Daphne Guinness

[Nymphaea]

The video is awesome. In the first seconds of the vid you see her with her hair down, I love it, she looks younger/fresher. She should let her hair down more often in public!

 

[anina]

Have people moved elsewhere to share stuff or are things just going slow? I feel like this thread is dying.

Daphne & Philip





Just a short clip @
http://showstudio.com/project/milking_mayfair

showstudio

 

[Boomer]

^ Thanks for those! I talk to Daphne on Twitter all the time and she has been pretty busy with moving out of her apartment and all- not very active on the event circuit for the moment...

 

[anina]

Daphne Guinness Sings the Blues

February 21, 2013 12:29 pm

Artist, producer, muse—all words that describe Daphne Guinness. But soprano? Well, there’s a bolt from the blue. Last night, Guinness unveiled her first single (on vinyl, no less), “Fatal Flaw,” at Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio in London’s Belgravia neighborhood—a fitting setting for the reveal, as Knight actually filmed and live-streamed Guinness singing opera last year. (The shoot resulted in five short films that were played in the windows of the French department store Printemps.) Yesterday evening’s event also served as the opening of SHOWcabinet, an intensely personal display case within the SHOWstudio gallery (consider it like an old-time curiosity cabinet) where artists present objects that have mattered throughout their lives.

Guinness is the first to take a turn in Knight’s SHOWcabinet, and the pieces on view indeed tell the story of her life: an ornate armored glove that she created over the span of five years in collaboration with Shaun Leane, a beloved Gareth Pugh leather cage jacket, and some works from Percy Bysshe Shelley and Shakespeare—her constant companions over the years.

Here, in an exclusive interview, Guinness and Knight speak with Style.com about why she decided to bare her soul—and her vocal chords.
—Afsun Qureshi

Daphne, who knew you were a singer, and a soprano no less. Did you have any formal training?
Daphne Guinness: I wasn’t trained at all—I just made the song up, by mistake actually. If anything, I probably trained myself by listening over the years. I have a four-and-a-half-, nearly five-octave range. I probably should have had extra lessons as a child, as I am certain my family heard my potential, but I didn’t. I was in the choir as a schoolgirl, but really, it is all self-taught.

Why music now?
DG: After children, I had a break in my top range, as my diaphragm dropped because it naturally stretched out. I couldn’t make that jump to singing smoothly. Holding a note is a very difficult thing—you have to use your whole body to achieve a perfect pitch. So my singing languished a bit, but it has always been there. I know it sounds ridiculous when I say I am not a fashion person, because of course I am, but music has a complete effect on me, and the time was ripe to reacquaint myself with it. I suppose I am known for being very visual, but I realized that, for me, it’s all about sound.

Nick Knight: What is interesting is that very few people know that music and sound are really a fundamental part of you. But I do think there is a lot of crossover in the senses, especially with sound and sight. For instance, when I am creating an image, I am actually subliminally looking for a tone or sound, which I don’t hear, but see. So when I get a great picture, in fact I am hearing this perfectly harmonious sound. It’s almost like I am tuning one of my pictures like an instrument. So there is a lot of swap-over between the senses. Unfortunately, we are so conditioned to use one sense for one thing, when actually it is a whole mixture of senses at play in an artistic process.

Your single is called “Fatal Flaw.” Do you think you have one?
DG: Everyone has a fatal flaw—it’s universal. I suppose it’s been said that I am flawed because my lyrics are too personal, but I do think that anything that is real and comes from the soul would resonate with anybody. I think if a person can stand by their words—and not a lot can—and live true to themselves, it is OK, even important, to be personal. Everyone in life has been through certain things, and all I did was make life experiences rhyme through a song.

Why did you decide to put “Fatal Flaw” on vinyl?
DG: I missed vinyl! It is a very visual thing, and a person can actually see where the next track is coming from. I mean, you can literally feel the groove, and I do touch the records all the time. God knows I have scratched so many over the years. I also like vinyl because it doesn’t sound as tinny as the other stuff—that tinny-ness drives me mad. Vinyl can give real depth and a thicker sound.

Who is on your playlist now?
DG: The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Bach, Philip Glass, Ravi Shankar, some Chinese music, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen. [Laughs] I really don’t know anything past 1981.
Photo: Courtesy of SHOWstudio; cover shot by Nick Knight

source: http://www.style.com/stylefile/2013/02/daphne-guinness-sings-the-blues/

 

[wild roses]

I like Daphne but I can only roll my eyes that she put out a record. Now, I'll have to think of her in the same category as Princess Stephanie and that housewife countess, who let their self-discoveries and journeys cross over into musical tackiness. Ugh. Get out of your self-important box Daphne and realize there is a wider world outside of you!

 

[anina]

The asking price is pretty outrageous. I mean £100 for a 7in single? I know it's a "limited edition" thing but still, I can't justify the price to myself. It's not unusual for musicians/bands who are starting out to have 500 copies printed and give half of them away for free, just to get their name out there in the business. Daphne's already known. I don't know much about vinyl, but is it really such a costly process to produce?

I did like the showstudio collaboration where she sung the tracks for the fashion videos, because it was such a suprise to me. Which is what she represents to me, the unexpected.

Oh well, waiting for the music video neverthless. I'll have to experience the song first to be able to judge, but still this route she chose seems and feels sort of predictable, which is pretty boring to me. Why is there no smiley for being on the fence? We'll see.

Thanks for your comment, wild roses, it gave me food for thought. I think it's good to keep the conversation going, since this thread has seemed to be a bit dead for a while.

 

[wild roses]

She hasn't been doing much though, fashion-wise.

The thing is, I'm not against self-discovery but it seems like every. single. interview. Daphne does these days is "I'm so deep and meaningful because I read philosophy, history, and science. Oh, and I'm exploring my personality. So I'm doing a documentary. Oh, now I'm releasing a record. Just because I'm rich doesn't mean I'm just a socialite. I care about more than being at events. I met with XYZ artist yesterday and we discussed dark matter and mysticism and how it relates to films being made today."

I. Get. It. Daphne. Now, take all your intellect and put it towards something that will actually have a wide impact on people, and not just your ego. She's sooooo determined to not be thought of a socialite, that she is...basically acting like one. She could be actively using her knowledge to benefit charities or underdeveloped countries...and instead she's using it... to put out a album. And, quite frankly, she lives in such a bubble where people coddle and praise her, she's going to think putting out a record is being amazing, when it's just making her tacky.

I like her a lot less these days. Even her fashion seems super-calculated. (We all know she's thinking "I want people to think about what my clothing symbolizes and the deeper meanings it holds in culture." )

 

[Boomer]

Daphne's career goal was to be an opera singer before she met her husband to be, and she trained for quite a long time; and about her intellectual pursuits- she is unbelievably well read and knowledgeable on many subjects, from literature and classical music to art and fashion history; I think all of that being mentioned in interviews is just who she is, not trying to appear as something she is not ...

Edit: She has also backed several young artists and designers to enable them to develop their talents.

 

[fashionista-ta]

I like Daphne but I can only roll my eyes that she put out a record. Now, I'll have to think of her in the same category as Princess Stephanie and that housewife countess, who let their self-discoveries and journeys cross over into musical tackiness. Ugh. Get out of your self-important box Daphne and realize there is a wider world outside of you!

i would need to hear it before i can judge it.

 

[lelaid]

^ i agree. I think many people forget (and this has been stated recently in this thread) she is actually a singer so I do think that she will at least product something that isn't auto tuned into robotic territory.

 

[anina]

Well, this took a while. But it's here.

 

[ForChicSake]

^no comment, i shall just enjoy her style

 

[misspistol]

Sounds like a Nico imitator. Yeah, I'm going to pretend that doesn't exist.

 

[lelaid]

^ OMG! i was just thinking about how much she sounded like Nico!

 

[5 8 6]

I was expecting something completely different from her. I have to say I'm quite disappointed with the song, she actually sounds a lot like Nico and in some parts the music resembles too much "All tomorrow's parties" by The Velvet Underground.

 

[Diorette]

Yeah, I'm going to pretend that doesn't exist.

Same here.

 

[KKnardi]

I like the harper's bazaar spread but it's a lil freaky... maybe too freaky for my taste tho

 

[ForChicSake]

Haute Living And Roger Dubuis Dinner Hosted By Daphne Guinness December 4, 2012

zimbio

 

[ForChicSake]

Roger Dubuis Booth At The 23rd Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie: Day 2, January 22, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland

zimbio

 

[ForChicSake]

Roger Dubuis Hosts The Excalibur Dinner During The 23rd Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie: Day 2

zimbio