May 2022: Welcome to The Vomitorium! featuring a Q&A with musician Brian León
The first of Let's Stab Caesar!'s monthly newsletters.
Welcome to The Vomitorium! This is the monthly newsletter published by Let’s Stab Caesar!, where every month we will share exclusive content such as hot-or-not lists, inside looks at upcoming projects, highbrow reads, lowbrow cultural commentary, featured artists/writers, and of course, the hottest places to vomit. The first newsletter (which you’re reading now) we are making free for readers. From then on, The Vomitorium will only be available to paid subscribers (message/email us if the cost is out of your budget, and we’re happy to accommodate). If you subscribe, you’ll get the newsletter sent to you every month and you’ll support our little independent magazine. Thank you in advance. We love you, we love you, we love you!
For May, we recommend vomiting off the top of the newly opened and visually-assaulting Steinway Tower. It’s not exactly easy access (the penthouse sold for over $50 million), but when there’s a will, there’s a way. If Nicolas Cage could steal the Declaration of Independence, then you can break into Steinway Tower; alternatively, develop a calculated psychosexual affair with one of the residents of the building so they can grant you entry. Once you get in, take the elevator 84 floors up to the penthouse, admire the view, and then spew your heart out from a window looking out onto the street. The regurgitation will probably kill some cuck who just left the Bergdorf Goodman down the block in a brand new suit, but it would be an honorable May Day sacrifice. Now that’s Roman decadence!
In this newsletter:
Updates & dispatches
The editors recommend timely reads
FEATURE: Q&A with musician Brian León
May hot-or-nots
Updates & dispatches
Let’s Stab Caesar! Volume II will be published in June!
LSC!’s releases The Vomitorium which you are reading right now
Happy belated May Day, aka International Workers Day
Ana Benaroya’s gallery show “Swept Away” is open at Venus Over Manhattan until May 21st, featuring STUDLY women and boobs galore
Azealia Banks has returned to Twitter
If you want to feel cultured this month, read these.
Essays and articles selected by The Editors
Who’s Afraid of Autofiction? by Bodylessorgans
All the Money in the World Is Going Down & It’s Taking You with It by Kyle Kirschbom
The Downward Spiral: Did Not Take Place by Dean Kissick
Suicide Forums in a Dying Society by Christian Prince
FEATURE: Q&A with Brian León
We talked with Californian musician Brian León ahead of the release of his EP, Morning Sun
Q: Tell us about what the phrase “California Noir” means to you.
A: California Noir is a sound that best describes my music. It's a sound that has a sense of Californian elements, like escapism and Western layers, with melancholic and film noir-like aesthetic.
Q: Your videos have a very West Coast nostalgic feel. What are some of your influences and inspirations creatively? How do they inform the visuals of your music videos?
A: Creatively, French New Wave films and certain other film scores influence my creativity. That and a good sunset. Though usually short in length, I see music videos, certainly mine, as sort of short films in a way.
Q: What should your listeners be most excited about with your upcoming EP Morning Sun? Any cool references or niche experimentations you’re trying out?
A: I'd say they are in for a poetic and cinematic experience. You'll definitely hear my influences laced in the fabric of most of the songs.
Q: You’ve actually created your own zine. Can you tell us more about that experience?
A: I created Esperanza, alongside my visual director/twin brother Brandon Young, during the Summer of 2020. It was one of the most challenging experiences I've had creatively. It was a learning-as-you-go type of experience but we were dedicated to the overall mission which was to raise awareness and donate all proceeds to non-profits focused on LGBTQ+, immigrant, and covid related resources here in the country. Glad to say the hard work paid off.
Q: Any new music out now that you really like?
A: Angel Olsen's latest material is stellar!
Q: What’s the strangest place you’ve vomited?
A: Not sure the strangest place, though there is a self-designated spot right in front of my apartment that I may or may not be using too frequently.
Brian León is a queer Chicano singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. Originating from the Mojave Desert and raised by his Mexican-American parents, him and his twin brother, who’s now his visual collaborator, moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18. Laced with his queer and Latinx identity, he crafts an original sound he calls California Noir. His debut single, "Don't Leave", has been described by Billboard as having an impressive, dreamy, and melancholic production. In late 2019, he released a self-directed music video for the single which was shot solely on Super 8. Since then, he has released a self-published book of collaborative poetry and photography titled, “Esperanza” and will have his debut EP, Morning Sun, released on May 7th, 2022.
May hot-or-nots
HOT
Sedevacantism
unions
carrying around your personalized hello kitty switchblade
femboy Madison Cawthorn
middle school bathroom humor
blumpkins
Björk’s return to film in The Northman
Vestal Virgins
this huge book of edgy new sci-fi
NOT
fetishizing Zelensky
crossing the picket line
Reaganomics in the 21st century
Rupi Kaur’s world tour
groomer discourse
the French
LinkedIn
the merciless void of time
Farewell for now,
The Editors at Let’s Stab Caesar!
letsstabcaesar@gmail.com