 

all 44 clothes ragged by american // raggedmag.com rag 


Special Warped Tour iSSue 

feaTuring 

questions, comments, concerns? avastagh@gmail.com - t

Four Fashion Photographers Pick Their Favorite Songs - Ragged

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