Holiday’s like Cinco De Mayo provide us with reason’s to drink year round. However, this Mexican holiday that is embraced by Americans is one of the few excuses where your preferred method of intoxication is Mexico’s grandest export, Tequila. What better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than with my personal favorite Tequila Don Julio.

When I got the invite I was stoked to see Ryan Leslie would be performing and Lil John would be DJing.  I feel like Lil John is Don Julio’s most popular brand ambassador. He rarely photographed without a bottle in his hand. However, I liked the choice of Ryan Leslie to perform as I have been a fan of his music for quite some time.

The event took place at Hudson Studios a great space in Chelsea that provided great rooftop views of New York City. The loft space had been transformed into a what appeared to be a Don Julio distillery. I traversed the crowd and landed at a table with a tequila tasting. Don Julio is unveiling their 70th anniversary batch and I sipped and compared it to their various other types. Not a bad way to start off a night.

I wandered off into the crowd and ran into many of the usual NY Nightlife suspects. DJ Kalkutta opened the night with a great set that led into Ryan Leslie’s performance.  The distraction of the performance was a great time for me to grab a drink as it lured people away from the bar,

so I ordered a 1942 on the rocks and then went back to check out the show.

Check out some video below

After Ryan was finished Lil John took over the turntables and the crowd went nuts. He encouraged them to take more shots of Don Julio to get the party started.

Check out video below

It was a great night and I left with a solid tequila buzz. Following the event Lil Jon continued the festivities at a Finale in the Lower East Side, where he toasted with Don Julio late into the night.

While I’m not a 17 year old girl like many of his fans, I do happen to enjoy Hoodie Allen’s music. So when I got an invite to check out the release party for his new mix tape “Crew Cuts” which drops this friday, I was looking forward to finally get to see him perform live.

I’m actually really digging a few of his new tracks. Most specifically “Cake Boy” and “Fame is for Assholes.” While the first it is a bit of a departure from his usual more humble style, a little swag always does it for me when it comes to clubs jams.

Check out his classic video for “Fame is for Assholes” below

Oh, and did I mention there was a 3 hour open bar? The open bar was actually of this new “sparkling liquor” “Sutra” that I’m pretty sure legendary hip hop producer Timbaland owns. While it was a little sweet for my taste after watering it down with some soda, I was good to go. I feel like it would actually be good as a mixer with some vodka but I digress…

I mingled  with various friends and people watched for a while.  I saw Prodigy of Mobb Deep chatting it up with up and coming west coast rapper Shwayze. I also saw fellow white rapper Jared Evan who I really digged when I caught his performance at Avenue A Soundcheck last summer.

I stopped in the DJ booth to chat it up with DJ Fresh Direct who was DJing the party and had done a lot of work on Hoodie’s new mix tape. I walked in to find none other than Silver Medallion who we profiled last month chilling with a few pretty ladies. Fresh Direct had an awesome set that started out with classic hip hop and evolved into his signature trap bangers.

Now it was time for the main event of the evening as Hoodie Allen came out to perform. He performed three songs. Check out video of his performance of “Cake Boy” below.

The event was a great success, definitely not a bad way to start off a Monday night.

Now it was time to head to Catch but thats a story for another time..

HN

Check out Hoodie Allen on iTunes : http://smarturl.it/CakeBoy
TOUR DATES: http://hoodieallen.com

Check Out More Photos Below

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Photo Credit: Andrew Rauner // @AJR_photos

However, the sheer amount of fucked up shit I’ve seen and experienced over the past few months is scary. I’m literally watching peoples lives fall apart around me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve participated in my fair share of nefarious doings. However, my transgressions pale in comparison to the things I see happening around me on a daily basis. I feel like NY nightlife tends to be ahead of culture and we get everything first. We help dictate trends and pop culture. I think I see where things are headed and it’s not pretty.

I don’t even know where to start, but let me try.

This whole “Molly” situation is getting out of control. I remember a few years back it was around but really only popular in the hardcore EDM circles. Now it is literally everywhere. The fact that every rapper feels the need to include it in every song is not helping. (EXAMPLE HERE) It’s become the cool thing to do or say you did.

From all the research I’ve done pure MDMA if done responsibly won’t kill you. However, with its growing popularity comes growing profits. The draw of easy money will attract sinister characters with less than honorable intentions. The drugs you were getting a few years back may have been pure but most of it nowadays is heavily cut. More and more these days its being cut with “Bath Salts” which can be very similar to MDMA but has a different more dangerous molecular structure that isn’t technically illegal.

(READ MORE ABOUT THIS HERE).

I had a girl I knew call me out of the blue the other day tweaking out hard trying to get her hands on it. I was legitimately worried for her well being. She sounded manic and disoriented.  I hadn’t talked to her in a year or so and it seemed like her life was out of control. Though maybe it was just a really bad weekend.

Also the dynamic is shifting with women and their sexuality and I think it’s throwing off the balance of things. Guys have always been ruthless bastards when it comes to sex. However, girls restraint and requirement for emotional connection seemed to keep us in check. Now we seem to be going through a new sexual awakening in the females of our culture. Empowered by highly sexualized TV, movies and music. Women are the aggressors in sexual advances at a far higher rate than I’ve ever seen. It kind of started with Sex and the City and has evolved into Girls and Reality Television.

Now, there is nothing wrong with women taking control of their sexuality. I just feel like without women keeping men honest, all hope of any sort of meaningful connection to anyone is lost.

Another thing is our culture is becoming increasingly selfish. We have an epidemic of Narcism going on globally. We’re all becoming greedy fame whores willing to do anything to achieve some sort of status. I see it around me constantly and I’m scared I will get sucked into the vortex. I’ve been dealing with so many people’s outrageous egos and its shocking what people are willing to do to feed them. They’re so consumed with themselves that they will lie, cheat, and do whatever they have to, to further their own goals.

Survival of the fittest is one thing but we are running out of resources and headed down dangerous path of greed and self destruction.

Social media is spreading this narcism virus like a plague. I’m being hypocritical in this area because I am as guilty as anyone in this department. However, the difference is I know I’m exaggerating for sake of entertainment. Some of these people out there are actually buying into it as a way to live your life. While it makes for entertaining twitter fodder if people are actually acting out this shit in real life its a whole other issue. The sense of decorum people felt the need to have when you have a conversation is eroding. The line has disappeared.

I honestly have dealt with even more fucked up shit then the stuff I just mentioned. Shit that would give you goosebumps and make you lose hope for humanity. However, I will save that story for a different medium.

My point is here is that first step to fixing the problem we have is admitting we have one. There is nothing wrong with going out, having fun and enjoying your life. However you choose to do that is your own prerogative. I just see things are getting increasingly more fucked up.

You really don’t “know” any one you meet out as well as you think you do. When they leave the club they are going off to a whole other world that you will probably never experience. Everyone has secrets, some are just hiding their insecurities, some just want to escape who they were and others are more dark and twisted than you could ever possibly imagine.

None of this may be news to any one and I may be over reacting but I don’t think I am. Free love in the 70′s seemed to have a more wholesome intention to it. Plus we didn’t live in a global culture with a high STD rate then. The 80′s seemed to be a dark period for culture yet we came out of it ok in the 90′s. Maybe this pendulum will swing back and people will go back to normal. I just think that we may be to far down the rabbit hole at this point to turn back.

So my advice to you is to keep your eyes open and try to keep yourself under control.

Take stock of the person you were and the person your becoming.

It’s all fun and games until you let this shit destroy your life.

Good luck out there.

HN

What I think makes Silver Medallion even more intriguing, is the obvious influence New York nightlife seems to have had on him as an artist. As someone who has been around the scene for many years, it’s almost impossible not to relate to his music. There is a deep understanding of just how deep this shit goes. This is something that I think most artists who use nightlife references in their songs tend to lack.

Nightlife in rap/pop songs is so overdone and pretty cliché at this point. This is because most of the people rapping about it, are essentially fucking tourists. We get it, you have so many bottles yo and your sparklers light up club. (Never seen that before.) Oh yeah, you’re table has a bunch of models at it, that are all coming to the after party? (What a novel concept.) This all may sound cool to kids in fucking Wisconsin, but to me it sounds like last Monday.

But I digress…
Take Silver Medallion’s latest single “Drunk Dial Princess.” I know the “girl” he’s singing about. Moonlighting as a promoter, I’ve become really good friends with a lot of women in the scene. Because they are comfortable and know I won’t judge them, they tend to be more candid with me. Especially, about their drunken shenanigans and sexual proclivities. So, I can attest a lot of what he’s saying about their behavior is very accurate.

Silver Medallion delves deeper into just how fucked up and jaded the scene can be. It’s the kind of honesty that is severely lacking in most of the EDM influenced pop club music nowadays. Pitbull just wants to recycle an old house beat and sell you on this party lifestyle he either doesn’t truly understand or is afraid to tell you the truth about, because then he can’t sell you Dr. Pepper. He just has a catchy beat and repetitive hook that you’ll be sick of in 2 weeks, after every top 40 zombie DJ runs it into the ground.

I’ve also seen countless girls get eaten alive by living this lifestyle. We don’t live in an actual reality; we’re all extras in the extremely elaborate movie set that is nightlife. The decadent dinners and tables filled with alcohol (and in many cases drugs) are “free”. However, just because you didn’t give them money doesn’t mean you’re not paying for it. This song and many of his other songs touch on just what this lifestyle really costs you.

I teamed up with my new contributor Marni to get to know Silver Medallion a little better and get a sense of just how much nightlife has influenced his growth as an artist.

Haute Nightlife: So how did you get into deejaying/music?

Silver Medallion: I sang in reggae and rock bands forever growing up, my dad was in a folk band and played guitar every night.  I started djing after I saw a dj on an In Living Color rerun when I was about 15, for some reason I saw that and was like “I want to do that, and do it forever”.

HN: What was your biggest musical influence growing up?

SM: Growing up in Hawaii, just because there’s so much reggae, and so much good music to be enjoyed and supplement the environment.

HN: How has your style/brand changed since you first came into the scene?

SM: When Silver Medallion first started it was all bright colors and friendly pop music. Now I wear all black and make psychedelic trap music, I blame New York City.

HN: I feel like so much of your music is heavily influenced by the nightlife scene. Could you talk about how the scene has effected your growth as an artist?

SM: I write what I see, and patch together stories and songs from what goes on around me and the lives of people I interact with. Spending a lot of time in NYC nightlife made for a lot of nightlife stories.

HN: A common theme in many of your songs is the effect of the scene on women, have you had a lot of experience with damaged nightlife chicks?

SM: Too many to count.

HN: Do you feel the fact that you’re both a DJ and a recording artist similar to Martin Solvieg will help you ultimately be more successful?

SM: I’m a little different in that I’m a DJ and singer, but the DJ element always allows me to have a better feel for what songs will and won’t work for the dancefloor.  Also makes a lot more gig and club options available.

HN: You’ve been working a lot with DJ Fresh Direct who is also a veteran of the nightlife scene, how did you guys link up?

SM: He works at the Moodswing studio and Moodswing is my agency, they linked us up.

HN: When was your first “I made it” moment?

SM: Hearing my song Gravity on the radio constantly a few years ago.  My ego was on 1000 when that was happening.  I was squatting in an abandoned house with no power at the time though, so it kinda evened out, all things considered.

HN: What’s your favorite place to spin/perform?

SM: I love spinning at Club Congress in Tucson, they have a really fun party there, Bar Smith Rooftop in Phoenix, owned by djs so they know how to make a party, Dim Mak studio’s in LA is a sick venue, the Wit in Chicago.  Performance wise I love rockin frat house shows, its just total chaos.

HN: What would you do if you weren’t in the industry?

SM: Live on a beach and work a service job and be on the quest for the perfect tan.

HN: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

SM: On an island, preferably one I own where I make all the rules.

What I think Silver Medallion understands and is able to convey with his music is: when it comes down to it most people in Nightlife are searching for something, trying to fill an emptiness within themselves. Most of the time they fill that void with alcohol/drug clouded memories. Memories of good times they’ve had with likeminded people that make them feel like they’re somebody. That make them feel like in a city of over 8 million people, they really matter. The truth is most of those people don’t even know what that something they’re looking for is exactly. They just know it’s out there and hopefully they find it before they totally lose who they were to the scene.

He’s telling a story that I have witnessed play out time and time again. A story that isn’t told enough because the genre is more preoccupied with convincing outsiders to live a lifestyle they (most likely) can’t afford, and spend money they don’t have on the illusion that they too can be a rock star.

Even if it’s only for one night.

HN

Interview by Marni Eth

Check out more about Silver Medallion

New Project Plug: www.xanaxland.com

Social Media links:

twitter.com/silvermedallion

facebook.com/silvermedallion

soundcloud.com/silvermedallion

This may be a little old but I just found it so fuck you.
Director Jay Diaz gives an amazingly accurate and funny depiction of what it woudl be like if men and women switched roles in a bar/club setting.

3 things:

1.) I relate to this song way more than I would like to admit.

2.) Do you recognize the nightclub this was shot in?

3.) Props to DJ Fresh Direct on the dope beat.

Look out for an interview with Silver Medallion coming soon.

Download it HERE

I was recently invited to their “Christmahanakwanza” holiday party at Henry Stimler’s Soho hotspot Jezebel. The party featured an open bar, sponsored by Reyka Vodka, Bulldog Gin, Mercy the anti-hangover beverage, and collected holiday presents for the charity Toys for Tots, which made drinking on a Monday feel like a good deed.

Upon entering the lounge area I was greeted by a lot of familiar faces I’ve seen and met along my nightlife travels, as well as others who I grew to knew by the end of the night. Each conversation I got locked into was more interesting than the last and the party gained energy as the night wore on.

Some notable attendees included: Alicia Quarles, Alexandra Ragazzi, Jennifer Missoni, Lo Bosworth, Silver Medallion, Jenna Burke, DJ Louie XIV, @NYDoorman, Sam Lim, and Lorna Solano (I was there too) .

I spoke with Co-Founder Marni Eth about how these events came to be.

MARNI: The holiday party was only our second event- We founded The Power Hour in Spring 2011, and had our official launch party this summer, so it’s all still new! My co-founders- Wael Davis, Natasha Zeller and I came up with the concept all together when we were at dinner one night. We determined the best thing we could do to expand our network is share our contacts with each and The Power Hour was the natural progression of that idea, so it was all pretty organic.

MARNI: We really just want to keep throwing fun cocktail parties where we people can build their rolodex in a non-formal setting. The group is also developing into a place where brands and venues can have their products/spaces seen by some of the cities top young movers and shakers, so there is a lot of opportunity for growth in that area.

MARNI: In determining our guest list – it was important for us to select people that are both driven and successful in their respective fields. We also knew the group would grow at a rapid rate, so making our parties invite only was a way to control the process and make it quality over quantity. The three of us meet multiple times before each event and go over every single guest name, place of employment, digital foot print, personality, etc. to make sure everyone gels well with our event. We’ve been contacted by awesome people who have heard of our events from friends, or through Twitter (@powerhournyc). Additionally, we also encourage guests to bring their favorite industry buddies who are a good fit for the group that we might not know yet.

MARNI: Ultimately, our goal is to expand The Power Hour nationally and internationally. We are also creating an infrastructure where our network of contacts from all sides of the industry can mutually benefit from each other internally through our database. The concept is so unique, but relatable to people everywhere who want to connect and excel with likeminded individuals, that we already have people reaching out to us about bringing it to the UK. It’s an exciting process, and we are looking forward to bringing it to that next level.

For more information follow them on twitter: @powerhournyc

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HN

Heard this out over the weekend. Love this shit.

“Do a shot with us.”

We’re celebrating fashion blogger and Kirill’s “best friend” Samantha Lim’s birthday. We head to her table in the back of the room. He introduces me to some of his other friends. One of which is his girlfriend who is really pretty and exceptionally sweet. After taking another shot, we make small talk and I ask her “How she keeps up with his drinking?” “I don’t” she says laughing. I assure her “It’s probably for the best.”

Three rounds of shots later and he’s ready to shoot.

“I won’t shoot until 2AM sometimes,” he tells me straining his voice over the music “I’ll show up and just drink with everyone and become their friends. Then I’m that friend with the camera, not just a random photographer.” He grabs his Nikon D3 from a back room and heads to his friend’s table to shoot. Before he can get there, two gorgeous models lingering on the dance floor recognize him and immediately begin posing. He snaps a few photo’s, kisses them hello and makes his way through the crowd.

It’s just another night in the life of one of the most popular and committed photographers in the NYC club scene. In less than 3 years time Kirillwashere.com has become one of the most recognizable brands in nightlife.

Part 1: Before Kirill Was There

Earlier that day I made my way to Kirill’s apartment to meet for our interview. We had crossed paths at parties before, but I had never actually hung out with him one-on-one. Though through his constant status updates and tweets he makes you feel like you know him on a personal level. The way he has connected with his fans seems to be a big part of his success.

As I entered Kirill’s apartment, him and his roommate are in the process of hanging one of his prints on a wall in their living room. The picture, from a day glo paint party from A-Trak’s most recent tour, depicts crowd of partygoers covered in glow in the dark paint. A girl propped up on her friend’s shoulders is featured prominently. She has a look of sheer joy on her face, like for that one moment she doesn’t have a care in the world.

His bedroom walls are covered in comedy memorabilia. A poster for Colin Quinn’s short lived TV show “Tough Crowd” hangs over his bed, remnants of his days doing graphic design for comedy clubs.

He talks about being raised by conservative well educated Russian immigrants (both his parents have engineering degrees) in New Jersey, after emigrating from Russia when he was 6 years old. It was clear he was artistic from a very young age. “ I was always drawing” He tells me. “My goal my whole life, until I was 20 years old was to be a Disney animator.” Immediately, I get visions of Cinderella receiving a champagne facial or Snow White flashing the seven dwarfs. It’s ironic that the preeminent documenter of debauchery in New York City started out wanting to draw children’s cartoons.

His parents fostered his creativity by enrolling him in summer art classes. “They were always supportive of my interests, but said if I wanted to do it, I had to do it 100%.” He received a full scholarship to William Patterson University to pursue a degree in animation.

Shortly into his collegiate career he began to lose interest in animation and started gravitating to his second love Comedy. “I started going to comedy shows, and hanging out in the comedy scene.” As witty as his tweets might be, he never attempted to become a standup comedian. “I wish I was that funny” he admits “I was just glad to be accepted into their community.” After doing some graphic design work for a few comedians, comedy clubs such as Caroline’s and the Comedy Cellar took notice of his work and he became their in house graphic designer.

Having already acquired a job, he began to lose focus at school and almost lost his scholarship 3 times before dropping out for good. “We became this crew that could hang out with the comedians and that was the best spot to meet your idols. I got to meet Chappelle, Chris Rock and a lot of other comedians I idolized that weren’t necessarily famous.”

His transition into nightlife photography happened by accident. One night Caroline’s was having a private event. The DJ that night was Nick Moshkovich aka “DJ NVM.” Having always been curious about DJing he chatted him up. They instantly clicked and became close friends. Through him I met Chachi and all these other DJs. So, I was always hanging out in DJ booths.” That was where his photography career started. He would take photos of DJ’s and Photoshop them for their Myspace pages with a small canon rebel. “

I caught up with Nick (DJ NVM) a week later and he reflected on fondly on meeting Kirill. “When we met he came off very genuine and down to earth. So, I started inviting him to some of my gigs. I was working places like Home, Guesthouse, BED and Hiro. I noticed Kirill started getting in to photography. His first photos were all of comedians that he knew from Carolines. He would use them for menus, billboards and flyers. I told him that he could make money, taking pictures at clubs. Since he came out with me,I introduced him to all the promoters, managers, doormen and owners that I knew at the time. Kirill has been a social guy from the day that I met him. So, he took off on his own from there.”

HN: What differentiates Kirill from other photographers?

NVM: “It’s his comic background, because Kirill evolved in that scene he knows how to test and push his boundaries. This comes out in 90% of his photos. He’s always had an amazing eye for all things graphic but thing that separates him from other good photographers is something he acquired while working with comedians.”

The site started because of one particular night at the old Citrine in Flatiron. “One night I got really wasted.” Kirill recalls “I looked down from the DJ booth and thought wow there’s a lot of really cool people here. I rushed home and got my camera and shot the party. I don’t know why I didn’t just post them on Facebook, but I thought I should just build a site.” That night KirillWasHere.com was born.

“It wasn’t about the love of photography or partying in the beginning. It was the love of marketing and branding side of it. I just viewed it as a giant experiment. I had no idea it would grow this big this fast.” Kirill admits. The site initially got about 30 visitors a day, it now averages 1.5 million hits a month.

He credits Facebook and Twitter for helping grow the brand so quickly. Anyone who follows him on these social networks knows that his tweets and updates vary from funny takes on nightlife to extremely dirty and misogynist jokes. “In the beginning I just said I don’t give a fuck. I don’t have to take myself seriously. I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want, because I really didn’t care. This wasn’t a job. I had a job” He says. He credits his dark sense of humor from the time he spent in the comedy scene “I’ll be vulgar. I realized that it will sometimes turn people off, but it makes other people more loyal. It’s not for everyone, but I’m just going to be me.”

Initially, he ran the site and still had his day job, which at this time was graphic designer for the now defunct “Comix.” “In the beginning I’d go out until 4am and come to work hung over, but they didn’t care. I was a great graphic designer and because the job came easy to me I could get away with it.” Eventually Comix closed and he decided to put all his efforts into photography. “It was scary for a little bit, but I was at the point of my photo career where it could be my only source of income.”

It was a bumpy ride at first. He was an outsider to the scene and most of the high end venues are selective as to who they will allow to shoot their parties. Others have strict “No Photo” policies. In the beginning most people didn’t know who he was. “I remember a time I got booked to shoot a girl’s birthday party at The Eldrige. I show up, start shooting and Matt Levine told me ‘Get out. I don’t want any photos in here.’ Which is funny to me because were such good friends now.” Even Yoni Goldberg of DGI management (who now represents him) refused to let him shoot Mel DeBarge’s birthday party.
However, as his reputation grew, the walls slowly started to break down. “I literally came out of nowhere. I wasn’t allowed into a lot of places. People used to tell me strategic will never let you shoot at any of their venues. Now I’m shooting at Lavo a few times a month. Whenever someone told me I couldn’t shoot somewhere, I’d try to prove them wrong. Now there isn’t a place in the city I haven’t shot.”

His marketing prowess help set himself apart initially and it continues to help him expand his brand. “I built a name before the site with the ‘Kirillwashere’ cards. People wouldn’t even go to the site, but they recognized the logo. I made myself look bigger than I was” he says. “Now it’s a business, but initially I never treated it as one. I did a lot of favors and made a lot of friends. That got me access to places that no one else was allowed to shoot” He began shooting venues like Goldbar, 1OAK and SL, which were the hippest parties at the time.

They let him shoot because of the brand he cultivated. “I never made the club look bad. I cared about the party. I see other photographer’s shoot and they put up way too many photos. I know that as a guy going to a site I don’t want to look at a bunch of ugly chicks. It’s not rude, it’s good marketing.”

Sex sells and Kirill knows that first hand. His documenting of party girl’s breasts has become one of his site’s biggest draws.”I rarely will ask somebody to flash me, unless I’m blackout drunk. Most of the time, they just do it on their own. Its human nature, girls get drunk see a camera and want to have fun.” It seems to have started with people posing with his “KirillWasHere” business cards. “They just started putting them in their mouths and on their boobs. I’d instigate, but I never told them to do anything with them.” I mention the fact that many people consider it his trademark and he laughs “Ten of the three thousand photos a month that I post will be boob shots, but those are the ones that get all the hits”
HN: Does the fact that you’re out every night blacking out and taking pictures of club ho’s cause any stress on your relationship with your girlfriend?”

KB:“ I met my girl when I was already a year into it. So, she knew what she was getting into. Everyone tells me she’s the coolest person I could ever be with because she gets it. I tell her all the time ‘I give you props for dealing with all the crap I bring on to you.’”

HN: What’s your philosophy on nightlife photography?

KB: “If I can’t get you the most beautiful people I’ll get you the coolest people or the craziest party photos. I always go in for the shot. If someone’s spraying champagne, I’ll get my camera wet. I care more about making the party look cool than anything else.”

I think those last few sentences encapsulate why KirillWasHere has become so popular, he’s managed to brand being “cool.” We live in an extremely narcissistic society, where people’s lives are broadcast to everyone in their social networks. This is magnified In the NY nightlife scene where image is everything. Everyone wants to look cool and Kirill has managed to turn that into an art form.

It seems that his first big break came early in his photography career. DJ NVM knew another DJ that was good friends with Redfoo and Sky Blu of LMFAO. They were scheduled to perform at Greenhouse and NVM introduced Kirill to the GM at the time Megan Gavors . He ended up getting full access to shoot the group ,who were just starting reach the peak of their popularity.

“It was my 20th gallery in when I shot LMFAO at Greenhouse. There was literally no one there. They bought the photos and used them for the back cover of their album. I couldn’t believe that I was getting recognized my third week on the scene. However, the brand was still young. I think getting cosigned from people that I respect like Johnny Lennon and Little John later on, made me think that this was really going somewhere.”

Our conversation shifts to the state of the New York nightlife scene and how it’s changed since he started documenting it. “I feel like it lost a good amount of energy. It seems less fun lately. The hipster movement hasn’t helped; they’re too cool to party. Every ones too busy sitting around tweeting about how crazy the party is. People shit on Bridge and Tunnel crowds but those are the people that save up their money and appreciate what they have. They rage and are more fun to shoot. The people out four times a week are kind of jaded. They’re not going to spray champagne and loose their minds. I love rooms like Lavo and Riff Raffs because they go crazy.”

Kirill was recently named “Best Nightlife Photographer” at the 2011 Paper Nightlife Awards. It was a decided by an online voting system. He credits his victory to being able to call in favors from people like Lil John and Far East Movement to help with his social media campaign. “It was cool to be recognized for something I’ve been working hard for.”

HN: “What would you be doing if you weren’t a nightlife photographer?”

KB: I think I would of packed all my shit up, moved to LA, became a director’s assistant and learned filmmaking. I would have wormed my way into the scene, like I did with comedy and nightlife. I always felt, if I put my mind to it I could do it.
Having accomplished so much with his website Kirill’s goal now is to return to his artistic roots. He plans to sell prints of some of his work. “I want to bring this to the fine art community, as opposed to just digital blog shit. That kind of stuff will push me to longevity. I can’t be forty shooting in a club.”

It’s getting close to two am and I’m getting pretty drunk trying to keep up with Kirill as he alternates shots, chugging bottles of vodka and taking photos. I chat with his manager at DGI Jesse Coren about why they chose to represent him. “It’s his marketing and mass appeal. Even corporations like him because his brand his strong. He can market something and still be cool.”

There’s that word again “Cool.” What does it really mean to be “Cool?” Is it an attitude? Is it a state of being? Can something or someone be cool and maintain it once it has been acknowledged as so? Or does being self-aware defy the very definition. It is such a subjective subject that these questions are really impossible to answer definitively. However, Kirill has managed to find a way to sell “cool” to corporations without selling out.

Around half past two and the party at Riff Raff’s is starting to die out. Kirill is disappointed with the energy of the crowd. He tells me I should come out with him another night. Having gotten more than enough material, I assure him that it was fine and thank him for having me. As he walks out of Riff Raff’s with his girlfriend on his arm the last thing he says to me is “Hey, at least the booze was free.”

HN