SO_ME : WHAT'S UP BABY?

Yesterday afternoon I had the honour of previewing the Triple Trouble show featuring the work of So_Me, 2Shy & Cream...

I felt kind of bad because seconds before the interview I split my lip & it started bleeding (not a good look for sure) so I ended up in the bathroom of a Brussels bar being comforted by the lovely mom of the gallery owner. ("Don't be nervous, dear").

The Triple Trouble crew were having a late lunch so I asked Alice (owner of A.L.I.C.E. Gallery and daughter of the aforementioned mom) if I could go and have a look at the exhibition while they finished.

And then the coolest thing happened.

When you're in advertising or marketing or even just writing for magazines, you always have to defend what you want to plug as "relevant". (To be honest: the magazine that commissioned me to write this particular article was immediately up for So_Me.)

All these brands trying to reach the under aged & tasteful should call Alice. She has crews of 6-13 year olds waiting on her front steps (straight outta school), asking if they can have a quick look, 'cause the vernissage is too late for a school night and they don't want to wait until Saturday.

This lot wasn't shy neither.

Young'un : "Alice. How much are these going for?"

Alice: "Well... It's kind of a lot" (Meaning your allowance won't cover it...)

Young'un keeps staring at Alice like : Ok.

Then goes : But how much?

Me not being able to handle the anticipation + thinking : this 11 year-old looks so fucking smart, she'll probably be hella rich in a couple of years + wanting to know how much the drawings were going for myself suddenly yelled from the other side of the venue:

"Come on Alice, give us a number! "

So Alice goes : "The big ones are 500 euro"

This kid thinks about it for a second and says :

"That's a lot and not a lot at the same time."

And I just stood there thinking: all is right with the world...

I hope their parents are really proud.

(how cool would it be to have your class picture taken in front of this wall)

After they left I had a really good chat with Alice. She's an amazing woman. So much heart. So much guts. And fucking hot.

+ Shout out to her husband who is a major force behind the gallery as well.

I intended to only interview So_Me, but I'm a sucker for hard-working-not getting-the-press-they-deserve-talent, so 2Shy and Cream sat in.

You'll be able to read the interview in DSM (De Standaard Magazine) real soon.

Oh yeah, I also decided to show So_Me all of the KNOTORYUS-owned vinyls and T-shirts that featured his artwork. Yep, even the envelope that contained the very first Amandine Ed Banger mailing, because it had a So_Me "I Am Somebody" sticker on the back.

Basically me doing a spot-on impression of a groupie disguised as a clumsy nerd.

I'm not sorry, though. DJ Mehdi's "Lucky Boy" contains some of my favourite So_Me artwork and one of the prouder moments of my career is the MTV playlist meeting where I succeeded getting one of my all time top 10 videosongs (please don't make me choose )"I Am Somebody" by that same DJ Mehdi in Heavy Rotation.

Heavy Rotation people! For weeks, might I add. (Shout out to Stijn & Luc for always being able to recognize a good tune.)

Anyway. So_Me signed my records, asked if he needed to dedicate it to someone. Me going : "No no, that's ok. But we are keeping them anyway."

Like, what does that even mean?

Still, bless him for still making it special.

Thank you Bertrand.