National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) projects upwards of $6 trillion being spent on mental disorders by the year 2030.
Neek Lurk Gets Weird with Charlotte Stokely
We have come a far cry from when The Peanuts’ Lucy first opened her psychiatric booth back in 1959, charging a mere five cents per visit. In a day and age when one in five Americans suffer from some form of mental disorder it comes as no surprise that self-diagnosed bi-polar “weirdo” and designer.
Neek Lurk’s clothing brand, Anti Social Social Club, which champions insecurities such as ‘SELF DOUBT,’ ‘FUCK EVERYONE. IT’S JUST YOU IN THE END.’ and ‘FUCK EXPECTATIONS’ on t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats, has such a cult following. ASSC was thrust into the stratosphere earlier this year when one of pop-culture’s best-known sociopaths, Kim Kardashian, wore one of Neek’s hats with the words te extraño (Spanish for “I miss you”) embroidered on it. And Lurk’s been waiting for the bottom to fall out ever since.
Tell me about your mother, Neek.
NEEK LURK: Damn. Well, she passed away two years ago so it’s kind of weird. She’s looking out for me right now, that’s why I’m doing all this stuff.
I didn’t really hang out with anybody; just loner-style. That’s who I am.
Much of what a man does in life is a direct result of a mother’s impact.
Yeah, we were never really close but now I think we got closer. It’s weird universe shit, like, whatever happened to me after she died … from me getting tons of money, to my brand to whatever the fuck I’m doing is basically because of her.
How has your relationship changed since her passing?
It’s stronger, for sure. She’s here right now; weird ghost stuff.
Today we’re at your Pop Shots shoot. If she’s here what do you think she’s got to say about it?
That it’s pretty awesome. She’d definitely back it.
Unlike many of the Pop Shots series, Neek shot some of the photos here on film, and others using a digital camera. Simply because it was easy to separate them, we have split the photos up that way here. Although we cannot say for certain who shot all of the digital pics, we can reveal that Digital Team super-favorite Kimberly Kane did the film work. Kimberly has many, many talents, and we wish she’d come to work here. (OK. So one of us really wishes she’d come to work here.)
What was your childhood like?
Just super isolated in my room.
By your choosing or her doing?
Just everything. It’s like I’ve been in a room for 27 years.
You’re a member of The Wolfpack?
Yeah. I didn’t really hang out with anybody; just loner-style. That’s who I am.
Now you’re thrust into a spotlight. How does that make you feel?
I’ve always been alone. Now I go home to my new house and I have a couple friends but I’m still the same person; I’m still all alone. I’ve been drunk my whole life which is a social lubricant. Now I’ve got some time off it and I’m completely inept in social settings.
What advice can you give someone that feels that social awkwardness that you address with Anti Social Social Club?
I didn’t really start drinking until two years ago and drinking does help me with my insecurities, like, I can text somebody or I can talk to somebody. It’s so corny but it’s so true. I don’t do drugs; I hate weed. But I started drinking whiskey and I was like, “Oh shit! This is lit!” Last year, every day I was looking forward to drinking and having friends and having people to hang out with and drinking was the only time I felt like I was good. By doing that people were like, “Damn, you drink way too much.” I don’t drink and drive anymore because I have a lot to lose but before it was nothing to lose and a lot to gain, in my head, but I remember a time I had dinner with somebody and I took a bottle of Jameson’s from Burbank and drank half of it on the way to Silverlake on the freeway. I sat down and she had a drink waiting and I downed it. That night I messed everything up. I should have been normal and chill but I was crazy and next thing the door slammed, she skirted off and I was left on the street. After that I was like, “people don’t get me as a person.” So as corny as it is, from that experience I made a t-shirt and a hat with a very relatable message and that was my outlet. No longer the booze.
But having experienced the superpower that alcohol gives you, how do you function with your insecurities without it?
It is a superpower. People just think you’re drunk but it is a trigger in your brain. The other day I hit somebody up while I was drunk and I would never hit them up sober. How do I cope with it? I’m learning how to cope. I just go home and do boring shit.
This is Penthouse. Do you go home and jack off?
Sure, yeah. Everybody does.
I was told at a very young age that you should be with one of every type of girl so that later in life when you close your eyes you can envision any girl in your head with clarity from personal reference. What’s your preference?
This is like a 10 p.m. question. Here’s the thing, I like watching Asian girls but I don’t like Asian girls. I want to be with a white girl or a Euro chick or a Spanish girl but I like watching Asian girls. I just never want to be with them.
I stared drinking whiskey and I was like, “Oh shit! This is LIT!”
You had the opportunity to go through the Rolodex of humanity for this shoot. How did you decide on Charlotte [Stokely]?
I have moods and that reflects on what I do, see, make, whatever. I’m super bi-polar. This week I like white girls. Next week I might like Latin girls. I’m never going back to Asian girls, sorry. It’s like dating my sister. It’s like I know you already. I want something new, something foreign. I need something new because I’m getting bored with everything.
As mentioned with the other gallery, Kimberly may well have shot some of these digital-version photographs as well. As a matter of note, as of this publication you can see more of Kimberly’s work in Pop Shots with both Steve Agee and Keith Hufnagel. Now you can see even more clearly why we tend to be little fan-people around her. And that does not even take into consideration her own work as a model and performer. To quote a darned fine book/movie — with which Kimberly was not involved as far as we know — “Who said life is fair? Where is that written?”
In terms of beauty? What does it for you?
I like girls when they’re super-insecure. Because I’m insecure myself so when they’re insecure that does it for me.
Is it because the insecurity is relatable? Or is it a power trip where their insecurity makes you feel less insecure about yourself?
Maybe it is a power trip but more it’s that she has the same moods as me and I can relate. It’s physical too but it’s more about the personality.
You’re 27 and living in an age where social media produces relationships as opposed to first-hand interactions like in the past.
Facts. Yeah, they hit you with the DMs so you know their vibe and personality through their Instagram but it’s not real until you really meet them. I’m being really picky right now. I get hit up with DMs all the time and I say, “No.” I have my guard up. I think right now we live in a quick age, whether it be a brand, an Instagram post or a relationship they’re quick as fuck. You could be with a chick Monday and you break up Monday. Everything is so quick. I’m actually kind of stressed.
Streetwear brands also come and go quickly. Your brand exploded. How do you maintain that in this age of quickness?
I don’t make a lot of stuff. I produce it the day after I have an idea. I can have something made in one day thanks to all my resources in California. If I want to make a jacket next week I will and release it the next day. And I don’t do seasons; it’s one piece whenever I want. I think that’s the new age of stuff. DGAF: Don’t Give A Fuck.
I like girls when they’re super insecure.
Would you say, though, that the success of the brand stems from the universal messages?
First and foremost, I didn’t think it was universal; this is how I really feel. I have been surrounded with negativity all my life but what am I going to do? Kill myself? Instead I made some shit and it worked out. Going back to my mom, I think she’s looking out.
Do you ever look at it like the world is paying you to go through therapy?
I never went through therapy but I do feel like what I’m creating right now is therapy for kids as well as me. I feel like I am a therapist to people but I need therapy. I guess I’m helping people and no one is really helping me.
Perhaps dating a therapist is the answer for you?
Funny you brought that up, somebody DM’d me and now we’re talking. I’m not making this up, she’s actually a psychiatrist. She’s like, “I can be your personal shrink.” Maybe that’s what I’m missing; a therapist that’s my girlfriend. It might work out.
Sometime there’s exposure for a brand that is unwelcome. Kim Kardashian wore your hat for a week straight. Were you psyched?
When I started this thing I had a certain group of people in mind; the weirdo kids. So those type of people isn’t who I made this for. But obviously money comes from that so I embrace it. She’s not that weird. I like weirdos.
I like weirdos too, but she has a fat ass.
See I’m not a fan of the ass. I like tits.
You back her tits over her ass?
No, no, no. Not her tits. I like small tits. Like Charlotte in this shoot.
Is there any part on Kim Kardashian you would take to a deserted island?
Nope. Nope, sorry. Nothing actually. Not even her personality. I’m bashing her right now, but thanks for wearing my hat.
Maybe that’s what I’m missing, a therapist that’s my girlfriend.
But with that booty you have to think she takes it in the ass, right?
Yeah, I think so. Even DP.
DP for sure. Kanye and who? Kanye and you?
Nah. Know what? I wouldn’t even do it. I’ll take a photo. I’ll stand a hundred feet away and zoom in but I wouldn’t do it.
Did you ever think you’d be here, Neek?
My favorite word is foreshadowing. It’s tattooed on my neck. For some reason all of the negative things in my life will be ok. I can over think myself but I never would have thought I’d be where I am. Everything is positive now, which scares the shit out of me. Like, what’s going to happen next year? Is everything going to go to shit?
What do you think the future holds for you?
I try not to think about it. What goes up must come down, right? And I don’t want it to go down. It’s scary.
In the end does the darkness win for Neek? Or the light?
The darkness, to be honest, because I think I’m still dreaming.
Well, it was nice knowing you, Neek.
Thanks.
The secret to being a good interviewer comes down to one simple aspect: LISTEN. The secret to being a really good interviewer comes down to an ability to come up with follow-up questions like, “Is there any part on Kim Kardashian you would take to a deserted island?” … You don’t come up with that question as you’re doing your research and getting ready for the interview. Nor do you come up with this photograph only shooting when you’re “supposed to” be shooting.
If you’re curious, this Neek Lurk interview ran in the October, 2016, issue of Penthouse Magazine. By 2017 ASSC (Anti Social Social Club) clothing was all but dead due to (allegedly) poor quality, poor attention to detail, and abysmal customer service. [For the record, being drunk does not make for an excellent customer service manager. -Ed.] … Neek hung in there, though, before eventually selling the brand, presumably for enough money to buy some very fine whiskey.
