Rafael Alves is one soulful dude. Whether he’s showcasing his special touch on guitar, blowing some gritty blues on harmonica, blessing the crowd with his ill voice, or introducing us to “electronicbluesbossafunk,” Rafa fills space with dope music. Coming at us from Madrid via Curitibia, Brazil by way of New Zealand, this Artist discusses the role of his craft, new projects, shares some truth about music in Madrid, and much more. Peep the dialogue below and vibe to tracks “Use Me,” “Will Be Mine,” and if you’re in Madrid catch Rafa at one of his many upcoming performances!
What I do is mostly based on the sound and the way I feel playing. I always try to enjoy myself, playing on my own or jamming with other people. It normally works and that’s how I communicate with other people.
Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?
RA: I’m from Curitiba, south Brazil. I live in Madrid, Spain.
What does Reflection and Response mean to you?
RA: There isn’t much reflection in what I’m doing now; I don’t try to give people any good message, or advice through the songs I play.
What I do is mostly based on the sound and the way I feel playing. I always try to enjoy myself, playing on my own or jamming with other people. It normally works and that’s how I communicate with other people.
How does your project Pure Acoustic Soul fit in with that definition?
RA: Everywhere I live I often jam with friends in my house, playing acoustic. So with Pure Acoustic Soul I try to bring this cozy atmosphere of acoustic music and friends to other people.
What else have you been working on recently? What are you looking to work on next?
RA: I’ve been working with some electronic Brazilian music, it’s difficult to label the style – it’s kind of a mix of “electronicbluesbossafunk” – it’s pretty fun making it. Trying to mix different sounds without knowing how it’s gonna end up. Traveling, I had the privilege of jamming with musicians from everywhere so what I do is send them the tracks and they record their part wherever they are (New Zealand, Brazil, Spain, …)
Eric Medina nos muestra las posibilidades expansivas de la música. Explorando varias facetas de Rap, Eric mueve desde el estudio al esenario con paradas en el DJ booth en el intermedio. Este artista Madrileño ha encontrado una forma melódica de reducir la velocidad del mundo caótico que nos rodea y enfocar en el presente. Abajo Eric nos abre a su mundo y explora Reflexión y Respuesta y también comparte sus various proyectos, inlcuyendo su grupo ESTAFA y High Standing, trabajo en Headroom Estudios, un libro-cd en collaboración con el poeta Julio Reija, y muchas iniciativas más. ¡Damos la bienvenida y le pasamos el micro a este hombre del renacimiento del hip-hop!
Eric Medina represents the wide expanse of possibilities in music. Eric explores various facets of Rap from the studio to stage with stops at the DJ booth in between. This Madrid-based artist uses this melodic art form to slow down the chaotic world around us and focus on the present. Below Eric goes in on Reflection and Response and welcomes us to his world while discussing his various projects including his groups ESTAFA and High Standing, work in Headroom Studios, an audiobook in collaboration with poet Julio Reija, and much much more. Without further aidieu let’s pass the mic to this Renaissance man of hip-hop!
Para mi la reflexión es un ejercicio de análisis, de tomar aire y pararse pensar en que has hecho, a dónde querías llegar con tus acciones y dónde has llegado realmente. Digamos que es un momento de quietud ante tanta velocidad que nos rodea.
To me, reflection is an exercise in analysis, taking a moment to think about what you’ve done, where you wanted to get as a result of your actions, and how far you’ve actually made it. I’d say it’s a quiet moment amidst all the chaos around us.
Para empezar con algunos puntos básicas, de dónde vienes? Dónde estás?
Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?
EM: Pues para empezar, vengo y estoy en Madrid y vengo y estoy en el Hip Hop.
Soy productor, dj y técnico de sonido. Me gusta la ironía, la profesionalidad, el buen humor y atrapar el talento de los demás en mis grabaciones.
EM: I’m originally from – and currently live in – Madrid, and I come from – and am currently in – Hip Hop.
I’m a producer, DJ, and sound engineer. I like irony, professionalism, good humor, and capturing other artists’ talents through my recordings.
Que quiere decir “reflexión,” y “respuesta,” para ti?
What does Reflection and Response mean to you?
EM: Para mi la reflexión es un ejercicio de análisis, de tomar aire y pararse pensar en que has hecho, a dónde querías llegar con tus acciones y dónde has llegado realmente. Digamos que es un momento de quietud ante tanta velocidad que nos rodea.
Y una respuesta lo veo como una solución ante una situación.
EM: To me, reflection is an exercise in analysis, taking a moment to think about what you’ve done, where you wanted to get as a result of your actions, and how far you’ve actually made it. I’d say it’s a quiet moment amidst all the chaos around us.
Songwriter David Bornstein comes at us straight out of Madrid via New Hampshire. We got a chance to catch up with him in Madrid after a performance at Café la Palma, and he brings us some inspiring Reflection & Response below. Exploring themes around his music and independent creative processes, David lets us know what’s good from the mind of an active creator establishing his own lane. Peep the dialogue below and catch his group PATIENT 108 live in Madrid this Saturday!
I believe music has the power and place in society to create awareness and make people think and question the world in which we live. Candor is the key.
– David Bornstein
Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?
DB: I spent most of my life in Durham, New Hampshire. I went to the school district and then after traveling/working majored in history with a dual major in International Affairs.
I didn’t really start playing the guitar or writing songs until after I graduated high school, but slowly and surely it became a part of me. After I graduated from U.N.H I came to Spain to work on a music project with an old friend fusing original alternative rock with the technicality of flamenco guitar. After many a trial and tribulation and multiple attempts at making the project work I found it necessary to cut the cord and move on. When people ask me what I’m doing in Madrid, I can´t help but remember that I originally came here to work on that project. In the end, Madrid has been the place where I learned to find myself and grow as an artist. That’s something I find more important than any song or work alone.
Shortly after the project ended I started playing solo gigs and organizing shows with other musicians at bars and pubs around Madrid. During this time I focused on improving my abilities on the guitar and developing a more percussive sound to emphasize rhythm.
Right now I’m playing with my newly formed band PATIENT 108. Kester Jones (electric guitar) hails from England, Xabier Aquino (bass) is from Mexico, and Q (drums) has an identity crisis. They’re all phenomenal musicians and a pleasure to work with. We released our first, 5 song EP, Preacher’s Got The Gun, in October 2013. You can stream or download that album here: http://patient108.bandcamp.com.
Our next show is February 1st, so be sure to come if you live in Madrid!! Details below.
What does Reflection and Response mean to you?
DB: To me the ultimate test of good music is candor. If music, any type of music, comes from someplace honest and earnest with love or passion, then the result will be something natural, unforced, and unique. There are no rules or genres to this, it’s just something I feel when I hear something.
Music doesn’t have to have a message or exactly mean anything at all to be earnest, but I try to write songs that say something or raise questions I think are important without giving any exact answer. I’ve become interested in working on songs with themes of human nature, war, identity, and illusion. I spend time reflecting on these issues not only as objects to be studied apart from myself, but as an inward study of self inquiry. The end result is a response; a social commentary, and a reflection of society which ultimately serves to express my individual experience and perception. I believe music has the power and place in society to create awareness and make people think and question the world in which we live. Candor is the key.
How does your work fit in with that definition?
DB: Each of the three songs I’ve included deal with themes mentioned above in their own particular way. I don’t like to say too much about a song, allowing instead for each listener to reflect and respond to them in their own way.
Child of War explores humanity’s relationship with war, progress, civilization, murder and denial.
Transmigration deals with identity, temporality, and the interconnected nature of all things.
Right Gun looks at power structures in the U.S. and how we are used as weapons against ourselves.
What else have you been working on recently? What are you looking to work on next?
The Snapshots From the Collective series works to create a space for Reflection and Response through photography. ANYone who wants to contribute ANY photos to this project can email us submissions at the.lifestyle.rr@gmail.com. One photo will be posted each week, and photos will only be used for the purposes of this series. Thank you and we look forward to building and expanding the Collective!!
Saturday, August 24th, 2013 @ 9 pm: Victory Lap live at The Nectar Lounge. (featuring Carlo Mejino, Whitney Killian, Peter Muller, David Boman, Clarke Reid, and Michael Henrichsen)
Location: Nectar Lounge, 412 N 36 St., Seattle, WA 98103
$7
Reflection and Response.
Events from the Collective is a calendar of upcoming events from the LIFESTYLE collective’s international community. Events can be submitted at anytime to the.lifestyle.rr@gmail.com or @LIFESTYLE_RR and will be added to the calendar as they roll in.
Yo! Welcome to the long-anticipated LIFESTYLE Spain trip recap! Earlier this summer, we were fortunate enough to have the chance to spend two weeks in Barcelona and Madrid, enjoying the first LIFESTYLE reunion in some time while also pursuing opportunities to create and collaborate with other artists.
We started the trip out in Barcelona, a familiar place that nonetheless presented us with new experiences, interactions, spaces, and inspirations. We set up our one-week HUB in an apartment in the dope neighborhood of Raval – a centralized barrio with narrow, vibrant cobblestone streets and and a distinctly timeless and hardwearing energy.
Throughout the week, ACTIVE was the agenda of the day. We worked on some new projects including a couple of amazing live RR interviews with local artists Javier Blanco and David Figueroa. (Be on the lookout for their words coming at the Collective in the coming weeks!)
We set up shop right on the Barceloneta beach area and played some tunes on acoustic guitar, featuring tracks from P’s album Shake This Maze along with some classic covers.
V’s “Shop Sign Studies” drawings were inspired by the local Raval landscape, full of classic, hand-painted shop signs, each with their own distinct character. Lookout for more artwork to come!
La Ria, a small corner bar in El Gótico became our jumpoff point for playing two shows in the neighborhood. We connected with the owner of the spot one afternoon while having a café, and the following night P played an acoustic set there that also turned into an impromptu jam session with Franck – the cook – who happened to be the dopest percussionist.
The show the next night was at a bar down the street called Las Cuevas del Sorté – in their tiled basement venue with rough stone walls and an unparalleled sound. Friends and fam came out for a show that started as a live looping set that transitioned into an intimate acoustic session, before concluding with a reggaeton DJ set with one of our brothers from the city.
We spent the second leg of the trip in Madrid, which was quite a farewell tour for P, who had been living there for the past two years teaching English and developing a Hip Hop English Education curriculum for elementary-age students. After also completing four albums for the LIFESTYLE Studios, collaborating across the open seas from Madrid to Brooklyn, it was time to head back stateside, on to the next building block.
The last few days in Madrid were a time of celebration and preparation for the road ahead. It all came together for the goodbye concert, “La Despedida de Peter Muller,” at the underground cave at RepubliK Club – a session featuring live looping and beat building with multi-lingual freestyles, along with a late night acoustic session. An unforgettable finale to the LIFESTYLE’s European venture.
Not music with empty space, rather, open sound. The difference: nothing about Yeezus is “empty”. This is a synth-intense orchestration with the same meticulous composure as Dark Fantasy. Super hero music, ripping the floor up on the mainstream pool of overly soft limp sounds and regurgitated rhythms; thus begins a new era. The only artist to even hint that hip hop/rap/whatever-the-fuck-label-you-prefer-to-use would go in this loose leaf direction is Frank Ocean with Channel Orange, which was hands down the most prolific sound of 2012. Yeezus is the forerunner of a new genre—industrial sound.
Understanding music, culture, and art is to recognize the waves and turns of expressive production. There is always a shift, inevitably; the monumental reformatting from eccentric to simplistic. This is seen in Miles Davis’ work as he transitioned Birth of Cool into Bitches Brew. Picasso as well – he built the hieroglyphic art of cubism out of his mastery of realism. A break beyond excellence; transcendence, the master artist redefines complexity by routing simple aesthetics into a matrix of intensive minimalism. It’s a seamless craft; each component fitted for function—comparable to Japanese joinery. Those who drive these shifts are, as Mr. West put it, the Nuclei of their respective cultures in specific moments in time. And yeah, Kanye does have that seat. He a’ready told the world to Watch the Throne.
Now for the breakdown. Let me start by saying I like this joint, A LOT. It appeals to me because it dives into the beauty of darkness. LikeMilton’s Paradise Lost, Yeezus is intellectually stimulating, soulful and somehow illuminates without light. So raw and disgusting by normative standards, it can only be described as perverse. And that’s exactly the type of shit I’m into. Ugly indeed, yet the allure is in the rhythm that dares to flex beyond the confines of “beauty”. Deviation and creative confidence make these dark arts so attractive. And yeah, all you haters and naysayers I’m aiming this at your knot…so duck…duck…goose.
My overall analysis for this joint is: Epic.
“On Sight”: the new culturally relevant catch phrase…well, it is for us, and it should be for you too. This track sounds like a lazer tag battle between the Dark Side and the Jedi, a brief discovery of challenges that we all face. Unnamed yet spoken through the drums, the subaltern becomes the voice. Bridged by angelic soulsounds—a harmonic break in the battle, the content to be explored is a matter of personal reflection and response. On which side of the fight do you fall?
“Black Skinhead”: drums, Drums, and DRUMS. Black Skinhead is a direct address to the North American (US) nation building process. Revoking society’s attempts to tame and create docile, well behaved, “proper” citizens. An open rebuke of smiling faces and tap dance attempts toward assimilation, rather than creating a new world for a new America… “stop all that coon shit”, apparently Ye has dedicated himself to a pathway that is so counter to the American Identity that it inherently disrupts the tempo of everyday complacency. Black Skinhead is an anthem for villains, werewolves, and all sorts of social menaces. It’s about dedication—the true pathway to Kingdom. Like 300 Romans you gotta protect what’s yours, to fight for what you believe in, constantly pushing towards achievement. Low-lines repeating “BLACK” sampled and threaded in, this track BANGS. The ending transition is fucking stellar too…GOD, GOD, GOD…Straight into no other than…
“I Am A God”: Yo, everybody flipped cause Kanye West is back on his god shit. Honestly if you didn’t see this coming you should go take a nap now and hibernate on some “wake me when September ends” type snooze. Nobody made a fuss when Pusha-T stated that he’s the god of everything around him, nor does anyone throw tantrums about the god reference of Jay-Z’s alias Hova (Jehovah). When Yeezy does it though, all hell breaks loose…Oh No! If you listen to that blasphemy we’ll turn into a society of the likes of Sodom and Gomorrah. Whatever dude. Cats have been on their God shit since the days of Rakim. Recognize what this is really about. Ownership. Participation and order versus spectation and passivism. And if I’m wrong…Pray for us. I’ll leave it at that. The track sounds like waking up in an extremely lucid dream. The type of dreams that aren’t dreams at all, rather, experiences beyond the capacity of logic. It’s other worldly; I know some of you have been there before, I have, it’s real. Conviction; that reoccurring BuzzTypeBell-MuffledChime sounds like the something out of Sartre’s “No Exit”, the doorbell that serves as an eerie reminder…yeah, you’re in hell, don’t let the furnishing fool you. On to the next one.
“New Slaves”: Ye really does something with this one. I have yet to see a review that recognizes or even acknowledges the fact that he speaks about the Prison Industrial Complex, one of THEE Grimiest nation building projects since Reaganomics. Be real, Kanye has never been one to let this type of shit pass by unaired. Remember Bush…yeah, that guy, enough said. Money is the number one agent of converting revolutionary peoples into pacified citizens; I’d imagine it hard to speak or act out against a society that has made your fortune. Big Bucks buy out anger. Not for Ye tho, not for Ye. Threatening to throw out Maybach keys…meanwhile some of these other artists are using Maybach as a certificate of authenticity. To Kanye it’s just another notch under his belt. Calling out what he sees as apparent social ills especially in the way of racial interaction and, specifically,black complacency. The track is mean. And don’t forget, Ye is Dead Prez. The production is super simple cause his flow and delivery are what this track is about. I mean, dude even brings back lines from one of his earlier mixtapes, “Freshman Adjustment” and finds use for it in this album. The end of the track is raw too, it’s an awesome soulsound and again the message is simple, “loss is not an option for those of us actively building upon our dreams”. Let’s Go!
“Hold My Liquor”: Aright, so this one took me a minute to latch onto. That’s a Kanye trend though, each album always has one far out track—I would equate this to “Drunk and Hot Girls” off of Graduation. The sound alone is inebriating—a sensory trail of compartmentalized memories breach on this track. This is like the equilibrium of the scale, tilting a little toward the dark, then a little back to the light… the rest of the album tells the outcome of this continuum. This album is never the same twice. It’s incredible how interactive Yeezus is.
“I’m In It”: First off, I would like to say I am 100% for this joint! Yo, its perverse, its fuckin wild, its London type Grime, Punk influenced, pornographic sound with reggae roots—shit is wickedly undeniable. Bark after bark it brings the animal out of anyone who is brave enough to bear their sexually aggressive fangs. The imagery is overly explicit, super raw, and Ye’s flow is crazy dope (especially on the third verse). As he wheelies out on the Zeitgeist, nobody can classify who Kanye is nor what this dude does. He’s mentally speeding into the future, leave peeled wheels on the promotion of homogeneous culture.
“Blood On The Leaves”: an ambitious and adventurous exploration of a male pathology, remembering the past that has led to this particular present. Strange fruits of relationship exploits—sour, over ripe, recollections of dark pasts. Badd bitches seducing their way to mad riches, and the worth of finding one good girl who’s down for you. Trust turns into treachery, loose situations careening out of control as they reproduce more fruit into this world, webs complicated by offspringing children and untrue matrimony…there’s Ye claiming nothing holy about it…
“Guilt Trip”: The Sample is so incredibly ILL on this one, “all in my wallet”—he turnt that line out! And you GOTTA feel ‘im for that! The Chewbacca line is as rock steady as when he shouts out PETA on Cold—apparently Ye’s fur game is always above and beyond. Kudi’s vocals are mad eerie, a perfect fit for this project. The Kid is wailing on some howl to the midnight moon; the wolf takes a brief pause to cry out, and then returns to his run—that’s when the music comes back in. This is one of the only tracks where I can say that the production is king over the lyrics. Don’t get it misunderstood, both are gnarly, it’s just that the production hammers super hard; I mean the string sounds next to the rocking 808 thwarps are Stupid.
“Send It Up”: this is the warehouse funk, a simple sort of exposition. Bridged by bending baselines and old style simple rhyme schemes, Kanye opens the lab up. A provocative resurrection of what Yeezus is all about, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, bringing together all the odds and ends of a journey and pushing into a space never seen… memories, they never leave us; pasts, they build to the present. Own yours.
“Bound 2”: straight up Kanye West. From the soulful production and high-pitched sample sound to rhyme sets and a Charlie Wilson hook. This is a definitive track, the rebel’s sensitive side…it is still dark, no doubt, yet it’s in a sort of slap stick comical way. The sound is so domestic it almost sounds like a sitcom or commercial. From talking about his bad rep to him confessing his bind to love, this is pure Kanye West, so great.
Aright, so through and through Yeezus is excellence. This is 2 years back to back that Kanye has killed the summertime sound. This time it’s with an existential expression of black sound. Black meaning contrast, not skin color; the othered experience juxtaposed against whiteness, a dark presence in white America. With regard to black sound, ACDC’s Back to Black record has held the podium, now Kanye West is the only other artist to successfully compete against that with Yeezus. And that’s saying a lot. Ye opens it right up. He’s an artist through and through and this installation is above and beyond what anybody expected. If you still “hate” this joint it’s for one of three reasons: it scares you, your mind is comparing it to what you know as “rap” music, OR you just need one more thing to hate on in life. Either way, Kanye turned art expression out and put Sound on a whole ‘nother realm. With Rick Rubin and Daft Punk as production consiglieri, there’s no way this sound would be anything less than spectacular. Come on dude, Rubin would never cosign on any sort of bull.
And there it is folks. Once again, I’ll say it, Yeezus is EPIC.
We’re honored to present this week’s feature on East Harlem-based educator, documentary artist, and performing artistTanya Jackson. Collaboration is hard work sometimes, but nonetheless forces everyone invested in the process to grow—Tanya discusses her experiences working with other artists on some inspiring film projects and how she herself grows and develops through each project. Watch as she builds an exhibition of how we as people can be reflections of one another as we respond to the brush strokes that paint the canvas of our lives.
Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?
TJ: I’m a native New Yorker. I was born in Long Island and during the early years of my childhood, I bounced around various sections of the city. At about age 12, I moved to Hudson, New York where I finished high school. From there I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of New York at Albany – SUNY.
I lived in Philly for about 11 years and recently moved back to New York where I currently reside in East Harlem. But I spend a good amount of my free time in the artistic bed of Brooklyn.
What does Reflection and Response mean to you?
TJ: Reflection is a process used for recalling experiences in order to analyze and evaluate our thoughts, feelings and actions, as well as the social context that informs how we address those experiences. Reflection is how we make sense of our lives and the world around us. Response is replying, answering or reacting to something – and the reaction can take many forms.
Artistically, I respond through my role as an educator, media maker and performing artist.
How does your work fit in with that definition?
TJ: I recently worked with Visual and Performing Artist Frances Bradley shooting and editing the promotional video for the Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? project. The project is a depiction of her experience as a victim and survivor of sexual assault.
When Frances and I first started discussing ideas, I found myself reluctant to take it on because I was dealing with a lot personally – including the loss of my father and my younger sister within a few months of each other. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and all those things made me feel defeated. But creativity has the power to revitalize.
As a documentary artist, it is always challenging to document someone’s personal life. It requires you to be present as a human being but detached as an artist so you can operate from an objective standpoint that allows you to convey their message in the best way. Even though Frances only needed basic videography services, it ended up being a pretty tough project.
The experience depicted in Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? is not isolated. One in six women are victims of sexual violence, and through visual art, Frances managed to capture themes that reflect the psychological and emotional trauma every victim deals with after being sexually violated. You can’t spend countless hours shooting and editing that type of footage and ignore that.
Retrospectively, learning about Frances’ experience and working to capture the message she was trying to convey challenged me to reflect and cope with my personal history of being sexualized at an early age. I was on a creative journey that no other project had ever taken me on. Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? is truly the Art of Healing and working on the project helped my own healing process. My contribution to Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt is paralleled with Frances’ work – and is the response to that reflection.
What else have you been working on recently? What are you looking to work on next?
TJ: Ironically, the majority of projects I’ve worked on for the past year focused on relationship and sexual violence.
I’m co-director of an after school program where I also teach high school students documentary filmmaking around social issues. This past spring, my students chose to explore dating violence for their term project after one of their peers shared her experience of being in a violent relationship with her child’s father. After showing my students the Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? promotional video, the same student who shared her violent relationship experience, shared how inspired she was by Frances’ courage to give voice to her trauma, and work to heal. Frances’ story, in part, helped this student find the courage to profile her own story in the students’ film, Journey to Survival, which confirms the necessity of the Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? project.
Last year, I co-starred in the short film, Bottom, written by up and coming director Chinonye Chukwu. Bottom addresses sexual trauma’s effect on intimate relationships. That film is currently in distribution and recently premiered at the Los Angeles OutFest Festival.
Promo photo from “Bottom,” a story of love between girlfriends taking an unexpected turn.
In the beginning of July I (humbly) served as a production assistant for an episode of Lisa Ling’s Our America series, which airs on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network. I say humbly because I haven’t been a production assistant in a couple of moons and I certainly didn’t see myself chiefly responsible for getting coffee and loading camera equipment at this age. But the experience and networking opportunities were well worth it!
I am currently working to finish the documentary for Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt?. And I will also be working with Ms. Chukwu on her next short narrative, A Long Walk, a story that takes place in Philadelphia during the 1980s, and explores the effects of staying silent after witnessing injustice.
Who or what inspires you?
TJ: I find inspiration in lots of places. Throughout the course of my life, the Black experience in the world, the struggle—how people fight against various forms of oppression in this world has always moved and churned my spirit. As a youth I danced, wrote poems and made speeches about the Black experience. Ms. Debbie Allen was a huge inspiration to me in my youth because of her ability to channel different forms of artistic talent as a means of expression.
Learning inspires me! I earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in media studies, with a specialization in media literacy education (MLE). As a student I was always excited about investigating all kinds of interests, especially when it came to studying how people consume media. The best practices of MLE rest in the awareness that inquiry and co-creating knowledge in an educational setting cultivates learning that requires constant reflection and encourages intentional, conscious response.
The energy of NYC inspires me. I am inspired by my students and the communities where I work. I find the perspective, courage and vulnerability of other artists inspiring. Beautiful imagery in still and moving images cause me to soar. Direct engagement with all sorts of art is inspiring to me. I especially like being pleasantly surprised by art and nature when I’m walking about in the world. I tend to get lost in my head a lot when walking and when art or nature unexpectedly jumps out at me, I’m immediately reminded that beauty can be just as real as it can be imagined. Of course, a well made documentary film or video can inspire creative ideas. Lastly, and most importantly, I find inspiration in myself when I am centered and in tune with my own creativity—true inspiration comes from the inside out.
Is there anything else you would like the Collective to know?
TJ: Art is a universal language and the life-size art of Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? tells a story that the majority of women in our lives are experiencing. People are becoming more visually oriented and conversations about sexual violence, it’s impact on victims and the healing process, needs to reflect that trend.
Only four out of 12 pieces of Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? are finished and we’re raising $25,000 to complete the project and we need all the support we can get. Every dollar counts so please contribute to this project.
I’m just beginning momentum for my company, Life Happens Media Works. The Reflection and Response theme of LIFESTYLE resonates with the direction I plan to develop future work; taking part in this interview has been very helpful in developing these concepts. Thank you for your time and interest in my story.
I also want the Collective to know that our gifts matter! Our existence matters, even when we don’t feel like it does. We must continue to reflect and respond through our work and just Being the unique expressions of Love that we are; we are messengers!
Shout out to…?
TJ: All my homies! The driving force and PR department of the Womanhood or Woman’s Hurt Project, Frances Bradley and LaToya English; Frances Bradley again for her courage, power and artistry, she definitely inspires me in multiple ways. Thanks to the Educational Video Center where I currently teach documentary filmmaking. EVC has been such a great place to merge my skill sets in education and media making. As I enhance my artistic skills, I can’t ask for a better day-job set up. Thanks to filmmaker, Chinonye Chukwu for being my artistic angel. She has lovingly included me on really amazing projects in ways that challenge and honor my gifts. She has provided a significant amount of loving support and encouraged me to continue being a true artist! Shout outs to all artists! Shout outs to my family and friends who ground me, save me and love me through thick and thin, Shout out to the city and people of Philadelphia for helping me mature and cultivate my work ethic. Thanks to New York City for its energy, urban beauty, diversity of people, and its art and experiences. Thanks to the Universe for everything!
Check out more of Tanya’s work below:
Breathing Easy: Environmental Hazards in Public Housing (Trailer)
Tanya currently serves as co-director of Educational Video Center’s Youth Documentary Workshop. Breathing Easy: Environmental Hazards in Public Housing, is one of the student-made films in her workshop. Breathing Easy was produced by high school students who participated in EVC’s fall 2012 Youth Documentary Workshop. Students focus their attention and cameras on the harmful impact that lead poisoning, mold, and pests and pesticides in low-income housing has on the health and wellbeing of their communities. They investigate how these pollutants affect their fellow student’s Harlem apartment, and show how the information and advocacy provided by WE ACT for Environmental Justice and other health experts give hope to a family in need.
Alaskaland (Trailer)
One of Tanya’s artistic roles is as a script supervisor for film productions. In 2011, She served as the script supervisor for the feature length film, Alaskaland, shot on location in Fairbanks, Alaska. “Alaskaland tells the story of Chukwuma, an Alaska-raised Nigerian struggling to balance his cultural heritage with the pressures of the larger world around him. After a family tragedy forces a two-year estrangement from his younger sister Chidinma, the siblings reconnect in their hometown. Although their time apart has created new frictions, they find their reconciliation bringing them closer to each other and to their roots in this gorgeous, knowing debut film.
We’re proud to welcome Brooklyn-based artist Frances Bradley to the Collective. Honoring the charge of art as she shines light on a dark topic and speaks about expression so honest it has life of its own—Frances eloquently tells us about her work, including her current project entitled Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt?. Another humbling feature, undeniably powerful and sincerely purposed.
Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?
FB: I am from Flint, Michigan and I am currently in Brooklyn, NY.
What does Reflection and Response mean to you?
FB: To me reflection means recalling past memories and events and response is simply addressing and reacting to those events.
How does your project Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt?fit in with that definition?
FB: The artwork of Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? are perfect examples of reflection and response.
Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? is a 12-piece autobiographical art series that illustrates my experience as a victim and survivor of sexual violence. The series was conceptualized during therapy and each piece is a portrayal of what I was feeling while I was being raped and the experiences that followed. Every piece requires reflection.
Only four out of 12 pieces have been completed, titled Broken, Zip, Unzip and Transformation. The life-size artwork is painted with traditional mediums such as oil on stretched canvas and features collaged poetry taken directly from my therapy journal.
“Broken” – Acrylic, Oil, and Collage on Stretched Canvas, 5′ x 5′
Broken is an illustration of when I was sexually violated. It’s titled Broken because I was a virgin when it happened – thus being physically, mentally and emotionally Broken.
“Zip” – Oil on Stretched Canvas, 5′ x 6′
Zip portrays my feelings of isolation and fear of telling someone about being violated due to shame and the potential of being further victimized.
“Unzip” – Oil on Stretched Canvas, 3′ x 6′
Unzip depicts what happened when I decided to speak up and shows the collective response from my family members.
“Transformation” – Oil on Stretched Canvas, 5′ x 6′
The last piece of the series, Transformation, portrays the pieces of me that were shed as a direct result of my healing and the new person that has emerged from this experience.
This project is so important because it is my personal response to a traumatic experience and creating it is a part of my healing process. And now, I am using it as a tool to empower other victims who have suffered from similar experiences and who also need to find a way to heal. I truly believe artistic expression is a means to heal and I am working to promote the Art of Healing with Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt?.
What else have you been working on recently? What are you looking to work on next?
FB: I have experienced so many emotions – including sympathy for Trayvon Martin’s family, sadness, hurt, pain and surprise – following his murder and George Zimmerman’s acquittal. My natural reaction as an artist is to express my emotions through art.
So, I’m currently working on a piece that conveys my feelings about Trayvon’s murder. This piece will actually be a part of a developing mixed media series that addresses social injustices that have been “justified” by America’s “justice system.”
“Oscar Grant” – Mixed Media on Stretched Canvas, 3′ x 6′
I’ve already created a piece titled, “Oscar Grant” that addresses the murder of Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day in 2009. The first time I watched that murder on YouTube I was moved to tears and, much like Trayvon’s murder, an outpouring of emotion turned into a palate for expression.
“Bang Bang” – Mixed Media on Stretched Canvas, 18″ x 24″
The second piece is titled, “Bang-Bang” and was created during last year’s national protest that took place all in the name of Trayvon Martin. It’s a mixed media piece that not only touches on the injustice of Martin’s death, but also illustrates the fatally repetitious acts of racism and devaluation of the lives of melanated people in America.
“I Am A Man” – Mixed Media on Stretched Canvas, 24″ x 48″
There is also a commissioned work titled, “I Am A Man” that speaks to the value of the lives of melanated men.
As far as what’s next for me, I plan to tap into the film world and release a few short documentaries that I’ve been working on. So please stay tuned.
Who or what inspires you?
FB: I’m inspired by life, the struggle, politics, history, spirituality, culture and the world. I find inspiration from people of all walks of life. I think living in Brooklyn, New York and being raised in Flint, Michigan has helped me to understand what struggle really is and I’ve witnessed first-hand, poverty on many levels. I’m so inspired by life’s lessons, and it drives me to use my gifts to empower, educate and instill hope and strength.
Is there anything else you would like the Collective to know?
FB: I am currently raising $25,000 to complete the Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt? series. The purpose of this work is to create conversations about sexual violence, its impact on victims and to promote healing through the arts. This is my experience but its every victim’s story and it needs to be told through the universal language of art.
I welcome your thoughts so please feel free to contact me at booknielahstudios@gmail.com
Shout out to…?
FB: The Lifestyle for being interested in my work and providing me with the opportunity to share it with others. Thanks to all the victims and survivors of sexual violence who have shared their stories with me. This work is for YOU. Special thanks to my creative team, Tanya Jackson (videographer/editor) and LaToya English (public relations representative) for their dedication and for believing in my project enough to have sacrificed long hours to see this project come to fruition. THANK YOU. Thank you to my friends, family and supporters who continue to support my dreams and have contributed to my campaign, and to those who have helped me spread the word. I appreciate all of your positive responses and support. Thank you.
The beautiful thing about Reflection and Response is that it is about experience – interacting with as well as observing life and the cycles it presents. When it comes down to it there is a special chemistry that bonds people to their environments and likewise plugs us into a matrix of aestheticcirculation. It’s a dance—romantically passionate with a sort of rhythmic groove, a backdrop scene set by a flow or mood and daring to go wherever creativity leads you. Here, Padraig O’ Connor eases the Collective onto the dance floor of artistic expression as he spins a tale full of energy and intuition. This is great, almost reminiscent of an amazing first date. Enjoy…
As a songwriter, there´s a constant battle to capture those little moments of magic where you get an idea for a melody or a phrase…So the reflection is that first inspiration… your mind making sense of the world… and how well you respond [to that initial engagement] influences how well the song comes out. It´s a matter of not getting in the way of the inspiration. The best songs just flow.
– Padraig O’Connor
Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?
PO: Where I´m from is a village called Kill in Co. Kildare, which is close to Dublin in Ireland. Difficult place to hitch-hike to. Picture holding up a sign that says KILL on it. I moved up to Dublin after college. It´s a great city, and has always been a big inspiration for me. It´s full of history. We´ve had writers like Joyce, Wilde, Yeats, Kavanagh, Behan who´ve lived in the city and written about it, so the streets are alive with stories and verse. Where I´m at is Madrid; Malasaña to be exact. I´m recording an album about Dublin over here in a friend´s studio in Goya: Rob Green and Richard Harris’ Spaceland.
What does Reflection and Response mean to you?
PO: As a songwriter, there´s a constant battle to capture those little moments of magic where you get an idea for a melody or a phrase. Those ideas can come first thing in the morning, when you wouldn´t mind sleeping in a bit longer, or when you´re away from home with just your phone to record them, or before you go to sleep late at night, and you have to write them down there and then or lose them forever.
So the reflection is that first inspiration… your mind making sense of the world… and how well you respond [to that initial engagement] influences how well the song comes out. It´s a matter of not getting in the way of the inspiration. The best songs just flow.
I like to collect little words of wisdom from other songwriters, and there´s something John Lennon was supposed to have said to George Harrison that ties in with this. The gist of it was: as soon as you get the idea, try to finish it. Write an extra verse, try to write a bridge, because that original inspiration might not come again, or if it does it may have changed into something else.
So that´s my approach. The reflection is very important, but you don´t really have control over that, it just happens. The response, to try to stay true to the essence of it, is probably more important. It´s that old adage: “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”.
How does your song Free fit in with that definition?
PO: This song I wrote, Free, is about a weekend I had in Ireland. I was back for a friend´s stag party in Carlingford, but before leaving, I met up with some friends to sit out on the grass in front of The Pav (The Pavillion, the bar in front of the cricket pitch) in Trinity College, Dublin, where I did my Masters in Music & Media Tech. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I spent a few hours just enjoying that with friends. You don´t get so many [sunny days] in Ireland, so when you do, you have to take advantage of them. I had already written the melody, but when I got back to Madrid, I woke up quite early the next morning (unusual for me) with the song playing in my head and went straight to the piano and guitar, finished the new lyrics, and recorded a demo of it. It sounded something like this:
The first verse is about my hometown, Kill. There´s an old pub there called The Dew Drop Inn, and as a kid I loved the double meaning in the name “Do drop in…” I always pass by it on my way into Dublin and that´s where I was going that day.
The second verse is about walking by the Grand Canal, where one of my favourite poets Patrick Kavanagh was inspired to write some of his best poetry. It´s a nice spot.
The third verse is about sitting on the grass by the Pav in Trinity College as the sun goes down, after the exams and deadlines were all over with. Nowhere you have to be, nothing you have to do, taking your foot off the pedal and letting the world take care of itself. Some days are just perfect like that.
It features Woody Woodman on drums, Karl Twyford on electric guitars, and on backing vocals along with Amber Stiles. Still needs a bass and a couple of other instruments.
What else have you been working on recently? What are you looking to work on next?
PO: I´m constantly writing, but mostly I´ve been working on the album, which will be called The Lights of Dublin. A lot of the songs I´ve written about down the years were about my experiences living in Dublin, so it seemed natural to use the city as a theme for my first album. They´re mainly written from first hand experience, and songs name check different parts of the city. Some songs are about good times in the city, others about struggling to pay rent and keeping your head above water, other about characters I´ve met, places I´ve been.
One of the songs, Porcelain Doll is like a modern fairytale, inspired by working in an office, and seeing some really two-faced behaviour going on there. It´s about a woman who pretends to be all sweetness and light on the outside, but as soon as a person´s back is turned says something horrible. People who act that way are never truly happy though, so she meets the same fate as Humpty Dumpty, but unlike him she has the opportunity to pick herself up and start again.
That one wasn´t written recently, but it´s a finished song that I´ll be including on the album. It features Julien Lonchamp on bass, Adrian Hart on violin, and me on guitar, melodica with some glockenspiel thrown in for good measure.
I´ve had help from some great friends and great musicians too: Rob Green, Richard Harris, Woody Woodman, Karl Twyford, Amber Stiles, Lionel Gray, Clem O´Regan, Sean Twomey, John Leo Carroll among others. And I´ve even recorded my dad playing harmonica on one track. The goal is now to finish it. At the moment I´ve got most of the basic tracks done, so I´m looking to record extra instruments like trumpet, sax, trombone, violin, viola, cello. It´s taken me a little bit longer to locate those musicians, but I´m hoping to get most of those tracks down in the next couple of months.
After that, I want to move on to album number two. I have a big backlog of songs to record, so it´s a matter of getting them down and moving on to the next ones.
Who or what inspires you?
PO: Anything and everything inspires me. It´s all about feel. It´s like Keith Richards says:
“The thing about being a songwriter is, even if you been fucked over, you can find consolation in writing about it, and pour it out. Everything has something to do with something; nothing is divorced. It becomes an experience, a feeling or a conglomeration of experiences…”
As I said above the album will be called The Lights of Dublin, and it´s going to be a kind of concept album. When I fly into Dublin at night, it´s all lit up, and on my way home to Kill I look back at the lights of Dublin from a distance. When I lived there, I was in a band called The Lights, and this was one of the songs we recorded, and another song that´ll be on the album is a tribute to that band. It was made up of three of the most creative people I know, and yours truly. Conor O´Hara on drums, Julien Lonchamp on bass and Karl Twyford on guitars and vocals, while I sang and played keyboard.
This song, Daydream, started out as a stream of consciousness thing, where I wrote lyrics that suggested a melody as Karl simultaneously came up with daydreamlike chords on a guitar. We used to record all our ideas on Dictaphone tapes, and somehow we managed to lose the only recording of this one for about a year and a half. When we eventually found it, it took us another half a year to work it out, write the intro, and bring it to the band. It was recorded on the Roland Multi-track recorder live with the band and then we overdubbed vocals and samples from the television, traffic, and the Dictaphone. Very oldschool. 🙂 It starts off with the sound of waves recorded on the seashore at Dublin Bay.
For me, that track is about the process of inspiration, about a smell, a taste or a sound that brings you back to your childhood, or somewhere you´ve been, about the half dreaming state before you fall asleep, building castles in the sky, possible worlds, echoes of something you once heard, a memory of a time or a dream, or a daydream…
My biggest musical inspirations would probably be The Beatles, Velvet Underground, Dylan, Randy Newman, The Beach Boys, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Pixies, Love, 1970´s punk, jazz, Gershwin, Rogers & Hart, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, Debussy, Satie, Beethoven, minimalism, anything and everything.
Is there anything else you would like the Collective to know?
PO: I do a Song of the Week blog here on wordpress where I choose one of my favourite songs, and go into a bit of the background behind it. It´s not always as weekly as it should be, but I try to post there most weeks.
Shout out to…?
PO: All the people I mentioned above who´ve helped out with the album etc, along with all the talented people who play every week in the Triskel Tavern/Café La Palma/ Toast and other bars around the city. I´m sure I´ll forget someone, but Richard Harris, Amber Stiles, Victoria Bolorinos, Woody Woodman, Michael Dixon, Sally Smith, Miguel Gonzalez, Vivian Garcia, Sean Twomey, Jorge Bee, Alyssa Rasmussen, Francisco Hernandez, Mary Elaine Jenkins, John Leo Carroll, Rico Adventura, Rob Green, Taylor Mann, Rob Bertels. There´s a really good scene going on at the moment.
Thanks a million to Peter Muller for the interview too, and keep up the great work with Fede Valenciano doing the open mic on Sundays in Café La Palma.
the LIFESTYLE 