Mini Interview with Eric Arnold
24 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Interviews Tags: Activist, Area, Arnold, artists, Bay, Community, Eric, Journalist, movement, photo-journalist, Photographer, support, writer
“Oakland Art Murmur” by TuffGyal 808
Eric Arnold: Journalist/Photographer Interview 2011
(shown here with Malia)
Q#1: Are you a Bay Area Native? and if not, how long have you lived in the Bay? Eric: I was born in NYC and have lived here since ’1971.
Q#2: When did you start on the creative path you are currently on? Eric: In the womb. Actually my mom has a picture of me at age 1 1/2 in front of a poster saying ‘Free Bobby and Huey’.
Q#3: Where do you find your inspiration? Eric: I get inspired by people a lot. Artistic, Creative types. Folks for whom rhythm is revolutionary.
Q#4: What was the first piece of vinyl you ever purchased? Eric: hmm, Ashby flea market… I was maybe 5 or 6. It was either Donovan’s greatest Hits or a Monkees album. I can’t remember.
Q#5: Anything else you’d like to share? a joke/quote? Eric: “Promise me with every opportunity you’ll use the all illuminating eye beyond obvious buffoonery” -Lyrics Born.
Mini Interview with Jack Eastgate
20 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Interviews Tags: Area, artists, Bay, Community, Muralist, support
Jack Eastgate: CEO at Fiji Designs Interview 2011
Q#1: Are you a Bay Area Native? and if not, how long have you lived in the Bay? Jack: No, I was Born in Fiji. I moved straight to Oakland when I was 18 and seven years later I’m still here because I have family out here and I have mad Love for Oakland.
Q#2: When did you start on the creative path you are currently on? Jack: I’ve always drawn as a kid, and Fiji is a great place for the imagination to flourish. Back in the day though, art as a subject was not a part of the curriculum in public schools, and it was only until I finished up my last two years of High school at a Private school did I receive my first formal art class. I was hooked. I wanted to be an artist. My old man wasn’t so impressed, but I had made up my mind at that point.
I graduated and worked the family farm, but there was a longing for an adventure. An opportunity arose and I came to America. I dabbled here and there, and went to school for graphic design, but it was when I was introduced to live painting, my whole word changed. It was a rush I’d never felt before, having to create on the spot while getting lost in the canvas. The first time I tried it I painted from 6 pm till 5 am the next morning- it was then that the concept of the moment, living in the now solidified. Capturing the moment, the vibe- a beautiful thing happens when good music, people dancing, smiling, being in a communal space and understanding that love and life move mountains, this happens a lot here in Oakland.
Q#3: Where do you find your inspiration? Jack: People, music, dancing, life and love.
Q#4: What was the first piece of vinyl you ever purchased? Jack: De La Soul, AOI: Bionix
Q#5: Anything else you’d like to share? a joke/quote? Jack: “no worries”
Support Bay Area (L.A.) Music: Native Guns*
19 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Videos Tags: Bay Area, HipHop, LA
*cuz if WE don’t Support them, then these talented groups break-up which is a damn shame…
Mini Interview with Amy Redmond Waran, dancer of MMCo
18 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in MMCompany Interviews Tags: Area, artists, Bay, Community, dancer, malia, movement, Oakland, support, women
“Laurel St Fair” by TuffGyal 808
Amy Redmond Waran: Dancer Interview 2011 (shown center with Alena & Veleda)
Q#1: Are you a Bay Area Native? and if not, how long have you lived in the Bay? Amy: No, but I am a Northern California native. I was born in Gilroy, CA and grew up part-time in Hollister, CA and part-time in Sonora, CA. I’ve been living in the East Bay since moving back to California from Hawaii in 2008.
Q#2: When did you start on the creative path you are currently on? Amy: I’ve always been interested in the arts. Since I can remember all I’ve ever wanted to do is dance. I’ve thought about other career paths in the arts and, in fact, when I was young I would tell my parents that I wanted to be a dancer, an artist, a musician or an actor when I grew up. Every once in a while this list would change slightly. For example, at one point I wanted to be a dancer, an artist or an archeologist. But, dance has always been my first choice. I’ve been taking dance lessons since I was 7 years old (if you don’t count the ballet class I took for a few weeks when I was 5) and have continued to be inspired by movement ever since.
Q#3: Where do you find your inspiration? Amy: My mother is an artist and taught me how to draw portraits when I was really young. I’ve always been fascinated by the human body and now believe that portrait drawing was just another outlet for this fascination. I have a strong interest in anatomy and kinesiology which influences the creative path I am currently on. Movement fascinates me – how it expresses who we are at our core, how it connects and how it can separate us as a community. I love to watch dancers and athletes push the body to its limits. I love how the human body can be so fragile and so strong in the same moment.. I find other inspiration by watching my cats play, watching my students process new movement and by studying natural sciences.
Q#4: What was the first piece of vinyl you ever purchased? Amy: My parents gave me a Beach Boys 45 when I was little. I forget which song was on it. After that I was given Madonna’s Live to Tell … I still have this LP and a record player to play it on.
Q#5: Anything else you’d like to share? a joke/quote? Amy: A quote I came across recently that has inspired my current endeavors.
“Just do it’ can be excellent advice. If you wonder whether you could write a book or run a marathon, don’t waste a minute calculating your chances. Instead, spend an hour a day on your dream.”
Mini Interview with Sean McMahon
17 Aug 2011 1 Comment
in Interviews Tags: Area, artists, Bay, Choreographer, Community, dancer, movement, support
“510 in the 707″ photo by Al Lin
Sean McMahon: Director of peckpeck Dance Ensemble Interview 2011
Q#1: Are you a Bay Area Native? and if not, how long have you lived in the Bay? Sean: I am originally from SLC UT, but have been living in the Bay Area since 2000.
Q#2: When did you start on the creative path you are currently on? Sean: I began choreographing by demanding my sister and her friends perform my choreography when about 7 or 8. Formal training in dance began in middle school. Went to Ohio University to study dance, and specifically choregraphy… Performed and produced dance in the Bay Area until about 2009. Been on hiatus since then…
Q#3: Where do you find your inspiration? Sean: Inspiration comes from everywhere. Artwork by Yoshotoma Nara, readings into psychological topics, my own writing. Right now I am feeling like I need to choreograph something about Bert and Ernie from sesame street getting a divorce http://videogum.com/351531/you-can-make-it-up-bert-and-ernie-get-divorced/franchises/you-can-make-it-up/
Q#4: What was the first piece of vinyl you ever purchased? Sean: I have never purchased any vinyl! I remember my mom playing the eurythmics from vinyl, and my sister had a record that sang the “me and my teddy bear” song…
Q#5: Anything else you’d like to share? a joke/quote? Sean: Anything else… I am on hiatus from dance right now so that I can spend my money on me, and save it. I became very frustrated that in order to produce dance I needed to martyr my life to dance… i.e. spend all my money on dance, and never have anything left for insurance, etc… I keep thinking I will eventually return to choreographing, but honestly just can’t stomach spending money on renting space, when that money should go to debt… I was also looking around at other dancers, mentors, those that where older, and seeing that they weren’t any better off than I was. Had to make an intellectual decision. My heart is still with choregraphing/dancing/teaching but my brain had to make a different decision… and since I am on a rant, I am also very frustrated with the SF Dance Scene…
Project Groundation & Safety First (BDS)
14 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Videos Tags: 1st, graffiti, Muralist, Painter, Safety First
Mini Interview with DJ Toks
13 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Interviews Tags: Area, artists, Bay, DJ, DJToks, Father, House, Reggae, support
DJ Toks Interview 2011 (shown here with DJ Henroc on the turntable)
Q#1: Are you a Bay Area Native? and if not, how long have you lived in the Bay? Toks: Not from the Bay Area but I’ve being here for 20 years… I grew up in Nigeria.
Q#2: When did you start on the creative path you are currently on? Toks: At the age of 12 when I would go pick records with my Dad… from the Ojays to Bob Marley.
Q#3: Where do you find your inspiration? Toks: From creative minds. From selfless and like minded humble people.
Q#4: What was the first piece of vinyl you ever purchased? Toks: Good question, hmmmmm, I believe it was a Donny Hathaway record…
Q#5: Anything else you’d like to share? a joke/quote? Toks: Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity- Horace Mann
Mini Interview with Robert Henry Johnson
12 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Interviews Tags: Area, artists, Bay, Choreographer, Community, company, dancer, San Francisco, support
Robert Henry Johnson: Dancer, Choreographer, Playwright
Interview 2011
Q#1: Are you a Bay Area Native? and if not, how long have you lived in the Bay? Robert: Yes, I’m a native, born and raised in San Francisco.
Q#2: When did you start on the creative path you are currently on? Robert: Legend has, at the age of three I was given my first job as assistant director to Keith Grier in the Black Light Explosion Company. My mother couldn’t afford a babysitter so she took me to rehearsals with her. I became a thorn in the director’s side and a threat to the productivity of the rehearsal process because I was very disruptive, always competing with others for my mother’s attention. Before rehearsal one day, Keith announced to the entire cast that I was his new assistant director. The entire cast applauded me, and Keith sat me in a chair beside him and began to include me in his process. I knew everyone’s lines, I memorized all the stage blocking. I was insanely given over to the attention of detail. It promoted extreme confidence and leadership in my swag. He basically created a monster.
Q#3: Where do you find your inspiration? Robert: Jesus. He was invited to the tables of many Pharisees and men of renown. However, he also dined and supped with tax collectors, debtors, women of ill-repute and people of presumed lowly status. He even ate at a leper’s house. I’d like to think that the purest part of me mirrors his amazing love for mankind. For me, everyone’s creative voice is important. I have dedicated my life to promoting and encouraging creative expression from just about every human being I come in contact with. I am constantly in search of those who will accept my invitation to come take their place at the table of The Creative Process. My better self desires passionately to serve others in this way. Even to the point of joyous and uncontrollable weeping when no one else is looking. Love is my inspiration.
Q#4: What was the first piece of vinyl you ever purchased? Robert: My first 45 was “Cotton Candy” by The Silvers. I think it cost less than a dollar at that time. I was about seven years old.
Q#5: Anything else you’d like to share? a joke/quote?
Robert: “He digged the hole and the whole held him.” Suzan Lori Parks
12th Annual Laurel Street Fair
12 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Events
Hansolo Creations & OooMami Flicks… will be vending along side other talented Vendors interviewed for this Blog (Alouba, MariaFatima, Sariwa Co., Needa Bee, Safety First, Ras Terms +more). Come out and Support COMMUNITY!!
Mini Interview with Myles Kwesi Hutchful
11 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Interviews Tags: Area, artists, Bay, Community, Filmmaker, Oakland, Photographer, support, writer
photo by Moja Ma’at
Myles Kwesi Hutchful: Photographer/Filmmaker/Writer/Anthropologist Interview 2011
Q#1: Are you a Bay Area Native? and if not, how long have you lived in the Bay? Kwesi: I am native of Ghana raised in Canada. I have been spending time in the Bay Area for about 3 years. I truly love it here. I really love the people, the weather and the landscape. I have never met more inspiring and beautiful people anywhere else in the country.
I say ‘spending time’ as opposed to ‘living here’ because I am often not here. I spend a lot of my time in Los Angeles and some time in other parts of the world pursuing my life’s work.
Q#2: When did you start on the creative path you are currently on? Kwesi: I started on my creative path in 1996 when I fell in love with photography and anthropology. Anthropology really shapes the subject matter and approach to my personal photography and film work.
My passion, when growing up, was the sciences. I was extremely curious about life and enjoyed the technical and detailed nature of science especially biology and chemistry. My principal in high school loved that I excelled in the sciences but often tried to push me into the arts by encouraging me to act in school plays. I often agreed and really enjoyed the artistic process. Perhaps she knew something I didn’t know yet. Up to this day, acting and theatre remain strong interests of mine.
I started college still focused on science with a major in bio-chemistry. I wanted to be a doctor. However, my love for photography and anthropology overcame my desire to practice western medicine especially after I took classes in medical and nutritional anthropology. These courses made me discover how ineffective western medicine could really be. I believe everyone should practice preventive medicine by paying attention to what they put in their body and channeling positive thoughts in their mind. I think good health, low stress and an optimistic attitude are all keys to great living!
Anyway, I ended up graduating with a degree in biological anthropology and an undeclared minor in business. I was very hesitant to take classes in photography while in college because I held it dear to my heart and didn’t want anyone to influence my creative vision. I did eventually take classes to learn about equipment and the technical aspects of lighting. I spent a lot of my time in the darkroom.
Q#3: Where do you find your inspiration? Kwesi: I find my deepest inspiration from documentary photography and issues related to social justice and activism. I think the world is precious and beautiful yet too damaged to engage in frivolous forms of art that focus only on your self or propagate wasteful patterns or unhealthy behavior.
I love to engage in artistic endeavors that inspire and empower people and/or that make lives better. Whether, it’s as simple as changing the stereotypical and damaging perceptions of a particular group of people through photography or as complicated as raising funding for disadvantaged or displaced people through documentary film. I really love and embrace the work I do.
I also love making fictional films especially brain twisting psychological thrillers that challenge our perception of concepts like fear, love, friendship & success.
Q#4: What was the first piece of vinyl you ever purchased? Kwesi: Oh vinyl…. That sweet classic sound! While growing up in Tema, my grandfather had an old gramophone in the living room and would always play the most amazing music.
Okay I am 8 years old… My grandfather calls me to the living room. I respond “Yes, Dada”. I hurry into the living room from the back compound where my grandmother baked fresh bread in a red clay oven every morning. My grandfather with both in hands behind his back, bends down and says “I’ve got something for you”. He looks at me with his stern eyes and bushy eyebrows, smiles and hands me two new records.
Before my eyes are two pieces of vinyl I would listen to for years to come ~ Nature Boy by Nat King Cole and Tell Mama by Etta James. The words of ‘Nature Boy’ sparked my desire to travel and explore the world.. The words of I’d Rather Go Blind & Tell Mama by Etta James confused me at my tender age but the songs was so short and sweet but I kept playing them over and over again. The words all make sense now ☺
It was not until high school in Toronto that I purchased my vinyl. Can you guess what it was? Ha-ha, I was an extreme B Boy at that time. It was Ain’t No Half Steppin by Big Daddy Kane… Can you hear me? Should I say it again? That was real hip-hop. Shortly after that was… Think About It by Special Ed and many more… I should really mention… It’s My Turn by Stezo. Name of the Album is “To The Max”. All my friends thought I looked like Stezo. Now, I listen to all kinds of music… from mountain music of Peru to classic jazz and neo-soul. I love collecting music. I have about 85,000 songs in my itunes collection and always looking to add more… Wanna trade music?
Q#5: Anything else you’d like to share? a joke/quote? Kwesi: This is something I shared with my friends and family at the beginning of the year…
Work smart not hard. Don’t feel guilty for things of the past. Forgive yourself & evolve. Don’t dwell in the restrictive chaos of your thoughts. Free yourself and be fully present to experience the moment. Accept that you are a truly wonderful being. Don’t dim your Light so others can feel comfortable. Be ready to shamelessly receive all the blessings coming to you. You deserve them ~ Kwesi InLight
I would also like to share the work of my media production company ~ InLight Studio. We specialize in a variety of creative and documentary media. We recently shot a documentary on the struggles of refugees from 8 countries living in a refugee camp in Western Ghana. It will be released and distributed later this year.
http://inlightstudio.tumblr.com/
Photography Websites
http://www.joycegordongallery.com/artists/kwesi_hutchful_joyce_gordon_gallery.html
http://www.photosource-enhanced.com/bin/Portfolios?launch=pdn-51072
