Q&A: Pure Nowhere
CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF YOUTH LIKE NO OTHER - Pure Nowhere showcases emotions through words and visuals in a way that captures the heart instantly. Based both in Melbourne and Los Angeles, Pure Nowhere has grown to become a global force rooted in their online presence as well as their memorable events. Founds Abby and Kyla continue to take an innovative approach to everything PN, always working to provide the best for their dedicated audience. Pick up a copy of their first issue, What Freedom, and read below to learn about the community they’ve built, what they’re up to lately and more.
Kyle & Abby
LUNA: For those unfamiliar, can you please introduce Pure Nowhere?
Abby: Pure Nowhere evolves constantly, but currently I would say it’s a community, platform and publication. We create printed magazines and zines, throw immersive art & music collectives, and run a website where we focus on amplifying voices, publishing submissions, premiering films and music, interviewing friends and strangers, and generally working to provide an open artistic platform.
KYLA: Pure Nowhere is an international music and culture magazine based in Los Angeles CA, and Melbourne AUS… at least, that’s what we say in our emails. In all honesty, Pure Nowhere is so much more than that. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pin us down to one sentence, but right now we’re a magazine, a community, a collective that throws immersive events and creates print issues, and hopefully makes a safe space for youth culture and adolescent expression.
LUNA: How do you think being based in LA & Melbourne has shaped the tone of PN?
KYLA: I think that if we were based somewhere else we wouldn’t necessarily have the same stories as we do now, or even be the same people. It’s influenced every aspect of our creative voice. What we create is a collective reflection of what we’re influenced by, roots have everything to do with that. I’m originally from San Diego, and started out with Pure Nowhere as a local music blog for the San Diego scene. Now we’ve moved our California base up to LA (where I go to school), but you’ll always be able to trace back to the beginning. The arts and music scene will always be the center of the story.
ABBY: I think it’s one of our strongest assets, because it gives us two homes - two scenes, two bases, two distinct (yet collective) communities, two sets of influences and inspirations. Melbourne & LA’s art/music scenes shape what we do, as well as the people here who follow us. It also sets a very international tone for our publication & team.
LUNA: What have you been inspired by lately?
ABBY: Humanity. This shared isolation experience feels like no other in recent history, so I’m currently inspired by collective experience & feelings, and how others are creating in this time. I think I’ve become almost obsessed with collecting, curating and documenting strangers thoughts & experiences right now - it’s definitely my biggest source of inspiration.
KYLA: My friends. I’ve been thinking about summer a lot recently, how things will be different and what people will do with this new kind of freedom. I’m so lucky to know an insane amount of creative and passionate people, I know such beautiful projects and forms of expression will come out of isolation (or whatever the circumstance may be in the next new months). People are getting more vulnerable and it makes me so incredibly happy.
That and sunshine. No one can get mad at me for doing nothing and laying in the sun all day. A nice little perk!
LUNA: How do you stay motivated in your creative endeavors?
ABBY: Motivation comes and goes, always! Creative flow is a constant up and down. My motivation comes from a mixture of places, including Kyla, our community, the people and publications I look up to, and my own dreams in life. I have a very distinct fear of growing older, too - I’m desperate to achieve as much as possible as young as possible, which in some ways sounds silly, but it certainly gets me out of bed.
KYLA: Abby, and the possibilities of the future: the only two things that have ever kept me motivated in long-term forms haha. Honestly, she’s the reason I’m able to be productive, and have such crazy aspirations. All my dreams have only ever come true when they’re with Abby, it makes every small step a bit more exciting because even though we may not fully know where we’re going, we do know it’ll be a thousand times better than where we’ve been.
I do have to second Abby’s comment on a fear of growing older. It’s not growing old itself, but the idea that if I don’t take advantage of every second I have, I might not get to do everything I want to do. Have the amount of adventures and stories and friends as I hope for. Isolation is just a prep period.
LUNA: PN has an incredible team of contributors behind it & I feel like your audience is truly on the same page as you. What do you love about your audience?
KYLA: Absolutely everything, I have no clue where to start on this. Their willingness to open up so deeply, and trust us (complete strangers) with aspects of themselves that are the most honest. It makes me want to be better, and keep creating, so we can make a place for that. It just amazes me how much they engage and connect with us, I don’t know if I’m explaining this right but this last week has been crazy in terms of audience response, I wake up every morning thinking it’s a dream. I don’t think we’ll ever get used to it.
ABBY: EVERYTHING! Especially in the last few weeks as our community has been expanding so rapidly, we’re falling in love with all of our readers. We set up anonymous submission pages on the site several months ago, and we get the most magical thoughts, insights and stories from strangers across the world every day. Our audience is genuinely magical. They understand everything we’re doing, and I feel like we understand them; it’s the perfect partnership.
LUNA: Do you have any dream collaborations / features?
ABBY: Oh gosh! Too many. CJ Harvey jumps to mind, I adore her endlessly. Some big musicians/bands, like Cub Sport, BENEE, Gang of Youths (hehe, a girl can dream). We’ve both independently worked a little with Converse (Kyla in particular!), so it would be incredible to take that further with Pure Nowhere. Brands like Glossier, Fluff Makeup, Beats - I could honestly think of a hundred.
KYLA: Seconding what Abby said, CJ Harvey is one of my favorite photographers! Along with Pooneh Ghana and Charlotte Patmore. I’d absolutely shit myself (am I allowed to say shit?) if we could work with Cage The Elephant, I’ve had a crush on Matt Shultz since quite literally the second grade. The Growlers, Omar Apollo, Peach Pit, all big dreams! We have done personal work with Converse, I’d die to do a Pure Nowhere x Converse collaboration. Beats is another big one too, they do a lot of collaborations with smaller artists I absolutely love.
LUNA: Why is it important to have a community for young creatives?
KYLA: This question hit hard. I think it’s so important because it sort of resets a standard put upon media and artistic creation. The idea that the work you create isn’t valid unless you have this degree or have lived a certain amount of years. Age has absolutely nothing to do with creative ability, credibility, or professionality - yet it’s at the root of so invalidation. So many people don’t speak because they don’t think they have the ability to, because they don’t think they’re good enough or have anything to say. Those ideals couldn’t be farther from the truth. Creating spaces like this is so necessary if we’re to move forward and claim a world that’s truly our own. It creates a sense of community and acceptance you really can’t get anywhere else.
ABBY: Communities like Pure Nowhere, Luna, and the dozens (if not hundreds) of platforms popping up everywhere are so crucially important, because they’re nurturing the next generation of creatives, you know? Not only that, but they provide a safe haven and refuge for everyone. Teenage-hood (and early 20s) is the most transformative, exciting and confusing time in life - having communities like this connects people in times when they might need it most, and offer something to hold onto when life gets hard/weird/sad/frustrating.
LUNA: Y'all have had some really incredible events, with the most recent "Heaven On Earth" show selling out & creating a dreamy landscape for everyone. What value do you think having a physical space for people to showcase their work and come together has?
ABBY: Our events are definitely one of our favourite parts of this whole thing, and where a lot of our true passion lies. Bringing the Pure Nowhere ethos and community from an online space into a physical one has been transformative - it allows both us and our readers to forge in real life connections, and create real memories and experiences centered around art, creativity, support and love. Creating these are and music collectives is my favourites thing in the world - the energy on the night (and the weeks leading up to it) is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. I’d go through all the sleepless nights and stress-crying again and again and again, ANY day.
KYLA: Aw thank you so much friend! First off, I’m going to second what Abby said until the day I die, about going through the sleepless nights and stress crying again and again. Heaven on Earth was probably the hardest event I’ve ever worked on, physically, mentally and emotionally. It took absolutely everything, but I’d still do it again in a heartbeat. I remember that night my friend Michael came up to me and said, “Kyla, the gender fluidity in this space is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” and I still remember how incredibly happy that made me. I remembered that one the most. Building a place where creatives can come together, and feel so comfortable in themselves, their sexuality and creative expression and ability to do anything - that’s what makes it so important. That’s really all I want to do.
LUNA: If you could share any piece of advice for those wanting to start a zine or creative project, what would you like to pass along?
KYLA: LITERALLY JUST GO FOR IT! The hardest thing is always getting started, but once the momentum goes there’s nothing stopping you but yourself. There will be uninspired periods, but I’ve found that bad things only happen so good can come after. Trust me, whatever you push through will prove to be so so beautiful.
ABBY: KEEP AT IT! Just. Keep. Going. Pure Nowhere started nearly exactly 4 years ago, and in that time we’ve been through about a hundred directional evolutions (and counting). If you really believe in your passion project, if you’re really willing to put in the work & you love it with every fibre of your being, then the universe has a way of making things align. You just have to prepared to wait <3 (& work hard!).
LUNA: In what ways would you like to see Pure Nowhere expand?
ABBY: Ahh, so many! We have a dozen ideas up in the air right now, all sorts of avenues and creative company possibilities we want to chase. What don’t we want to expand into? It just comes back to prioritising and being realistic about what we can take on. We always say we just want to grow, and I think that’s still true. For now, I’m excited to keep doing what we do, keep meeting and inspiring new people, and see where it all takes us.
KYLA: We have so many dreams sometimes I lose count, but that means at least one will succeed, right? We’re currently working on building out our creative team (received over 500 applications in three days? What!), and I’m going to be spending the summer building out the back end of the company so we have all of our business assets sorted out. Hopefully this will let us get some of those big dreams into action!
LUNA: How are you taking care of yourselves during quarantine?
KYLA: Honestly this is still something I’m fully trying to figure out. Everyday is different and has new challenges, but things are starting to get better and more productive! I’ve been taking a lot more time to focus on de-stressing and making sure my mental health is in check, working on Pure Nowhere and some personal art projects! Many sun basking sessions, of course. Things that make me happy. But I think finding a balance of rest and work is still the main thing I’m trying to figure out.
ABBY: A good question! Something I should put a bit more thought into. I’m trying to be kind with myself and give myself room to breathe, but recently I’ve been struggling with disconnecting from Pure Nowhere and taking proper care of myself. I’m trying to develop a new structure for my days that builds in time for rest, time away from my laptop, and time with my mum - right now that’s all really sporadic and my mental health suffers when I can’t detach from the website properly. But it’s all a work in progress.
LUNA: Do you have any upcoming plans / goals you’d like to share?
ABBY: Ahh! I don’t know! Do we, Kyla?
KYLA: Yes! You can expect some exciting projects from us in the future. Maybe a second print issue, site redesign, larger than life articles! Hopefully once COVID has calmed down we’ll get to continue working on these next events as well. Honestly, quarantine has gotten me so excited about everything.
