The All-Powerful Order Of The Moth presents.

issue one.

for Ross.

Picard

I started The Order Of The Moth as a way to make sure artists had something to work towards and for solidarity among all artists involved.

Of course, the artist is the individual; that should, and never will be forgotten. One’s work should best represent their own needs and no one elses’.

However, larger numbers and connectivity often leads to more exposure and support if necessary.

We work hard to not only represent ourselves publicly, but more importantly to fullfil a strange, unexplicable desire: to scratch an itch, so to speak.

Looking back, that is, in fact, why we started doing whatever it is we do, is it not?

These atributes are what seperates the artist from the average man.

We will work until we burn. We will continue to create, no matter what the circumstances.

And when we’re old, decrepit, foul and dying, our hands unable to move; we will most likely still have this fire inside of us until our last breath.

And we can’t help it.

This is the first issue of many representing the endeavors of Order members and featured friends.

Enjoy, support and keep going.

a.traboulsi

Picard

The timelines below are taken from projects THE COMMONERS have done over the past year. Some residential, some in the closest ditch that we thought may have some potential while also having some sort of privacy for the build. Starting any project from scratch is a great feeling but can be a daunting task at first. And looking back on the finished project is always easier than actually putting in the work. I think it is because of the unique nostalgia skateboarding creates. It’s a quick nostalgia that brings you all the way to the good old days of last week.

The good old days when your hands were burning because you took off your gloves to smoke and got concrete on them and put them back in the glove to microwave the first few layers off. The good old days when you got back home from “skating” and actually didn’t even get your board out of the truck. The day when you were catching the first few grinds on something you and your buds created. And cooking a steak in a ditch. Skateboarding is the best thing in the world. And concrete is alright too.

The Commoners Workshopwords: Kyle Berard

It wasn’t like I had been scoping out this ditch for a while or anything, I used to park right by it while going into my clothing sponsor. While out there with my friend Chad we were joking about “ What if we built a tranny up to that lip, then a wallride, and shot photos from up here?” It’s so funny that I inherently think about how it would look in a camera or on video, I guess we all do. Then Jon Holland and I were talking about finding a spot. I took him to the spot and I swear we were staring at it for forty-five minutes. Then we started loading up rocks. 5 days and 160 bags later we got a grill and skated with the trains roaring by. You can see the build process on the TWS site.

Irvine Spot:

I don’t even really know how it all started, but I know it started small. We worked in his front yard fist doing a volcano and a few other little hits. Then we took a break. He went on some trips and I went on some trips. The bowl is on par with the front yard stuff, its fun as shit. Thanks to Bradford and everyone else who had a hand in the project from the pump operators to Duffy and Welsh. We wanted to build something that was fun to ride when you want to keep your legs warm or you want to skate but don’t want to drive around. And if you wanted to really go for some shit and get a trick it would be something worth filming. Its fun, you’re not maxing out to get a frontside grind like all the trog nerds, and people have done some rad shit in there already.

Jordan’s Bowl:

Im hyped on how Ryan’s turned out. I think at the end of the project it ended up being 102 yards. It was the biggest project I have taken on as far as THE COMMONERS goes. He had somewhat of a design and a direction of the way he wanted it to work and we really didn’t have to change much. A little transition negotiation, a parking spot for the big ass Dooley he’s got, and a hard trowel finish all the way out to the road. About 20 days from the word go we were grouting the tile, stripping the last forms, and flying home.

Ryan’s House:

Gillen

Will Brown does killer traditional tattoos at Shanghai Charlie’s Tattoo Parlour in Syndney, Australia.

He also rides for Passport Skateboards, has created some of their graphics, and rips.

MillerJesus saves, paint fades, buildings decay, all good things must pass away.

Picard

Traboulsi. “The Snake/The Beast”

Messina

MIller

Raw Power.photos and words: Nadeem Traboulsi

Two summers ago while I was visiting family in Lebanon for a few weeks my buddy Diego tagged me in a picture on Facebook. [it] was of a bicycle with a motor sitting in the frame. Nothing was hooked up, and the thing didn’t even have any wheels on it. I had never seen or heard about anything like this. Diego has been known to tinker and I thought he was putting together some Frankenstein machine from an old motor that he may have had lying around. Upon my return, the thing was up and running! It was missing brakes, but that’s what the soles of your shoes are for I guess. After riding it down his street once – actually, after just seeing him start it up – I knew I had to make one. It turns out these things are pretty common and people have been building and modifying them for a while in places around the country with warmer climates. But, being from Cleveland where it’s winter for half the year, it was absolutely new to us.

I ordered a kit from the same place he did, thatsdax.com.

Apparently among the motorized bicycle (that’s what they’re called) online community, Dax has the best customer service. The kit was about $200 after shipping from Colorado, and took about two weeks to arrive. The importance of good customer service with a project like this stems from the fact that these motors are from China, and are very cheap. The metal is so soft that the bolts used to attach the motor to your frame can bend and break fairly easily, the gaskets are paper thin and often leak air, and the bolts holding the top end of the motor on can strip if you tighten with anything more than the strength of a 5-year-old. With that being said, the motors are resilient if you don’t break any parts during the build.

It took Diego three days to build his first bike. This was without any instructions really, and it was just a learning process. When the motor came for my first bike, we put it on in about 3 hours. When we finally both had bikes, and after I made Diego put brakes on his, we were unstoppable. These things are not comfortable at all either. No suspension on our heavy beach cruiser bicycles and the little two-stroke vibrates like crazy. But we loved it. Our longest straight ride was a little over 60 miles. Needless to say our asses had phantom vibration pain throughout the whole night after that one. The bikes can reach a top speed of about 35mph, but a complete lack of torque makes that speed plummet if you’re going up even the slightest incline. We discovered the best cruising speed is about 25mph. Vibrations are low/non-existent at that speed, and it basically feels like you are riding a bicycle really quickly minus the work of pedaling.

We gave ourselves a “company” name, Raw Cycles, because our bikes we left ratty and unkempt. We started modifying our original two. I put a new sprocket on with higher gearing for better top speed, an expansion chamber exhaust from SickBikeParts.com, an analog speedo, back pegs, and a new stem with flat handlebars.

We were going to car shows almost every week, where people were more interested in our POS bikes than 1940’s Indian motorcycles and other more expensive and more impressive things. It’s the weirdness of them that makes people interested. Before long, our friends had the itch. These things sound like chainsaws, but higher pitched, and depending on how fast you’re going, can be pretty loud. The area we mostly ride in is heavily saturated with Orthodox Jews.

You would think people of religion would be nice or something. On the flip side, the equally large black community in the area loves these things. LOVE them. We would give little kids rides on our pegs, people stop us asking if they can buy them, and a few lovely ladies even shouted that they “wanna be witchu!” (us).

The long Cleveland winters really slow down our excitement and building. We will probably have a few more weird builds in the near future when the weather is more allowing. Next up is a 1960s tricycle that has been sitting in my garage waiting for a motor for over a year now. More car shows, maybe we can actually sell a couple of these things because stock piling bicycles can be pretty space-consuming. We’ll see where this all ends up.

So, if you want one. It’s very simple, and pretty inexpensive.

If you already have a bike with a big enough opening in the frame for the motor to fit, you’re set. But if you need a bike, any with a large open frame will be good.

Beach Cruiser style bikes are preferred because they are large and heavy. You can get a beach cruiser from Walmart for $100. The bike must not have a rear coaster brake, it needs to have regular handle brakes. The reason is, bikes with coaster brakes have big rear hubs - too big actually for the sprockets that come with the kits to fit over. You can modify the sprocket to work, but it would be easiest to just get a bike without a coaster brake from the start. The first few motor kits we bought from thatsdax.com were about $220 with shipping. After we felt comfortable and experienced enough to not need Dax’s customer service, we branched out and bought some kits off ebay for $150 shipped. The motor and all the parts are pretty much the exact same quality wise. So basically, for $250 you can have a motorize bike ($100 for the bike, and $150 for the motor kit).

Accessories and type of bike you choose will change the price. Expansion chamber exhaust $80, sprockets with different gears $35, speedometer $20, etc... All this stuff is cheap though, especially when compared with car or motorcycle parts, so go crazy. Another great website is chubbyscruisers.com where you can find hundreds of bicycle accessories like ape hanger handlebars, banana seats, suspension seat posts, and more.

Gillen

Picard

Traboulsi

Giampino

Davis. “Restless Contentment”

Josh Cecil tattoosat Carolina TattooCompany in Greensboro, NC.

Messina

Jarman

Traboulsi

A mermaid’streasures.an interview with Merewif’s Savannah Watson.

How did you start making jewelry?I didn’t actually start making jewelry until I took a silversmithing class in Boston when I was 22, Spring of 2010 to be exact. In college we really focused on footwear and handbag design so I ended up exploring jewelry on my own after graduating in between footwear design internships and jobs. It wasn’t until Merewif that jewelry went from a hobby to a full-time business endeavor.

This is all DIY hands-on stuff. Have you always been a hands-on person?I can’t remember ever not being hands on! After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, majoring in accessories design, I got a few great footwear design opportunities with Alexander Wang and BCBGMAXAZRIA. These were immeasurable learning experiences for me, but I was really missing the tactile aspect of design. I found myself on the computer for 95% of my work day which ultimately led me to jewelry design. It’s so satisfying to have an idea, make it, and put it on my website all in one day. Instant gratification.

Where did the idea for the name merewif come from?I really wanted a name that no one else had used, something really unique and slightly mysterious. Growing up on the beach and spending most of my childhood in the ocean, I have a natural obsession with mermaids. I think most girls do. They’re beautiful and enchanting but also kind of evil. I was doing research and found out that the Old English word for mermaid was merewif, and after getting over the fact that it was hard to pronounce it really stuck.

“I am always trying to make things I haven’t seen.”

What sets merewif apart from all these other DIY jewelrs and jewelry companies that are out there?I am always trying to make things I haven’t seen. Something new.I also source my materials in the United States. It’s so easy (and cheap) to outsource, but it is something that I really care about and think will be helpful in some little way.

What does the future hold for merewif and for you?It’s really exciting! I am learning so much and it will really affect the evolution of Merewif. Trying out new techniques and perfecting old ones will only make future collections better.

any advice for those interested in creating and selling handmade jewelry?Try to do as much as you can yourself. Learn how to take photos, set up your website, and do your graphics on your own. There are usually local classes on these subjects and it will save you so much money in the end.

Where can people buy your awesome stuff?www.merewif.com!

Davis. “Under The Skin”

Miller

Gillen

Jarman

Giampino

This is a man who went by the name Dr. Keith. who was graying, in his 60’s, lived in a small apartment across the street from me and drove a mid 2000’s Mercedes. Dr. Keith was always a mystery to me until one day he decided to come over.

It started out, when I came home from work and was making dinner with my brother and a friend when we looked out the window and saw him sitting in his doorway smoking, from what looked like a crack pipe. Now, I had met him before and had always heard stories of him being a heavy drug user but never seen it first-hand till then.

Well seeing as there was nothing we could do but discuss it, we all sat down and ate when the doorbell rang. So I got up, ran to the door and surprisingly it was Dr. Keith. In an unsurprisingly high-state of mind and giant bruise down the side of his face, he went on to say “hey man, I saw you playing guitar outside yesterday and wanted to know if I could play some with ya”. Of course I obliged as I was as curious as anyone to figure out what he was all about.

He then went on to tell me that, since he was such a heavy drug user he sold his guitar a few months ago but wanted to play mine. I knew I couldn’t exactly trust him so I said if I let you play it you have to play on my porch and let me shoot pictures. His reply was none other than “hey man, fuck it”, which ended with a handshake.

So I went and grabbed my guitar from the other room and handed it to him as we all sat outside with camera in hand.

He went on to sing a few different old blues songs from the 30’s and 40’s, and telling us the back stories of each one.

photos and words: Messina

In between songs, he told us about how he used to serve in the military and when he was discharged he went back to his small town where he grew up to work in the local factory. While he worked at the factory for the next 8 years, he explained how most all the employees there would use narcotics throughout the day. This of course, led to drug usage as well, being influenced by the other workers. He kept re-iterating the fact that he was an “idiot savant” and said that for some reason, he quit the factory, went to college and got a PhD.

Since then he worked as psychologist down the street. Somewhere in between him going to college and working he settled down got married and had a kid. He never told me why, but for some reason he got divorced from her, which he said it was because she was a “blonde woman”. His advice from his was to never marry a blonde woman because they’re all the devil.

Spiraling down in his story, he somberly told us that he went back to using drugs and selling virtually all of his belongings.

He now has lived by himself for what seemed like the past 20 years without any contact to anybody except his drug dealers.

After telling his stories, Dr. Keith stood up handed me my guitar with a smile on his face and said “thanks for letting me jam man” and stumbled back across the street.

I didn’t see him much after that, until I saw him evading a cop with while blaring “Ooh That Smell” by Lynyrd Skynyrd with the windows down in his Mercedes. After that incident I didn’t see him at all, but I did see the landlord cleaning out Dr. Keith’s apartment or what was left that he didn’t sell off, so my guess is he is either in jail or dead by now. I know stories.. Well most stories have a happy ending but, but to hell with happy endings. Sometimes you need a somewhat sad/strange/weird story to brighten your day.

Giampino

Traboulsi. “Special Delivery”

Tech Talk:Kickstarting an Antique Motorcycle.words: Massey Bick.Here is the starting procedure for an antique kickstart motorcycle: Pre 1965 Harley Davidsons were mechanical start motorcycles, most of which were foot or ‘kick’ start. This technology is definitely primitive for today’s standards, but you will find, when all the proper steps are taken your bike will fire right up!

An internal combustion engine needs four basic components: air, fuel,compression, and fire... All bikes have these components and while they aren’t necessarily in theexact same place, they should be very easy to locate.

Step one: you will need to find the key or on/off switch, the petcock or fuel on/off valve, which you want to turn to the on position, then the choke lever, the throttle, and the kick pedal.

Step two: with a pump type carburetor, you need to twist the throttle 2 to 3 times. This primes the gas to the engine. On CV and vacuum type carbs you want to hold the throttle to an open position while performing stepthree. (These carburetors work off the engine’s intake vacuum to draw thefuel into the cylinder).

Step three: with the ignition switch in the off position and the choke closed. Place your left hand to the rear of the bike in the seat or fender area, and your right hand on the throttle or handlebar grip andlastly your right foot on the kick pedal.

If the bike is equipped with a engine retard, often found in the left grip, it is good to engage this now. You want to cycle the engine a minimum of two times. I usually go for three on my panheads. This is to create suction and pull the gas you primed in step two into the cylinders.

Step four: open the choke, switch the bike to the ON position or RUN key setting and-

Step five: get back in the kick position.

It is important that your first kick is at the top of the stroke: the kicker will ratchet to the highest point. Be sure you kick through smoothly and completely. I like to pause at the bottom of the kick to give the motor a chance to fire up. I have made the mistake in the past of stopping mid stroke and when the bike fired up I got bucked off the back.

If the bike doesn’t fire up on the first try, repeat the steps again.

I don’t recommend repeating the steps more than three time so you don’t flood the engine or foul the plugs. If you think you may have flooded the engine you can turn the switch to the off position and kick through with the choke open. This will clear the gas saturated air from the chamber. This procedure will work beautifully for well tuned machines so don’t be afraid to pursue your dream of buying a vintage or antique motorcycle. Keep it between the ditches and ride safely!

“I have made the mistake in the past of stopping mid stroke and when the bike fired up I got bucked off the back.”

kickstart sequence.

Davis. “Life, Be Still”

Contributors

Joe GiampinoMassey BickEthan MessinaNadeem TraboulsiAlex TraboulsiAlex PicardMatt GillenMatt MillerTim JarmanSavannah WatsonJosh DavisKyle BerardJosh CecilWilliam Brown

Issue OneThe Order Of The Moth2013