EYES ON
THE PAST

DISCLAIMER* : THIS WAS THE FIRST EVER RECORDED EPISODE OF ACEDIA SPOTLIGHT AND IS BY NO MEANS EXPERT JOURNALISM. THE EMOTIONS PORTRAYED IN THIS INTERVIEW ARE 100% REAL. JUST THREE FRIENDS IN CONVERSATION.

WHO ARE YOU?

laisha (aka ISA) Sligner, co-owner of Liquid Sky. Daughter of the DJ SOUL SLINGER, founder of Liquid Sky. Also, college dropout.

E: For the sake of the interview, we are just going to call you ISA—because that’s just how we know you. I look at you and I am like, oh that’s ISA. But just to preface this, do you really have nothing to say about the history, or I guess, anything about Liquid Sky?

I wasn’t in it. I wasn’t there. I mean all of it happened before I was even born. I didn’t get to witness any of the key moments that my dad lived through.




DID YOUR DAD HAVING A BRAND PLAY ANY ROLE IN YOUR UPBRINGING?

Not at all, I just feel a part of me has to keep it going.

C: Do you feel as if this pressure comes from yourself and your dad? Or is it mostly from you?

I feel as if it’s both. Working with a parent can be pretty rough. At times it feels as if I place a lot of pressure on myself to carry a movement I was not a part of. I feel as if I am not cool enough or unqualified to lead the brand.


IT IS IMPORTANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HISTORY…

I am definitely not the one to ask for a cohesive history, but for starters they started as a makeup brand in Brazil. They started to make clothes once my dad and Claudia Rey (Liquid Sky co-founder/graphic designer) moved to New York.

E: So it was originally founded in Brazil as a makeup brand?

I guess you could call it a makeup brand, but they did more than just makeup. Even back in Brazil they were creating shirts. My dad originally graduated from school as a veterinarian. So he used to make creams for… cows. Creams for milking cows.

C: That’s crazy.

E: He really came up, milking cows to DJ sets.

This was all in the 80’s, I think he already had some friends in the DJ scene. But he started with making lipstick in little tubes. I don’t know all the details, but it was a really unique concept at the time. They made really bright colors with crazy pigments, but it was hard to get the product into the US. This was originally why the brand transitioned away from makeup.



LIQUID SKY RECORD LABEL

E: So you mentioned your dad had a record label before right…?

He still has it. It’s called Jungle Sky.

C: I was actually listening to some of the music from it coming here, pretty good.

It was the first drum & bass record label ever started in New York City. But now, I am not sure if the label is still only drum & bass artists; DJs don’t do that as much anymore. Or they do, but they also have other things y’know. New genres, new sounds.


AS THE DAUGHTER OF THE FOUNDER OF LIQUID SKY, WHAT DO YOU HAVE ENVISIONED FOR IT? OR IS IT SOMETHING YOU EVEN WANT TO CONTINUE TO BE A PART OF?

I do want to continue to be a part of the brand. It was really important to my dad, and I feel like it is something that can make a comeback. I just wonder how much of ISA can co-exist with it.

E: So what’s the future for ISA like? Not just Liquid Sky in general. How do you change the brand from something that is his? It was started by him for sure, but now you are as important a factor in this brand as your dad is.

C: How do you make Liquid Sky more ISA?

I mean aside from creating t-shirts and making money out of it (you gotta pay rent), it’s mostly about bringing people together for me. When my dad originally talked about the brand, that’s how he described it. It was more than just a store, it was a community—a place for like-minded individuals to meet.


THE PEOPLE CAME FIRST

The people have always been the biggest thing for me. Is it so wrong to want to create a place for cool people to hang out at?

E: That’s actually a huge inspiration for us. We want to create a similar sense of community just the way your dad did in the ‘90s. Because, just like you said, it was never just t-shirts. There was a specific sound that came before that. The movement had a style that encompassed everything from music, fashion, to art.

I agree. It’s just that now I am still trying to learn who I am as a person, and I am realizing maybe that type of style does not adhere to me. There is all this history to this brand, which at times can be overwhelming.

C: I can see what you mean. For us, Ethan usually spawns the idea, and I kind of add my own flavor to it. But at times, it’s hard working with an idea once it’s already been built, as opposed to making something uniquely you from the ground up.



ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT THE LIQUID SKY MOVEMENT?

C: Do you feel as if you being a part of the brand hurts the movement? Is it due to pressure that you want to keep this going? Or is it something you are passionate about, but do not feel qualified enough to contribute to?

Pressure has been a huge thing for me, to the point where it has caused me a lot of anxiety. I do love the concept of it, and I feel grateful to be given the opportunity to work on something that already has a big name to it. It’s just I don’t think I know anything about fashion or all that stuff. I’m also super introverted; it’s hard for me to go out and get people passionate about the brand.

E: But do you really need to know all that much about fashion?

I am not a hundred percent sure. I mean I do try, regardless of my knowledge and experience. I am constantly thinking of ideas for the brand—for example, that photoshoot we had a couple months ago.

[ISA HOSTED A LIQUID SKY PHOTOSHOOT AT A BROOKLYN STUDIO]

Although it was a little chaotic and out of control at first, it ended up working out and we were all able to get something out of it.

E: Exactly. You were able to realize an idea you had for the brand. Bring it to real life!

Yea it was cool but, I don’t know, it’s just the constant pressure and fear of failure that gets me. I do not want to embarrass myself or disappoint my dad. All these mental barriers prevent me from working on the brand. The anxiety can really take over and make everything exhausting.


WERE YOU EXCITED TO DO WORK ON THE PHOTOSHOOT?

I really was excited to do the photoshoot. Being able to witness all of my friends in a space I created was very cathartic for me. At the same time, it was also very anxious for me, which made it hard for me to just live in the moment and enjoy it.

For this particular project, I had a sense of pride over it. There were no guidelines for this photoshoot, but I still took initiative and made it happen. I found the studio, paid the photographer, all that. I was just told to gather some friends and shoot them in some tees.


WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT ANY LIMITATIONS?

C: You say you don’t know anything about fashion, but I feel like you got it down. You have your own look and all that. Regardless if what you want to do next is on your own, or with the company, I am just curious to hear if you have any ideas for the future.

E: Basically what Chris said, what would you do without limitations?

As I said before, I want a space—just somewhere to call my own. But I just feel like that’s not possible, with New York rent and all that.

C: Let’s pretend it is possible,

It would be really cool to have a big space—a big space to fill up with lots of interesting knick-knacks and cool furniture. I am really into interior design, and I save anything I come across on the internet that I like. I have a bunch of weird objects in my room, stuff that is reminiscent of my childhood or have dreamlike qualities. I would want to bring my store alive that way, in a way where people can enter it and feel a connection to the things I have on display.

C: So kinda like HAPPY99? They have a bunch of nostalgic popular culture figures scattered around their store.

Yea they are really dope. I guess the best way to describe my vision would be “a museum of your own thoughts,” a physical interpretation of the childlike mind we all have inside of us.



IS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO CONNECT THIS VISION TO LIQUID SKY?

I don’t think it’s impossible. But to me, there is definitely a clash in taste. I like things that are old & retro, but Liquid Sky has always been about the future. All of the brand’s work has a very sci-fi, futuristic vibe to it.

E: To me, that’s exactly where the intersection happens though. Our idea of what is futuristic is always evolving. The concept of aliens in the 1990s was a crazy thing, but now, it feels almost outdated in a way. What was synonymous with the future in the 1990s is what we consider the past now.

C: Exactly. Your dad’s movement will never be over, but it has definitely started to fade. I mean, everyone will always like partying and DJs, but there are new genres & new cultures.

Nothing is impossible!


INTRODUCING THE CHANGE!

C: I think you can provide what is a necessary transitory phase for the brand. There’s a huge time gap between now and the prime of Liquid Sky. Who is to say what you have isn’t what the brand needs to regain its former glory?

E: Yea, for example, the brand Stussy had a crazy 1990s run, then became “mallcore” in the early 2000s. It just recently started to resurge and become crazy again. But in order for them to become cool again, they had to move away from what they had been doing. They couldn’t keep doing the same old graphic tees.

I would love to intertwine the brand with the interests I have right now. Like old vintage JNCOS or rare happy meal toys. Right now I have really been into creating claymation animations and bidding on trolls on eBay.


MOVING ON FROM LIQUID SKY, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?

I have been working on some graphic design, not necessarily for Liquid Sky, but I just want to create things I think look cool. I would love to be able to turn some of the designs I have made into stickers. Just a couple months ago, I bought a screen printing kit and taught myself how to print on tees. For this screen, I accidentally ordered the mesh count super low, so it’s really hard to make anything actually show up. I’m picking up all these little projects just to try to keep myself busy.

C: I’m glad you’re still making stuff. I think everybody has their own right to be creative, y’know what I mean? Everyone is always doing something in New York.

Yea I just get a little insecure is all, especially after being back in New York. Also on top of that, I don’t even go to an art school either.

E: For real, it’s a good thing and a bad thing. If you look around and see all these creative minds pushing towards something, you start to wonder, “how come I’m not doing anything?” It is both encouraging and discouraging at the same time.


ENDING REMARKS

After all the questions were asked, we sat around eating pizza for an hour. The following excerpts are not part of the interview, but we thought it would be cool to include some interesting bits anyways.

Throughout the entire duration of the interview, ISA was watching an eBay auction for a lot of seven trolls. She ended up winning the auction for $25 dollars. Sadly, the shipping was $18 dollars. This brought up the total to a whopping $45 dollars with tax.

ISA showed us the various things she had been working on. Lots of cool graphics!

Although this interview is releasing second, this was the first ever Spotlight we recorded. It was done completely last minute, without any questions prepared beforehand for it.

ISA also educated us on the prices and rarity of some vintage McDonald’s happy meal toys, such as the McNugget buddies. The cups we were drinking water out of while we ate pizza were the 1992 McDonald’s Jurassic Park reusable cups.

C: Say “ISA signing out!” and I'll add cool dubstep music behind it.

ISA SIGNING OUT!

(We are not able to add dubstep music because this is text, but imagine it in your head.)

CREDITS

SUBJECT/BRAND : LIQUID SKY D_SIGN @liquidskynyc

PHOTOGRAPHER : E&C*

MODEL : IAISHA SLINGER @prettycooldontyouthink

TEXT : E&C* @acediastudios