AIW Issue 1

This is a digital preview of the first print issue of All Is Well. Read a selection of stories below, or get the full 174-page issue in print.

AIW Issue 1 Print Edition €20,00 Get the print edition

Pleasures of RealityA collection of memories from life, shot on film
Trust YourselfA discussion with Phillip on what defines an artist
Hopped Out the Bed, Turn My Swag OnA nostalgic glimpse of the past
We Just Do What We LoveA visit from KUDC at the HQ

magical moments do exist in reality,
at the core of “All Is Well”
we want to translate the energy
of such moments through
conversations,
visuals and
ideas

look around yourself, observe your
surroundings and get inspired.
for the time you are holding
the magazine in your
hands we will try to
inspire you with
our reality

In the first chapter of the magazine I presented you with some really cool people, who embody the values of “All Is Well”, so I definitely could not miss the opportunity to get Phillip right in here as well. He came up to our HQ and we spent a day hiking and talking about life and creating art in today's landscape.

Who are you? What do you do? How are you feeling?
I am Phillip. Phillip from Kychuk Paris, Plovdiv. I have always felt like something tiny in this vast world, but I have also always believed I could reach any place I wanted.

You have been creating in a variety of fields ever since I met you some years ago. How would you describe your work?
Different arts have played a huge role in my life ever since I can remember. I studied graphic design in school and got my first job as a graphic designer. All the time I was doing that I was listening to a ton of music and I really fell in love with it, so I wanted to start making music.

How important is the process to you?
It is the most important. The moment I realised I shouldn't be running from my emotions, but I should let them out and see where they lead me changed my process.

What's the aim of your work?
I always run away from literal stuff, I want to create stuff which is open for interpretation. You need to know who you are first, before others understand who you are.

When it comes to your references, what's your approach?
When it comes to references I think it is essential to research them from the ground up before using them. You need to completely understand your reference so you do it properly, tastefully and you don't disrespect the origin.

How do you overcome the fear?
Fear is the biggest hurdle you need to overcome. If you let fear conquer your thoughts you need to look at the bigger picture and how insignificant all of us are individually in this huge world.

What's your message to the kids who are just getting into arts?
Do not let the information overflow take the better of you. Create your own understanding of the things around you. Be aware. Stay curious.

What music are you listening to now?
Currently my favourite artist is mk.gee. I also love to listen to jazz, a lot of Carti and Concrete Boys and recently a lot of Bulgarian music.

What does a tasteful life mean to you?
A tasteful life for me is having the pleasure to pay attention to the smallest things around me and having the luxury to have people around you, who you can love.

How can one enjoy life?
Act from a place of love.

Swaggers. You remember them? You can't tell me for a quick moment you didn't try to be one of them—maybe even unconsciously (well at least if you are in your mid 20s now). Swaggers had the fair, had confidence, they walked like they own the place and they actually did.

Don't get me wrong here, swag is not only and never was just a style. It was the way one handled themselves, it was the manners, the places you went, the stuff you did.

Swaggers had you in a chokehold more than any other style trend which appeared after this one. This one is going to the people who were there: tell me a better feeling than throwing on the freshly ironed long tee in the morning, putting on the slightly distressed skinny biker denim with the belt just to have the perfect sag on them and topping it off with a crazy snapback before heading off to see the guys on a Friday afternoon.

What's playing in your headphones? Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, Chief Keef? One thing we can't forget to mention is that this era came together with the social media boom. Wild colourful filters on instagram, deep fried photos on facebook and black and white edits all throughout tumblr.

I keep romanticising this era and saying it's better than whatever micro trend we are having now. But honestly, it's all the same, isn't it? Now we are in a desperate need of someone to revolutionise this, so what's next?

This is a great way to start our final chapter together for the first issue of All Is Well. My introduction to Kudc stemmed from my friend Toma, who is one of the co-creators. Central to their content is the world of professional drifting, which epitomised a niche within the automotive realm, characterised by a meticulous approach—an ethos that mirrors the values we uphold at All Is Well.

Hey guys, happy to have you here at the HQ! How are you all doing?
(T.) Great! Happy to be here!

What is Kudc?
(N.) Toma is Kudc haha
(T.) This is because I had this YouTube channel where I would showcase my work. After this I met Iliyan who was just learning how to drift and we thought it would be cool to create content around it.

What's the most interesting part about drifting?
(T.) Drift is simply put destruction. It is a moving car crash and you never know what to expect. You hear the sounds of traction and roaring engines, you smell the burning tires.

You have a very distinctive style of capturing stories. Where does this come from?
(T.) I love this craft and I try to continue learning and developing it constantly. I get inspired by the likes of SkuraWeekly, Mike Koziel, Robyworks.

What are your style references?
(T.) Japan. It has always been Japan, this is the country which started the drifting sport.

Why should people watch Kudc?
(T.) Because I think nobody else does it like us and if you are into drifting, cars or just having a good time you should give us a watch.
(N.) I think it's funny how at races I have as much camera people as I have mechanics haha.

More than anything this conversation felt like your casual talk with a friend over a beer at some cool place out in nature and I loved that. They were very humble, but they've done more for the automotive culture than they take credit for.