Purple Magazine
— The Los Angeles Issue #30 F/W 2018

arrow de wilde

los angeles
national forest
arrow de wilde
starcrawler

photography by CAMERON MCCOOL
style by ERIN MEEHAN
interview by OLIVIER ZAHM

OLIVIER ZAHM — You have a song called “I Love LA.” Is LA a good place for music and musicians?
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah, I think so. I mean, there are so many different music scenes all around LA. Whatever you’re into, you can find it.

OLIVIER ZAHM — “I Love LA” is pretty ironic. £
ARROW DE WILDE — That’s true, yeah. I’m a bit ironic about LA’s attraction for people coming here. But this is my hometown, and it’s not like any other place in the world. And how weird it is. No other place has reminded me of LA because there’s nowhere like it. I’ve been to places that remind me of New York or Seattle, but LA is, like, so unique — even if you don’t like it. You have to admit, there’s nowhere like it.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Has LA always been an interesting place for punk rock?
ARROW DE WILDE — Totally. You could get into whatever you want here and flourish, which is a perk about living in LA.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Is there more freedom?
ARROW DE WILDE — For sure. Freedom and experimentation. In LA, you don’t give a shit, and you don’t need to be successful.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Is there some kind of anti-celebrity attitude?
ARROW DE WILDE — Celebrity culture is the worst. A lot of people just want to be themselves, you know what I mean? And don’t want to be bothered.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Is there anything you dislike about living here?
ARROW DE WILDE — The success of LA today, how it becomes expensive, and the traffic. My boyfriend drives me around. [Laughs]

OLIVIER ZAHM — Did you find your musicians, or did they find you?
ARROW DE WILDE — The guitar player went to my school.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Henri Cash?
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah. I met him through another friend. I’ve known the bass player for a couple of years now. So, yeah, they’re old friends.

OLIVIER ZAHM — How does it work? Do they compose the music? Do you write the lyrics?
ARROW DE WILDE — It’s different for every song. Some songs we write together, and some are just by me and Henri.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Would you say you’re more of a stage band than a studio band?
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah, but to me stage and studio are the same. It’s all about the music, and making it has to sound as good as it can. Live, you add visual elements into it all. So, they both kind of go hand-in-hand.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You like to impress people onstage.
ARROW DE WILDE — I like to scare people, and to surprise them.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Do you like horror movies?
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah. I like horror movies and… I don’t know, I like to get reactions out of people. I like horror movies. I like Brian De Palma!

OLIVIER ZAHM — I’ve seen you spit blood or liquid on people from the stage sometimes. Do you like to upset them and splatter their clothes?
ARROW DE WILDE — Not everyone’s upset. Some like it. There’s always some sort of reaction. I don’t like it when people do nothing. I’d rather they were angry than to have forgotten why they’re there.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Why the red hair?
ARROW DE WILDE — I don’t know. I was bored, so I dyed it red. [Laughs] Then I got kind of sick of red and went back to blonde, then back to a sort of pink.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Are you nostalgic for the ’70s.
ARROW DE WILDE — I mean, I’d rather live in any time before the Internet. I just feel like it ruined a lot of good music, all for business and money…

OLIVIER ZAHM — So, any time before, what, 1993?
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah. [Laughs]

OLIVIER ZAHM — ’95 maybe?
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Any time before the death of Kurt Cobain? Any time before “Teen Spirit.” [Laughs]
ARROW DE WILDE — Sure, yeah. Yeah.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Did you like the Ramones when you were a kid?
ARROW DE WILDE — Mm, yeah. I got into them I think when I was, like, 12. That was one of the first vinyl records I bought. Their first album.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Do you still buy vinyl?
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah. It’s exciting to find rare vinyls. It feels more real than on Spotify, you know? Choosing an album is like a work of art — the concept of an album, and not simply going from one song to another on a playlist.

OLIVIER ZAHM — So, can we call your music punk rock?
ARROW DE WILDE — Sure.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Do you like psychedelic music?
ARROW DE WILDE — Psychedelic? Not really.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Electronic music?
ARROW DE WILDE — No. [Laughs] It’s not real to me. I mean, it’s not my thing. I like real instruments played by real people.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Your mother is a photographer.
ARROW DE WILDE — She started off photographing bands… She’s done some fashion and commercial stuff. Basically, whatever pays.

OLIVIER ZAHM — What does your father do?
ARROW DE WILDE — He’s a drummer.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Where do you live in LA?
ARROW DE WILDE — East. Kind of near Eagle Rock. I love it. It’s a lot more chill than in Echo Park, where I used to live, and where it’s too expensive. But here, it’s fine. I don’t want LA to become expensive like other cities.

OLIVIER ZAHM — LA is changing so quickly — it’s crazy.
ARROW DE WILDE — That’s one of the things I don’t like about LA. It always gets rid of the really cool stuff. Not all the time but, like… This area used to be a lot different.

OLIVIER ZAHM — It’s money. Money destroys things very quickly.
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You have a great voice, and you also bring humor to your performances.
ARROW DE WILDE — You have to.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Because, in the end, nothing is really serious?
ARROW DE WILDE — Nothing. You know. We will all die soon.

OLIVIER ZAHM — And you want to give pleasure to the people.
ARROW DE WILDE — Yeah.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Because art has to be playful…
ARROW DE WILDE — Yes. Maybe this is very LA, and a little bit Californian, but at the end of the day, art has to please people.

OLIVIER ZAHM — So, when you seem aggressive or a bit arrogant, it’s not that, either.
ARROW DE WILDE — No. It’s all in fun.

END