AVANTE-GARDE FASHION
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DISRUPTIVE VISUAL ARTISTS
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CULTURE DISRUPTORS
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UNDERGROUND PIONEERS
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AVANTE-GARDE FASHION † DISRUPTIVE VISUAL ARTISTS † CULTURE DISRUPTORS † UNDERGROUND PIONEERS †
SPRING 2025
Occulture Magazine
This is our response to the call to revive the ecosystem of subculture through meaningful content and community building, so that artists are heard, seen, and thrive. Through the features in this digital publication, we are curating a place for our beloved community of artists, outsiders, and innovators to be celebrated for their craft. Read on to learn more about the creators shaping the underground today, revisit those who paved the way for creative dissent from the mainstream, and celebrate the community of underground artists through our exclusive interviews, intermittent playlists, and retrospectives.
Curating Culture: Bradford Nordeen, Kimberly Kim, and the Two Year Anniversary of Day Goth
In 2018, Bradford Nordeen and co-founder Kimberly Kim started Day Goth, a monthly event held at Akbar in Silverlake featuring a rotating cast of guest DJ’s with Bradford at the helm as resident DJ and Kimberly Kim as the event’s resident bartender. As Day Goth celebrates its two year anniversary, we spoke with them about their collaboration and passion for the arts and alternative culture.
On The Day Of Our Lord: Dave Vanian’s Ghoulish Style
Of all the frontmen in punk and what we later termed “goth,” no other has surpassed the mystique and ghastly stylized look of Dave Vanian. The Damned’s “Neat Neat Neat” video showed a wild frontman with kohl-blackened eyes, slicked back black hair and black lipstick-- years before others who would become iconic for their use of these theatrical styling techniques in the deathrock/goth genre.
Los Angeles Photographer Melanie Nissen’s ‘HARD + FAST’ Chronicles the Early Days of Punk
One of the most notable image-makers from the early days of punk, roughly from 1977-1980 in Los Angeles, was photographer Melanie Nissen who is best known for her photographs in Slash Magazine, which she co-founded with then-partner Steve Samiof after a fateful performance by The Damned at the Starwood in April 1977.
An Interview with Mikey Bean of ‘Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene’
Mikey Bean curated a deep dive into the deathrock scene emerging in Los Angeles with his book ‘Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene’ published by Lulu in November 2019. He captures the story of the deathrock scene through an exhaustive oral history with the people who were there along with photos and flyers from the past.
Meet The Artist: San Francisco Punk Photographer Ruby Ray
Ruby Ray captured iconic moments from the San Francisco punk scene beginning in the 1970s, gaining acclaim for her portraits and candid shots that literally captured the story of her scene with her work being featured in the seminal punk zine Search and Destroy.
The Lost Boys: A Siren Call for Outsiders
Joel Schumacher’s ‘The Lost Boys’ is a subversive comedy-horror hybrid aimed at an older, cooler audience and an updated, 80’s refresh on the biker gang and bad boy tropes. Schumacher broke the mold and made his vampires into brooding young adults, pushing the limits of comedic camp while maintaining a proper horror aesthetic.