Well, it's been too long again since I posted anything.
You know how that goes, holidays are coming, busy busy busy. Only 2 weeks till Xmas! And 3 till the new year, if we ever make it to that haha.
I have some interviews with some cool people that I made several months ago. I feel that it is time to post them all :-D
I have some Steampunkers and some Goth girls.
Hope you like them!
The first one is John, he is a steampunker.
What is your name and how old are you?
Basics first, eh? Name ‘s John van den Bos and I’m 27 years old.
Can you tell my readers something about what steampunk is?
There are as much opinions about what Steampunk is and isn’t, as there are people doing
something, anything, with Steampunk.
I believe that’s part of it’s charm. If you ask me it’s, in essence, speculative fiction. It’s fiction
speculating about what a world would look, feel, taste, smell, … like, when you’d have all
of today’s technology realized in the Victorian era, with the help of steam engines and other
steam-boosted machinery.
The one person visualizes this concept in one way, the other is of opinion that it’s a genre to
criticique today’s real-world problems with, yet another uses it as fuel for stories, etcetera,
etcetera.
Me, as someone who is strongly focused on making costumes, see it as a genre of fiction with
a certain visual aesthatic. Nothing more, nothing less – as much as some attach political and
social ideas to it, I don’t buy into that.
Do you have a steampunk charactre and what is his name?
As I’ve implied above, I love making costumes. That love stems from my roots as far as
my hobbies go; I’ve ‘always’ played a lot of roleplaying games and making characters is
something I do very often.
So, yes, I do have a Steampunk character. His name is Torvald Faust and he’s a bit like me
– chaotic, tinkerer, persistent…He’s also things I’m not, such as a privateer and an airship
captain!
At the moment, I’m even considering ‘launching’ a second Steampunk persona.
What does steampunk mean to you?
Steampunk, to me, is ‘just’ another genre, another visual style, in which I create costumes and
costume bits. But at present, it’s also the genre for which I made props from scratch I’m most
proud of, such as my ‘Valkyr Rifle’.
I guess that to me, Steampunk is also a very positive genre. I do a lot with the Fantasy genre, but those things tend to be dark and brooding. I know that Steampunk can be that, as well, but so far, everything I have done with and for Steampunk, is marked by many of the positive things of the Victorian era; exploration lust, empowerment and a mercantile leaning.
Where do you think steampunk is heading?
As much as I’d love to say otherwise, I’m afraid it’s heading ‘nowhere’. It’s in a long list of
genres, together with, say, High Fantasy, Cyberpunk and Science-Fiction. Most would say it’s actually a sub-set of the latter.
I’m guessing the question implies, that the real question is, if Steampunk will ever be more than ‘just a genre’. It does seem to gain traction these last few years, but other than seeing more full-fledged Steampunk movies in the same way we see more and more Superhero movies lately, I doubt it’ll do anything big soon.
What got you into steampunk originally?
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. It’s a RPG for the PC by the now rather
unfortunatly defunct Troika Games.
As the title implies, it has got a blend of both Steampunk and more traditional Fantasy and it
has a wonderfull atmosphere. Reading about it, playing it, it slowly made me aware that next
to all the genres I already knew, there was this thing called ‘Steampunk’.
I’m not quite sure what sparked me into actually making my first Steampunk outfit. I’m
chaotic by nature and I’ve a hard time remembering that...
What inspires your costumes, do you make them yourself and how long does it take to create them?
My inspiration comes from anything and everything. From things I find on the flea market, to artwork, to music, to movies, to...well, anything and everything!
For Torvald specifically, I wanted a costume that was decidedly Steampunk, but shied away from the typical bowler or top hat, dress coat, et all. I like guns and I cannot lie – hence him ending up being a privateer, a bit of a mercenary or a soldier.
As far as making the costumes go, I make as much as I can myself. I’ve got high standards, however, and though I find myself more and more able to work to my own standards, I often end up adapting existing items or having things made for me.
To fit with the tinkering nature often found in Steampunk, the clothing for Torvald’s costume is all adapted items. Most of the assesoires as well, though I carry a big rifle with it that is made from scratch.
Initially, making, or rather, collecting one of my costumes can take anything between a week and a month. The fun bit starts afterwards; in years to come, I’ll tweak it to my heart’s content. For instance, my Witch Hunter, one of my more elaborate costumes, has taken me three to four years so far, to get it to its current state.
Do you see a difference between steampunk culture in the Netherlands and the rest of the world?
Truth to be told? No, not much. Aside from the Dutch Steampunk culture, I know most of
the British Steampunk culture and these two seem pretty alike; people interested in ‘the days
of yore’, who are good at DIY and all kinds of tinkering. And as with most sub-cultures, we
seem to be a very open sort, very welcoming to newcomers.
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about you or steampunk?
Making (or collecting) costumes is awesome. I’ve been told I’m not too bad at it, and I’ll
gladly lend my knowledge to anyone who’s interested.
This is John in daily life
Thank you John for this interview!
Picture made by Henk van Rijssen
Picture made by Henk van Rijssen
Picture made by Marc Loos
Picture made by Tatsu
