The song, ‘The Life Organic’ penned by the ‘Bondi Hipsters’, Christiaan Van Vuuren and Nick Boshier, whose cult videos following the misadventures of Dom and Adrian –two young guys trying to get their ‘heaps eclectic’ fashion label off the ground – have taken the world by storm.
In the video, Dom and Adrian are seen frolicking along Bondi beach in mirror shades and too-small clothing, and sitting in their house, strewn with empty beer bottles, singing such verses as “fuck carbs, fuck fats, fuck calories, I snack on fucking celery. And on the weekends I just don’t eat cos I’m smashing lines off the toilet seats.”
So what is a Bondi Hipster, exactly? According to Van Vuuren, it’s one part emo, one part hobo and two parts hipster”.
He reveals the inspiration behind his mini clips in an interview with thevine.com.
“The humour of our series started out by pointing out the ridiculous contradictions in the hipster’s social conscience and attitude towards life… A lot of the hipster ideals clash in the sense that they would love to help the world, but only when it doesn’t hold them back or stop them from doing what they want to do. It’s a selfish sense of “I make the world a better place”… But our web episodes have grown from that, to being a story about two guys that now verge on being sociopaths.”
Van Vuuren also talks of a “slow burner hipster epidemic”.
He says: “First sightings of hipsters in Bondi date back as long ago as late 2008, but in those early stages of infection, little was known about the contagious nature of this disease.
“Originally hipsters were easily quarantined to areas like White Revolver and Cream Tangerine (often reaching as far as Oxford Arts Factory) but they saw a spike of growth in mid-2009 as FBi Radio was saved from liquidation, and the Indie scene continued to grow widespread in popularity. The first area to go was North Bondi.”
“By 2010 the World Health Organisation had officially declared North Bondi Italian, Beach Burrito Co and the Grassy Knoll disaster zones. From there it spread to Middle Bondi, as the retail market on Gould St attracted hipsters with the tempting bait of the season’s latest fashion styles.
“Nobody knows how to do the “I don’t give a shit” look quite as well as Tuchuzy and General Pants. The only safe area was Bondi Rd, but by 2011 that was gone too… The cafes and restaurants that were “so Melbourne” were just too tempting for hipsters, and by this stage North Bondi had already been deemed as uncool by the hipster community, so they had to relocate somewhere.
“But now… In 2012, they are on every street corner of Bondi. They DJ in parks and public places. They simultaneously shop in and host their own garage sales on the streets. They spill out onto Campbell Parade from every establishment, and they take over the Beach Rd Hotel every Wednesday and Sunday night. Is there no end to this madness?”
The success of Van Vuuren and Boshier’s Bondi Hipster web series reflects the rise of the ‘YouTube-preneur’, a group of young artists, musicians, comedians, and performers who are making money from and building careers on YouTube.
YouTube currently carries 12 short episodes, and the men promise a new one every Thursday.
Totes amazeballs.
