HTRK and PAGEANT’s latest collaboration is a uniform that clothes an altered state, a higher level of consciousness worn by the imagined members of an imagined daytime existence. Living transcended to the translucent reality of the Psychic 9-5 Club.

We recorded a conversation between soundscape spinners Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang and radio commandeer Eric Eberhardt for HERO 11 Shift Zero and here Jo Duck shoots the pair in the MA-1 fighter jacket they created with design duo Amanda Cummings and Kate Reynolds. The limited edition pieces combine technical Japanese fabrics with the don’t-give-a-fuck toughness of 80s NY Chinatown gang culture and were all pieced together locally in Melbourne.

It’s a celebration of a new record and an extension of the fluctuating world the pair’s music (if you can call it that) takes you to. A state of mind – and one you can now wear.

Tempe Nakiska: How do you all know each other?
HTRK: We saw a shoot that PAGEANT styled for DIS Magazine, titled ‘Full Speed Reverse’, back in 2011.  We loved it and got in touch. The first thing we did together was some music for their collection ‘Wet Dream’. This sketch made its way into the new album.

TN: Psychic 9-5 Club. What’s the story behind the album name?
HTRK: We were thinking of doing a club night together and talked about the times when new drugs on the scene created new music and dance moves. Nothing like this had happened in a while. Psychic 9-5 Club concept is an imagined nightclub for conscious awareness.  If you flip the idea of a 90s nightclub where people connect through actually making the right decisions. We like that there’s this untapped energy between the hours of nine to five. We imagined what kind of music would exist in this space and it became the muse for Psychic 9-5 Club.

TN: What brought about the collection?
PAGEANT: We are big fans of HTRK and our first collaboration resulted in a soundtrack for our menswear AW12 ‘Wet Dream’ collection video. We worked on this with a mutual friend, Antuong Nguyen who directed the film. We had discussed doing a clothing collaboration from right from the start of our friendship and the launch of the album Psychic 9-5 Club seemed like the perfect opportunity to do this.

HTRK: With our imagined space we could expand on the mood into some other projects. We were in talks with Pageant for a while about designing a capsule collection for the P9-5C.  We were drawn to PAGEANT because their references are peculiar and a little covert but they end up with these easy to wear garments. We really get each other and would love to do more projects together.

TN: Can you take us through the capsule’s references?
PAGEANT: The starting point for us was the MA-1 fighter jacket.  We have always wanted to explore this jacket as a stylistic reference, although the idea had never made it into any of our previous collections. We wanted to capture the essence of the jacket but give it more of a relaxed vibe that fits in with the imagined Psychic 9-5 Club goers, creating a wearable emblem for the HTRK fan base.

TN: What were you thinking about as a group that came up in the process?
PAGEANT: The concept surrounding HTRK’s Psychic 9-5 Club is quite subversive and this is something that we wanted to convey through subtleties such as colour palette and screen-printing techniques. All aspects of the design process were thought about collectively and there was a lot of deliberation with Jonn and Nigel over this to get it right. We tried to put ourselves into the headspace of the HTRK fans, creating something that they could identify with and essentially wear.

TN: Could talk about the stylistic references for the shoot here?
PAGEANT: Jonn put forward the work of Swiss photographer Karlheinz Weinberger to use as a stylistic reference. We immediately felt drawn to his aesthetic and felt his work captured intimate moments of rebellious youth.  The hair […] was inspired by the elaborate styles worn by the teenagers in the photographs.

HTRK X PAGEANT Psychic 9-5 Club L/S T-shirt

TN: What kind of materials are involved?
PAGEANT: Our mainline collections always feature fabrications sourced almost exclusively from Japan, so it was important to us to include our foundation fabrications within the capsule collection. The t-shirts and long-sleeved  t-shirts feature our staple soft Japanese cotton jersey and matching rib. The bomber jackets feature a Japanese water resistant nylon twill shell, cotton rib, nylon lining, wadding and custom YKK zips.

TN: If the album was a soundtrack and the collection a costume wardrobe, what film would Psychic 9-5 Club be?
HTRK: Abel Ferrara’s China Girl would be the film for Psychic 9-5 Club. Set in 80s Chinatown and Little Italy in New York City.  Bombers would feature in the teenage gang rumble scenes and the basement nightclubs.

The HTRK X PAGEANT Psychic 9-5 Club collection is now available from the HTRK online store, here.

HTRK’s new album Psychic 9-5 Club is out now via Ghostly. 

Hair: Frank at FUR Hairdressing
Make Up: Samantha Patrikopoulos using MAC Cosmetics