Rolling Stone Italy-January 2009 issue. Outtakes from the John Varvatos/Franz Ferdinand S/S 2009 ad campaign photo shoot appear on the cover and thru out this Franz Ferdinand feature story.
The last page contains a piece written by the Editor in Chief, Carlo Antonelli about the Bowery store and campaign subjects. See translation below.
Rolling Stone January 09 English Translation for the above “Lo Stile e al CBGB”
THE STYLE IS AT “CBGB”
By Carlo Antonelli
Perhaps some people can remain unmoved when they give the taxi driver an address like “315 Bowery”, but it made me tremble with excitement – this used to be the New York address of CBGB, which for a time was the venue for the best live music in the world. A lot has been written about its closure, in this paper, too, and many tears have been shed. Now it’s a John Varvatos boutique, and I must admit it’s beautiful, with its creased old flyers preserved like mosaic fragments on the walls and a small corner for vintage vinyls and selling guitar amplifiers, as if to soften the impact of the change on the memories that still ooze from these walls.
When I meet Varvatos to quiz him about his recent collaboration with Franz Ferdinand (which couldn’t have gone more smoothly, everything cool, no problems, etc etc) I couldn’t resist asking him how he ended up there, trying to work out if in fact he’s the malign force that snuffed out this dinosaur of a club. “Oh no, eighteen months ago I was walking down Bowery and I found myself in front of 315, and I saw the “For Rent” sign. I couldn’t believe it. I took it like a shot. It had closed for a year, they were asking a too high rent for it. That’s why CBGB had shut its doors, they couldn’t keep up the payments (author’s note – now I realise he isn’t the one to blame. Let’s trust him). As far as possible I tried to keep the spirit of the place intact. Once a month we hold a free jam session that’s open to the public. It always attracts a load of people. In September we hosted the reunion of Jane’s Addiction. The other week Slash got up on stage”.
The relationship between Varvatos and the music world is a real one. Maybe it’s because he was born in Detroit and lived through the early 1970s of the MC5, something that also shows that the presence of Iggy Pop among his testimonials isn’t exactly a one-off. There’s a long list, from Aerosmith’s Joe Perry to Slash himself with Velvet Revolver, and Alice Cooper. “I also wanted AC/DC”, says Varvatos, “I met them, but the tour didn’t leave them much time, they’re great, even though the two Anguses aren’t exactly male models”. But he did get Cheap Trick. “They’re icons, and they’re real fun”. No kidding, John…
