An Interview With The Creator
A conversation between Holly (founder) and Nathan (friend/editor), on top of a mountain in her sea-side suburb.
Could you explain a little bit more about the concept of WARRANT?
So WARRANT essentially, at its core, is a magazine for the modern artist from Australia and New Zealand. That was really important to me because I grew up reading a lot of magazines from America and all my submissions would get rejected because I wasn’t close enough. So I didn’t feel like there was a platform for young Australian and New Zealand-based creatives. Essentially it is a place for artists — whether you consider yourself professional or not. Being able to post your work and to have it be surrounded by other peoples’ work. You get the experience of having your work on a platform that’s quite well put together and at the same time you get to read other peoples work and bounce that off your own ideas.
What made you want to start a magazine?
I would get my monthly magazines from the newsagents, and I would go home into my bedroom and just sit there all day reading them. I have always really liked them as a medium and when I was in Year 11 in Media Studies, we had the opportunity to pick whatever format we wanted. Previously we had to do a film or something like that but this time we got to pick whatever. I think I was the only person who picked magazine and it was called WARRANT. It’s like a pre-WARRANT as you know it today, an 8 page PDF. I went out with my mate, we shot the cover and I wrote up some articles including an album review.
How did you discover photography for yourself?
When I was younger I was always the classic ‘I wanna makes GoPro videos’ girl and I always liked films, audio & visual as a medium. I also really liked getting my sister dressed up or getting dressed up myself and we would go out and take photos of each other. I’m not sure where it started but it has always been a fun thing to do. It was sort of a natural progression. I bought my first point and shoot at the end of Year 12. That was the summer after high school, with Schoolies, so we had no responsibilities. I had time to just go to the beach with my mates and take my camera. I’m pretty sure that camera is so screwed because of the sand that got in it.
How would you explain your approach to photography ?
My approach is very candid. Usually I’ll just be running around with friends or at home and I’ll just have a camera lying around. I’m trying to print out every single film photo and put them in order, every the ones that are completely light leaked.
What sort of work inspires you?
I think it's kinda funny that the main inspiration I take is from music. So I have a playlist on my Spotify called ‘Editing Music’ with around 60 songs. They’re all songs that I have a little photo series or movie in my head, and they’re backing tracks behind that. So I think music largely inspires me. I’m a very lyrical person and sometimes I’ll write down the lyrical catch in my notes.
Why do you love what you do?
I feel like with all disciplines you have that sense of creative control. I feel like I'm in a place where I do it for myself — not taking other peoples ideas and producing for them yet. So I’m at that early stage where I can find my own feet, I like that aspect of it. I like to immortalise moments in my life, moments in other peoples lives. I like to be inspired by others peoples photos just as much as my own. Bringing that together where everyone can look at it. I like how you can see your name amongst others that are like-minded.
What is your greatest indulgence In life?
I think my greatest indulgence in life would be listening to music. So buying CD’s and that sort of thing when I really don’t need to. I could easily listen to the album on Spotify but putting a CD on start to finish and closing my door and turning my lights off. Kinda taking that time for myself. Yeah, I feel like film as well, just any sort of analog medium that’s really kinda stupid in a financial sense or a practicality sense. You know it’s so worth it but you can’t quite put it into words.
Do you have a favourite photography book?
I have a skate magazine that I really rate and I have a little zine by Oscar O’Shea. I don’t really have a coffee table type photography book at home but I have favourite Instagram accounts which I feel are sorta like a book for me. I just scroll through and use that.
Who has influenced you the most this year?
This is finally the year where I’ve realised that I am my own role model. I’m stepping into my boots and just taking the lead. Compared to other years — if you asked me I would have been like ‘aw this person and this person’ with really specific reasons and now it’s just me.
So what sort of progression we will see next year?
I’m having a big push at the moment for quality over quantity, that’s the mantra of the minute. I really want to take more time and refine each article and if it means posting less frequently but posting longer, more detailed …. Yeah that’s where I want to take it, so you get lost scrolling. A little treasure chest of articles, songs and photos.
Do you have a bucket list for 2020?
Ohh that is a good question! Well its my 21st so I wanna get up to Byron for that weekend. Just a really nice place to ground myself and start that next phase of my life. Asides from that I’ll be grinding though uni but I don’t know what else. Four and a half years full-time is going to be a tough slog, I feel like I might want to break it up. For the rest of this year I’m going to Nepal to go trekking!
What would you like to see next year for WARRANT?
I definitely would like to organise some sort of event, so maybe by the end of next year to have a fundraiser for our second Issue would be really cool. To get to a place where I feel like there is enough of a community to hold a physical space for everybody — would be great to rent a space for the night, get some music in. To have a night were the people who had read each others work can say hey.
What’re your star signs?
My sun sign is Virgo, my moon is Leo and my rising is Aries.
So you have recently given artists access to post their own content through the WARRANT website as part of the WARRANT team?
So there are a select group of people who have been apart of WARRANT’s journey from really early on and some people that I’ve known from high school. People who have work that I really respect — and for that I have eliminated needing my own approval for them to publish their work, because l’d like to see more of their work as much as possible. It’s easier for me and them to give them creative control over. They can format and publish the article themselves.
WARRANT has a community like no other with stories and media from across the ditch. To our friends that travel near and far that chase a dream. You and your experiences make up WARRANT. Being apart of an ever growing community of young creatives will inspire you and push you forward. You are what you consume and if the consuming you’re doing is creative things….well you’re the captain of that ship my friend.
Thanks for reading,
Nathan McAndrew
