who we are

In late 2005 three Sydneysiders, inspired by free thought, creative expression in the Bristol guerrilla art scene and the wonderful world of Sydney, came together with view to create an online magazine. By their skills combined - one was a writer, one a graphic designer, the third a programmer - they gave creative birth to Kluster in the autumn of 2006.

Kluster is the arts, Kluster is bands, Kluster is fashion on skaters, Kluster is personas, Kluster is creative culture. Kluster is Sydney, Melbourne, London, New York. Kluster is old-school techniques in an innovative medium. Kluster is us.

You won't see us slowing down any time soon. Heck, why would we? Roses don't really smell that good anyway.

Today the kids at Kluster reside in Sydney, London, NYC and Melbourne. Quite a worldly bunch - but it is, as they say, a small one after all. A manifestation of the borderless nature of our online medium, and our varied locations across the globe, Kluster's once Sydney-based content now covers a geographically broad spectrum of subject matter.

Refusing to subscribe to the status quo, the kids at Kluster are driven by a need to produce something that satisfies our creative impulses, while also pushing the boundaries of design and online publishing. As well as entertaining, each of the main issues and Kluster Says instalments aims to inspire readers via unique design techniques and innovative use of the components of web design and programming.

Keep your eyes and ears open for more because you won't see us slowing down any time soon. Heck, why would we? Roses don't really smell that good anyway.

Kluster Head Office
203 16 - 28 Foster Street
Surry Hills
E: Email us
Follow: Facebook | Twitter

  • Founders:

  • Kat Hartmann

    Editor-In-Chief kat

    Out of this young upstart’s dreams of encouraging a new age in Australian publishing, the content section of Kluster was born. Currently, while not dreaming about infiltrating, and overthrowing, the media monsters that filter this country’s information, Kat writes for The Australian, Time Out Sydney and The Blackmail. In the past, words she’s penned have been published in Juice magazine and various locations online. She's completed various works of fiction, many of which may never see the light of day, and also purports to be a fan of the Oxford comma and pretty much anything that Dave Eggers, Anne Rice, Michael Ondaatje, Stephen King and Dean Koontz ever put pen to.

  • Melinda Shi

    Creative Director mel

    Melinda began her design career earlier this century in Sydney: by day, as an art director for an independent record label in Sydney and by night haunting Sydney bars as the design and marketing section of a drum and bass club night. The spaces between she filled freelancing for Greens Senator Bob Brown, Carhartt and the Supply store. Since then, Melinda has called Berlin, the French Alps and London (where she currently resides) home. When not working on Kluster, Melinda makes it her mission to keep the bastards honest by working for an independent consumer watchdog group. She misses Sydney's beaches, Mint Slice biscuits and her pop's cooking.

  • Luke Spice

    Technical Director luke

    After completing a Bachelor of Information Technology at the University of Canberra, Luke spent the hours between 9 and 5 at a couple of digital agencies in Sydney, before relocating to Europe to be closer to the Alps. He currently works at AnOther magazine in London. When not creating AnOther online world he tries to find time for the lifestyle he grew accustomed to while freelancing: riding bikes in the summer and snowboarding in winter.

  • Web Design:

  • Kamila Borkowski

    Graphic Designer

    Graphic designer and mum extraordinaire, Kamila balances her little lady on one leg while spewing forth bubbles of creativity on the pages of Kluster, all under the roof of the house that she and her boyfriend built. Kamila first embarked on her design-career journey in a small design studio in 2001, moving on to become designer manager at an independent record label in Sydney, before the call of Kluster and motherhood become too great. She takes pleasure in her baby girl, summer days, illustrating, healthy food and collecting porcelain ornaments.

  • Daniel Treacy

    Web Designer

    Daniel’s love affair with the internet began in 1996; back when your internet bill was determined by the number of hours you spent connected. Inspired by his dad’s completion of a short course on HTML, Daniel took MS Frontpage (oh God) by the reins and never let go. Fourteen years and one massive switch to organic, hand-coded CSS and XHTML-based design later, Daniel has established himself as a freelance web creative and founded his own agency, Creativon Digital. While originally hailing from Melbourne, Daniel is a converted Sydneysider. He's of the belief that it's hard to beat living in a city where jeans and thongs are considered acceptable attire all year round.

  • Editorial:

  • Kashmir Brummel

    Australian Editor kb

    After completing a degree in Languages at ANU, Canberra - and deciding that a career in translating was not for her - Kashmir moved up to Sydney to begin her illustrious career in online publishing. After a few years managing lifestyle and entertainment websites, she now spends her days putting the Bing into search engines. When not keeping the squeak from the Kluster wheels, she can be found creating new culinary delights for her avant garde food blog, Choux-in, and pretending she can draw.

  • Felicity MacDougal

    London Editor felicity

    A simple Certificate in PR started Felicity MacDougal on the road to success. Several years, diplomas and degrees later, and her CV reads like a who’s who of your favourite bands, brands and festivals. From her early days at Fuzzy to more recent work with Peer Group Media, Flick has done PR for the Jack Awards, the Mercy Arms and Pnau. She also toured and worked with the Big Day Out for three years. Add to that some corporate engagement for Bacardi, Hugo Boss and Converse and you have yourselves a girl with a lot of great experience. She now resides in the UK, where she keeps Kluster up to date with all things London.

  • Andy Ryan

    Music Editor andy

    Andy Ryan writes about music like nobody’s business. Except possibly Kluster’s and yourGigs.com.au’s; he’s been putting finger to keypad for both for the better part of a half-decade now. His cranium contains more band knowledge than Sydney does litres of salt water (cranium-to-Sydney size ratio having been equalised, of course). He also has a penchant for Sydney pubs that once housed villains and thieves and, on the odd occasion, can be found sinking a pint in one of the aforementioned 1900’s dens of iniquity.

  • Liz Niland

    Sub Editor

    Liz likes words. That is, words written correctly. When not contributing to the lifestyle section of well-oiled media machine that is Ninemsn, Liz spends time tiding up our grammar mistakes and contributing her own slice of written-word charm to Kluster Says. She dreams of one day living in Italy, where she would happily dine on chocolate and avocado (separately) until number-up day arrives.

  • Fashion:

  • Aimee Bayliss

    Stylist

    We have Aimee to thank for the unique aesthetic of the Kluster fashion stories from issues past - and future. No stranger to the Australian fashion industry, Aimee has been managing PR and Communications at ksubi for the past few years. She’s also taken some time out from clothing and couture to get in touch with her Japanese heritage - by studying the language - and DJ’s regularly as one part of Sydney femme-DJ collective, Chicks on Decks.

  • Kasia Werstak

    Photographer

    She’s snapped an impressively diverse range of subject matter - from designer Hedi Slimane for the LA Times to Jordan Askill’s jewellery - so we’re pretty darn chuffed that Kasia captures moments in fashion for our viewing pleasure. Her name can be found in the credits for a handful of music video productions, including one for Phoenix. Her directorial resume includes Sydney bands, Van She and The Presets. Kasia’s also been seen in front of the camera in various fashion stories and had a part in the acclaimed short film We Have Decided Not to Die.

  • Guest Contributors:

  • Dan Rookwood

    Born in the mother country, Dan’s now a highly sought-after, Cambridge-educated Sydney-siding journalist. And when he’s not typing out sweet nothings for Kluster, Dan is a rather busy chap. He’s the editor of Time Out Sydney, a contributing editor to GQ and Men’s Health and a random scribbler for whomever else requires his observations. Dan’s also pretty keen on soccer. Sorry, that’s English football. You can take the boy out of Britain...

  • Gabriel Knowles

    Co-founder of online cultural authority, The Blackmail, Gabriel Knowles is something of a stalwart on the Sydney writing and editing scene. He’s been published in more magazines than Kluster has seasons of existence, including Monster Children, Inside Sport, Yen and Dazed & Confused. He put in his fair share of hours as editor at both Dazed & Confused and Two Thousand. Gabriel is also partial to embarking on the odd evening bike-gang adventure in the summer time.

  • Elmo Keep

    Elmo Keep is a writer whose interests lie mainly in music, film and new media theory. Additionally, she has taught writing for the web at the University of Technology, and once, Gene Simmons of KISS spat water at her during a press conference. She lives and works in Sydney.

  • Contributors:

  • Words:

  • Alicia Polmanteer

    Alicia lives in Williamsburg NY, undoubtedly the creative hub of NYC’s racing heart. With a background in music marketing and looks to kill, she hunts down the most unique things the city has to offer every fortnight for Kluster readers.

  • Jemima Fallows

    Australia actress Jemima lives in Silverlake, LA. In between auditions she bar tends at the Château Marmont. Her gallery contributions of the hottest parties in the City of Angels provide an authentic slice of the Hollywood dream.

  • Cat Juan

    Clever clogs Cat Juan started her academic record off on the right foot, graduating magna cum laude with a BA in Psychology from San Beda College in Manila. Behind the scenes, however, she was already carving her niche as a writer, working as associate editor of her university’s newspaper. After a few years of freelancing as a model and writer, Cat made her mark on the publishing world as beauty editor for Metro Magazine Philippines. She now resides in Sydney, finishing off a Master’s in Media Practice and teaching English part-time.

  • Grace Jones

    Before relocating to NYC last year to pursue a career in music publicity, Grace Jones worked at Triple J, Sydney, as part of the news team. She also won her fair share of broadcast awards for work done while living and working in regional Australia. These days she can be found working as music publicist for Tell All Your Friends and residing in Brooklyn. When not shooting exclusives our way she spends her time attending all manner of musical festivals across the globe and laying down vocals for Passion Pit.

  • Samantha Hartmann

    Samantha was one of the first contributors to join the kids at Kluster, back in 2007. We hope she’ll be one of the last to leave. When not dividing her Kluster time between feature writing and keeping Sydneysiders up to date - via Sydney Says - she manages marketing for a Sydney travel company and plays the role of socially inclined mum of one.

  • Andrew Worotnuik

    We happened upon Andrew, drink in hand, in Vegas bar two years ago. The mutual adoration was instant. After a volley of two-and-fro email communications we finally convinced him to be our eyes and ears in his hometown, Melbourne. When not fulfilling the role of southern connection, Andrew writes for Beat magazine and endlessly strums his guitar.

  • Lillian Zrim

    Lillian has also been gracing the online pages on Kluster for many years now via both the written word and technical advice. She cut her digital teeth with her role at Channel Ten, exploring the intricacies of the cyber world and managing their online research. When not poring over a computer screen, Lillian likes riding motorbikes (dirt and road) or jumping in her van and escaping to the NSW south coast.

  • Kristen Dagg

    Kristen doesn’t like talking about her achievements. She likes writing about other peoples. We love her coyness. We also love that she spends her days, when not writing about Sydney for Kluster, working as a writer/producer at Nickelodeon. Where, she assures us, the fart jokes abound.

  • Miss Kat Jade

    The most worldly of our global little bunch; Kat has lived in NYC, Singapore, London, Milan and originally hails from Melbourne. She was born Sale, has family from Perth, currently resides in Sydney and loves Mexico. Kat’s doesn’t like to restrict herself to one pursuit. She worked in fashion for over ten years modeling and working in creative direction and brand management. She has also been known to pen the odd word about the industry. When not writing for Kluster, White Hart Lane and I Spy Kat likes/is/does illustration, geek, bubbles, mistfits, fairytales, vintage, culture, bars, branding, nonsense, beatnik, cooking and junk. She also has a penchant for limes, pickled onions and boots.

  • Taj Shreef

    One of the newest additions to the Kluster team, Taj resides in New Jersey and spends a good chunk of time out and about in NYC. We first came across Taj when a member of the Kluster fold stumbled upon him in 2008 while he was working for the Olympic News Service in Beijing, reporting on the swimming, diving and synchronised swimming.

  • Lee Washington

    Lee Washingtons design career began when he started sketching in Sydney and made a living as a busker selling his drawings at Circular Quay. Not one to rest on his laurels, he now runs a T shirt company, creates canvas prints featuring a naked woman, designs products, draws cartoons and runs his own digital marketing agency in London. Lee writes Design Den and his website is at http://www.leewashington.com

  • Images:

  • Cara Stricker

    Cara loves art. Art in almost all forms. She is one of those contemporary free-spirited souls that would have been equally happy had she been born four decades ago. Her works would have suited the ‘60s perfectly too. They’re as whimsical as all get out. Photographs, animation, headpieces, body painting… it doesn’t matter the medium: blithe. Cara’s photos have adorned the pages of Mexican Rolling Stone. Her animation has featured in The Waiting City. Her headpieces have been adorned by Lover models and Sydney band, Bridezilla. Her body paints have covered the Sydney Van She boys. She’s also directed music videos... Our word count has run out.

  • Carlo Ledesma

    Since a Video 8 camera was thrust into his hands at age 15, Carlo Ledesma has been living and breathing film. Fortunate enough to get paid for doing what he loves, Carlo cut his teeth doing work for Nike, MTV Philippines and the TV show Gameplan. Now based in Sydney, he holds down a job as a producer and director for a video an internet production company, while heading up his own project, allOrange Films. He fits in sleep whenever he can.

  • Luisa Brimble

    Luisa loves taking photos. Of galleries, curators, art, children, adults – the works. By day she is a graphic designer at a travel company, by (other) day and night a photographer, mum and an all-round creatively consumed individual.

  • Words, images, fashion:

  • Jeff Yiu

    Jeff is one of those jack-of-all-trades, soon-to-be-master-of-plenty types we find interesting. He’s only been treading the creative boards of Sydney for a few years now but has made ample inspired noise during those years. When not contributing to all aspects of the content side of Kluster, Jeff can be found assisting some of Sydney’s best photographers, including Dan Boud and Kasia Werstak, interviewing and shooting various bands, labels, pretty people and party people.