Pleasure Seekers

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ock and roll as a style state­ment is ever evolving (witness i pompadours, flannels, skinny suits), but one iconic formula endures as the ultimate definition. Think long hair, denim, leather. Kurt Vile, co-founder of the seminal band the War on Drugs and the fierce solo talent behind

the recent album Wakin on a Pretty Daze, looks as though he could be in MC5, Zeppelin or any other band that tran­scends trends musically and sartorially. We kitted Vile out in rock-ready spring fash­ions and talked to the Philadelphia-born performer about how music and style can go effortlessly hand in hand.

• Fa/Juan by, Jennifer Ryatf

gtyjfow by Kathy Kalafut

and

Q: Who are your musical influences? A: I go through one obsession at a time. Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Neil Young—the greats. Today it's early-1970s Randy Newman, John Prine and some Steely Dan. Those guys are perfect songwriters with nuances nobody else has. Steely Dan will divide a room. Some people say it's too smooth for them, and I say, "Well, you're too smooth for me."

Q: Do your musical obsessions influence your style?

A: Neil Young may come through in the hair, but it's not conscious. My style and clothes have a way of finding me. For our current tour, I was shooting for Bob Dylan's look circa 1966, when he was at his career peak—no pressure!—and I found sunglasses on a freebie table. My friend Emily Kokal from the band War­paint has an army jacket I borrowed in London because it fit so well, and I still haven't given it back. It's a big-family thing. I grew up with nine siblings and was used to hand-me-downs and borrowing, so my style is an accumula­tion. I'm always thinking about it because you want to be cool on stage, but I also want everything to be as real as possible.

Q: You have an ability to make a jean jacket look like badass leather. Are you moving away Irbm lfeat now?

A: No way. I love the jea jacket; it's classic. I'll try it again after ajvhile and it's like, Oh yeSfl. But after being into blrij everything for a while, now I'm into bright colors, just for good vibes. It's like how J Mascis

k from Dinosaur Jr. loves tie; he discovered it decided he wanted

"To be surrounded by it all the time. Same thing. I want bright Rolors as something^-*¦ can control. It's a way of controlling your mood and surroundings, just from your periphery, everything you see.

Denim Skenpajacket,

$278, by True Religion;

ptald-and-^oitOt,

WeAtemtJtfnt,

$96, by Rockmount.

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Cotton tuxedo Jaeket wttn di&thPMedmetathc lapel, $595, by BOSS Orange;

$225, by Rogue;

John Varvatos; dank 6/ioun

ik, $895, both : Space Cowboy.

Q: Musicians: are itotti-1! ¦ nous fashion petfddeRsy,,'^ Who has the best Style in music today? • - - ¦ . A: Nick Cave, ne question. I saw these photos of him from the 1990s in Sao Paulo, wearing a yellow satin shirt open ^ in the front, pink pants/ awesome sunglasses. He's a different kind ol badass. He can still put all of Coachella to shame, easily.

Q: Even by rock

standards your hair is

pretty impressive. Tell us

about how it became part

of your look.

A: In high school I would

say, "I don't wash it for

a week, and that's how I

get my look." It would get

pretty bad. I had no idea

about layers or the righfl

product to use. Thi— :J

2009 we were abou

open for Dinosaur Jf. 1

a friend said, "Dude, your

hair is too thick." She cut

it right there. That's when

it clicked. Maybe when I

get older I'll cut it again,

but if I cut it now I might

look like an everyday

dork. It's just kind of rock '

and roll. ._^:. 1

gtrtfiedpantA, $498,

#mW, $498, both by

John Varvatos; ikufl-pnint

va/rf $245, by Alexander

McQueen, available at

mrporter.com; ci/Atom

fy/U, hand-tooted and

hand-painted book with,

golde/ify

Space Cowboy.

kenfeu, $4Z, and,dp/U/n

jea/iA, $225, all by Rogue;

d AA /

$86, by Rockmount; ica/if

$198, by John Varvatos;

AtAwA bu^ala-coln,

medattim,, $650, by

Helen Ficalora.