La Cima Magazine by El Paisano News Media

CIMA THE ARTIST EDITION

BROAD

THE

THE ARTIST ISSUE SPRING 2018

EDITOR'S LETTER

NEWS

LIFESTYLE 138 Francisco Ruiz

26 74

ARTS Alysia Ponce Jorge Parrales

36 86

INTERVIEWS East of the River 48 MACHINEKIT 76 DIRECTORY

EDITOR'S LETTER

With the recent discriminatory race allegations that have been going on, the world continues to draw its attention towards labeling individuals rather than focusing on their creative freedom. The younger generation are not limited to the boundaries they are given, but instead excel in their craft to express themselves in a way they know how: musically and artistically. Popular cultures pry on defining and belittling one another so that one may fit in and carry on what they feel is important to the world. Why are we impelled to feel these ways about others, but most especially ourselves? We are blinded by the true meaning of life. Los Angeles is filled with much of that distortion. In many aspects it is easy to forget how beautiful our world truly isâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all the colors and the sharpness of life that may come out of the scenery, objects, and most especially the people. In many ways we take advantage of our five crucial sensoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that we forget to look up at the things around us, taste the greatness of our replenished foods, smell the raw air, feel the earth by grounding ourselves, and listen to those who are meant to be heard, There is always a moment to be grateful for and in those moments will you find the true meaning of life and why we have crossed paths with new souls for just moments in time that will never be again or once more. They are those who uplift our spirits, replenish our souls, motivate us, and remind us to keep growing and not get sucked into the confinement that we set ourselves to be because of societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rules. They nurture higher thoughts so that we may build and grow to see a brighter eye in the dawn of day. Like all great men, they create themselves. Carrying on this legacy are some of the young, extraordinary artists that have shared their work and experiences in this magazine. These artists are authentic and true to what they all love; all art creates truth. It is our job to leave positive imprints on one another and for our youth who continue to struggle with authenticity from day to day, and these artists represent that. It is with great honor to share their work with you and I pray for their continued success. One Love, Sara Tabarez Editor in Chief

NEWS

a list of tour dates for the artists for spring/summer

138

East of the River

MACHINEKIT

August 30th: moving to Berlin, Germany stay tuned for more info

May 16th-23rd: New School Rules - Rotterdam, Netherlands & Amsterdam, Nettherlands

June 9th: Cobraside Recorrds Distribution Glendale, CA

June 1st: GCS- Santa Ana, CA

June 30th: All Star Lanes Los Angeles, CA

June 2nd: Bakersfield, CA June 8th: Boyle Heights, CA June 15th: Tiki Bar - Costa Mesa, CA June 16th: PBW - Boyle Heights, CA June 20th: AC Lounge - San Diego, CA June 21st: Ninja Karaoke Las Vegas, NV June 27th: Golden Road Brewery - Los Angeles, CA June 30: Oxnard, CA

138 WRITTEN BY SARA TABAREZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSHUA ALDECOA RIMBU PARTY SHOOT YOUR SHOT

From playing in a hardcore sludge band together to now playing electronic music, the electronic duo, 138, based from Whittier, California include members Nathan Valle and Billy Garcia. The two formally met through playing music by mutual friends in high school and have been inseparable ever since. When their band Apparition broke up, Nathan and Billy decided that they still wanted to play music together, but not what they were accustomed to. At the time, they listened to a lot of different types of electronic music and decided in 2010 that they were going to aim to perfect various types by solely teaching themselves.

TXTRL, a name that Billy had come up with and drew in a philosophy class at Rio Hondo College. They wrote a track and made two remixes from other techno DJ’s they looked up to at the time named, Paul Birkin who is from the U.S., and Joe Farr from the UK. Since they started getting recognition in Europe from the two remixes on the record label, they decided to buy their tickets, pack their bags, and fly out to Europe with the little gear they had. They first arrived into Amsterdam and met people out there they connected with. When people knew they were out there to visit, they wanted them to play at a gig.

They started off with techno music, which to them was somewhat similar to hardcore punk because of the drive and aggression sound it gives. While Billy’s alter ego name is Suerte, Nathan hasn’t quite established a name. Together their name is 138 which comes from a song from the band The Misfits. The song represents the true society that we live in having no identity from the day we are born which led them to originally wear their ski masks as a representation to that of their beliefs.

They had their first European gig in Warsaw, Poland. Shortly after they had another gig in Selva Di Fesano in Puglia, a city south of Italy, with their now really good friends Ossien and Kieran who are both from the UK. From there it was a snowball effect—people started to hear more about them because of a video, of what they now think is crappy from the gig, went viral.

In 2014 they started their first record label called

Sometime during their trip they drove from Amsterdam to Berlin and they went to an event held in October called Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) 29

and had their computers and gear with them in the car. While in the club for an hour or so, Nathan got kicked out for smoking a cigarette and he found his way into another club. After a few hours he made his way back to ADE to find out that they had just gotten robbed of their stuff from the car. They didn’t have all their equipment, but still got robbed of their bags which had their passports and computers which meant they had lost all their music that was in the computers. They realized they needed to get back up on their feet and go stronger. Their friend Paul Birkin suggested they should do something on their label to raise money to get whatever they lost back. They came out with a successful VA (various artists) compilation on BandCamp and released a bunch of their friends’ music that got them to raise a decent amount of money. After eventually getting their passports and computers back, they flew home and decided to get a drum machine. It was then that they realized they didn’t want to play from a computer anymore and wanted to be more hands on with their music. Both together listen to a lot of very noisey and distorted stuff which is why people think they’re super hard in the techno scene—they play fast. Billy listens to a lot of new style hip hop that influences him, while Nathan has been listening to new music such as dub, old and new bass music, old electronic music from the 70s, etc. to get inspired. Whether Nathan is recording or not he’s constantly jamming out and coming up with new ideas. Sometimes he records and goes back to it to rearrange some stuff, but doesn’t stick with it for too long because he gets lost in it. They are known to play live shows using drum machines and synthesizers whereas before they were known to play only analogue, which is different circuitry within synthesizers and digitals; computer based stuff. They believe the gear you have is important and makes a difference when you have new synthesizers because it allows for a fresh, and new sound. Since they have already done the raw and gritty aspect of music, they want to clean up their sounds and get more into the engineer side of things to make some new sounds. Now that they

have built a good reputation and fan base, they no longer wear the ski masks and are trying to bring it back a bit by experimenting with their music to show more of their individual sides. Although they will be doing solo projects, they still want to stick together as 138. They have also decided as a duo that they don’t just want to solely play techno music anymore. They feel like they are at the point where they want to expand are looking to move forward to make electronic music in general, not just techno music or anything else defined. With meeting new people and getting introduced to more music, they want to create a new sound and are in the process of finding another sound they can establish. 138 recently just came out with another record together with another VA compilation on their record label TXTRL that included four tracks from their friends Charlton Ravenberg from Rotterdam, James Barrett also known as Keepsakes from New Zealand, and Dean Myler from Ireland. Stepping out of TXTRL’s slogan “no more for no techno” norm, they included Myler’s drum and bass jungle track, a favorite of Nathan’s, which helped to push to the realization to do different things. They believe their new record stands out more than their past stuff. They are always together even when they don’t play a lot and feel like they can always vibe together, most especially with music. They are in the process of moving to Berlin at the end of the summer for one to two years to make their practice of music more productive. Depending on how many gigs they land and how successful they are out there will determine future plans of whether or not they will stay longer. While the possibility of having a small side job out in Berlin is in mind for extra cash, they want to make music their priority eventually making DJ’ing their careers. You can find 138’s music released on their label website: https://txtrl.bandcamp.com

ALYSIA PONCE WRITTEN BY SARA TABAREZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALYSIA PONCE JUANITA VARELA PONCE MARGERITE CASTENADA

Alysia Ponce is a twenty-six year old Latina from Whittier, California. She is a fine arts and drawing and painting student and works part time to pay for overpriced art supplies. She has always loved drawing and coloring and has always been surrounded by it since her mother and brother are also artists. When Alysia was in elementary school she first realized that art was her passion and number one love. Starting out with acrylics and water color first, she took beginning painting class at Cerritos College that used oil and she realized thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where it was at. Although she uses acrylic and water from time to time, she uses oil for most of her paintings now. She believes the bright colors she uses in her art are due to her culture because the houses in both Mexico and Cuba range from colors like hot pink to yellow. Alysia loves art ranging from street art to impressionistic, realistic, and abstract. Color theory is very important to her and believes thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what attracts her the most to art. She gets inspiration from the colors in paintings by Matisse and street artist Dab Myla. She also gets inspiration from her friends, and teachers at school as well. You can find her art on Instagram @alysia.margarita and can also get into contact with her through there.

DOG

A day in the life of Brooklyn; pencil + ink + water color

P ORT R A I T S

Frida; oil painting

Sleepy puppy; oil painting

MIXED

Say Cheese; oil + acrylic painting

Kanye; micropen + water color

M E DIA

Wu Yang Killa Bees; prisma colors

P ORT R A I T S

Kayla the Space Cadet; oil on canvas

Live life drawing; warm & cool pastel

OTHERS

Pumba; oil on canvas

A reproduced painting by Naomi Okubo; warm & cool zoning guache

SELF

Strong Foundation, Steady Growth; oil painting

Womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best friend; oil/paper collage on canvas

P ORT R A I T S

Digging for gold; colored pencil

Another self portrait?; watercolor

EAST OF THE RIVER

INTRODUCTION BY SARA TABAREZ INTERVIEW BY SARA TABAREZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRANCISCO RUIZ GADZOOKS SARA TABAREZ

Chicano Based underground hip-hop group, East of the River, is a self-sufficient team that includes ten members who all bring together a wide variety of different aspects to the team. What some would say sort of mirror the rap group Wu-Tang clan because of their large group of members, EOTR has set it’s foundation of artists for the time being. Looking to expand in the near future, they are a network that is filled with hip-hop music, media, and lifestyle from the east side of Los Angeles, California. Members include Dont Sleep, Hollow Visions, Kiddo, Killa Teck, Mad Macks, Soul Providers—Mighty Muds and Vicious Vile, Viva Mescal, and Zzay. Out of nine MC's, seven are men and two are women leaving the other member their DJ, DJ Drastik. I had the pleasure of interviewing and hanging out with four of the ten members: Dont Sleep, Hollow Visions, Kiddo, and MadMacks.

What does East of the River mean and represent to those who don’t know? (Hollow Visions): We represent the east side, more specifically the Latin culture coming out of the east side by showing that it’s not the Latin/ Chicano hip-hop that you heard before; we’re totally evolved and becoming this new face of the east side movement. East of Los Angeles? (MadMacks): Yes, east of the Los Angeles River. If you go anywhere there’s always like an east side per say, the representation. I don’t think it was always necessarily from the beginning like, we’re from the east side and we’re trying to represent something different. It was more like we’re doing our own music and then we happen to be from the east side. Did you all connect and meet through the east side as well? (Hollow Visions): The hip hop circuits that were going around, we were all hitting the same shows for a while. Viva Mescal, the guy who runs this whole thing, he’s been doing this for over six years. (MadMacks): This is Mescal’s branch out, he started EOTR from an idea and it pretty much evolved. Back when I was Verbal Villains, which was a duo that represented Whittier, we split and from that I met Mescal who already had started East of the River. With the fallout of VV, it created the platform that EOTR ever had a show under. The first show was called Diamonds in the Rough back in 2013. This brought together a bunch of different MC’s from different locations and at that time EOTR was very loose but people were affiliated. From then to now, five years later, it’s gone through a lot of catalyzing, a lot of change, a lot of growth, but we got the ten core members—the people who have proven themselves to be consistent in their work. We’re all working every day, and when we’re not it feels weird. When we’re not working you see everyone else building, moving, grinding, making connections, networking at a show or you know doing the podcasts. So the loose affiliation from then to now, we’re a stem—East of the River. We gained some recognition, we can have somewhat of a say so now in underground hip hop. (Hollow Visions): If you aren’t doing your work here you’re going to know it, you’re going to feel it. Everybody else is moving around you. 50

find female MCs that I really looked up to and liked. All of my influencers were all male MCs growing up. Now that I gotten into the scene and established myself as an artist, I just met so many female rappers rising up right now. So you were inspired by mostly males like who? Give me some of your favorites. (Kiddo): I was super influenced by Slug of Atmosphere, Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, Eminem,, West Side Connection and Ice Cube. Just such a wide variety

When did you figure out like for sure ok I’m going to pursue this? (Hollow Visions): Around 2013-2014 I have always done freestyle shows and stuff like that, but it was always just fun for me. Eventually I was like you know what dude people are digging this and I’ve been wanting to put out a project of something solid. It started off small, then the love and support just pushed me to do it. In 2013 I started pushing it hard, around 2014 I started meeting these cats, and 2015 made it official; I was EOTR. (Kiddo): I want to say I knew around 2010, I was sixteen maybe seventeen and I was just super in love with hip hop, but I was always in love with writing before I really fell in love with hip hop. So it was a way to like merge those two for me. Finally I realized I was so in love with it that I thought I wondered if I can really do it. Like if these people can do it why can’t I do it. So I just started practicing, practicing, practicing, and honestly it took me about five years to get really 52

comfortable with my style, writing verses, creating songs, and to the point where I was like ok I can record this now. In that same year when I started recording and putting out tracks was that I met all of them— it was kind of my doorway. I was kind of like, “alright well this is where the scene’s at, I got to step in and see if I can do it.” It’s so sick being surrounded by all these hardworking people, like no wonder I’ve been able to succeed in this short amount of time. How do you feel about being one of the only female rappers to do it that isn’t like, I don’t want to say trash, but trash! You’re actually spitting bars and especially in this group where its male dominated. (Kiddo): It feels amazing. It feels amazing that I’m able to be at this level with all of them and not looked at so much like “ah you’re the girl” and a lot of people have done that even when they hear that I can rap. It’s the media that’s look oh look at Nikki Minaj, and whoever else but we’re all just doing the same thing. It was hard for me at first when I got into hip hop to

but they were all men at the time. I had known like Salt n Pepper and all the good name in the game. But around 2010 when I got into it, it wasn’t that prominent for there to be real dope MCs that were female and being promoted and out there. I fell in love with a female MC by the name of Syra who was from New York around that same time, who was an up and coming in her 20’s too. So I heard her and all of my influence has been male up until that point. She gave me that motivation, in that area you know because it is different.

(Dont Sleep): So first time I knew I wanted to rap was after I saw that movie Hustle and Flow with Terrence Howard. I saw the process of them making it and I thought to myself that’s crazy. That same day I started writing bars and at first they came out as lines, then bars I couldn’t finish; they were endless rhymes and then it started getting structured into verses. I didn’t put out my first project until 2010. I put out about fifteen songs on like YouTube, Myspace, and I made physical copies and people responded really well to it. Ever since that time I just wanted to be the illest on every track, every song, and every verse. (MadMacks): Which he is! He’s coming out of Nella, so that’s saying something as well because that whole scene especially in 2010 that was when a lot of things were being generated within hip hop. It is a statement especially when keeping up with underground hip hop for him to drop a project and be so receptive. I used to look up to him. I remember one of the first time’s I saw him live/ perform and I was like, “dude that’s the kind of crowd control I want.” To be able to 56

see that and then now work with him is dope because we’re dropping some of the hottest stuff right now. Shout out to Rockem! (Dont Sleep): Between me and MadMacks we’re like trying to top each other, but it’s like an unspoken thing where we‘re trying to top each other; like that verse is hard, I got to go harder! Sometimes you don’t even have to have the time. You have to have the work ethic to succeed. (Kiddo): I feel like that’s what makes us all so good at what we do. I hear them do their stuff and I’m even like damn I got to go harder. (Hollow Visions) : The cool thing about this group and where it’s at now is that everything that’s coming out, it’s going to be good regardless. The only thing now is how much work you are putting into it. And that’s one of the things were not letting anyone slack on, like even me I just dropped an album in April called Homecoming and it was like my first project back, and none of these fools let me slack off.

(MadMacks): And I think it’s really dope because like we’re not trying to represent the east side, like I said, but the way that we’ve been moving I feel like it’s somehow falling into the place of everything; forming the bigger puzzle. A perfect example: we just opened up for Felipe Esparza at the NOVO, he’s pretty renowned right now, and for him to put us on it says something. But the breakdown when you look deeper to it is actually Esparza is from Boyle Heights, he grew up here and on top of that he knew Mescal—Mescal’s mom and family, so this is like the generation before us and you know this fool is doing it, he sees we’re doing it and put us on. So that’s what I mean there’s different pieces that just seem to fall in place almost because of what we’re doing. Like I said, this is not what the east side is supposed to be, or this is not what the east side is, this is our perspective, and this is our little corner of the world where we’re trying to show you like look, the east side isn’t “cholos and tube-socks” (Kiddo): What I love about it though is that we’re not all from the east side, we come from all different

places in Los Angeles, but the east side is where the majority of Hispanics are and where the culture is right now; like this is where our culture is and there’s a lot going on here. For us to be able to represent and for hip hop here, this is the place to do it. It’s really dope. (MadMacks): It’s exciting to be honest because we feel that we’re on this wave and its rising and we haven’t hit the crest yet. We haven’t hit the breaking point where it’s probably going to break and even splash down and make more of an affect. We’re still rising, rising, rising so it’s an exciting time right now where we’re living. We’re in the future. Especially for 90’s kids, 80’s kids, all the movies we watched and how they projected the future to be and like now what it is. And you know with that fool Tekashi he’s Hispanic, I’m not saying I agree with his music, but he’s drawing attention and you know what that’s where it starts. Now we have a precedence, we’re on the other side of the spectrum; the hip hop, trying to show you that we’re not the Tekashi’s, but we got fools who have lyrics. 61

(Hollow Visions): We’re finally at our prime—this is where we should be doing our best.

type of stuff that I get excited because EOTR keeps leveling up so it’s things like that.

Kiddo kind of gave us a little bit of her inspiration, so what were your inspirations that led you here? (Hollow Visions): Towards the end of high school where I was really starting to get into the freestyle stuff, one of my favorite artists was a dude from Harlem, Charles Hamilton, that cat was just amazing. He was famous for being a Myspace rapper that blew up. Other than that Kanye West, Common, The Game.

(Dont Sleep): In the beginning, I was heavily influenced by east coast stuff, like Nas, Mobb Deep, Masta Ace, the whole east coast wave. Now, im super inspired by Conway & Westside Gunn who are from Buffalo, NY. Their stuff is called Griselda Records. What I really like about them is that they are themselves, they are like us doing their own way, keeping it traditional, but putting their own spit on it. They’re not switching up just because its 2018. They’re keeping it hip hop.

(MadMacks): I honestly have too many to name, but I will say that now that I’m engulfed in this my inspiration is just my peers. I see them work, I see them break through. To see it firsthand experience is always something, for me, that is life changing, because I’m like damn this fool just dew up his own storyboard for a music video that the song’s created, started with him, and then he goes to make a storyboard for a music video—its genius to me! It’s the

Aside from hip-hop what other genres do you guys like? (Hollow Visions): The Doors, I was super into rock back in the day. I grew up on The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and stuff like that. We used to take road trips and just bump that the entire way, I’m a big Jim Morrison fan. (MadMacks): Well yea, if you think about it our

parents’ generation is 60s, 70s, 80s babies. Growing up with those eras, we pretty much all grew up with the same stuff. Do you guys listen to those genres now with upcoming artists? (Hollow Visions): I vibe with some but I don’t pursue them. Like when Mumford & Son’s came out I vibed out to what I heard. The thing that I’ve noticed is that it’s hard for me to say I’m into any rapper because once you start making your own music, you’re so consumed in doing this every day that all you hear is yourself and the people around you. I’ve had people say well who are you into now, and honestly I’m into myself and my crew. (Kiddo): Yeah, it’s all just commercial. The majority of the artists I listen to are older. I mean, the newest stuff that I think I listen to right now is like Kendrick Lamar, and Jcole. It’s what’s good at least for now. (MadMacks): That’s the stuff that you have to listen to because it’s on the same platform. Just like if you are a big Marvel fan, of course you saw Infinity War, but when you’re developed in your own scene it’s kind of hard to keep up. To conclude our interview, what positive messages do you have for anyone, especially our youth right now where it’s crucial to spread that emphasis on love, positivity, and teachings? (Hollow Visions): Don’t feed into the negative shit that you got all around you. The world is big, and it’s not this little bubble that you’re seeing in the media, Facebook, Instagram, so break out of that little shell that you got and experience the world. Because there’s so much beautiful stuff out there, so much love and it’s not what they’re telling you it is. (MadMacks): Keep pushing your stuff. Keep pushing! Let’s go online, let’s keep stacking, just keep pushing your stuff if your independent or you’re trying to pursue something that you feel with a passion, go ahead and do it but also acknowledge nothing comes easy. If you really, really want that keep showing the universe, keep putting that good energy into it and it’s going to come back tenfold. 72

(Kiddo): Be yourself! I feel like just in this world where we’re so consumed by watching other people, a lot of people just get discouraged and try to put on this type of façade, especially as artists, but just in their regular day to day like everyone’s just so consumed with what everyone else is doing. But really the key is just to be yourself! Find exactly what it is that you want, what you are good at in life, and pursue that to the fullest. Be the best you the way all these other people are! (Dont Sleep): Always remember the winners aren’t looking back to see who’s in second place. The winners are too busy winning. Stay in your lane! The losers are watching the winners, that’s why they lose it. Focus on your stuff—focus and zone in. keep that zen, keep that inner peace!

FRANCISCO RUIZ

MIGHTY MUDS

AKA

THE MAIN PHOTOGRAPHER FOR EAST OF THE RIVER WORDS BY SARA TABAREZ PHOTORAPHY BY GADZOOKS

One of Los Angeles' most revered, self-taught directors and photographers, Francisco Ruiz started taking photos for his father's record label when he was fourteen years young. He quickly discovered that he had a passion for photography and film after taking photos and making mini films with his friends. While joining a underground ska punk band named Sin Defecto, he continued his love for photographry while working alongside one of the biggest ska punk promotions in the West Coast named Evoekore. He decided to take on underground hip hop after conquering the underground ska punk world for some time. While performing with his group, Soul Providers, they started to notice familiar faces after each show; one in particular was East of the River. Shortly after they aligned themselves and joined with East of the River. The man with the canon himself has now directed, shot and edited well over one hundred and fifty music videos, twenty of them being within East of the River. He is one of the main photographers for EOTR, while still maintaining his MC persona as Mighty Muds. It's safe to say Mighty Muds knows a thing or two about being 'Mightyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

M A C H I N EKIT INTRODUCTION BY K. LEONE INTERVIEW BY SARA TABAREZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEAN DELHEARTE SARA TABAREZ

MACHINEKIT is a renounced music group based in the greater Los Angeles area. Formally known as Dharma, the group went through a sudden name change due to political stand views and have formed a new sound and become the new group they are today. A four piece members band, MACHINEKIT falls under the genre of alternative, fusion music such as groups like Portishead, and Radiohead who is one of their biggest inspirations to date. Each member of the band has their own individuality that pitches in to MACHINEKIT as a whole. Band members include John Montoya, William Buege, David Cayetano, and their most recent member Brian Timberwolf. Since adding their fouth member, it not only created who they are today, but also formed a strong bond amongst individuals who see eye to eye when it comes to the craft work of creating music.

How long have you guys played music individually? (Brian): I’ve been playing for fifteen. I started touring when I was fifteen. (Will): I learned everything here too. John actually wrote a series of crappy songs, literally the worst songs and everything was structured. He was like you’re going to play this, you’re going to play this and I did it just as bad, if not worse. I learned everything through these guys. I learned tempo, how to count, time signatures, and I’m actually really pleased because I listen to music differently because of this band. I tune in and I’m like, “do you hear that?” It’s all because of what I’ve learned in this experience. For me personally, I don’t consider myself a great musician, but I have fun. I have fun and these are my best friends and we share something together. I think that’s something special that people don’t get to understand. We get to come together and we get to share our art and music. (Dave): I picked up the guitar when I was about twelve or thirteen. After eight or nine months of guitar lessons I realized I didn’t really care for theory. I gave up guitar because I grew tired of it. So I started playing the bass, and now I really like the keys and haven’t

moved to anything else. I didn’t join my first band until I was about eighteen; that band was Ruptures. I was in the band for about four years and then we broke up on tour in Salt Lake City—didn’t finish the tour. Then John hit me up, well I was at a show and he was there and that’s when he asked me if I wanted to jam. I didn’t really like the music when we started writing together. What inspired you guys for the band name, MACHINEKIT? (John): So long story short, we were called Dharma for the last four and a half years. When we started writing this new album it was still under the name Dharma, but had to change our name because of some political reasons. So, when we made the conscious decision to change our name we didn’t have a lot of time to decide on a name for a band because we had just sent all of our music to the record pressing company. As it was being pressed we had to quickly think of something in order to change the name so it can be on print; I was at work with Will, because I work with Will, and we were brainstorming some ideas and MACHINEKIT just kind of started out of nothing. To be honest, I was listening

to Radiohead and there’s a song called Identikit. I really liked what the song’s about and I really liked the word kit, so I don’t know how I came up with machine, but machine was a compound word to it and it goes. What genre of music would you say your music is? (Will): I feel like it’s a fusion of I guess you would say mainstream alternative, but I think it has elements of a lot of different backgrounds; I think it has punk, I think it has electronic, there’s a lot of texture and color in it. We’re just doing us. The genre part is pretty hard, like we’re this style. I think it comes from a good place—that’s ultimately where the music starts and we’re all investing in a lot of gear. The main thing about our band and where our album’s at now 78

now is that we were just like, “hey let’s buy more stuff!” With that we’re able to utilize the new instruments and really just play with them to make cool stuff. How long ago did you guys form? I know you, Brian, were in a previous band, so how long have you been here with MACHINEKIT? (Brian): Three months deep. And for you guys how long have you all been working on music together? (John): Well Will and I were in a band together, so we’ve been playing music since we were in high school. We used to play in a punk band called 79

Brainfreeze, and then when I started writing songs for this band it was a little bit different and Will was playing drums. I just wanted to learn how to sing, and he just wanted to learn more of the drums so we kind of just helped each other on that end. I’ve known Dave for a long time; we used to play shows together because his band Ruptures used to play with my band Badmouth. We met on tour when they needed a bass player, so I filled in and that’s how I became close to Dave. I didn’t see Dave for about two years after that, and then when I ran into him at a show I asked if he wanted to play since Will and I were missing a bass player. That was about three years ago, and that’s how it came to be. I know you mentioned earlier it’s taken you guys about five years to come up with this album? (John): Yes, so we released three EP’s under Dharma, with our old friend Danny Zacharius, and we released the first album called Self Title; it was really crappy, so we forgot about it. Then Will and I wrote See Nothing and that was okay. Dave joined around that same time and as soon as Dave started participating more, all three of us wrote A Seed to Come. When we did that it was like, alright we did something together, but we noticed that we wanted to push our boundaries. We decided to take a hiatus for two and a half years and that was based on the idea that we just wanted to challenge ourselves musically because everything we have always done has always been very formal and structure. We always had this pattern, so this was our opportunity to get outside of our comfort zones and really test the waters. We noticed that the first thing you really need is a ton of money to buy to buy a ton of gear. Like Will said, once you have money to buy some gear or make some investments then you’re able to experiment with sound. Everybody always thinks that you have to be super talented, but no it’s like you need gear! (Will): Plus simplicity. I think the music is actually quite simple, it’s just texture, a bunch of layers. Do you guys write music altogether and is it usually on the days you come to the studio? Or who mostly does it and helps to write? Do you just come up with the sound? How does the writing process usually come about? (Dave): Sometimes we do it collectively, sometimes either one of us will just be at the studio messing 80

around with sounds; then we bring it to practice Sunday and kind of just go off of that. (John): It’s also kind of a long process too because it’s not like we have a definitive thing or we write a song in one or two sittings in the studio. We realize it’s more like three to four different types of processes; like studio, mixing and mastering, recording—each process makes the song different. You don’t know when it’s going to be at the very end. It’s not until you finalize and master it when you realize that this is how the song is supposed to actually sound like. (Dave): Yeah sometimes it can take months, and sometimes in the end we just don’t like the song. I think we had a pattern of writing two or three songs and then one of the songs we really like, so we kind of just archive if not just throw away. Do you feel like music class you’ve taken currently or in the past has helped you now? Do you incorporate that stuff? Is it important? (Dave): It does help when you learn theory, but I don’t think you necessarily need it. Maybe some people do—some people just don’t have that creativeness to hear things. For example, I know someone who is rhythm impaired; he doesn’t know when to start and stop. He’s been playing for years and took lessons and it really helped him out, but some people just have it naturally. I don’t think you need it, but it helps. (Will): I’m currently taking a piano class at school and I like it. It’s helped me understand where I’m at in this band. I always hear the conversation of people asking, “hey what tuning are you in?” and I never understood it until recently. (Dave): I think even with that he’d be ok. He has it naturally, you can tell the moment he started playing keyboard at the apartment. (Will): Yeah, the first song I ever wrote we recorded it and I sat on a piano for like three hours telling myself I wanted to write something that day. I didn’t know how to maneuver, what I was playing, or what key I was in, but now that I’m taking this class I actually enjoy it. I really enjoy learning where I’m at and a little bit of structure. It gives you a place in how to communicate; It’s a communication thing. 81

(Brian): My background is that of a session player. I’d go out and play with many bands, try to make some records. At one point it was my job to read a piece of music and perform it as it was intended— theory is all important in that world and I’ve taken all that with me! When I’m learning these songs I’m able to piece it together in a way that helps me remember. If I didn’t have that theory background I wouldn’t be able to perform with these guys. (Dave): Yeah one day at practice he was writing the notes down. It was really impressive! (John): I’ve been playing music since I was eleven. I started with the guitar, then I went to the drums, then to the bass, and I learned keys somewhere in between. I then wanted to learn how to sing and it was the hardest thing I had to do because I had to get comfortable with people hearing me sing— you’re going to have a lot of crappy shows and you’re going to suck. That was that for a while. In school I was a music major, so I was studying theory just like Brian and Dave, and theory to me helped me understand the fundamentals and the foundation of how you structure and how you understand concepts of music—how chords and harmony works. I was able to use that, but how Dave was saying you don’t really need it if you have a good feel for it. I took what I learned, and I stopped learning theory and I just let my organic side just do its thing. Where do you get your inspiration from? (John): Radiohead is my favorite band, so obviously them, but Dr. Dre, Public Enemy, and Beth Gibbons—I love Beth Gibbons. (Dave): I really like Portishead. I like Radiohead, I just don’t like to tell John that I like Radiohead. I listen to a lot of punk and electronic, but I don’t know if I like get inspired by a certain artist—I think I just write however it comes out naturally. I just like things to sound dark. (Brian): I have a lot of inspirations, very few which emerge here I think unconsciously. I listen to a lot of jazz, a lot of rock and roll—all the great sax rock and roll is what I dig. Maybe it comes out, maybe it emerges in this project subconsciously definitely in the sax. 82

(Will): I have a lot of inspiration, but I don’t feel like they come out through with this band. I listen to a lot of stuff and creatively I just feel like this project is just its own little thing. Everything is super natural and we do things on our own; we don’t try to imitate anything. We literally just hang out and it’s like, “hey let’s do us,” kind of thing. Do you guys plan on touring? (John): F-yeah! (Dave): Yeah, we’re just waiting for the right time. (Will): Yeah, everyone’s busy, so we’re just waiting for the right time. Do you guys want to take this to the next level? Or do you guys all kind of have your own goals and aspirations? Is this a side gig? (John): For me personally, I don’t want to speak for anybody, but I do want to take it to the next level. (Will): I think everybody’s pretty much invested at this point where it’s just like we put this much time, we invested, we all have a relationship amongst each other so it’s like why not. I think we just want to share it with each other; I mean we wrote an album together and it’s like ok let’s give this to other people. Where we’re at we’ve matured through our sound, and I think that’s the coolest part because if you listen to our older stuff its eh—we ourselves have just evolved and we’ve done a lot of touring. We done touring, we played a ton of shows and it’s now to the point where we want to keep that momentum going. We want to keep playing shows, and we want to keep meeting people. We’re in a good place, truthfully it’s in a good place. We’re all really happy with the end product, I don’t think anybody is not satisfied. Like John said, we took two years to write this album. We did not rush the studio time, we were not concerned with any of that. It was like, “hey let’s go in the studio and work this part out.” That idea of it has really relaxed us as people. I think we come to our space and we’re very relaxed with each other—we can have a good time, we can party, we can hang out, we can be serious, we can be mad, we can be whatever we want to be!

(John): To add onto that question, I think if you work really hard at your craft, then why not! Do everything you want to do because you work your butt off, and especially being kids from working class lives, it’s like why not take it. Where can we find or buy your guys music? (Dave): Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal—we recently just added it on Tidal. We have a website where you can buy our vinyl. (John): We are MACHINEKIT.com. There’s a BandCamp: MACHINEKIT.BandCamp.com. We have a Big Cartel, it’s MACHINEKIT.bigcartel.com. That concludes our interview, do you guys want to make any shout outs? (Dave): Check out Quiet from the OC, they are on tour right now and they are going to blow up. (Will): They’re an amazing and real incredible band, they hit home. (John): Another is Slow Bloom, from the Bay Area, they are on No Sleep Records based out of the OC. And also the homie, AdultHits.

(Dave): Yeah, why not take it as far as we can. 84

JORGE PARRALES WRITTEN BY SARA TABAREZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEAN MARCIAL

Jorge Alberto Parrales is a thirty-one year old Latino from Boyle Heights, California. Both he and his parents were born in Nicaragua. He arrived to the United States at the age of four destined to make a new life for himself. When he was in elementary school he would see a lot of graffiti around his neighborhood that inspired him. It was then that he knew that he loved to do calligraphy and started to draw in black books when he got to high school. Since he was involved with basketball league teams and tournaments, he didn’t have time to go on the streets and do his own graffiti. Around that time a friend of his reached out to him to let him know that there was a position available at Home Depot as a sign artist/sign maker. At the time Jorge was unsure of what that was, but still went in to apply with a portfolio of only a few drawings he had worked on. After nailing the interview, he was newly employed. Jorge worked as a sign maker for a few months alone at Home Depot. As business started to pick up they hired another sign artist. The new employee told Jorge about a sign graphics course at the Los Angeles Trade Tech College. Jorge was instantly intrigued and enrolled into the school. Although he had no transportation, Jorge stood motivated and determined and would bike to school everyday rain or shine. After getting into art for business Jorge knew he had found his niche. He had had many jobs before, but never felt happy. He knew there was more that he could bring to the table and also felt that it was the only job he was truly good at. Jorge’s favorite type of art is lettering and type, and abstract art. He appreciates all types of art and doesn’t have a least type. He gets inspired by many things that surround him; sometimes happiness, sometimes sadness, music, and family. He looks up to many artists, but one he particularly admires is Salvador Dahli. He believes Dahli is way ahead of his time and has a creative mind. Jorge has currently established his own business, Casual Living Murals Inc, that has started about over a year ago. You can see his work on his Instagram page @signs27. For more inquires please contact him at (323) 346-7714.