1ne in the Chamber: Volume 1 by 1ne in the Chamber

VOLUME 1

ANGELICA SHAO KEVLAR REX JO USKA 35MMALLIE

+ special guest appearances

PHOTOS AND DESIGNED BY 2AWKSICK

ANGELICA SHAO

Q1. Introduce yourself to the people! Who are you and what do you do? Hello! My name is Angelica Shao. I am a digital and film photographer from the Bay Area. I am currently in college right now studying aerospace engineering, and use photography as my creative outlet. Q2. I gotta ask this with every film photographer even though you also shoot digital, what inspired you to start shooting with film? I took Photo 1 in high school the summer after I started playing around with my mom's digital camera. I was expecting to practice digital photography, but it ended up being a black and white film photography class. I had a lot of fun experimenting around in that class and went on to purchase my own film camera to dive into colored film photography. Q3. What is your goal or dream to accomplish as a photographer? Is it to have your own zine, take photos for someone famous or for a company? My dream is to photograph my favorite artists at their concerts. The only concert I have photographed so far was Rex Orange County at the Regency Ballroom (from pit). I was so happy to get my scans back. I want to bring my film camera along with me to more concerts, but some venues do not allow cameras with detachable lenses. My biggest dream would be to photograph Frank Ocean (very far fetched, I know, but a girl can only dream!). I have also been thinking about creating a mini photo book dedicated to the people in my life with candid shots taken when we were all together, as well as a zine, but my ideas so far are very underdeveloped.

PHOTOS BY ANGELICA

Q4. As we all know, film photography can get pretty pricey sometimes, what keeps you coming back to shooting film instead of digital? There really is no feeling like getting your film scans back. It is one of the things I look forward to nowadays, I would say the experience of dropping off your rolls of films, not knowing what you are getting back, and being able to see how everything turned out is definitely one of my most cherished ones in life.

Q5. Out of all the shoots you've been on, is there a crazy/fun memorable one that you remember? My favorite shoot would be when I decided on a whim to bring along my film camera with me to Rex Orange County's concert last year. The concert itself was such a great experience and I was so happy to be able to capture one of my favorite artists from the pit. To this day, that roll of Lomo 800 is my most cherished one.

Q6. Anything you want to tell your readers? Plus any shout outs/ plug yourself! Check me out on insta @angeshao!!

KEVLAR REX 14

Q1. Introduce yourself to the people! I go by Kevlar Rex AKA Switching Up Bodies Like I'm Ginyu AKA I'm Not Even A Rapper, But I Spit Bars On Occasion. Q2. Who are the biggest influences on your music? The biggest influences in regards to my music comes from Jvcki Wai of Indigo Music, IDK, JPEGMAFIA, DZKNOW of Higher Brothers, Wu-Tang Clan, Killy, Texas rap collective PHNTN, and k-pop girl groups BlackPink and Momoland. Q3. Does being in San Jose influence any of your creativity, whether that's in music, hobbies, or any other ventures? While other factors influence my creativity, San Jose plays a big part in how I pursue said creative ventures. My manufacturing is done in San Jose, and my music was conceptualized in San Jose. Hell, even my current investments now are based in San Jose, despite currently residing an hour away from the city.

Q4. How did the song "Ginyu Force" come about? And how was the experience performing it at No Chill? Oh man, this is some lore you're asking of me (laughs). What many people don't know is that the current version of Ginyu Force is a remix of sorts of the original Ginyu Force that was performed by Tracksuit and Tinsies (of BoyWeapon) at No Chill Summer 2. The current version came about during a studio session that happened at Tinsies' place, a month after No Chill Summer 3 and a couple weeks before Project Platform. Tracksuit, Lowercase, Marui Midnight, Simon Vertugo, and I were all working on a collaboration track together for Project Platform since Simon, and I had done one for NCS 3. Simon, Trakk, and I went out for some food, while Marui and Tinsies got to work on a drum pattern, I think. We weren't getting anywhere, and we all started wasting time. I didn't want to end the session without any form of progress, and for some reason, the original Ginyu Force popped in my head. I told Tinsies to open up the project file, and the rest is history. Performing it at the last No Chill was awesome. I got into the creative scene because of No Chill 1 back in the summer of 2017, and to come full circle and perform at the final iteration of No Chill, holy shit. It was also the first anniversary of the studio session that created Ginyu Force, so the performance holds a special place in my heart.

Q5. Outside of music, you've teased your brand Unknown Priority. Could we expect that to come out anytime soon? Unfortunately, I've permanently shelved Unknown Priority. At this time, I'm putting all of my attention into this album and my upcoming sandwich shop. I am, however, working with Jason Nemendez of Jubo Clothing for a unique project that I may release shortly. Shout out to Honey Moon for showing love for the tee concept I posted. It's probably the only time I've had someone famous in my DMs.

Q6. What could we expect from you next? Either end of this year or next year? Alongside the album, I'm currently in the process of reworking a lot of my archived work into a short LP that I want to release sometime at the beginning of 2020. I'm also in the process of starting up a sandwich shop in San Jose called Uncle T's. It's still in the R&D stage at the moment, but be on the lookout for an announcement sometime in late 2020 / early 2021.

Q7. Ultimate goal as an artist? My ultimate goal as an artist is to be able to "buy back" San Jose, building by building, and give it back to the people that were pushed out of the city due to the rising living costs with the growth of the ever-growing tech industry. Q8. You're currently on album mode, could you possibly tell us something about your album or maybe the inspiration/theme behind it?

The inspiration behind my album is my daily battle with depression, anxiety, and my inferiority complex. Better, more hardworking artists always surround me, and I continuously feel inferior to everyone around me. The album's just my way of saying, "Hey, you're your artist. You shouldn't be defining yourself based on the success of your peers."

KEVLAR REX

Q9. From balancing a life outside as an artist and business owner, what keeps you motivated and to keep going? Truthfully, I'm damn near burnt out (laughs). I had a pretty bad mental breakdown two summers ago, and I haven't fully recovered from the ordeal. I lost all motivation for any creative shit, and I went off the grid for about a year or so. It wasn't until my 21st birthday that I got some of my motivation back, and I think it had to do with the fact that I just wanted a body of work to show the world. I didn't want to be in my 30s with regrets, and I ended up using it as my drive to create.

Q10. Any shout outs or anything you want to say for the readers? First off, shoutouts to 2awksick and 1ne In The Chamber for allowing me to be a part of the inaugural issue. I can't wait to see what's to come! Shoutouts to my mom, my pops, and my little brother Bao. I love all of you so much, and I'll make you all proud one day. Shout out my bro N'Vante, #LactoseBoyz for Life! Shout out to my 37-35 boo Mimi; I love you always. Shoutouts to the BoyWeapon homies Dio, Trakk, ZZBleed, Tinsies, and Lowercase! You all never cease to amaze me at what you put out, and I'm always keeping an eye out for new bodies of work from all of you as a group and individuals. Stan BoyWeapon! Shout out to the man himself, Simon Vertugo! I'm always amazed by your work ethic, and I can't wait to see you work with Tyler, the Creator one day! Shout out to my boy Jason Nemendez and his brand, Jubo! I've been a big fan since we met during our EVC days, and I'll continue to support for the years to come! Shout out to my former director, Rainyah Johnson, for always believing in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. Thank you for letting me vent to you about my problems, even if I was always annoying. and finally, to the readers at home: Believe in yourself and your worth. Cause at the end of the day, your validation is all that matters, and not anyone else's. And if you don't fuck with me, go suck my dick from the back avant-garde style!

JO USKA

Q1. Introduce yourself to the people. Who are you and what do you do? I’m the kid who messed up a million times before getting somewhere. The weird one in the group that never really fit in but was there. I'm a idiot named Joesph Do from San Jose that makes music under the name jo uska because I thought it was funny. because at one point I lost sight of who I was and how to express myself. But now I know I’m what I am because I’ve allowed myself to be whatever I want to be. To express and create art the way I'd want to because I fell in love with it. I’m Joseph Do and I go by the name jo uska because that’s who I can be.

Q3. Does being in San Jose influence any of your creativity or mindstate as a musician? mindstate as a musician? it really sucks to say yes and no. I was born and raised here so I know how good it can be for me, but also how toxic it can be too. I have friends to live in mansions in the hills and others who have nowhere to stay. some with a broken family and are willing to work hard for a better life, and some with privileges and run away from them. I was always in the middle of it all, I’ve moved houses and schools my whole life. I know what it’s like to run away and sleep in your car, and what it’s like to do whatever it takes to give myself and my family a better life. San Jose taught me to be me because trying to be something else wont ever make you happy. it taught me that my voice and my sound doesn’t have to fall into any stereotypes all long as it’s true. I can be out here making hyphy music because I’m from the bay but I know that ain’t really me. but I can’t ever really judge any sound for what it is because who am I to judge.

Q5. We’ve talked in person about how you been making a song everyday, how has that been and how do you keep yourself creating a song everyday, does it feel stressful sometimes? I hate it so much that I love it. Routines suck and can get tiring but sometimes that can be good for you. So I challenged myself and how I made my music everyday until I couldn’t anymore. And when I couldn’t I’d beat themself up for being unproductive and learn other things. SHITS stressful but imagine how wack life would be if it everything was easy. Recently though I stopped making tracks daily because I don’t wanna make stuff for the sake of making stuff, but yeah it was a cool experience. I highkey trolled myself doing it.

Q2. So Jo ever since you dropped your album J.O.E, how’s life been? Did you take a break from making music or have you been trying to top your album? It’s been weird really, I find myself making a dumb amount of music/whatever, postJ.O.E. era (not saying I’m done making/releasing content for that era) and not wanting to drop any of it because of the expectations I feel people now have of me and the high standards I put on myself. I can’t lie, I fell into a deep depression after the album. Something I didn’t plan on staying in but couldn’t really help it, but the whole process of releasing something so personal and honest taught me a lot about myself and what I’m capable of so things aren’t so bad. I guess as of now, being so hard on myself made my new stuff more, well, more haha. I just have to allow myself to be proud of my work and actually release something for all 5 of my fans to listen to.

Q6. What do you do on your off time when you feel like you can’t create or write? I pull inspiration from a lot of things. So when I can I watch tons of movies or I don’t know build legos. Yeah I still play with legos, sue me it’s therapeutic and cute. I don’t really know honestly I’m 22 so really I ain’t doing shit like the rest of people around my age LOL

Q10. As a musician, is it important to you to explore different kinds of sounds or styles when creating songs? What has been your inspiration lately? the era of genre is dead. Just make what you want. Don’t worry about fans and catering to a certain audience. That comes after the passion. And people aren’t dumb. If you’re not passionate about your art people will see right through the bullshit. What’s sick though is movie soundtracks have been inspiring me a lot lately. Go watch Blade Runner 2049. THE best sound design and soundtrack on top of the cinematography that can make anyone nut.

Q7. What can we expect from you this year or next year? Do you have anything releasing anytime soon?

I am working on polishing a couple tracks that I’m proud of. I might drop a couple music videos or EPs. I might get back into dancing or throw another event with friends. I might not do anything at all haha. but truthfully, yes a lot of stuff is coming soon and eventually. It might be hella wack or something new to be proud of, or both. SOON.

Q12. If you had a chance to collaborate with any of your favorite artists and have them featured on a song, who would it be and why? And tell us what kind of song would you want to make with them.

Working with JPEGMAFIA would be crazy. I have tons of artists I’d love to work with like Childish Gambino, Kanye, Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Travis Scott, Tyler, or Kid Cudi to name a few, but I know I’d learn a lot from daddy peggy. I’d love to see his work process and see how far I can push myself creatively on a track. He also seems like a dope person to just kick it with too. There’s something about the concept of unpredictability and art for the sake of art that I respect. But working with Rihanna would be pretty crazy too.

Q9. Linger is my all time favorite track off your album, could you tell me how that song came about?

love and loss. Everyone deals with it, fall in and out of it. Grow from it. the whole goal of the album was to connect with the listener in as many different ways as possible because at the end of the day, everyone goes through life. Pain, joy, whatever- and with this track I wanted to incorporate the part in life where eventually, you have to accept things for what it is and make a choice to grow from it or not.

JO US

SKA

Q4. Your sound is very unique to the style of beats and your vocals which i think makes the album authentic and cohesive. What was the inspiration behind J.O.E? And how was the process of creating this project?

Naruto AMVs. deadass. Without the internet there would never be J.O.E. Without growing up watching Garra get his ass beat by Rock Lee/Sasuke to Linkin Park or watching Bionicle MOC video (if you know you know) with “Move Along” playing on full blast, I would never be exposed to the angsty music that would fill up my cheap Chinese MP3 player that would show me that music and taste can be personal and whatever you want it to be. so in the process of making the album, I wanted to be true to myself and make music my dumbass would have loved listening to whether it was 8 year old me or present me. I didn’t really care about anything else. I guess another reason was to be honest. I used the album as an excuse to open up more. I’ve always been a closed person, and what better way in doing so than dropping an album with songs that explains different stages in my life and how I dealt with it to the whole ass world. Everyone’s always gonna have an opinion so fuck it right?

Q14. Any shout outs or anything you want to say for the readers? You can give yourself a million reasons to feel wrong and a million more to give up. because it’s so easy to, but things usually fall into place. and life stops for no one. Everyone get one life, and that’s how it usually works so that’s already a lot to stress about. But it doesn’t mean you have to be in a rush. take a breather, go drink some water and stay hydrated. Things will fall into place no matter where you are in life as long as you allow yourself to have a good one. And yeah shout out to everyone who’s stuck around through my bullshit, you guys the best.

35MMALLIE

1. Introduce yourself, who you are, what do you do and where you're from? I’m 35mmallie. I’m a visual artist from San Jose, CA. My name 35mmallie comes from “35mm”. As in 35mm film, and I connected it to my first name. But when I established this name initially, I didn’t shoot film yet! The “35mm” represented my favorite prime lens when I shot digital. 2. How did you get started with film photography? I was a digital shooter for years, until the day I walked into the local Goodwill and picked up a random point & shoot for $4. I had no idea what I was looking for or what to do with it. I picked it up because it was in really good condition. I think I got out of school a little early the next day and shot my first roll of film ever. I went on a solo photo walk in Japantown. To be honest, it’s still one of my favorite rolls i’ve ever shot. I still have the camera and still shoot with it today. Shout out to my trusty Canon Sure Shot 60 Zoom.

3. Why did you choose film over digital? So after I picked up that first point & shoot in 2017, I never put it down. I went from thrift store to thrift store trying to pick up as many cameras as I could. And I still do that now. I get super lucky hahaha. The main reason I prefer film over digital is because when I shot digital I felt this pressure of following these waves and trends on Instagram or whatever it was. For some reason, I felt like my work wouldn’t be acknowledged unless I was shooting what someone else wanted to see. Art is perception. You can perceive it however you want even if the artist intends another meaning. But that’s why I chose film. I started shooting film and, it was liberating. I loved how each photo turned out. I also didn’t have the pressure of having to sit down and edit for hours and making everything look perfect or how someone else wanted it to look. That’s what makes shooting film so genuine! It literally is what it is. And now I just do what I like and what I want. I started to think that way and applied it to my art and people liked it. But more importantly, I liked it. And I haven’t really stopped since then.

4. Does being in San Jose influence your work or motivate you in any way? If you know me, then you know… Hahaha I take so much pride in where I’m from. I love San Jose! People grow up here and they’re like “Ugh. I hate San Jose. It’s so boring. There’s nothing to do here… etc.” But that’s what I’m trying to counteract! I always see the brighter side of things. How could you not show love to a place of your come up, if you did come up here? Maybe, that’s just me. I want to show love and appreciation to everyone and the place of my come up. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in any type of way. The majority of my supporters are right here in San Jose. This is my home. And shout out to all my supporters in Oakland. They’re huge inspirations to me.

5. What inspires and keeps driving you to shoot? Myself! As selfless as I am to be, I really do all of this for myself. I do this solely because it makes me happy. There’s no other reason. But other than that, I find inspiration in everyone/everything around me. I’m so appreciative of everything that happens to me, good and bad. I always celebrate even the smallest wins. I just want to prove EVERYONE who has ever doubted me wrong… and then some. 7. Advice to anyone that wants to start shooting film? I’m a do-er! Just do it! Don’t hesitate. Don’t ask too many questions. I suggest to just jump right in. Have some fun with it. You’ll learn along the way. Don’t worry about what camera or what film stock you’re using. Just try it out first with what you have. You’ll eventually curate your own preference and style of shooting along the way. Just be yourself. 6. What are your goals for this new upcoming year? My goals always change consistently! I’m a very goal oriented person. I like to get things done. But some things i’d like to tackle in 2020 is being more expressive of myself as an individual. Hahaha I want people to see what I look like instead of hiding behind the camera all the time. I’m gonna push myself to jump out of my comfort zone and start putting myself out there more. That’s just one of my personal goals.

8. What do you want to be known for? To be honest, I don’t really know. Hahaha. I just want to be myself. And so far, that’s what I’m doing and people support it so i’m just going to keep doing just that. I tend to keep a lot on my plate. And again, like I said, I don’t like to be boxed in. So people may know of me for a number of reasons. But just know that whatever I’m doing they’re seeing the real 35 because I strive to be as genuine as possible and I always put my whole heart into everything I do.

9. Any shout outs or anything to say to our readers? Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank you for taking the time to watch the 1neinthechamber documentary. Thank you, if you have ever supported me in any way, shape, or form. #35worldwide. Special shout outs to everyone who was a part of my 1neinthechamber special: Ariel Goddess, A Saucy, KL Mano, Darryl & The Fundraisers, $hmoplife4life, Michael Brown, Simon Vertugo (Jaydin Geer), GraySkull (@grayskull330), 2awksick.