Stephanie White and crew get Philthy on debut smash.

Talented ensemble band grooves to the voice of its own White light.
By Christian Ghigliotty

Some people wear their emotions on their sleeve.

Stephanie White wears hers on her foot.

On a sun kissed afternoon in Brooklyn, Stephanie and drummer Robbie LaFalce saunter up the sidewalk playfully exchanging words. From afar the two look like an odd coupling. Stephanie seems guarded, with her arms wrapped against her stomach almost as if she is hugging herself. With tawny, free falling locks, dusky brown eyes and a freckled complexion one might expect Stephanie to be a model or actress instead of a top twenty-one female vocalist selection on American Idol. Robbie with his hands in his pockets is much more relaxed. A stubble beard threads a wide eyed, boyish face underneath a low sitting cap. He looks like your brother’s geeky best friend from high school, and not the former drummer of the ska band the Miasmics.

When the clomps of Stephanie’s heels cease against the sidewalk it becomes apparent. Just above the arch of her left foot floats a treble clef staff , the veins under her creamy skin pointing up to the tattoo as if in awe. As she swings her ankle out to further display her branding, her black high heel looks the shape of an ‘F’ note.

Video Interview

Despite preconceived notions of the pair, within moments of Robbie strumming his guitar strings to Stephanie’s smoky croon on the steps of a brownstone it’s clear the two feed off each, displaying a musical verve that excites.

New York has a Philharmonic Orchestra . Say hello to New Jersey’s Philth Harmonic.

“So Alex (Ozolins) has played French horn in several orchestras, and he came to the conclusion that New Jersey doesn’t have a Philharmonic, and decided that we needed one, and since we like to enhance stereotypes, you know the dirty Jerz, we came up with Philth Harmonic.”

The unlikely duo are the founding members of Stephanie White and the New Jersey Philth Harmonic, a fusion group from Essex, New Jersey. Along with members Aleks “Mos” Ozolins, Eric “Yaz L” Lindberg and Nick LaFalce, Pat Smith, Cameron MacManus, Joe Schmidt, James Lawrence, Erik S. Donough, and Tom Spears, the group finds creative ways to combine rock, jazz and reggae with head nodding pop tunes.

The band’s debut album Knee Deep InSanity is a ten track melange (three of which, interestingly enough, were recorded acoustically in an old forge) of French horn, saxophone, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, with White’s mellifluous voice flirting voraciously with them all. Thematically the album paints with broad stokes, touching on ideas of unrequited love and loss. While Stephanie doesn’t try to hide the fact that she was one of the top forty-two selected on American Idol , it isn’t something that she advertises freely. Taking her Hollywood experience and co-writing with Robbie on would become the second track on the album, aptly titled Tough Enough. “When I came home everyone was apologetic about my return (from American Idol) and questioning what I would do next. I told them I would make my own music and play for whoever would listen…I can handle the pressures of the industry, I’m tough enough.”

While listening to the album the level of musicianship is clearly at a high level, each band member bringing individual flair to the table when called upon (listen for the awesome tenor and alto sax components in Bogged Down and Tough Enough) and no one style or instrument hogs the spotlight, which often times can be difficult for fusion artists. Back on the steps of the brownstone, Robbie’s background vocals hum underneath as Stephanie’s voice rises to a crescendo. Inside the brownstone as the two perform their song Teardrops, the third song from their debut album, the haunting lyrics of the fairy-tale sans happy ending come to the forefront as Stephanie spins her tale

“Then one dark day it came/ my prince masked by his shame/ ’cause he knew he couldn’t stay/ but he rescued me anyway.”

The band dropped Knee Deep InSanity in 2007 and have been touring mostly since its debut. The band is now hard at work on its sophomore follow up, and will be charting the album’s progress on a video blog which can be found on its YouTube channel. The new single, King of Wishful Thinking can be heard on

the band’s homepage.

Philth Harmonic Photo Shoot

Pen to Skin

Brian Wren builds his Tattoo artistry in Brooklyn.
by Joshua C. Harris

Late one night, new tattoo machine in hand, Brian Wren started his first practice tattoo on a slab of pork. Half frozen after an hour or so, the flesh starts to become a bit unusable, shifting around the over sized plate on his dining room table. “It’s looked down upon to start tattooing on someone when you’re not ready” Brian explains as he gives us the reason for inking a perfectly good pork chop. Brian carries himself with a quiet confidence, his face is strong and he always seems to think before he speaks. We find out that Brian is a man of some pretty strong conviction, he’s ambitions, truthful, and damn handy with a tattoo gun.

Until 1997, to tattoo was an illegal act in New York City. After hepatitis outbreaks occurred in the early 60’s, New York lawmakers put the blame on the tattooing community and passed a law to prohibit the art form. Brian explains that there where a handful of artists that really preserved and nurtured the skill of tattooing during this time. These people took tattooing seriously, “…back then there where no magazines, no internet..really there were just a handful of people that kept tattooing alive through personal contacts” Brian explains.

Brian’s Video Interview

The social mistrust didn’t suppress the practice fully, tattooing became legalized in the late 1990’s and a swell of interest followed. Brian was drawn to tattooing after being stuck at a dead end job working usually twelve or more hours a day. He found the opportunity to go into his passion of drawing full force, which then evolved into a strong attraction to the mystique of tattooing. After a couple years of practice on himself and very trusting friends, Brian began searching for a home: a tattoo shop to apprentice under an experienced artist in order to one day take the reigns himself.

At the base of 682 Union St. in Brooklyn is where Brian now hones his craft. The shop name is 3rd Eye Tattoo and it proudly serves the local Brooklyn communities’ permanent ink appetite. It’s everything you’d expect in a tattoo shop: underground entrance, amazing art, vivid personalities, and tattoo artists with lots of stories to tell. Brian found what he was looking for in 3rd Eye Tattoo and now enjoys his own clients and studio space. The customers are friendly as they pop in and inquire about what a tattoo involves. Sometimes the shop is visited by long time tattooed patrons and other times over sixty grandmothers looking for a final thrill. No matter the customer, Brian stands poised and reassuring as he explains the process. All leave happy.

“The way I see it is, …everything I do here [tattooing] is still walking around these streets”, Brian explains, “I dont want anyone to walk out the door with something I’m not proud to attach my name to.” Brian’s passion for making a permanent mark is boundless. You get the sense from him that he’s found that thing in his life that sets him apart from the rest. Brian’s creativity helps this; his ideas for tattoos combine traditional elements such as Japanese coy fish or 1950’s pin up art with more modern designs filled with color and bold lines. His tattoing space is neatly filled with frames of his pen and paper artwork, while his desk boasts a drawing lighttable always blanketed with a new piece of tracingpaper etched with a new design.

I happened to catch Brian as he was making some touch ups to a previous customer’s ink. He was patient and meticulous, circling his orange ink drenched tattoo pen inside the previously made lines. During this process you can see why Brian describes being tattooed and tattooing as an amazing experience, “…to me it’s just more about opening yourself up to that experience”. Excited and content after his work, he even invited me back to his shop, “whenever I was ready”, with a look that made me think he expected me to one day want a tattoo.

He’s probably right, after all, everybody can appreciate some good ink. If not, Brian will make sure of it. He called me over, and opened his art book; tons of references in the form of torn sheets and leaflets seemed to pour out. Flipping quickly through it, he closed the book shut and then picked up another. He was looking for a Chinese zodiac themed Ox , a design he overheard me saying would be an optimal tattoo for my left arm. “That one!” he pointed to a charcoal sketch of a bull writhing with power, it’s back arched creating the shape of the “c”. “That’s the inspiration for a great tattoo…we could work with this…” he said.

I couldn’t help but agree.

Brian’s Photo Shoot