Loud&Clear Magazine - No. 7

PROFESSIONAL

Amber Lynn Amber Lynn

INTRODUCING INDULGE MAGAZINE

MODEL: MIA SANCHEZ @_the_mia_sanch_ // PHOTOGRAPHER: ALDRIAN ALFONSO @ar1photography

LOUD & CLEAR

LOUD & CLEAR MAGAZINE IS RELEASED ONCE A MONTH. IT IS A DIGITAL MAGAZINE. PRINT COPIES ARE PRINTED ON DEMAND AND CAN BE ORDERED AT REQUEST. DIGITAL LINKS WILL BE PROVIDED TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS. WE DO NOT PROVIDE FREE PRINT COPIES OF THE ISSUE.

FOUNDER & PUBLISHER

DAVE NAVARRO // @_designprint @loudandclearmagazine

CREATIVE design&print

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

AUTHOR RUSS RAY // @eat.travel.type.colorado

PHOTOGRAPHERS (REGULARS)

RICKY ZASTROW // @coloradophotoworks

DONTE TOUSSAINT // @dtouphotography

DOUG MUNGAVIN // @dougmungavinphotography

JUSTIN JACKRABBIT // @blackjackrabbit_studio.llc

ALDRIAN ALFONSO // @ar1photography

DAN JOE // @dan.joephotos

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COPYRIGHTS

LOUD & CLEAR ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE is owned by DAVE NAVARRO. The magazine, its staff and writers, has made sure that content is accurate on the date of publication. The views expressed in the articles reflect the author(s)’ opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or editor. The published material, adverts, editorials and all other content is published in good faith.

All rights reserved. Nothing can be partially or in whole be reprinted or reproduced without express written permission.

10 SONGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Kristy Gronseth

COMMERCIAL EDITORIAL FASHION RUNWAY

Modeling by Kristy Gronseth @kristysilver70

Styled by Bruce Gronseth

Photography by Brandon Lamar Photography @brandonlamarphotography

Represented by DMe Talent Agency @dmetalentagency and Couture Models, Inc. NY @couturemodelsincny

ALEXIS BERENT

ACTRESS // moDEl

1. My first theatre role was as a townsperson in The Pied Piper of Hamelin when I was about eight years old. My first time on a professional film set was as a cheerleader in a Quicken Loans commercial when I was 19.

2. I went to college wanting to be a director. But I ended up spending way more time acting than anything else and realized that’s what I really wanted to do.

3. The first concert I went to was Bob Seger. I’ve also seen Modern Baseball twice, they were my favorite band in high school(and I still love them now).

4. I love board games and video games, but honestly I’m a little too competitive. I held the high score for Oregon Trail and Tetris online for a while. I’m pretty good at poker too, and have been playing Texas Hold’em since I was five.

5. My top three movies are “Heathers” (1989), “Scream” (1996), and “But I’m A Cheerleader” (1999).

Follow Alexis Berent at: @alexisberent www.imdb.me/alexisberent

Photo by Pavló Fedorov

ARRIANNE MARTIN @ariannemartinphotography

SYDNEY ALLEN

MODEL // FEMALE ADVOCATE

1. I started modeling after I had a boudoir shoot. Before that, I lacked the confidence and I didn’t know I was photogenic.

2. I didn’t start modeling until I turned 42. I knew it wouldn’t be as easy if compared to if I was much younger, but I didn’t let it stop me.

3. I model both fashion and boudoir, because I get to express various aspects of myself creatively. I also found out that I’m pretty good at acting if I need to be!

4. I love cruising and traveling. There’s so much out in this world to see and experience, and to limit ourselves to the little bubble of this city, state, or even country that we live in, is to deny ourselves the chance to broaden our minds in a way that cannot be done otherwise.

5. I am a huge advocate for female empowerment. Every woman should feel confident and know that she is important.

Follow Sydney Allen at: @vex.model

MICHELLE PIETRAFITTA

DRUMMER // MUSIC BUSINESS NERD

1. Music saved my life. It gave me purpose and direction when I was beginning to follow a pretty dicey path.

2. My main band is Banshee Tree. We’re currently in the studio recording our second album and in the planning stages of our second national tour.

3. My mission with my life is to encourage people to lift each other up. We are all in this together, and the more we recognize that, the more we will thrive on this planet.

4. I’m a music business nerd as well as a music nerd - I love booking tours and living them out in real life. I also like to teach other independent artists how to achieve this for themselves.

5. Live performance is my happy place. The energy channelled by a group of people shaking it out to a common vibration is just insane, and I’m very lucky to get to be a part of that on the daily.

Follow Michelle Pietrafitta at: @michelle.pietrafitta.drums Booking for @bansheetree

jesus rodriguez

artist: jr // audio engineer // music producer

1. I’m a first generation Mexican American. My parents moved from Durango Mexico to Denver in the late 80s. My first language was Spanish and I eventually learned English.

2. I started t draw at a young age and In high school was part of a mural club where we painted positive imaginary on community walls with spray paint. You can find one of my murals at the gym at Denver West High School.

3. When I was in middle school I started to take rap serious and was part of an after school Hip Hop club. That taught

me a lot about the Hip Hop culture. This eventually lead me to graduate in 2016 from CU Denver with a bachelor’s in the Recording Arts!

4. I went to CEC when I was in High School where I learned how to be an audio engineer and start to produce my own original Hip Hop style beats. This lead to me now releasing my very own music on all digital streaming platforms through my Record label called Rhythm and Passion.

5. In 2014, I moved in to the La Alma/ Lincoln Park neighborhood where I started

to work with Youth on Record (youthonrecord.org) in supporting youth to develop their creative skills. 9 years later, I’m still working with YOR engaging and inspiring young creatives in the community providing them access to a computer lab and free recording studio.

Follow JR at:

Instagram: Jesusr303

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/ artist/4WWJlAyR471RawQl3Kmsf-

H?si=WA2gkD7QSFeF4_UK5V9i1w

Jesus with Kid Astronaut at Youth on Record’s Youth Media Studio.

SIMONE BRIELLE @_simone_brielle_

MONIQUE CANDELARIA

actRESS // MoDEL

1. I’m a certified Stone Practitioner from Upper Clarity School of Stone Medicine. My training includes using non invasive acupuncture techniques on the body using stones to transmute energy, creating vibrational elixirs, and balancing energy within any given space.

2. I trained as a phychic under Joe Gacoscos for a year to perform rose readings as a way to heal and be healed at the same time while running earth and cosmic energies.

3. Everything that I write and create comes to me in my dreams. It is my source of inspiration and process for problem solving.

4. I am a Heyoka Empath who identifies as Two Spirit. I feel that having the ability to tap into the divine masculine and the divine feminine by nature has allowed me to communicate with my guides in my dream state with ease.

5. I have on my acting resume facial gymnast because I can move each part of my face individually or in unique ways. Although I consider myself right dominant, I am very much ambidextrous; where I can draw with both hands, I eat with my left hand and have a tendency to ride a snowboard or waveboard goofy.

Follow Monique Candelaria at: Instagram: @Moca369

Photographer: APERTURE ORTEGA

10 SONGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

JUST A FRIEND // Biz Markie @bizmarkie

HEY LOVER // LL Cool J @llcoolj

TRY ME // Dej Loaf @dejloaf

BLONDE SUMMER // J.C QUINN @jc.quinn

ICE CREAM AND CAKE // Yungg Fattz @yunggfattz

GANGSTER’S PARADISE // Coolio @coolio

ON DA LOW // DiVerse Official @diverseofficial

CLUTCH FEAT. METHOD MAN & REDMAN // Erick Sermon @ericksermon

BILLIE EILISH // Armani White @armaniwhite

INDIGO // RM @btsrm.offical (Releases on Dec. 3rd)

@longbow_guitars

@katarina_monet

Photographer: Justin Jackrabbit

@blackjackrabbit_studio.llc

Model: Katarina Monet

Amber Lynn Amber Lynn

PROFESSIONAL TATTOO ARTIST & MODEL

Loud&Clear caught up with Amber Lynn, a talented Model, Professional Tattoo Artist, and owner of Tru Tattoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

When did you start your career as a tattoo artist?

I started my career as a tattoo artist almost two years ago when I began tattooing at home. From there I was offered a tattoo apprenticeship at Pushin Ink.

Who or What inspired you to pursue such a career?

It wasn’t any specific thing or person that inspired me to become a tattoo artist. There was multiple people in my life that inspired me and supported my art.

What do most people not realize about life as a tattoo artist?

Most people don’t realize how hard it is on your body to be a tattoo artist, but also how rewarding it is on a deeper scale. I remember venting to another tattoo artist about my back. They told me “Imagine tattooing for over 20 years. Your eyes, your back, even your shoulders will be physically worn out”. But, there are times where I am covering peoples scars, tattooing memorial pieces, or even tattooing something to remind someone to wake up every day and keep pushing. These are some of the most special moments for me where I can help someone in their healing process.

If you were forced to choose only one, which emotion, more than any other, drives you to stay in this tough business? Is it joy, anger, desire, passion or pride and why?

If I had to choose one emotion that drives me I would say it is passion. I have a passion for art, for working with people and for seeing someone happy. Tattoo is a form of therapy for many people.

Facial tattoos are becoming more and more popular. How do you feel about giving facial tattoos?

I am biased towards face tattoos, because I have two myself. I think that tattoos on the face when done well can be tasteful.

What are some of the least painful places to get tattooed? Some of the least painful areas to get a tattoo would be the forearm and bicep. Surprisingly the sides of the face are also areas that are very tolerable.

How many tattoos do you have? Which one is your favorite?

I have 27 tattoos in total on my body. I have a hard time picking a favorite tattoo because my whole sleeve tells my life story. If I had to pick my favorite, it would be my grandparents handwriting it says “I love you”.

“When I decided to open up my own shop I wanted to create a whole atmosphere based on that idea, that women would have a place they were comfortable.”

–Amber Lynn, Tru Tattoo

Photography by ALDRIAN ALFONSO @ar1photography

Photography by ALDRIAN ALFONSO @ar1photography

Do you represent any brands? If not, what brands would you like to rep?

Yes, I have been representing a local jewelry company, Adam Fierro Jewelry. Adam designs and creates beautiful turquoise and silver jewelry. I’m hoping to work with more tattoo related companies in the future.

What has been your biggest challenge as a tattoo artist? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

My biggest challenge becoming a tattoo artist has been being a young woman in the industry. I have overcome this by turning it into a marketing tool. Tattooing is such a male dominated industry that there is a specific clientele that doesn’t get catered too in the tattoo world.

A common phrase among creatives is, “you must suffer for your art”. Do you agree with this statement? If so, how have you suffered for your art?

Yes, I think that you can’t appreciate the good without first experiencing the bad. Tattooing within itself is pain before production. Before I became a tattoo artist, I too experienced pain before production. Being a tattoo apprentice is not as fun as some people may think. You start at the bottom of the totem pole. You have to learn to be okay with being uncomfortable. You have to learn how to humble yourself and take criticism and at the same time you have to learn how to believe in yourself and your art.

Tell us about your new all girl tattoo shop?

When I was an apprentice a lot of girls were excited that they were going to have an artist that they could feel comfortable with. When I decided to open up my own shop I wanted to create a whole atmosphere based on that idea, that women would have a place they were comfortable. I hired an all girl staff and based the aesthetics of the shop off of that. Everything from the wall decor to the tattoo machines is feminine.

How can new clients find your shop and schedule an appointment?

New clients can find our shop at 1001 San Mateo Blvd., SE Albuquerque, NM 87108. You can contact me personally at (505) 5147172 or DM my Instagram @freakingamberstattoos.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not tattooing people?When I’m not tattooing I’m a single mom of two boys who enjoys boxing at Johnny Tapias Gym.

What is the best advice you have received?

The best advice I have ever received was “if there is a will there is a way”.

If you could describe your art in one word, what would it be?

If I had to describe my art in one word it would be evolving.

Please list your social media.

My Instagram handles are @freakingamberman and @freakingamberstattoos

Photography by ALDRIAN ALFONSO @ar1photography

PROFESSIONAL TATTOO ARTIST & MODEL Amber Lynn Amber Lynn

Elveektor INDIE SPOTLIGHT

In the new era of AFRO RAP particularly in the IGBO RAP scene, very few match up to the enigma that is ELVEEKTOR. After numerous releases with placements on playlists such as the FLEXLIST & the MAINLAND BLOCK PARTY and a live performance in front of thousands at the HERO LAGER IGBA BOI TOUR, he is back with a new album IFE NWOKE.

Link to Ife Nwoke album: https://elveektor.fanlink.to/IfeNwokeAlbum

ELVEEKTOR @elveektor

NEWEST RELEASE

IFE NWOKE

In this album you can find hot rap hits like “AJ Joshua” where he channels the fighter in him delivering hard-hitting punchlines with the flair of Anthony Joshua. while featuring Alpha Ojini & Magnito, the trio prove that they’re heavyweights in indigenous rap. It’s a track you want to play while working out in the gymAnother drill rap tune in the album is “Oko-Moko” featuring 2 times Headies award nominee, Paybac Iboro. It’s a grimes drill vibe that embodies the eternal motivation you need for a good workout session.Also in the album you can sway to the RnB/Mellow/Alte rap songs like “Take My Hand” feat. Ogranya and “Njideka” feat. The soul princess Jenni Soul.In all the album clearly outlines growth in the Elveekor brand and also leaves a giant footprint as far as indigenous rap is concerned.

Ife Nwoke album will be Elveektor’s 6th official studio project since his 1st album in January 2018.

Model

FEATURES

new york

SYDNEY BENNE @sydney__benne // JOHN WONG @johnwongphotography

Follow Author Russ Ray @eat.travel.type.colorado

THANK YOU!

Kokomo, Indiana

by Author Russ Ray

Whenever I go to Greeley, Colorado I try to bring with me a couple of ancient typewriters that need a new ribbon. I buy my ribbons at Bratton’s Office on the east side near the courthouse. I could change them myself. I choose not to. Here’s why.

Bob Bratton grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. His parents owned an office supply store. He spent his youth in the 1950s and 1960s becoming a jack-of-all trades working for his family. He was the delivery boy lugging heavy desk top standard typewriters and other unwieldy office machines from one business to the next. He was a counter clerk. He even swept up after the place closed.

Whenever someone brought in a broken office machine sometimes they would end up talking to him instead of his father. The customer would do their best to explain the problem or demonstrate on the machine what was wrong. Young Bob would tell them, “Come back in a couple of days. I’ll see what I can do.” Many of the broken machines were typewriters.

Bob had no formal training. He was just a kid - but he was one of those kids who could figure things out. Over the years, typewriter designs changed. He had to adapt. Then, gradually, as time passed by, personal computers, laptops, and copy machines pushed the typewriter into obsolescence.

In the late 1970s, Bob and his family had an opportunity to move out west and buy an office supply company in Greeley. They jumped at the chance. Decades later I walked through their doors in search of new ribbons for my machines. (My other source in Greeley shuttered their doors due to a grave illness.) I looked around, and there, behind the counter were rows and rows of beautiful little boxes filled with fresh inked typewriter ribbons.

After getting to know Bob and his intimate knowledge of the machines I love, I stopped buying ribbons from him and taking them home to install them myself. Instead, I now bring my machines into Bob’s shop and ask him if he would do it for me. He always agrees.

I don’t take Bob for granted. I’m sure he has no time for this antiquated nonsense. But I also believe when he has a machine made over 70 years ago in his hands, he feels

Erma’s Typewriter

by Author Russ Ray

As you all painfully know, I collect typewriters. I use them to write, and when I am not writing with one of them, I place them on shelves throughout my house. They remind me to write. A couple of days ago, I answered an ad on Craigslist for an Olivetti Lettera 32. Today I met Dean, the seller, in southwest Denver to consummate the deal. Before any money changed hands, I had a few questions for him. I wanted to know the light blue machine’s history.

He told me his mother, Erma, was a gossip columnist for the Hillsboro Star Journal in Hillsboro, Kansas – a town of fewer than 2,000 people. The typewriter had the paint worn off on the rounded corners. He was afraid that might put me off, but I told him I liked the wear marks, especially if the machine had only one owner. He assured me his mother was the only one who used it. She used to make phone calls to her friends on Mondays to see what had happened over the weekend. Then she’d write her column and get it over to the editor at the Journal for publication.

In 1965, their house burned down, and nothing much had been left to salvage. The typewriter she had used before was destroyed in the fire. Not to be silenced, she bought a new one, the Olivetti. She must have been proud. It was Italian and had been envisioned by the renowned artist and architect Marcello Nizzoli. The fast-paced 60’s was the era of the jet set, the space age, and sleek modern design. Here she was, Erma Pankratz, a paparazzi with a glamorous Olivetti telling the stories of Hillsboro, Kansas.

But Erma was too humble to be a celebrity columnist. She was a Mennonite. Her ancestors were Germans who migrated to Russia on the invitation of Katherine the Great in the mid-1700’s. Her parents left Russia for the United States to farm in Kansas. It was hard work. They survived the journey west in the late 1800’s only to survive the dustbowl of the 1930’s. Erma was born in 1928. They were the generation John Steinbeck wrote about in The Grapes of Wrath. The family spoke primarily German at home. Erma’s younger brother had a bit of trouble in school because his first language was German. He first had to learn English in school before he could learn any other subject.

Dean couldn’t make out why I was causing such a fuss over his mother’s typewriter. He said when she passed in 2012, no one in the family wanted it. He shrugged his shoulders and told his siblings, “I guess I’ll take it.” Now he just wanted to get rid of it.

As I drove off, I couldn’t help but think how lucky was I to have Erma’s typewriter. Very lucky indeed.

My Obsession...

by Author Russ Ray

Some of my friends fret about my obsession with typewriters. Not to worry, all is fine. I wrote the following vignette three years ago in an attempt to explain my love for long out dated machines. If you have time, take a moment to read my explanation below:

A couple of weeks before Christmas, when I was 19 and overseas, I received a typed letter from Rex, my stepfather. The letter began with encouragement to keep at it. “Your tour of duty will be soon over.

Despite the rigors of training, I think you will ultimately say it was the best thing you could have done at the time,” he wrote. It was the love of an old combat veteran cheering on a young soldier.

Then he made an announcement in the letter, “We are trying to get ready for Christmas. Your mother wants an electric typewriter, although she can’t type a word. I’m going to get her one anyway – a portable - and they are about $200 bucks.”

He mistyped “word” and had to correct it with his black felt-tipped pen. He made several more mistakes before he finished. There seemed to be as much ink from his pen on the page as typewriter ribbon ink.

A week after Christmas, I received a typed letter from my mother.

“Dear Russ, Guess what Rex bought Mom for Christmas? It doesn’t spell too well yet, but I think it will learn.”

My parents were very good at writing to me when I was in the Army. I received their letters at the headquarters in what was then West Berlin or while I was studying in Nuremberg and in Munich.

When I was in the field providing communication support for the infantry brigade or the artillery detachment, I would get my parents’ typed letters in dirty, dusty tents in god-forsaken training camps like Wildflicken, Hohenfels, and Schwarzenborn. I read them over and over again like a newspaper. It was so comforting.

Rex was educated. He graduated from college, from the naval midshipman’s academy, and from law school. Yet, his letters looked like he had gotten into a fistfight with the machine. He would make a mistake, write over the mistake, complain about the mistake, then resume the letter until he made another mistake. He spent much of his letters bitching about “this goddam typewriter”.

Audrey had little formal education. I’m not sure if she graduated from high school (the Nazi aerial blitz of England during World War II disrupted her childhood in Nottingham). Yet, her letters were

perfect - you could almost hear her English accent on the printed page. They were crisp, neat, elegant and eloquent. It was as if a professional typist composed them. I loved the contrast between the two.

When I finally got home from my enlistment, I was off to college. Audrey gave me the electric typewriter Rex had given her. She thought it would be useful for me.

I still have it. When I turn the power on and listen to the motor hum, I can hear their voices. I can hear their laughter. I can hear their passionate arguments. There were times, after a couple of scotch and sodas, they would yell so loudly at each other I’m certain the ceiling tiles cracked. Then, after things settled down, they would type each other a love poem. This beautiful, blue Smith-Corona Coronet 10 knows well what love means.

Do you suppose getting this machine at a young age started my interest in typewriters? Possibly.

My youngest son, Diego, is in the Army and overseas. Now it is his turn to receive letters from this machine. As he makes his way through Europe and countless N.A.T.O. exercises, he will get letters from me. Mostly, though, he will hold in his hands a piece of paper with ink imprinted from a machine that means so much to his family.

Each time I pull this machine out of its case, plug it in, and put paper through its bail, I will think of Diego in his dusty, dirty uniform, exhausted from training, but excited to see his name typed on an envelope from Colorado. Diego has seen this machine. He knows how much I love it. He also knows how much I love him.

As tradition would have it, I’ll pour a snort of The Glenlivet and put my fingertips on the keys. I’ll make mistakes, I’ll correct them, and I’ll pass on

to Diego the love and encouragement Rex and Audrey gave to me through this wonderful device.

So, I ask again. Do you suppose getting this machine at a young age started my interest in typewriters?

Yes, most certainly.

Niech zyje polska. Solidarnosc!

by Author Russ Ray

I found this typewriter about four years ago just east of Boulder in a subdivision near Baseline lake. It’s a 1960s IBM Selectric. It had one owner - Jane Przedpelski.

Jane and her husband, Andy, were both in their early 90s. They had stories to tell.

Jane brought the machine home after she had retired from a clerical job in Chicago. It was a retirement gift of sorts. Or maybe it was sent home with her because they had worked intimately together for so long.

Andy was only 14 years old when he was enlisted as a driver for some government officials to make their escape from Warsaw at the time of the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939.

Decades later, the Polish uprising would be the first crack in the Soviet’s Iron Curtain enveloping eastern Europe. Every time I touch this machine I think of the incredible, resilient Polish spirit.

I took the first photo at BOBS Diner in Louisville on my way home. I took the second one after I got home. I poured a cocktail and gave a toast to Jane, Andy, and the bravery of the Polish people.

Darcy Nelson Music

www.darcynelsonmusic.com

@darcynelsonmusic

New Single: “Bad” An Experimental Country Single

On Friday, October 7th, independent singer-songwriter Darcy Nelson released “Bad,” her debut motion picture soundtrack for the Black Western film, OUTLAWZ.

A project celebrating the power and mystique of complex women, this experimental country single is streaming on all streaming platforms.

Photo by @luckykphotography

Elysé perforning with Ross Childress (original member of Collective Soul) @TheHopperNewMexico.