Lacy Nicole
We’re happy to have some time today with respected childhood trauma expert Lacy Nicole; welcome to Vents, Lacy! Before we dive down the proverbial Q&A rabbit hole, how is 2023 treating you thus far?
I am honored to be here. 2023 has been a whirlwind, but thankful every day for the growth & ability to share experiences.
Major and sincere congratulations on your creation of the pioneering Shame to Sparkle Foundation. For anyone not in the know, can you explain what Shame to Sparkle is all about and how you came to establish it?
Thank you. Shame to sparkle started as a small platform and podcast to be able to speak to women I had been working with in victim advocate groups during covid when meeting in person was unavailable. It was a fun side project to stay connected & from there it just has really grown into a passion. I decided early this year to launch the foundation. I have worked heavily in the philanthropic space for the last decade or so and wanted to see if I could use these resources for something so close to me & that I see so many others struggle with. From there we decided to really focus on one realm at a time while we are still small so I wanted to dedicate resources & energy to PTSD & CPTSD space to start. I think the conversations surrounding need to really be broadened and education is key.
You’re a survivor yourself. Do you feel that the establishment of the shame to Sparkle Foundation is an instance of turning a traumatic event into something that ultimately is a positive?
I think the notion we can grow from pain is an important belief to hold. In parallel, I don’t think the distinction of being a “survivor” vs a “victim” is deep rooted in any belief system. I genuinely feel that when we can connect as humans and share our stories, our pain, our experiences (when we are ready or open to of course,) - we have the ability to help others & ultimately- grow. This was the road, for me. I experienced such an array of trauma that I had to take a step back and decide what to do with it, so yes for me, STS was the positive unfolding.
What would you like to say to anyone reading this that may be undergoing their own private trauma and/or PTSD?
I want anyone struggling to know simply: you’re not alone. You aren’t broken, or different. We all go through things and how we handle and respond is key and can sometimes take years to mitigate in a thoughtful way for ourselves. It’s also important to realize and know we live in a time of instant gratification in so many aspects of life - and healing - isn’t instant. Additionally, we are often surrounded by visuals of others and comparison can creep in of what “should be.” I think that is important to remember. People aren’t just a filtered photo on instagram or their linkedin bio - every person you meet is struggling with their own internal narrative, big or small. Just knowing that helps me immensely.
Shame to Sparkle made a welcome debut with the recent launch at the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Coast. What made this venue the perfect launching pad for Shame to Sparkle?
The launch event was a beautiful afternoon of healing and strength (and sparkle!.) We were indulged in this stunning venue & had lovely ambience but the speakers & stories shared really embodied overcoming life’s painful traumas into purpose.
Why do you feel that there is so much stigma attached to the mental health issue among some folks?
I think society has a large impact on this stigma. Even with myself, sharing my story, finally after years of shame & hiding it - I was applauded by many for courage, but on the parallel many shamed me and attached labels of “seeking attention,” or “being a victim,” for sharing my journey with mental health. My personal belief is the most victorious action you can take (when you are ready or feel safe to do so of course) is to share your truth. At the least, you validate self & at the most you help others. When society projects negative labels to our experiences it is damaging and hinderothers ability to heal.
Will Shame to Sparkle be accessible to anyone undergoing autoimmune disease, mental health issues and other potentially crippling issues?
Yes, I had a shared battle with seven autoimmune diseases. We know now through studies, research and clinicals trauma & mental illness is related to some autoimmune disorders. There is so much prominent research surrounding this. I hope to, in the future, have much more readily available resources in the space as well. It’s a hard path to navigate; because with this said, we are not one size fits all & what worked for me will not necessarily help someone else.
At the end of the day, what do you hope the lasting impact and legacy of Shame to Sparkle will be?
For every person we meet to know and believe they have the right to feel safe. I hope we can help others, especially in the space of PTSD, to know it doesn’t have to be a life sentence. You deserve to feel safe, validated & healthy.
Vaughn Davis Talks Tech, Travel, and the Experience of Living the Dream
We’re excited to be speaking today with acclaimed leader in luxury lifestyle hotels, Vaughn Davis; greetings and salutations, Vaughn! Before we meander too far down the Dream Hollywood Q&A pathway, can you talk with readers about what Dream Hollywood is all about and how you landed as the respected Managing Director at Dream Hollywood?
Hello, and thank you for having me! I’m thrilled to be here and share the story of Dream Hollywood and my journey. Dream is more than just a hotel; it’s a unique blend of the vibrant LA lifestyle, luxury, and hospitality. How I landed here as the Managing Director is a tale of passion, hard work, and a deep love for hospitality. It all began for me in New York with the Dream Hotel Group which then led me across the country to The Golden State. It was my belief in the power of technological advancements within the luxury lifestyle space that brought me to Dream. Here, I found an environment that values uniqueness and creativity, and a team that is as dedicated as I am to redefining what hospitality can be. Every day is a new opportunity to create unforgettable memories for our guests and to continue pushing the boundaries of luxury hospitality.
Dream Hollywood has become the bellwether for others in the hotel and hospitality industry. How much has tech and AI adaptation played into elevating Dream Hollywood’s standing in this ever-fickle industry?
Absolutely, technology, particularly AI, has been a cornerstone in elevating Dream Hollywood’s standing in the hospitality industry. Our incorporation of technology is aimed at enhancing the personalized experience we offer, and a prime example of this is our use of delivery robots. These robots have revolutionized room service, ensuring timely and contactless delivery of food, which has been especially appreciated by guests seeking a blend of convenience and safety.
In addition, our team utilizes tools like ChatGPT to streamline communication and workflow, fostering a collaborative environment and enabling us to address guest inquiries and needs swiftly and effectively.
How did the recent worldwide pandemic shift or alter Dream Hollywood’s approach to serving its clients?
We’ve embraced innovation and adaptability as foundational pillars. The recent global event was less a challenge and more an opportunity to enhance our commitment to unparalleled service. The introduction of our service robots, Geoffrey and Alfred, represents this progressive vision, seamlessly blending tradition with modernity for enriched guest experiences. Initially implemented as a response to the pandemic, these robots have become a lasting feature, symbolizing our continuous pursuit of innovation and commitment to elevating guest experiences beyond expectations
What are the secrets to running a successful and thriving hospitality and travel business such as Dream Hollywood in 2023?
Running Dream Hollywood is like orchestrating a symphony – it’s all about harmony! A sharp focus on authentic offerings are pivotal to meet the growing demand for curated travel and distinctive stays. We utilize data-driven insights about our guests, allowing us to offer tailored services and boost guest satisfaction. Simultaneously, displaying those efforts through a robust online presence aids in building trust and drawing in new clientele Lastly, prioritizing employee well-being and continuous training ensures a dedicated and contented team, forming the backbone of exceptional service.
Have the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes impacted Dream Hollywood and its bookings?
Thankfully, we have been relatively shielded from severe impacts, a testament to the diversity of our valued clientele who hail from myriad industries. The relationships we’ve built over the years are not just business-oriented; they are a tapestry of mutual respect and shared growth. Our team’s commitment to strategic marketing and robust community engagement has enabled us to attract new guests and maintain the relationships we have fostered prior to the strikes.
Who in the hospitality industry has served as a mentor to you? Are there those one or two folks who course-corrected you or showed you the better paths to take in establishing Dream Hollywood as a premiere go-to destination?
Michael Lindenbaum and Karin Kopano were the ones who gave me my start and really believed in what I could bring to the table. But honestly, the list doesn’t stop there—so many incredible people have had a hand in shaping my journey. I’m a firm believer that nobody gets to where they are by themselves. Just to name a few: Andrew Goldberg showed me how to craft experiences that stick with people; Darren Bernstein, and Suzi DeAngelis taught me the ins and outs of genuine and effective sales and marketing. I was also lucky enough to open hotels with a bunch of amazing folks, picking up lessons on every aspect of the hotel biz, from making guests happy to balancing the books, and building a solid team.
Looking ahead, where do you see Dream Hollywood in three-five years?
Looking ahead, Dream Hollywood aspires to be at the intersection of hospitality and technological innovation. In three to five years, we envision utilizing advanced AI to create personalized and immersive guest experiences, from AI-powered concierge services to smart room customizations, enhancing comfort and convenience. Sustainability will remain a core value, with intelligent systems
optimizing energy use and reducing our ecological footprint. As we deepen our community engagement, we will also explore AI-driven partnerships that enrich the cultural offerings of Dream Hollywood. Our goal is to seamlessly integrate technology, enabling us to anticipate and exceed guest expectations, and solidify our standing as a pioneering, go-to destination in the evolving hospitality landscape.
In your humble opinion, what differentiates Dream Hollywood from the Distinguished Competition?
Indeed, what truly differentiates our hotel from others is the heart and soul of our establishment – our exceptional team. It’s the warmth, dedication, and passion of our people that create a unique and inviting atmosphere, making every guest feel valued and at home. Our team’s commitment to going above and beyond is what crafts those memorable experiences and sets the tone for unparalleled hospitality. The synergy of diverse talents and the shared vision among our staff fosters an environment of genuine care, making Dream not just a place to stay, but a community where guests feel cherished and remain connected. In essence, it is our people, the Dream Team, that stands as our greatest distinction in the face of competition.
Have you used your success in the hospitality industry as a sort of jumping-off point into other worthwhile endeavors?
Absolutely, leveraging the success we’ve achieved at Dream Hollywood, I’ve had the privilege to contribute to several boards, including the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Tourism Board. These platforms have allowed me to advocate for the broader interests of our vibrant community and the thriving tourism sector in Los Angeles. My involvement has facilitated collaborations to promote sustainable tourism, foster local business growth, and enhance the cultural richness of our region. By sharing insights gained from our experiences at Dream Hollywood, I’ve aimed to contribute to shaping policies and initiatives that benefit both the hospitality industry and the wider community. In essence, these roles have been invaluable in extending our impact and fostering synergies for the betterment of the entire region.
For someone wanting to make their own mark in the travel and hospitality industry, what tips would you give them in order to ensure a long and healthy life with this tricky landscape?
To make a lasting mark in the travel and hospitality industry, I’d emphasize the importance of continuously educating yourself about industry trends and adopting a customer-centric approach, ensuring every decision prioritizes their experience. Embrace technology, but balance it with a genuine personal touch. Financial acumen will anchor your ventures, but never underestimate the value of authenticity, resilience, and building meaningful connections. In this dynamic landscape, you have to be adaptable and stay true to your core values.
At the end of the day, what do you hope travelers who hang their dusty fedoras at Dream Hollywood get out of the experience?
We strive to cultivate an environment where every detail speaks to their comfort and well-being, allowing guests to live out their dreams in our care. From the moment they walk in, we wish for them to feel a profound connection, a warmth, and a sense of belonging that turns a stay into an experience and a hotel into a home.
Ayvianna Snow
As confirmed horror movie aficionados, we’re absolutely beyond thrilled to be speaking today with acclaimed and multi-talented actress and hallowed horror movie queen extraordinaire, Ayvianna Snow; greetings and salutations, Ayvianna! Before we dive into the proverbial Q&A haunted house, how have the dog days of the summer of ‘23 been treating you?
Very well thank you, I have had a fun summer!
You’ve got so many great films set to be released that we hardly know where to begin - So let’s just work our way through ‘em all starting with the awesomely titled How To Kill Monsters! For anyone not in the know, can you explain what How To Kill Monsters is about and how your character of Velma figures into the proceedings?
How To Kill Monsters is a rollicking Shaun-of-the-dead style horror comedy with a barnstorming central performance from Lyndsey Craine about a police station under threat from monsters! I play Velma, a witch who summons a monster from a cabin in the woods.
The director of How To Kill Monsters is the very talented Stewart Sparke who also helped write the screenplay for the film! What was your collaboration process like with Stewart? Is he what some actors might refer to as “an actor’s director”?
Absolutely! He was such a calming influence on set; very professional but always up for a laugh between takes. It was awesome to work with him.
You work alongside such a brilliant ensemble in How To Kill Monsters including the likes of Lyndsey Craine, Arron Dennis and Fenfen Huang. What was it like exercising your own considerable acting chops next to this merry band of thespians?
They are all such strong actors and I think when you are surrounded by great performers, they almost bring you up to their level as you feed off each other. That combined with the great writing, direction and cinematography, made for a great experience on set. The trick to being a great actor is to surround yourself with a talented creative team as they all make you look good!
Another new film you have set for release is entitled Punch where you play a character known as “UV Woman”! What can you tell us about this Andy Edwards written and directed gem?
Andy wanted to make an American-style slasher film but set it in a very British location- a seaside town! It was shot mostly in Hastings, and I just adore the setting- the quintessential pier, the beach, the amusement arcade. A lot of seaside towns become very lonely and desolate out of season, which made it the perfect setting for a horror film.
Next up on the list of films (and Out Now) is one that - as big Dracula fans - we’re really curious about, Wrath of Dracula! What’s the story behind this film and who do you play in it?
It’s a new feminist take on the classic Dracula story; in that the story is told from Mina’s perspective; she has a less passive role in this film than in the novel; she sets off to Transylvania herself to try to save her husband from Dracula’s clutches. Thereis also an action element to the movie; there are scenes where Mina learns kung fu! I play Maria; Dracula’s favourite bride, that he abducted years ago from the nearby village.
Wrath of Dracula marks your second pairing with the film’s director Steve Lawson. What has it been like working alongside Steve in two feature films?
I love Steve; he’s such a laid-back presence on set- some sets can be really manic, rushing to get all the shots before the sun goes down etc. But Steve is always very mellow. He is an intelligent and sensitive director. He also writes great dialogue. I felt lucky to be asked back a second time.
How To Kill Monsters and Punch made their big debuts at the renowned London, UK festival - FrightFest. What was the reaction like and where and when can fans expect to see How to Kill Monsters and Punch?
They were both packed out screenings – How ToKill Monsters was sold out and was the highest selling film in terms of individual tickets of the entire festival! There was so much warmth, applause and laughter in the room; it was really special to share that with everyone.
What fascinates you the most about the horror movie genre?
Being afraid taps into something very primal in all of us. Horror is also the most versatile genre of all; the three films I appear in this month are all so tonally different; Dracula is a period piece, How To Kill Monsters is a rollicking comedy, and Punch depicts an insular community with various social issues in a deprived part of the UK. But they’re all horror!
Acting-wise, who inspires you?
Kenneth Branagh; he came from Northern Ireland to England at a young age just like me and became one of the best Shakespearean actors of his generation.
Final - SILLY! - Question: Favorite horror film - Rosemary’s Baby, It Follows, The Lady In White, Robert Wise’s The Haunting, Willow Creek or The Blair Witch Project?
The Haunting; it’s one of those classic archetypal horror movies, and much of it was shot near my house!
Ryan Ali
We’re very happy to be speaking today with actor Ryan Ali. Before we dive in, how has your 2023 been?
Thank you, I’m happy to be speaking with you! This past year has been one of the most enriching years of my life. With two of my biggest projects to date and a fresh move to Los Angeles, California, I’d say it’s been a good year!
Congratulations on your character’s return in the upcoming season 2 of the wildly popular series SkyMed! For anyone late to the party, can you explain what SkyMed is all about and how your character of Reese fits in?
Thank you so much, it’s been such an amazing experience. Skymed is a Paramount+ and CBC television series that follows the lives of nurses and pilots flying air ambulances. So think high-stakes medical drama, but up in the air! What makes it different from other medical shows is we tend to follow the patients’ journeys from the scene of the accident to the hospital as opposed to seeing what happens beyond that point.
My character Reese is a young pilot, fresh out of flight school, who was introduced at the end of Season 1. Being new to the team, he starts as a ground-crew member at the airport until a pilot position opens up. But Reese’s goal is definitely to join his fellow Skymed pilots as a flying crew member.
Did you know as soon as you were approached to be a part of this series that you wanted to be a part of SkyMed?
When I filmed my audition for Reese, what really stood out to me was how emotionally invested I was in this character. It was a quick turnaround as I had less than 24 hours to prepare for my audition, but I immediately felt connected to him. He was also bringing this confidence out of me that I really wanted to lean into.
I was so thrilled when I heard that they wanted me to join the cast, and even more thrilled when I was brought back for a second season!
What’s it like working alongside the cast for the show?
I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful cast to be surrounded by on my first series. They were all so welcoming to me even back when I thought I was there just for that one episode in Season 1. And on top of that, they are all incredibly talented and show up every day with the utmost professionalism.
After it was announced that I would be coming back as a Series Regular for Season 2, they all reached out to me and made it so special. I’m truly grateful to be working alongside such a caring and generous cast and would work with them again any chance I get.
Can you give fans of SkyMed a hint or three as to what they can look forward to in season 2 of the series?
Oh boy, where do I even start! I think the really cool thing this season is, after growing to love these characters in Season 1, they are each put in new situations that allow us to see different sides of them that we didn’t know were there before. Beyond that, expect the unexpected.
How has your character of Reese changed since the first season of SkyMed? How is he still the same?
Last season, the audience and the other crew members on the show only got a brief taste of what Reese is all about. And it was quite spicy.
So heading into this season, it felt really exciting to dive deeper and really show who Reese is and what he’s all about. Our showrunner and creator Julie Puckrin did such an amazing job writing this character, and I got to lean into that and show different sides of his personality throughout the season. At his core, he is just a committed crew member that wants to be the best pilot he can be. But fear not, spice is definitely still on the menu.
As an actor, what sort of challenges do you face when portraying a recurring character such as Reese in an ongoing series?
How do you keep it fresh for both yourself and for the audience? This was definitely new and exciting territory for me. With a character like Reese, it felt fun to start at such an early stage in his career, from being a groundcrew member, because it feels like he has so much room to grow! So one thing I really wanted to commit to is making sure there was always room to go further, and therefore take smaller steps when acting rather than just giving everything up right away. That way it stays fresh for both me and for the audience. Who inspires you acting-wise?
I’m very inspired by Ryan Gosling. He always excites me with his choices and his characters and I aspire to show that versatility and unpredictability in my career. I also look up to someone like Rami Malek who, like me, is of Arab heritage, and yet always surprises us with the range and depth of characters he’s able to portray. I also gravitate towards actors my age with a lot of groundedness and sensibility, so Timothée Chalamet and Paul Mescal definitely come to mind.
Your first credited on-screen work came in the form of the 2014 television miniseries Ascension. Any special memories of that freshman production?
That was my first time on a film set of that scale. They had built the actual interior of a massive spaceship inside a studio. MASSIVE. Nothing could’ve prepared me for that and I was so blown-away by the magic of filmmaking, yet again.
That role was also the first time I had to choose between engineering and acting. I was studying civil engineering at the time, and I had a final exam that was scheduled at the same time as this role. I ended up skipping my exam to film on that show and I have never regretted that decision.
What can you tell us about your other project Queen Tut?
Queen Tut is my first Lead role in a feature film, which feels like such an important milestone in my career. It’s a coming-of-age story about this young Egyptian man who, after the passing of his mother in Cairo, moves to Toronto to live with his father and discovers the drag scene there. And yes, I am Queen Tut in it!
The movie was filmed last year before Season 2 of Skymed. What really excites me is that these two characters, Queen Tut and Reese, are so completely different. You have Queen Tut who’s this young newcomer finding his place in a community, and you have Reese who’s this fully realized, confident young man who knows exactly what he wants and gets after it. As an actor who aspires to show versatility and a range of characters, it feels so great to be able to do that at this stage in my career.
Queen Tut will have its World Premiere at the 2023 Reeling Chicago Festival on September 25th.
Triple Charm
Host of the Month
We’re excited to be speaking today with multi-hyphenate singing/ dancing trio Triple Charm; greetings and salutations, gang! Before we dive down the proverbial Q&A rabbit hole, could each of you say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our reading audience?
Hi everyone we’re Triple Charm! We are three sisters who sing, dance, write music, and create content together on social media. I’m Amalia. I am the oldest sister and member of Triple Charm! I’ve been performing since before I could walk. I started dancing at two and singing at six years old! Hi I’m Raena, the middle sister and member of Triple Charm! I started doing competitive dance at age four. In 2018, after years of watching Amalia go to singing competitions and do vocal warm ups in the car, me and Gabriella decided to join in on the fun. Hi everyone, I’m Gabriella. I am the youngest sister and member of Triple Charm. We performed for the first time as a trio when I was only two years old. In 2019, we officially formed Triple Charm and have been writing music and creating content ever since!
Congratulations on all of the amazing new music – 2023 seems like the year Triple Charm will “Thrive”, so to speak! Gabriella, what can you tell fans reading this about all of the exciting new music Triple Charms has coming up?
We have a lot of exciting new music coming out this year that we can’t wait to share with the world! Without giving away too much, you can expect to see more stripped down, acoustic versions of songs that we put out. We are also excited to release music where you get a chance to hear us sing like we haven’t shown our audience before. And of course, our music will definitely make you want to get up and dance!
Raena, how is all of this new music coming out from Triple Charms in 2023 different from any other musical offerings from other artists on the music landscape?
Our music in 2023 is going to be very upbeat and danceable, as always.
We also love creating sounds that are unique and don’t sound like every other song on the charts. We aren’t boxed into anything. We enjoy blending genres and keeping our music fresh.
Amalia, who are you and the other members of Triple Charm working with in the studio producing-wise, and what does that collaboration between producer and artists look like in the studio?
For our current and past three singles, we’ve been working with Latin Grammy winning producer Andrø Pop. Collaborating with him has been such an amazing process, and he has really been instrumental in helping us develop as writers. Because we are based out of different states, we do virtual sessions. Over Zoom, we will write a whole song from start to finish. The songwriting process is really different than it would be in person. We all create a document of any lyrics we come up with and Andrø will share his screen with the production project opened up.
Gabriella, how is the new music from Triple Charm similar to some of the group’s past efforts such as Don’t Need a Reason? How is it different?
Something that is consistent through all our music is that it’s pop and upbeat. With each of our songs, we like to explore different sub genres. We have done this with each of our songs so far, and we’re going to keep writing new music to see what our audience gravitates towards and what we enjoy most. For example, “Don’t need a reason” has a Latin twist while “Thrive” has more of doo-wop sound.
Raena, what do you hope listeners walk away with after checking out Triple Charms newest music?
I hope listeners walk away feeling like our music keeps getting better and better! At the core of all of our songs is a strong message, and I want listeners to feel like they have something to take away from each one.
Amalia, as singers and songwriters which comes first typically for the group when composing new music – The lyrics or the music?
Typically, when we are working on a new song, the first thing we come up with is the concept or overall message we want to convey. After that, we’ll get with our producer and come up with some ideas for a track. The girls and I like to write a track, because the vibe of the instrumentation can really change up how we want the message to come across lyrically. Once we get the general groove of the song, then we’ll start writing lyrics and creating a melody.
Gabriella, can fans reading this look forward to checking Triple Charm out on the touring circuit in the coming weeks and months?
Touring is a big goal of ours and something we look forward to doing in the future. At the moment we don’t have any dates we can give, but definitely keep an eye out for some pop-up shows in 2023.
A question for all of you: Musically, who inspires you?
Gabriella: With each song comes a different musical inspiration, but one person that I love and am inspired by is Miley Cyrus. Amalia: I have so many different musical inspirations. Meghan Trainor is a big one, because she started writing music at a young age and also produces her own music. I have also started getting into music production, and took a class at Berklee College of Music for it, so she is someone I am very inspired by. Raena: I’m inspired by Taylor Swift’s crafty songwriting and storytelling as well as her incredibly catchy melodies.
Raena, what’s it like working alongside your two sisters to create music and bring it out to the masses?
It’s such a blast getting to make music with my sisters! It started out as just us, but now there’s a growing audience listening to our music, which makes us so happy! I’m so thankful we get to do what we love, together.
Amalia, how much of a boon has social media been to getting the word out about Triple Charm?
Social media has been instrumental in helping us build an audience for our
music. We’ve been able to build a platform of over 6 million followers, and create a community of people from all different countries and walks of life. It is amazing the amount of people you can reach through social media. It has given us the chance to share our music, and reach a point that wouldn’t have been possible as independent artists without it.
Gabriella, we’re tremendous fans of the tune Thrive! What’s the VH1Behind the Music story on how this particular tune came into being?
We initially wrote “Thrive” as a letter to our younger selves about what we would’ve wanted to hear when we decided to go after Triple Charm full-time. It’s a reminder to commit to yourself and your goals to reach your full potential because you deserve to “Thrive.” Before our writing session for this song, Amalia had written a few lines in her notes app, one of them being “Baby, we’re alive.” When we went into the session, we started with a rough track and wrote around that. We all really liked that line that Amalia came up with and started the chorus based on it. The word “thrive” was thrown out as we were first trying to figure out the rest of the hook, and we knew immediately we wanted to base the song around it. It represents the ultimate feeling of living life to the fullest. We wrote the chorus, and then started to create the story arc for the verses. The rest of the song fell into place fairly quickly. We wanted to show our audience a different side of us, which is that we play instruments. With this song, we wanted to dive more into our abilities to play and use the piano. The piano also represents the story visually as well, in the beginning and end of the music video.
Final – SILLY! - Question (for all of you): When and where were you the happiest?
Gabriella: I would say that I’m the happiest when I take in the small, simple things in life. I love when I can just sit outside in the sun, listen to the birds chirp, and watch everyone go on with their day while I’m still. Raena: There was one moment when we were in the Bahamas, floating in the clear water on the beach. It was pure bliss; I took a mental picture so I wouldn’t forget it. Amalia: One of my core memories was going on a trip to New Orleans. It was for a dance competition and me, Raena, Gabriella, and one of my best friends all went. We had the best time together. We danced, explored, and stayed up having late night talks in the hotel room. It was such a fun experience and one I will never forget.
Ren Martinez
We’re super-excited to be speaking today with acclaimed singer-songwriter and actress Ren Martinez; greetings and salutations, Ren! Before we mosey down the proverbial Q&A musical pathway, how has the summer of ‘23 been treating you?
Thank you thank you!! This summer has basically been about shedding all distractions and lightening my obligations so that I can finish my record, and it’s working—we’re in final mix revisions as I type this, just about ready to submit to mastering. This was honestly how I dreamed of spending my summer, so I am thrilled.
Major congratulations on your upcoming new record! Can you give our ever-inquisitive readers a hint or three as to what they can expect with this forthcoming release?
For this record, my first full-length, I knew I wanted to pay tribute to all of my most important musical influences—and there are a lot of them!! I’m someone who loves to perform in all different genres, and loves to write in different genres too, and sometimes
that can get you in trouble in the industry. I remember I once had a record label executive tell me, after playing him two songs, that he wouldn’t know how to market me because the first song was a dancey pop song and the second was a ballad. Yikes! As a completely independent artist, I knew that I needed to take advantage of the opportunity to have complete creative control over my debut album, so I really wanted to flex all my songwriting muscles. There are mostly pop and rock influences, but there are also flavors of country, grunge, emo, and hip hop. I love when artists explore a lot of different sounds in one record, a great example of that is Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains of Wayne, which is one of my all-time favorites. This record gets to be all mine, and I wanted to put all of myself in it, without feeling like I’m too much or like I need to squeeze into a neat and tidy package. My songwriting, my voice, my emotional life is the current running through it and tying everything together.
How is the upcoming album similar to some of your past
music releases such as Good Girl? How is it different?
I think that you’ll be able to see some growth in terms of the production and songwriting. I learned a lot in writing and recording my first EPs, and while I’m really proud of my earlier releases, I think there’s a slightly higher degree of finesse here—I know what I’m doing a little bit more! Making full length albums has always been my goal, and I do feel like I get to express myself more completely here than I ever have before. But my whole heart has always been in everything I do, Where I Am Wild, Good Girl, and this newest work. In that way, it feels like I’m building out my catalogue.
For the new album you’ve collaborated with the ever-amazing producer Brian Robert Jones. What was the collaboration process like between the two of you for this new music?
Brian has produced all of the music I’ve released thus far— we’ve known each other since I was 17, when we started as freshman in USC’s Popular Music Performance Program. It’s been the most important musical collaboration of my life, and I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together and the way we got to grow together as producer and artist—it’s really poignant. Brian is, to put it simply, a genius. These are my songs, but he imbues them with a huge amount of magic that only he could bring to them. I have been incredibly lucky to get to spend my young adulthood working with him. We’ve both worked so hard on this for so long, and I think we’re both going to be able to take a big breath out when it finally gets to be heard.
For anyone not in the know, how would you describe your musical style?
I make pop/rock music with a true songwriter’s heart. I’m so comforted by that “Pop/Rock” genre with the little slash in the middle—it reminds me of sifting through CD’s at Amoeba music or buying albums on iTunes. My music is hooky and smart, and very very emotional. I’m trying to get everything down to its most beautiful core, trying to find the moment where you feel a real twinge of your heartstrings, true recognition. For me, all my favorite music is really about storytelling, and that’s what I feel like I am—a storyteller.
With an upcoming album set to hit the music scene, what are your touring/performing plans looking like?
I’m going to have shows to celebrate single releases, and a larger album release show. I’ll be playing at home in LA, but hope to be able to get on the road soon and perform in different cities.
Who inspires you musically?
My two favorite artists are Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell. They’re like mom and dad to me. My parents laid that foundation for me, and I am so so grateful to them. But I’m inspired by so many artists, across genre and decade: Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Fountains of Wayne, Kacey Musgraves, Robyn, Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Smith, SZA, Bon Iver, Adele, Death Cab, Lauryn Hill — could go on and on and on.
Along with being a fantastic musical artist, you’re also an accomplished actress. As an actress/musician are you always
keeping an eye out for a role in a film which combines those two loves?
I mean…that’s the absolute dream! Any time rumors float around about a new biopic of a female singer with huge hair I am on the alert!! But truly, I would love nothing more than to get to sing for a role. Hair doesn’t need to align. Is there anything better than a music movie?? I think no.
How instrumental were your parents in inspiring your dual love of acting and music?
I think it’s something that was definitely passed down. It’s in my bones. My parents both sing, and my dad is an actor as well, my brother is an incredible singer and piano player and my sister is a lovely singer and actress. There was always so much music and warmth in our household, and my parents loved going to the movies. We didn’t have a ton of extra money, and it all went to the movie theater in Agoura Hills—I think I saw every movie that came out between like 1999 and 2005, no matter the rating! I still tease my parents for taking me to see that R-Rated Jack Nicholson movie About Schmidt in theaters when I was 9. There was some nude hot tub scene with him and Kathy Bates that was a formative memory for me, let me tell you. But it all really did just drive home this love of stories, of communal art, performing on stage and basically crying all the time. I’m easily moved. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
You recently exercised your considerable acting chops in a Sam Shepard play. Shepard was and is regarded as one of the premiere playwrights. How did you approach his material which can sometimes be a little tricky (i.e. see ‘Silent Tongue’)?
That play was actually preceded by a 3-month Sam Shepard workshop I did, which was much more in the realm of the avant-garde than any other theater I’d done before. A group of us from that workshop, including Darrell Larson, who actually worked with Sam, got together to put on Back Bog Beast Bait, one of his lesser-known plays, and we were certainly walking on some rarely-trodden ground. But I was led by Cecilia Fairchild, who is a brilliant playwright herself and also had a lot of experience with Shepard’s work, having directed and acted in Cowboy Mouth and Fool for Love. She’s become one of my best friends, and we’ve brought many of her pieces to life, and we’ll do so much more together. Sam’s work, as well as Cecilia’s, reminds me of how you experience art as an adolescent, like everything is fresh and thrilling and there are no rules and all is weird and raw and possible.
When all is said and done, what do you hope folks walk away with after giving many-a spin to your upcoming record?
I hope they feel seen in the honest moments, I hope they get carried away by the fantasies and feel catharsis for their pain. I hope I’ve created something that people can return to again and again, I hope this record can feel like a friend. I’m in this for the long haul, and I feel such a true kinship with anyone who’s on this road with me so early on in my journey. I hope we’ll walk together always.
Chris Stanley
We’re happy to be speaking today with LGBTQIA+ TikTok content creator Chris Stanley who is perhaps best known by his famed nom de plume. “StanChris”; greetings and salutations, Chris! Before we dive down the proverbial Q&A TikTok rabbit hole, how has the summer of 2023 been treating you?
2023 has been great for me so far. I spent a lot of time in Provincetown, went to 4 different pride festivals in the US, shot a short LGBTQ+ skate film, and even went to Amsterdam for pride!
Major congratulations on your wildly popular original TikTok videos which have spanned the gamut from deeply emotional and inspirational to downright fun, creative and bright! Starting from the top, can you talk with our ever-inquisitive readers about how these little audio/visual vignettes began life? What inspired you to walk this very unique and original path?
I started down this path when first of all, I decided to take a gap year from college. Then, covid happened. So I said, “yeah, I don’t really want to go to college right now.” Then I started looking for ways to make money online and got into video creation and livestreams which has evolved into the multiple forms of content I create now. Some of my videos took off and I thought, “wait, this has potential.”
When fashioning a new TikTok video, do you have a particular methodology on how you pick a topic as the subject, or is it a bit more free-wheeling and fancy-free than that?
More free-wheeling – I will scroll and find something that inspires me which I can change slightly and make it into my own semi-original idea. But a lot of videos are also just random ideas I will have, and I’ll think of it and then scribble the idea down in my notes when I’m at the gym or cooking dinner or before bed sometimes.
When crafting your videos, do you always have to take into account the unexpected as far as your on the street interview content?
The more unexpected the better when it comes to the street interviews. A lot of the time I will do an interview and then be able to tell after if it will go viral or not perform well based on a variety of factors. But the more unexpected and outrageous–the better.
Of all of your many TikTok videos, which stand out the most for you? Which are you the most proud of?
I had a series called “reasons to like chubby guys”. I would say various, usually slightly comedic but serious reasons why people should like chubby guys. And in the gay community, people usually only want muscles or skinny guys. So a lot of guys would say how the videos helped them with their confidence and liked that I was spreading the word that there’s more to life than abs. I would say this body positive series is definitely one I am proud of because I know it made a lot of gay men happy when they watched it.
No less of a world-class superstar than Madonna has caught hip to your original videos. How does it feel to not only grab the attention of someone of Madonna’s stature, but also in general millions of other people throughout the world?
It was crazy, I still remember the night she re-posted me. I was freaking out. It is crazy to think about how many people have seen my videos. Sometimes I wonder what other celebrities have watched a video of mine. The other day actually, I noticed Katy Perry commented on a video I made about Kylie Minogue’s 2023 summer bop “Padam”.
You’re a role model for many folks, including those in the underrepresented LGBTQIA+ community. How does this make you feel both personally and professionally?
It’s an honor to be honest. I never thought people would look up to me, but it is something I take very seriously. Professionally I feel like it’s something that I should strive for, and have partially achieved. Personally it feels a little overwhelming, and like people are constantly watching me to see what I’m going to do next. But that just makes me want to try harder to be a good role model and spread positivity about the LGBTQ+ community.
How do you go about educating heterosexual audiences who may want to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ culture?
Typically I will make videos with my family, or even my “straight friend” Calvin. I think it’s better for them to see scenarios and examples of LGBTQ+ culture when I’m not directly trying to teach them something. Like maybe I’m showing my family something, or teaching my straight friend gay slang– so they can sort of learn by watching us.
Looking ahead, do you have any plans on expanding your brand into the world of television and/or streaming? Or perhaps one day possibly writing a book?
I would love to make some sort of content for a streaming platform, and have already been tossing around some ideas, so definitely! As for a book, I hadn’t thought about it completely, but I do love to write… I think you might have just inspired me, I’ll remember to give a special thanks to “Vent’s Magazine” when I’m a NY times bestselling author ;).
Who inspires you?
There are plenty of artists, actors, and media that inspire me. Even my friends constantly inspire me to create newer and better things than before. To name a few: Troye Sivan, Tom Daley, Mark Miller, everyone involved with “Heartstopper”, Patricia Nell Warren: author of The Front Runner, Noah Schnapp, Art Bezrukavenko, 6arelyhuman, and many more.
You grew up in the beautiful state of New Hampshire. How do those roots inform you as an entertainer and a content creator?
Well I certainly love fall, that’s for sure. I think they help make me more creative because we have all four seasons unlike somewhere like Florida. So I can really get more creative with my content during each season. There was not much to do in my small town, so growing up my brothers and I and even my friends had to create our own entertainment. I think that is one of the best lessons I learned growing up that I now apply to being a content creator.
Thank you Vents Magazine!
VAYA
Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hello VENTS, pretty good, thank you:) Back in Toronto, happy to feel the flow of downtown:)))
What can you tell us about the title and meaning behind your most recent release?
BRUTAL is in shape with the emotions I have been through and the one I felt in the city from 2018. It is a door into an experimentation of sounds, instruments and feelings. No filter, no masks just « as you are ». And to be honest it is clearly a new path that I truly enjoy:)
How was the recording and writing process?
Writing was fast. Recording a little bit challenging but super interesting by the fact that the sound engineer added his own ideas. And it has been the same with the mix and master process so this piece is the image of a community.
Where did you guys find the inspiration for the song and lyrics?
Heaven? Or Limbo? Or both? :)))) Inspiration come to you when it decides to do so. Keep in mind that what we are living here down is a lovely theater perfectly put in place by something higher. We don’t control anything We are « playing » a kind of Reality))) and the best way to live it is to « Go with the flow ». So Inspiration belong to something we can not even imagine but feel blessed when it « hits » you by its flow and you have been chosen to express it. It is a kind of responsibility you have on your shoulder for the human being:)
Will you be hitting the road this year?
Nop. Japan was an amazing experience last year. We did a small Summer tour with the first album and we have a show in Town ( Toronto) in November for BRUTAL that will allow us to be connected again all together from Japan, to Europe to Canada. As touring is a lot of Energy and money:)))) This year and 2024 will be dedicated on studying new way to play some instruments:) and ground basics knowledge. Will see where this experience will drive me.
What else is happening next in your world?
SO, 2nd of November, show at El Mocambo, Toronto Exhibition about the music album BRUTAL through a new visual experience in November, Toronto downtown
And? Learn new stuff!!!! That’s the point to reach the next level;)
mssv (A.K.A. Main Steam Stop Valve)
Mike, who was the producer on Human Reaction and what did the collaboration between band and producer look like in the studio?
Chris Schlarb produced the album. He’s a total pro at helping the music sound its best.
Mike, on the heels of the September 1 release of Human Reaction, mssv is slated to hit the tour circuit again starting September 5 with the eagerly anticipated mssv Aki Tour 2023. Where all will the tour be playing and what sort of a show can fans look forward to from you and the guys?
We’re super-excited to be speaking today with the acclaimed rock band with an experimental bent like no other, mssv; greetings and salutations, gang! Before we dive into the proverbial Q&A mosh-pit, could you each say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-inquisitive readers?
My name is mike baggetta and I’m the guitarist and bandleader for mssv. I also write most of the music we Dom but I write all of it mind to be played by Stephen Hodges and Mike Watt.
Major congratulations on your upcoming freshlyminted album Human Reaction which is set to premiere this September 1! Mike, what was the inspiration behind this mssv sophomore studio album?
Well, I just kept writing more music for the band. We worked out all the new music during our 2022 Haru Tour and made the record mostly on May Day right after we finished the last gig
Speaking of BIG EGO Records: mike, what makes BIG EGO the perfect home for mssv and your music?
My friend Chris Schlarb runs BIG EGO Records and Studios and asked me if I’d like to make some recordings for him, so that was pretty much how it worked out.
This tour is 58 shows all over the US and we also play Canada for the first time in Toronto and Montreal. We’ll be playing all the music off the new record, some of our older songs, as well as brand new music that we’ll be recording right after this tour is over too.
A question for all of you: Who inspires you musically?
Too many to mention, but lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Sun Ra, Wipers, King Sunny Ade, Townes van Zandt, Elmore James and D’Gary
Mike, can you share with readers the VH1Behind the Music origin story on how mssv came together as the incredible band we hear today?
mssv came together during the Wall of Flowers tour for the same record back in 2019. Halfway through that tour we decided that I should try to write some music specifically for that band, and so I did and we ended up recording our first studio album Main Steam Stop Valve that came out in 2020.
Final - SILLY! - Question (for all of you): Favorite movie about the music scene - American Hot Wax, Almost Famous,La Bamba, That Thing You Do, Oliver Stone’s The Doors or Walk the Line?
I’ve never seen any of those movies.
Jonathan Sposato
We’re excited to be speaking today with acclaimed Late Night TV Show host Jonathan Sposato; greetings and salutations, Jonathan! Before we dive down the proverbial ‘Larry Sanders’ Q&A rabbit hole, how has the summer of ‘23 been treating you?
I’ve had the best summer ever! JoySauce is doing just phenomenal and we’re on the cusp of some even bigger things that impact our ability to reach millions of households every night. On a more personal side I went to Africa for the first time and there is something amazing about being right in the midst of the cradle of mankind, that is both humbling and super inspiring. The African people are inspiring in the way they live and take care of family.
Major congratulations on the freshly-minted launch of your brilliant new media platform JoySauce Network and the talk show JoySauce Late Night! Starting from the top, what inspired you to launch the JoySauce Network?
Growing up I felt like I always needed to, on occasion, see faces that looked like mine. There was a huge vacuum of AANHPI faces post death of Bruce Lee and before the current awareness where there really was nobody, besides one or two isolated examples. Often these examples were not flattering and a source of pain. It sounds silly but I would sometimes see more mainstream actors like Johnny Depp on the original 21 Jump Street, or Keanu Reeves in Bill & Ted, or Dean Cain in Superman & Lois, and remark; “hey, is that guy…Asian?” I guess things were so bad that I would take any form of it. In more recent times I still felt the same, and while there are more stories about AAPI experiences, I still felt there was an opportunity to focus on what I call an “American Asian” experience like the one that I and my friends grew up with. It’s hard to explain but for those of us born and raised here (perhaps second or third generation), we identify a little differently than folks who are more recent immigrants. And while inter-generational trauma is a real thing, we tend to be more drawn to uplifting, inspiring, and more lighthearted fare and that is what JoySauce is more centered on.
With the welcome advent of JoySauce Network, why do you feel it has taken as long as it has prior to your launch to shine a good and proper spotlight on the AAPI community?
I have an answer that sounds like I am trying to be flip but there is a lot of truth to it, which is; “it’s because we’re all too busy being doctors and lawyers!” I think when you are underrepresenting yourself as media execs or writers or film directors, the consequences are that our stories are not told. There have been some amazing noble efforts in the past, but critical mass requires a consistent and sustainable quorum of like minded folks all working TOGETHER to make it happen, and that is what JoySauce stands for as a platform. Let’s make it both an ethos and a foci for people to congregate around.
For anyone tuning in to the JoySauce Network for the very first time, what can they expect as far as programming goes?
I think famous AAHHPI writer and sex advice expert Anna Lee said it best; “JoySauce breaks all molds of Asian American media. They focus on celebrating the parts of Asian American narratives that we don’t shine the light on nearly enough: the silliness, quirkiness, and most importantly, the joy in our stories… something that is so near and dear to my heart as some who grew up in a culture where we weren’t allowed to see ourselves in that light. I really believe JoySauce is changing how we and the future generations of Asian Americans see ourselves in media. I’m so grateful to be a part of it!”
And speaking of programming, major kudos on the talk show JoySauce Late Night! What sort of things and people inspired this new and fun talk show?
THANK YOU! I would say 2 distinct things inspired JoySauce Late Night. One is that the late night talk show is arguably the last bastion of traditional white media. It has always been created by, hosted by, and targeted to a majority white audience and it’s worked really well. I thought if JoySauce was a ‘parallel universe’ of talented, funny, beautiful, and strong American Asians, what would happen if we took this format and refactored it with ALL AANHPI faces?? Sounds super simple but the IMPACT of it on those watching is quite emotional and uplifting. We’ve had many viewers tell us they feel like they’ve finally arrived!
Second, my own career as Chairman and co-founder of GeekWire has normalized me to being on stage often, asking provocative questions of various CEO’s, celebrities, etc. I have always wanted to try a more variety show format where we let our hair down a bit and in doing so, inspire others to show their full selves to the world. Let’s not always hide behind our professional masks. What’s more interesting and ultimately humanizing is to bring the full beautiful spectrum of our humanity to the forefront!
Who have you had on as guests on JoySauce Late Night so far and, looking ahead, which guests do you have lined up for future episodes?
We’ve had amazing musical artists like Hollis (or Hollis Wong Ware) as well as hit Fox TV Show Producer/Writer Miranda Kwok, NASA Shuttle astronaut and 3 time Space Station member Ed Lu, Founder of #VeryAsian movement Michelle Li, XBox Creative Director Kiki Wolfkill… among many others. Coming up we will have America’s premier playwright and film producer David Henry Hwang, the most visible Asian American on nightly TV Nancy Yoon, former People and Us Magazine Editor in Chief Janice Min, and many others!
Congratulations are also very much in order for the Silver Telly Award which you just took home for JoySauce Late Night! Does this distinguished award feel like a sort of validation for all of your efforts in recognizing a usually overlooked community in Hollywood?
Again THANK YOU! Yes, it does. The Silver Telly, being nominated for best of web by GLAAD.org, and being named ‘Our Favorite Things’ by the Center for Asian American Media are all things we are humbled by, but also deeply inspired by as it does mean that we are on to something. We don’t think we are perfect and I as a CEO/founder will always see my own mistakes and failures very clearly, but getting these kinds of kudo’s on occasion fuels us to make more! I will take a moment to also say that getting acknowledgment like this means we’re working TOGETHER to row in the same direction. Often times I feel like we work in isolation too much and we need to change that.
Projecting ahead, where do you see the JoySauce Network in five years? What about in ten years?
Projecting ahead in five years, I see JoySauce Network as THE top AANHPI platform in the country, where we not only uplift and amplify the work of so many storytellers out there, but we also change for the better the national conversation about and around American Asians. This will be done via web, streaming TV, podcasts, radio, and other media… We’re certainly
not a monolithic entity and even the diversity within us is beautiful and amazing. We hope to continue to shine the light on previously marginalized groups within us and tell their inspiring stories as well. We will also do so in our own uniquely delightful and fun ways. Humor, love, and joy always win. You build bridges with positivity, not the opposite.
What do you feel distinguishes the JoySauce Network from the myriad of other networks out there? What’s the one thing that you feel will keep people coming back for more?
Great question. Several key things here; I think our unique editorial POV is one. We are always finding the more delightful and fun angle on the AANHPI experience. It’s not interesting to focus on conventional success. I almost consider that “V1 Asian.” It’s important for us to get a leg up and get established. What JoySauce is more interested in is what happens after that, how are we growing, expanding, experimenting, and challenging ourselves and others? So JoySauce Network will always focus on creating a parallel universe where portrayals of American Asians are always flattering, strong, beautiful, surprising, funny, and nuanced.
Second, we lead the conversations, not follow. It’s a goal of ours to not follow the prevailing trending topic of the day, or to accommodate the ‘calling out’ that often happens in editorial spaces for underrepresented communities. That work IS very important but there are plenty of other folks doing a great job of that, so we strive to differentiate by creating new conversations and more importantly, be solution oriented.
You’re counted as being a visionary entrepreneur. Has that talent and skill given you a leg up when it comes to successfully launching the JoySauce Network?
The more I know the more I realize I am not that good! I think the one singular thing that has persisted throughout my entrepreneurial journey is knowing when to stretch far beyond your comfort zone. It would have been very easy to just create a news site for AANHPI’s, or a single show about our history, or any derivation of things I’ve done before. But we have been clear eye-ed and committed to our level of ambition and I honestly feel nothing great happens until you do that. So that’s what has helped.
Outside of JoySauce Network and independent of your own efforts, what else would you like to see in regards to proper representation for the AAPI Community?
Haha, I would love to see more ‘mediocrity.’ More accurately I would love to see more AANHPI stories that are NOT requiring exceptionalism, where either someone is a martial arts expert, imbued with ancient mystical powers, or is ineffably exotic… I would love to see our real true and beautiful selves reflected more. When there is an American Asian ‘Tom Hanks’ or ‘Amy Schumer’, reasonably ‘average’ folks who are allowed to enter into ANY space (action, standup, drama, rom-com, etc..), then we’ve truly arrived. In addition, let’s not as a group always take ourselves so seriously. Yes narratives about intergenerational trauma need to be told, but let’s see if we can create more space and move forward, and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it!
Nick Matthews
We’re excited to be speaking today with acclaimed cinematographer and all around nice guy, Nick Matthews; greetings and salutations, Nick! Before we dive into the celluloid Q&A rabbit hole, how has the pretty tumultuous summer of ‘23 been treating you?
Thanks for all your kind words! Right before the summer, I wrapped SAW X and jumped onto another movie–LD Entertainment’s Bone Lake–in Georgia with my good friend and director Mercedes Bryce Morgan. This was our second collaboration together and a genuine joy to expand our visual language and friendship with a larger production. Since then, the summer’s been a chance to reconnect with the people I
love and missed while I was away from home, and it’s afforded me the opportunity to hike up in the Redwoods and some of the great peaks of Southern California.
Major congratulations on the freshly-minted new film Mob Land which just premiered on VOD August 25! For anyone not yet in the know, can you describe what Mob Land is all about?
Mob Land is a brutal southern neo-noir that follows a desperate small town drag racer (Shiloh Fernandez) who robs a pill mill. Things turn violent, setting off a chain reaction that leads to a New Orleans mob-enforcer (Stephen Dorff) coming to town to clean up. All while the town’s
ailing Sheriff Bodie (John Travolta) tries to find those responsible and protect those he loves.
Did you know as soon as Mob Landentered into your professional orbit that this was a production you wanted to be a part of?
Nicholas Maggio and I connected on Instagram. I found his work as a photographer intimidating. There’s a rustic grunge that felt like something straight out of the 70s. Once I met him, we clicked over stories, music, and our backgrounds (he’s also very fucking funny) which led to shooting some commercial campaigns together. We developed a common visual language and shorthand in that process. Mob Land was originally titled American Metal, and it was a script I read years ago. It felt like an immersive southern neo-noir. Something about it reminded me of Cormac McCarthy and Place Beyond the Pines, and Snowtown Murders….it was propulsive, character driven, and atmospheric. As someone raised in South Carolina and Kentucky–I felt honored to make this alongside him.
The writer and director of Mob Land is the very talented Nicholas Maggio who is making his feature film directorial debut with the movie. What was your collaboration process like with Nicholas during the shooting of Mob Land?
Every great collaboration is built on mutual respect and trust. Nicholas is one of a kind–he’s adaptable, industrious, tenacious, fastidious, and funny. He’s got these tremendous visual ideas but is also someone that gives me complete creative freedom. He’s someone I will go to bat for time and time again. Very few directors get these big names and make a film with such a strong voice–especially with their debut feature.
The entire process was a whirlwind. We landed in Georgia and were off to the races scouting locations, casting the film, hiring crew–all while listening to metal and hardcore. This was a 3 week pre-production and given that timeline, we devised a set of rules for our photography to guide us since so many of
the pieces were coming together quickly. Our shooting schedule was 14 days (11 principal and 3 splinter unit). We only achieved that by shooting 2 units at the same time for half the film and using 2 cameras for our main unit work, which was a new approach for me. A lot of the preproduction was spent figuring out how to creatively capture the set pieces, while staying on budget and schedule. You have to enlist great people and set them free to do great work.
You work with some amazing talent in Mob Land, including the likes of John Travolta, Shiloh Fernandez, Stephen Dorff, Kevin Dillon and Ashley Benson. What was this dream cast like to work with?
Movies like this come together quickly and we got really lucky. I love actors and feel honored I get to share an intimate creative space together.
Shiloh is very seasoned and had to carry this entire movie on his shoulders and stand against the likes of so many legends. He’s fearless, courageous, and kind in a way that makes everyday worth the exhaustion–we’re talking about mountains of dialogue and action that are being captured at breakneck speeds. Just unflinching. Truly impressive and with this can-do attitude that favored the success of the scene.
John Travolta is an absolute legend and came completely in character. I never had any interaction with him where he wasn’t fully committed to his character’s story and point of view. He really drew a crowd the days he was in town, and I respected that he went out to the fans and signed autographs and took photos to try and respect their time and effort in coming to see us make the film. He’s a legend for a reason.
Stephen Dorff is almost mythical as a person and persona. He exudes an intensity and dedication to the craft that is formidable. I loved it. He embodies the character in a way that asks everyone to bring their best work to
the table. He was always off-book and insistent on performing everything with as little artifice as possible.
Mob Land was shot in the beautiful state of Georgia, A.K.A. The Peach State! As a cinematographer, were you more than able to achieve the look you and Nicholas Maggio were aiming for?
Since Mob Land is set in Alabama, we were fortunate to shoot in Georgia and Alabama. I grew up going to both of these states and have such fond memories there. We couldn’t have gotten these images anywhere else–the lush greens, the unforgettable golden sunsets, the moving clouds, the giant humid landscapes. I remember seeing the first cut of the film shortly after shooting SAW X in Mexico City and feeling like I was completely transported by the locations of our film.
You have another big film set to premiere on September 29, Saw X. Going into this tenth chapter in the very popular Saw franchise, were you pretty excited to be part of this?
The original SAW was a film I was desperate to watch in highschool, despite growing up in a religious home where we weren’t allowed to go to
movie theaters. I finally convinced my dad to rent the film at Blockbuster. You can only imagine the level of depraved excitement I felt getting a chance to be a part of this beautiful and macabre story.
Saw X is ostensibly a horror film. Were there any specific films in that genre which inspired you as you were lensing this sequel?
Despite being a horror film, I drew from a well of inspiration. Of course, the earlier SAW films were an inspiration. Some of those films included Deep Red, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Se7en, Blade Runner, Don’t Breathe, Zodiac, Klute, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Snowtown Murders, and Lost River.
You have two other films in the pipeline: Black Veil and Bone Lake. What can you tell our ever-inquisitive readers about these intriguingsounding productions?
Black Veil is an exciting Southern Gothic horror anthology that was envisioned by Dan Myrick (writer/director Blair Witch Project). Dan is a delight of a human and a real visionary. It was a smaller, fast-paced production but we set out to make something that would terrify and
excite audiences. I’m not sure what the release schedule is for that, but I can’t wait for people to see what we made.
Bone Lake is Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s latest film, and our second collaboration together. I can’t say much about the film, but this erotic thriller is some of my most heightened and beautiful lighting I’ve crafted in my career thanks to a talented Georgia crew and great producers from LD Entertainment.
Your first credited film as a cinematographer was the 2009 short film In Loving Memory. Any special memories of that freshman production?
I remember shooting that film for director Benjamin Wilt on the old Red MX cameras–the ones that used to overheat and were these massive bricks to hold. It was my first production out of college and I was terrified of wasting someone else’s money. Most of the lighting was handled by gaffer Cole Pisano and myself–we were incredibly small. We shot with a lot of naturalism and a very handheld docu-style aesthetic. In a way there’s a lot of similarities from that first production to Mob Land–both
are very southern stories. I learned so much making that film and still cherish everything I learned. I could never have guessed where life would take me.
Final - SILLY! - Question: Favorite movie about the making of movies - Living In Oblivion, Ed Wood, The Player or Swimming With Sharks?
This is easy for me. Living in Oblivion for two reasons. First, I watched this film at a critical moment in my life. I’d just moved to LA and booked my first crazy feature JackRabbit 29. It was a hell of an experience and some of my closest collaborators were formed on that movie because of what an absolute terror the production was. We were working 6 day weeks and on one of our off days I watched it with my gaffer Cole Pisano and a few friends. No film more aptly shows the hilarity and absurdity of this craft like that film. And secondly, I had the joy of working with Steve Buscemi and Peter Dinklage as an Art PA on the indie film Pete Smalls is Dead–while I was still a student. They’re both as daunting and brilliant in person as they are on screen in that film.
Vera Bloom
We’re very happy to be speaking today with acclaimed rock artist extraordinaire, Vera Bloom; greetings and salutations, Vera! Before we meander down the proverbial Q&A pathway, how has the summer of ‘23 been treating you?
Hello! This summer is flying by and has been so busy but in the best way. Preparing for my EP release has been a lot of work but I’m beyond excited to share with everyone! In July, I made time to visit my family in the Pacific Northwest and the weather was perfect. I was lucky enough to ride motorcycles with my mom and some of her friends along the Cascades Scenic Highway and the scenery is just so epic and beautiful.
Congrats and major accolades on your forthcoming EP, It’s Me, which is set to make its debut this September 29! Starting from the top, what served as your inspiration for It’s Me?
Thank you!! My inspiration for It’s Me is the last few years, if I’m honest. This EP is a documentation of the pendulum of feelings involved in life: loneliness, loss, heartache, addiction, possessiveness, and self-love, empowerment, awareness, hope, and growth. I write from my personal experiences and feelings, so we’ve got a couple relationships that helped the writing, a global pandemic, and my own set of hormones!
For folks who are just now tuning in, how would you describe your style of music?
I always say I live under the umbrella of rock music. I let my songs come out as they wish because that’s what keeps them real to me. Everything is intertwined in the songwriting process. When I’m pissed off, it’ll probably be a punk song. When I’m sad first and then pissed, it’ll probably start off slow and melodic and then I’ll be screaming on the chorus. So yeah, I call myself alternative/grunge/punk.
Just a little over a month before the debut of the new EPAugust 22 to be exact – released a new single called “Eyes On You.” Can you talk about how this gem came about?
Yesss! “Eyes On You” is my dance song. I started writing this one on the bass guitar, which is a little different for me but I loved the result. I wanted to explore the parts of me that desire sex and “naughty” feelings so I think it gave it the right “sauce” haha. It’s fun, sexy, and a bit possessive but also carefree.
Who was your producer on the “Eyes On You” single and the It’s Me EP and what did the collaboration between artist and producer look like in the studio?
So, I don’t really work with producers. Not yet, at least. On “Eyes On You,” the lead guitarist, Jacob Carey, really helped shape this song with his guitar riffs and that amazing guitar solo. He and I made a little demo of the song in his studio and co-produced there for sure. I named him as a co-producer as well as the recording engineer, Jeremy Ferguson of BattleTapes. Once the song is recorded live, we kind of bounce ideas off each other during overdubs for vocals and guitar.
Were you involved creatively behind the scenes on the music video for “Eyes On You”?
100%!! Making DIY music videos is kind of “one of my
things.” Aside from getting the footage of me performing the song with the band (Jacob, lead guitarist filmed that), I made the whole video. I love making them and feel like I’m getting better and better. I hope!
You hail from Washington state and are now based out of Nashville, TN. How do those roots inform you as an artist and as a person?
Honestly, I do not know hahaha. It just does! I feel like West Coast-ness (especially the Pacific Northwest) is just stuck in your veins. I’m not mad about it but I cannot explain it. I harness a bit of melancholy by nature and I credit that for writing beautiful melody and introspective lyrics. I think the PNW is very melancholic but also very mysterious. It’s wild and calm, sweet and salty, and a place where all you want to do is inhale that air. That’s what it feels like, a bundle of all of those things so I think that’s what seeps out through my songwriting and singing. Maybe that’s why I’m natured to be “grungy,” I definitely was not aiming for that title but it found me!
What does your touring/performing dance card look like in the coming weeks and months?
I’m throwing a party for my release! September 28th and you’re invited!! It’s here in Nashville at The Vinyl Lounge, which is the venue attached to The Vinyl Lab where I pressed the vinyl for the EP! In October I have a string of regional dates supporting the release in Birmingham, Atlanta, Memphis and more.
You’re a proficient guitar player and that’s never been clearer than in the brilliant guitar solo on “Eyes On You.” Who has inspired your guitar playing over the years?
I am flattered but that solo is not mine! I played solos on my first EP, but on this EP and on the single you are hearing mister Jacob Carey. He’s so talented and doesn’t realize it (talk about a gem). I do love playing guitar and am diving back in to playing more lead parts. I grew up jamming the blues with my dad so he’s definitely the one that introduced me to guitar, but my favorite guitarists are David Gilmour for his melodic solos and leads, Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner for their edgy af playing, and Joan Jett, too. She’s my idol.
What differentiates “Eyes On You” and the It’s Me EP from the distinguished competition on the 2023 music scene?
It’s straight up rock and roll and there’s a flavor for everyone. Brandi Carlile once said somewhere that rock and roll isn’t a sound, it’s an energy and I am a full believer in this. I’m not an artist that writes songs to create a sound, I write songs and then fill them up with my chosen energy (distortion via guitars and vocals haha). There’s the energy but before that there’s the song. I hope my lyrics and melodies resonate with the listener through these recordings. We recorded them as live as possible to preserve that energy you get at a live show.
At the end of the day, what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving all of your amazing upcoming music many-a spin on their hi-fi systems?
On a deeper level, I want the listener to feel something within themselves about their own life and be able to sit with that and grow from it. On a more superficial level, I want them to move a little and rock out to the music and say “hell yeah.” On the surface, I want them to have just found their next favorite artist and catch me at a show.
Indi Star
We’re excited to be talking today with acclaimed actress, singer, dancer, model, and content creator Indi Star; greetings and salutations, Indi! Before we dive into the Q&A mosh-pit, how has the summer of z‘23 been treating you?
Thank you so much for having me! Summer 23’ has been treating me well! I have been crazy busy but crazy busy in a good way. With the SAG and writers strike, it has been slow on the acting side, but I just signed on with a new digital and music manager and they are amazing to work with and they are keeping me busy!
Major congratulations on your upcoming new single Hurt A Little which is set to premiere this September 15! What was the inspiration behind this gem of a tune?
Thank you! My new single, “Hurt A Little” dives into the feelings of an ended relationship and wondering why the other person doesn’t seem fazed by the emotional event it should be. It is about wanting the other person to be as hurt as you are so at least you know that the relationship meant something to them as well.
Who was your producer on Hurt A Little and what did the collaboration between artist and producer look like in the studio?
My producer for Hurt A Little was JENGA Studios. I have worked with them for the last 5-6 years on all my music projects. We have worked together for so long that we have an easy chemistry together and we know what to expect from each other.
How is Hurt A Little similar to some of your past music such as Afterglow and Exposed? How is it different?
I feel like there is some similarity to my past releases, but I also feel like I am at the age where there will be a noticeable difference in my abilities and my maturity level. This release is probably my favorite song I have released to date, and I feel I am able to express a more mature viewpoint tackling such issues as heart break because I am more mature with each release. I feel I am able to express my feelings through the music more and I feel more satisfied with what I wanted to convey and how I feel the finished project sounds.
We absolutely love the music video for Hurt A Little! How involved were you in the behind-the-scenes production of the video?
I was absolutely involved in the behind-the-scenes production. I am very involved in all aspects of my music. I wrote the original treatment for the music video and worked with creative and the producer we chose for the project to craft a final treatment the entire team was happy about. Super excited to release the music video!
What differentiates Hurt A Little from the Distinguished Competition on the 2023 music scene?
With each new single I release, I become more of the artist I want be. I keep finding more of myself in each project and this allows me to share more of myself with the audience as time goes on. Every artist bares their soul when they share their art, and no artists soul is the same as another. I am striving to be very truthful in what I share, and I hope that that makes me distinguishable from anyone else.
On the heels of the September 15 release of the new single, can fans look forward to an EP or LP release from you in 2023 or 2024?
Yesss!!! I may release a few more singles depending on how things turn out, but I do have new music management and an EP, if not an LP is going to be a major milestone in my near future!
What does your touring/performing dance card look like in the wake of the release of Hurt A Little?
I do not have any performances planned as of now as I am in the middle of new music management, but I did perform a few times over the summer. I love performing live and I always have my eyes open for performance opportunities.
Who inspires you musically?
I have to say I am a huge Taylor Swift fan. I love her ability to tell a story with every song. I also love Gracie Abrams, Phoebe Bridgers and Lizzy McAlpine. I do listen to a lot of different music as well like folk rock, R&B, alternative 90’s and so much more. I really like all styles of music.
Along with being a talented musician, you’re also an accomplished actress. As an actress are you always keeping your eye out for a film or television project which can combine those two loves? Or would you rather keep them separate?
Obviously with the SAG and writers strike, there is not much going on in the acting world. I hope there is an agreement so we can all get back to work! There are actually a few projects that my theatrical manager has his eye on for me that do combine music and acting. I would love the opportunity to combine the two but at the same time, I am not ever going to limit myself to only musical acting projects.
At the end of the day, what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving many-a spin to Hurt A Little?
I hope that listeners walk away feeling that they are connected with the story I was telling and that they want to hear more of my stories! I want them to feel like a good friend just shared an emotional experience with them and that they can share that emotion with them. If the listener has been in a similar situation, I want them to feel that someone understands them.
Thank you so much VENTS Magazine for this opportunity to introduce myself to new people! If anyone wants to follow along on my journey, you can find me on social media at the links below:
Spotify: indistar.co/Spotify
Instagram: indistar.co/Instagram
TikTok: indistar.co/TikTok
Snapchat: indistar.co/Snapchat
YouTube: indistar.co/YouTube
Twitter (X): indistar.co/X
Facebook: Indistar.co/Facebook
Misery Lane
Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
We have been well. Taking names and kicking … Thanks for asking.
What can you tell us about the title and meaning behind your most recent release?
Our latest release is actually untitled. The cover artwork pertains to a song on the album “Red Balloon” but because of the artwork this album has been dubbed the “Red Balloon” album much like Metallica’s “Black Album”. The song “Red Balloon” comes from a poem I wrote for my wife. She’s a huge horror nerd and Stephen King fan and loves Pennywise the clown. I thought that since Pennywise can absorb the knowledge and emotions of his victims and has been around for millennia what if he fell in love. The poem I wrote my wife, of the same title, was from the perspective of Pennywise trying to tell someone from afar that he was in love and instead of giving roses he gives One…. Red…. Balloon. I turned the poem into a song with the chorus being how he handles rejection with a wicked breakdown in the middle.
How was the recording and writing process?
I’m going to introduce myself, so this makes more sense. I’m Ken the vocalist, lead guitarist, and main songwriter. I write all the music for all the instruments initially and send it to the band to see if its something they can work with then the members send back their parts for me to include in the recording. I also wrote all the lyrics on this album. Since studio time can be expensive, we paid for the software to be able to record, mix and master our own stuff so we aren’t pressured to just get something out and we can edit as many times as we want. I also have a small studio in my house to help with recording. Now I am no sound engineer by any means, but I do alright, and it allows us to continually put out music without continually coming out of pocket and feeling rushed. As for the writing, that is what I call “mood of the day”. LOL. Most of the time I have a riff in my
head, and I build on it. There have only been two songs that I had the lyrics before I had the music, and they are “Red Balloon” on the current album and “The Other Man” on the first album.
Where did you guys find the inspiration for the song and lyrics?
Our songs come from lived experience. All you have to do is open your eyes to the experience and life is full of inspiration both good and bad. Our music doesn’t have any hidden message, what you hear is what you get. Songs like Liar, Won’t Change My Life, and Wake Up, are about exactly what the title suggests. The selftitled song Misery Lane is about just that. At one point or another we have all taken a walk down Misery Lane and the song explores that. Where Did You Go was written after my fiancé died back in 2018 and Goodnight is about giving up. Plus, I’m happy to say that we don’t use a cookie cutter approach when it comes to music which is a trap, I think too many bands fall into. Every song is unique and different.
Will you be hitting the road this year?
The album was released in March of this year, and we have been doing shows to support it. Currently we are booked through October and are trying to decide if we want to keep playing or pause and work on the next album. I am always writing, and I already have three songs for the next one done and, in the box, so who knows what else the future might hold.
What else is happening next in your world?
Up next is our world tour with Slipknot and Metallica. LOL. I wish. Next for us is just continuing to write and play music and hope that people like what we come up with. Hopefully one of our songs will find its way in front of the right person and who knows maybe that dream tour might come true. For now its just staying true to the original idea of the band and that is to have fun, entertain and make music we love.
Thaao Penghlis
Iconic “Days of Our Lives” Actor Thaao Penghlis Shines a Light on Greek Poet Homer in Upcoming Podcast“Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures”
Thaao’ Penghlis’s Lost Treasure photo. Courtesy and copyright the Thaao Penghlis Collection.
I’m not sure what to expect as I sit down for my interview with acclaimed thespian, world traveler, author and celebrated host of some of Hollywood’s best dinner parties Thaao Penghlis. Most folks reading this will see Thaao’s name and automatically connect the dots which lead back to his most well-known role (dual roles actually), that of Count Tony DiMera and his look-alike impersonator Andre DiMera in the venerable soap opera Days of Our Lives. For over four-decades, this Australian virtuoso has dazzled and wowed audiences the world-over and has made the absolutely absurd and surreal seem absolutely believable and if that’s not acting then I’ll eat my old bruised and battered Irish fedora, Dear and Constant Reader.
But the one thing I was definitely not counting on during my hour-long conversation with Penghlis on a crystal clear Saturday afternoon was that he held yet another distinguished and oft-times overlooked moniker that’s every bit as important - if not more so - than that of an actor. You see, Thaao Penghlis also ranks as one of the best historians currently kicking in this vast and wild world. Don’t believe me? We think that a whole lot of folks will be in for a reassessment of just what Penghlis is capable of when they tune in on Tuesday, September 5th for the crackling podcast Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures.
A four-part tour de force excavation whose center stage is the mind and in turn the imagination, Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures will over the course of four episodes played out between September 5 and its concluding installment on October 17th clue listeners in to this de facto detective story which will - under the reassuring and guiding hand of host and writer Penghlis himself - explore the mystery-shrouded Greek poet, Homer, the author of two of the best and most epic poems ever committed to paper, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
I quickly learn as we exchange pleasantries that for the man who perfected and all-but patented the angry slap to his rugged mug in many-a episode of Days of Our Lives, the story of Lost Treasures is a personal one: Thaao Penghlis is, at the end of the day, a child of Greek immigrants. For him the poems of Homer are very immediate indeed and not resigned to a stuffy classroom. History is very much a living, breathing thing for this gentleman and - brothers and sistersdoes he ever have a tiger by its tail with his deep-dive into the choppy and murky waters of the dim past.
Want to know more? Get set for the September 5th premiere of Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures which will be made available through all the major podcast platforms - Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and probably a dozen other John-
ny-Come Latelies whom we’re neglecting to mention.
In the meantime, why not tide yourself over while you’re waiting by checking out our official Vents Interview with Thaao Penghlis!
Vents: We’re excited to be speaking today with Thaao Penghlis, a gentleman that many of you know for his historic four plus decade run on the soap opera Days of Our Lives; welcome to Vents Magazine, Thaao!
Thaao Penghlis: Thank you for having me, I’m pleased to talk with you this afternoon.
Vents: Starting from the tip-top Thaao, what can you tell our ever-inquisitive readers about your upcoming four-part podcast Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures? What inspired this particular production? Your love of history is very front and center, I must say.
Thaao Penghlis: You get to a certain age and you can look back. It’s like you’ve come to the point where the arc of your life has landed. And when you look back you’re able to hear and see and smell. All of those senses brought you this far, right? And part of the reason I was and am so interested in Homer’s The Odyssey and because it’s endured for centuries is because it is an amazing tale full of human experience. It’s really about the longing for Home and Family. Even the poem Ithaca which is really about the journey of the heart, is a poem that was written by a man named Cavafy. He was a Greek from Egypt. He was quite an extraordinary poet and shortly before Jacqueline Kennedy died, she had asked for his poem to be read at her funeral. When you look up the poem Ithaca and you see the translation and you hear the recording by Sean Connery it’s really haunting. It’s about all of us. It’s about how we start off in our lives and how we take a journey just like Ulysses took his journey and how and what you make of it by the experience and the obstacles that you face along the way. Some people can’t go beyond the obstacles because they’re afraid and they stay in places where they feel safe.
But I think for me the adventure of doing this podcast is because it took me to Turkey and I sat at the edges of those nine cities that were built over one another in a place called Hisarlik, which is also called Troy. I sat there and imagined the war which took place there around the 12th or 13th Century between the early Greeks and the people of Troy in western Anatolia. Then it became about, ‘How do we tell this story?’ In those days there were bards and they would be at cafes and they would play an instrument and tell the story of their heroes. It’s comparable to how we go to the movies and see stories about heroes, except at the end you leave feeling empty, there’s nothing to sustain. Those ancient
heroes however have remained for thousands of years because they contributed something.
Once I got into the story of Homer’s Iliad and The Odyssey and then went into the areas of what he wrote about, then I ended up with the genius of Athens… and after going through 60,000 pages of Heinrich Schliemann’s - who is the father of archeology - documents and diaries we really hit a stride. My third podcast in the series deals with the Trojan treasure and before that the second podcast deals with Schliemann’s excavations and discoveries…I went to Cephalonia to meet with a scholar and explorer by the name of John Crawshaw. I inquired and he kindly invited me to go there. I went for a trek up and down the mountain and he showed me new discoveries which reveal to us today that the Ithaca of yesterday is not the real Ithaca. The only reason they call it Ithaca is because between the 4th and 6th Century there was an earthquake that was so enormous that it brought a mountain down and it brought two highlands together to form one. And the island of Ithaca was lost. So now these British scholars just like Schliemann - a European scholar from Germany - went to other countries’ histories to unravel the myths. So they find out that Homer’s tales were not myths, that they were actually real…
Who knows? We tell stories about Hollywood gossip and within ten years the story usually changes tremendously from the original story. Some people will affect the attitude of, ‘Oh well, they’re just rocks.’ Well no, they’re not and that type of a statement tells me that they really lack an imagination to just dismiss how extraordinary these tales were.
So that’s how I developed the podcast: By walking these ancient roads and thinking one day, ‘Well, I have a life that has been well-lived, so why not talk about it and share the story?’
Vents: One of the things which stands out in those first three episodes are the audio effects which are sort of layered into the stories that you relate to listeners. Those effects really put you on the scene and call to mind the old radio shows from the 1930s and 1940s where using our imagination was key to the proceedings. Was the old time radio shows and the sound effects that they would achieve at all influential on your decision to add the audio effects for Lost Treasures?
Thaao Penghlis: As far as the sound effects go, my agent said “This should be a podcast” and he then proceeded to take this project on. It’s been over two years
Thaao Penghlis With Explorer John Crawshaw Argostoli Kefalonia. Courtesy and copyright the Thaao Penghlis Collection.now that I’ve been recording these. I mean I wrote them and then I slowly recorded them but I couldn’t write the third one until I actually went to Cephalonia to explore it.
In the days of radio before there was really any television and your ear had to be the key to your imagination, sound was everything. The music and the sound effects allow the imagination to soar, much the same way as many podcasts are set up today. So we found someone out of New York who added the sound effects and once I heard them (it was a very slow process) I was more than impressed. It’s funny: You do a project like this and many people just assume it shows up fully formed. But all of the time that is spent in the writing, the traveling and the recording of it and basically just putting a package together, it genuinely does take some time if done properly. But this effects man in New York who I’ve never met, in the third podcast when we talked about the great earthquake which took place between the 4th and 6th Century, when he put the sound effects in, I didn’t initially think they were big enough. I said, “You’ve got to imagine an entire mountain coming down and what that sound must have been like, as well as the sounds created by the tsunami which followed.” And I felt strongly too that we should have some music included, too, to give it its own theme. So that’s how it all came about. Yeah, it does make a difference. It makes you feel like you’re in something rather than just listening to a storyteller.
Vents: Among your many talents, you’re also an accomplished writer. Have you given any thought to releasing a companion book to go along with Lost Treasures?
Thaao Penghlis: What I did do, my writing partner originally was the head writer for Days of Our Lives, Sheri Anderson Thomas. She and I went to Troy together on that first trip. I went by myself on the other trips and I went through the documents on my own and brought the information back for the first draft of the podcast also in those subsequent journeys. So all of that homework was done and I thought ‘Well, it should be a script.’ And so we did it and then we both put it aside because we were so busy. She was busy writing the show and I was busy acting in it, of course. Just recently I gave it to an Australian director/producer and she read the script and she said, ‘You know, I love it. It needs a modern touch to it because of the way people see and hear things now. You know you can’t give a lot of people something too deep. They like simplicity.’ So I put myself in as a character who walks the ancient road and then we suddenly flash into what happened many years ago. But I love the idea, because it is what we’re talking about today. How do you go into an ancient piece of history and walk in it, sit in it and live in it for a bit and imagine the way things may have been? To me the podcast is about something positive. It’s about listening to our ancient past that gave us these amazing treasures and this amazing history and
how men with their limited tools were able to accomplish what they did. And we’re still uncovering those truths. That’s the great thing about archeology…
Vents: Lost Treasures is a quarter of episodes. Has there been any discussion about possibly extending that run for a second season? Do you feel that you may have more in you as far as continuing this adventure?
Thaao Penghlis: Yes. One of the beauties of doing a podcast is the writing. I never have to put on makeup (laughs). But yes, I’ve written a lot of short stories that I would like to record about the Turks and the occupation of Greece and what it did to the Greek character, which I’ve called “The Whispered Past.”
The fourth podcast which you’ve not heard really deals with some of the dangers I’ve had to overcome in my life: When they tried to kidnap me at the pyramids at night or when Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon pulled me out of my car and threw me against the wall because they thought I was an Israeli spy. Or when I went to Israel and Mossad pulled me aside from Customs and thought they recognized me from a Wanted List.
Vents: It all sounds right out of Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian. Such intrigue!
Thaao Penghlis: Yes. And how do you get out of it? That is by having experienced many things in your life or just simply by being an actor who can act out a danger and be smart enough to know and recognize the enemy before they strike. I don’t get scared easily, but I’ve had, even when they threw my passport at my face in Syria and spat at me at the airport because I was an American. They looked at my passport and they wanted to know what an American would want to do in Syria. I replied to them, “Study your history.” He retorted, “What history?” I told him it was to study the early days of their country which dealt with the Romans and the Greeks and the Christians. That history. People don’t understand their history. It’s like Egypt today. A lot of them are not really Egyptian. The real Egyptians if you look at history were black.
Vents: While you were on the trail of this elusive creature known as ‘history,’ did you ever reach a moment where it felt very immediate to you as a researcher? Did you ever become so immersed in your studies that Times Past almost felt like a tangible thing, almost as if you could open your front door, step out and find yourself face-to-face with these long gone times?
Thaao Penghlis: Of having been there before, perhaps?
Vents: Yes.
Thaao Penghlis: Yes, certainly in Egypt I have a number of times. One experience was where an elder statesman invited me to be the first person to enter a tomb which had been sealed for thousands of years. When I was the first person to walk in there after four thousand years, right away I turned to my guide and I said, “There’s something in the other room.” There were a number of rooms within the pyramid. “Can I go in there and meditate?Something is calling to me…” I was very heavy into meditation at that time. And I walked in and looked at the room. It was full of sand. I sat in the sand and I don’t know why, but in the middle of the meditation, both my left and right hand started digging. And what I found was a piece of mummified cloth and with the other hand I had uncovered this magnificent necklace which was gold encrusted. I pulled both out at the same time and I thought to myself, “Now how did I know that there was something there?” When I came out of the room I began to sob. I went aside and I couldn’t stop crying. I remember the lovely man who guided me then asked, “What’s the matter?” And I replied “I don’t know. I think I’ve been here before.”
That’s why I say to people that treasures are not just about gold and jewels and all of that. Treasures are about those amazing cognitions you have when you journey somewhere. You’re allowing yourself to find something about yourself that you didn’t know before. That’s why I say to people, “Don’t waste your life sitting at home on your couch being a couch traveler. Have a look at the way other people have lived, because they’re going to tell you something about yourself that you never knew before; that’s what journeys are about.
Vents: One of the key figures in Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures is German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann whom we touched upon a few minutes back. For the uninitiated out there that don’t know much more about this gentleman than the bare basics, can you introduce him properly to our readers?
Thaao Penghlis: He eventually became the father of archeology because in the 19th Century it was sort of an unspoken past. You had Giuseppe Fiorelli in Italy discovering Pompeii, but Schliemann came from a very poor and very large family in Germany where his father was a pastor. He was given a book and the book was about many things of history. One of the things that caught his attention at eight or nine years of age while reading this book was that he saw the Walls of Troy and then that it caught fire and was destroyed. He said to his father, “Oh father, there must be some treasure underneath all of that!” His father
kind of laughed at him because he was a dreamer.He was eight years old and that was in 1830.
In 1873 Schliesmann followed his childhood dream and made a fortune in Russia and he became a merchant prince.But his beginnings when he was a pauper basically in Amsterdam and he would try and make money by reciting Homer, because that’s what he studied. People would laugh at him and he wound up collapsing at the feet of the German ambassador’s residence. From there he was saved, but basically after that he thought that one day when he made enough money that he wanted to have a Greek woman - whom he found by the way: Her name was Sophia Engastromenos - as his Helen of Troy. So in his imagination and when he went discovering and what he did as far as following The Iliad as the map to find Troy and what he discovered was nine cities built over each other, but which one was the burn city?So he was wrong in
An Agamemnon Mask from Schliesmann’s Mycenae Treasures housed at the The Thaao Penghliswhat he thought at the time, because he thought Troy would be at the base of these ruins. His mistake was that he thought that what he found was what belonged to the people of Troy. He thought it was around the 12th or 13th Century. What it was was around the early Bronze Age which was 2500 B.C. The same thing happened with him in Mycenae when he got permission to dig. When he went to Mycenae and started to dig there, what he uncovered was what he thought was the remains of Agamemnon who started the war with Troy. He misspoke and claimed that this was the treasure which belonged to these warrior kings when it was actually from 1500 B.C. So he made mistakes about what he found, but still he did discover the Bronze Age history of that era and put a map to Troy and put a map to Greece in Mycenae. He contributed a lot, even though he was ridiculed and he made presumptuous announcements. He was quite something.
When I went to Germany a couple of years ago, I went to where he contributed the treasure. Only the Treasure of Troy that he gave to Germany was stolen by the Russians and we did not rediscover them until 1994 when the Russians had to surface it. I saw a lot of the replicas which obviously are not the same. They didn’t belong to Germany. He only gave it to Germany because the Greeks wouldn’t allow them to give him a wing so they could have that treasure…It’s sad, you know. The Russians purposely went into Germany because the Germans had stolen and destroyed so much of Russia’s history. They came in as a Red Brigade and their job was to come in after World War II and just take whatever they could. They stole over five million pieces that the Germans had stolen from Europe. Now it’s sitting in the The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Russia. In its basement are all of these treasures. Putin surfaced two million of these pieces and gave them back to the world after they were exposed, but they still have millions of pieces to this day.
Vents: Did one lead usually lead to another during your research for Lost Treasures?
Thaao Penghlis: Well yeah. There’s a trail to this journey. And if I placed the people that allowed me to get to the end of the trail which I was able to uncover what I did as far as knowledge, it really started by going to the National Archaeological Museum where Schliesmann’s Mycenae treasures reside. It’s really magnificent with the gold masks and I was thinking how it was all really something.
Next thing I know is this man sitting behind the counter gets up and screams and I’m thinking “What’s wrong with him?” He runs to me and hugs me and I’m wondering if this may be a relative that I don’t remember (laughs). He looks at me and he says “Oh my god, I can’t believe it! You’re Thaao Penghli from Mission: Impossible! (laughs) We absolutely love you and you’re Greek and what can we do to help you today?” Suddenly it went from “Can I go here?” “No!” to “What can we do for you?” (laughs) Celebrity did have its advantages on that particular day.
Thaao Penghlis’ Lost Treasures podcast premieres on September 5.
By Ryan Vandergriff National Archeological Museum in Athens. Photo Courtesy of and Copyright Penghlis Collection.Shelley Herman Through a Cathode TV Tube
The talented author behind the new book My Peacock Tale: Secrets Of An NBC
talks with Vents about a life in the entertainment industry well spent.
Page
It was recently my extreme privilege to sit down and chat with Emmy-nominated show business alum, producer and game show writer extraordinaire Shelley Sherman who, whether you realize it or not, has touched your life in one way or another. A fan of Love Connection circa the Chuck Woolery days? Shelley was there for that nugget of gold. Or what about the 1976 iteration of Liar’s Club or Supermarket Sweep, Balderdash, The Million Second Quiz and other celebrated game-shows? This talented wordsmith (and occasional actress) has her fingerprints all over those shows. And, not content to rest on her laurels, Shelley has just authored an incredible and addictive memoir entitled My Peacock Tale: Secrets Of An NBC Page which details her first forays into the wonky and surreal world of entertainment via the nigh legendary NBC Page Program during the hazy days of the 1970s. That book is available anywhere and everywhere good books are sold and you owe yourself a real treat by endeavoring to chase down your very own copy.
I found Shelley to be warm, approachable and a wealth of information about the Hollywood of the 70s and we all here at the Vents offices think you’ll be just as wowed by her after reading our lighthearted interview.
Vents: For anyone not in the know about Emmy-nominated show-biz veteran, longtime host, writer, producer and personality and - WHEW! - author Shelley Herman, have we got a real treat for you today; greetings and salutations Shelley, welcome to Vents Magazine!
Shelley Herman: Nice to talk to you today!
Vents: Before we stroll down the proverbial Memory Lane and talk about your amazing book My Peacock Tale: Secrets Of An NBC Page, how is the summer of ‘23 treating you?
Shelley Herman: Well, it’s a beautiful day and I’ve already done all of my chores for the morning, so I’m all ready to talk with you!
Vents: Brilliant and likewise! First of all, major congratulations on your aforementioned book My Peacock Tale: Secrets Of An NBC Page. For anyone that’s not had the good fortune to pick up this great book and take a gander at it, can you talk a little about what got the ball rolling on this very special project? What made 2023 the right time to tell this tale?
Shelley Herman: Well, I think we can thank the pandemic in part for the book. I have been really privileged to be good friends with a core group of pages. We hang out all of the time, at least once a month we get together and we celebrate each other’s birthdays and weddings and parent’s funerals; just all of life’s big milestones. We’ve gotten to the point now where we’ve all heard each other’s stories at least a million times. Now people’s children and grandchildren are beginning to hear some of those same stories. When Zoom happened and we were all stuck inside, we started reaching out to some of the other people like my friend Dinah who doesn’t live in California anymore, and friends in Kentucky and South Carolina, Florida. We’re just all over the country now. So we started hearing their stories. Pretty soon the story that Maggie had about Freddie Prinze kind of book-ended one that Linda had about Freddie Prinze; just different encounters that
we all had. All of a sudden, more stories were fleshed out and people kept saying ‘Someone should write a book.’ And I am a writer, but I never thought about writing a book because I thought only smart people wrote books (laughter). So I never really gave it a thought but then I thought, ‘Well, what else am I doing stuck inside during this pandemic except gaining weight?’
Vents: Hey, you and everyone else (laughs).
Shelley Herman: I just figured that I’d take a crack at it and then on Zoom I joined a writer’s group. I would tell the stories in a kind of ‘Then they did this’ and ‘Then they did that’ kind of way. The people in the writer’s group were like, ‘Yes, but how did you feel?’ And that’s when the book really took shape because instead of Alice Through the Looking Glass it was me through a cathode TV tube. How did I process all of this and how did my friends process it and have wonderful lives afterwards?
Vents: Backtracking momentarily, can you describe for anyone that may not be in the know what precisely the NBC Studio Page program is?
Shelley Herman: Well, the Page program itself is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. They have programs both in Los Angeles and in New York. The program is basically an executive training program. When you’re hired into the program - which they say that the odds of getting into Harvard are better than becoming a Page (if I’d known that I might not have tried) - you basically give tours around and they still do tours at 30 Rock. Here in Los Angeles they don’t do the tours any longer because the Burbank facility itself doesn’t exist anymore. NBC was purchased by Universal. So the executive training part of it where you kind of shadow people in different departments within the NBC-Universal corporation or at 30 Rock, you get different assignments that might be press publicity, you might work at BRAVO for a couple of months or the USA Network, and then hopefully within those eighteen months you’ve made the necessary contacts so that you can advance on the next rung of the corporate ladder. Or, in the case of some of my friends, realize that, ‘Y’know what? Show-biz ain’t my calling anymore.’ They then went out and got real jobs and lived happily-ever-after (laughs).
Vents: One of the delights in reading My Peacock Tales is in realizing how inexorably linked the start of your career is to legendary rock and roll artist Elvis Presley. Have you ever stopped to ponder how different things might have been for you and your life without that road trip to Las Vegas to go see Presley? Was that a defining moment in your life?
Shelley Herman: In so many ways. I was working at Sears doing this retail job, barely making enough money to pay for my college and my car. So going to Vegas on a girls road trip was an extravagance for me. And I was into the Beatles, I wasn’t that much into Elvis. But I kind of thought that, ‘Well, if all my girlfriends go with me it could be fun. I’ve never been before so we’ll just hang and all be friends that way.’ But when the other three friends dumped the girl who got us the tickets to see Elvis, I thought it was kind of tacky. If anything, they all should have hung out with her because she got us ringside to see Elvis at the Hilton. So had I not stayed back with Janice and got to know her a little bit - and then she got to know me
a little bit - I never would have got the job because I was lucky when I was in high school I went to a taping of The Midnight Special. It was a late night rock and roll show that was on NBC.
Vents: Was The Midnight Special along the lines of a variety music show like Hullabaloo?
Shelley Herman: It was music acts, but there weren’t go-go dancers or anything like that or lip-synching, either. It was all live music. It was really cool. They’d put pillows on the floor and you’d sit cross-legged like you were a little hippie chick. I saw these people at NBC wearing these hideously ugly polyester uniforms and they were getting paid to stand around all day and listen to rock and roll music. I had one volunteering usher job on my resume at that point and I thought, ‘Well, this is a job I could do.’ When I told Janice about it she said, ‘Well, my mom’s best friend is a big-shot at NBC and she could certainly make a call for you.’ So her friend’s mom actually came into Sears while I was working just to meet me and make sure I smelled good and didn’t drool (laughs). Two weeks later I had the job.
Vents: Just to digress for a second, but I’ve always been a big fan of quirky and clever word-play in song or book titles, so I was immediately taken by the title of your book ‘My Peacock Tale.’ (laughs) This is probably a throw-away question, but did you come up with the title yourself? It’s such a fun bit of word-play!
Shelley Herman: I’m of a generation where I always have to keep a TV on in the background no matter what I’m doing. I was listening to a Jack Hanna show. He did a number of wildlife shows throughout his career and the one I had on in the background was doing a story about peacocks. He said the words ‘Peacock tail’ as I was writing and I thought that was just perfect for my book title. So I can thank Jack Hanna for the inspiration for the title. I immediately looked on GoDaddy to see if the name ‘My Peacock Tale’ was taken. Then I went on to Twitter; then I went on to Facebook; then I went on to Instagram. Within fifteen minutes I had tied up all of those domain names.
Vents: It was a little bit of kismet, wasn’t it?
Shelley Herman: Oh yeah. Totally Jack Hanna’s doing (laughs). Certainly credit him for the inspiration. You’re the first person to ask about that title, by the way.
Vents: As a child of the 1970s, I grew up on the three networks of that time which were ABC, NBC and CBS. Maybe on a clear weather day if my family was really lucky and our rabbit ears cooperated we could bring in a very snowy PBS. So the era which I grew up on you actually worked in. What’s your take on network TV from the 70s when you were in that medium, versus now in 2023? Are they really now different creatures altogether? Has some of the fun and spontaneity which you write about in your book kind of left the scene, so to speak?
Shelley Herman: It’s changed vastly. In part, it’s not as much fun, I’ll say that also. At one time the networks could kind of program by the seat of their pants and they would say ‘I wonder what it is people would respond to the most?’ You’d
have your ‘Must See TV Thursdays.’ Or you’d have your sports night. They targeted certain audiences that way. What’s happening with network television now, and you can throw FOX into that mix with the other three now, it’s almost becoming like FM radio: Now instead of having a lot of variety of shows, they are kind of narrow-casting things a little bit more. I think because we now have streaming as an option so that if people don’t want to watch single people making fools of themselves trying to date one another, there are other alternatives now. And the other thing that really, really gets me about television is how used to you could go on a talk show and you could do maybe two segments, maybe a total of twelve to fifteen minutes and you got to know the personalities on these talk shows. Now the segments are really short and inevitably they’ve got some kind of product placement in them which only helps the production companies make more money. It’s not something that’s helping the viewer and I don’t care if you’re watching ‘Deals and Steals’ on The View or if you’re watching Jimmy Fallon and all of a sudden they’re promoting some product in the middle of it. It really disrupts the flow of the conversation. If somebody’s there to plug a movie, in the old days they would plug the movie and show a clip. But the rest of the time they were talking about themselves and that’s how we developed television personalities. We looked forward to seeing Don Rickles or Buddy Hackett or Tony Randall. You know, Tony Randall didn’t always have something to talk about as a project when he went on The Tonight Show, but he always had interesting stories. I miss that part of feeling as though when you’re watching a talk show or even a variety show of some kind that you’re getting a little glimpse into who the person is behind the persona. They don’t make stars like they used to because there aren’t the opportunities for people to be themselves.
Vents: And it’s very corporate-run now more than ever it feels like there’s so much more at stake. Oftentimes I wonder what someone like a Rod Serling would make of the environment today as far as creativity and being able to write outside the box. It’s definitely a different kind of climate for sure.
Shelley Herman: With the potential scourge of AI impacting the industry as well, I think Rod Serling would have had a field day with this era…What’s really cool is that before I became a Page, there used to be a place that was called the Sherwood Oaks Experimental College above a shoe store on Hollywood and Ivar. This guy Gary - I can’t remember his last name - would get some fascinating people to come in to be guest lecturers. I took a Satire in Film class there. And when I say class, it was unaccredited. It was just a bunch of people sitting around talking. But with that said, you’d get people like Buck Henry or Mel Brooks or George Segal, like really good people. And one of the classes I took was a class by Rod Serling.
Vents: You’re now officially in my ‘Cool Book’ forever (laughs).
Shelley Herman: I’ll tell you the way he did it, too. It was completely different than anyone else in that he ran a Twilight Zone episode for each class. Then he would, cigarette in hand and kind of hunched over on a barstool,
say to the class: ‘Okay, dissect this episode. What’s wrong with it?’ It was really special and I knew how special it was then. He was gone less than a year after I took that class.
Vents: Do you recall which episode of The Twilight Zone he showed to the class?
Shelley Herman: Not being extremely versed in the series, it was the one where they landed on Mars.
Vents: Would that be the Roddy McDowall episode People Are Alike All Over?
Shelley Herman: Yes, the title sounded familiar when you said it. Anyhow, I totally geeked out that day: I was watching Rod Serling watching the episode more than I was paying attention to the actual episode itself…I had gone to high school with Richard Matheson’s daughter Ali (Interviewer’s Note: Matheson was an accomplished writer who penned some of the better remembered Twilight Zone episodes). So I had a chance to say to Rod Serling that I knew Dick
Matheson and his daughter and he did one of those ‘Please tell him I said hello’ kind of things. Did you know that Rod Serling once hosted a game show?
Vents: I know that he was a guest on a number of game shows during the mid-60s. And knowing your history in the game show world, that’s such a neat intersection between you and Serling.
Shelley Herman: Rod hosted the original version of a game show called The Liar’s Club.
Vents: Wasn’t Betty White on that quite a bit?
Shelley Herman: Yes, and I can dovetail that into something, too: Allen Ludden hosted a version of that show in the mid70s and she was a frequent guest, of course. The object of the show was four celebrities each tell a story about an object and the contestant has to guess which is the true story. There’s a picture in My Peacock Tale of Tess white, Betty’s mother. Whenever Betty would come to do The Liar’s
Club she and Tess would go to the Elizabeth Arden Salon and they’d get their hair and nails done exactly the same way. Then they’d go to the show and Tess would sit in the audience and not only watch her daughter on the game show, but her son-in-law hosting the game show.
Vents: How neat.
Shelley Herman: When Betty passed away, I reached out to her assistant. I’m one of these people that sometimes I’m just too naive to know that people don’t do these things, but I did it anyway -
Vents: We’ve all been there.
Shelley Herman: Right. And I wrote to her and sent her the photo of Tess so that she’d know I wasn’t some total weirdo; just a partial one. I said ‘I know you’re going to be going through Betty’s personal belongings and probably auctioning things off, but if you find any game show stuff that you’re just going to throw away because nobody cares, just so you know I do care. I’m helping to curate a game show museum that’s being established in Rochester, New York.’ She sent us boxes and boxes of things and then she said, ‘Would you like one of Betty’s Emmys?’ Betty had won an Emmy for hosting a show called Just Men. The only thing that is at the construction site right now - the museum is The Strong National Museum of Play which is a huge museum already in Rochester dedicated to board games, children’s games, video games, you name it. Our wing is opening in 2025. Right now they have Betty’s Emmy
under glass with a little light on it and a sign saying ‘Coming Soon: The National Game Show Archive.’ Her Emmy is the first representation of what’s to come…
Vents: When you sat down to write My Peacock Tale did the memories flow for you, or did you at times have to reach out to friends that were on the scene at the time to jog certain memories?
Shelley Herman: What I would do since I had a little bit of a journalism background as well as game show writing is I would start verifying years and if I was referencing a certain song. Like Chuck Barris and Milton DeLugg wrote the theme for The Gong Show, so I wanted to get the right name for it and the right order for who was given credit. I would kind of verify those sorts of things. You always try to get two sources of information to verify. But the stories were really fresh in my mind and I have a really good memory.
Vents: Was there anything early on while writing the book that you decided was perhaps too personal to put in? Were there things that didn’t make the cut?
Shelley Herman: There’s two stories specifically where I changed the name of the people. I didn’t do it because I was trying to necessarily protect them. But they have families and I didn’t want them to get the shrapnel from any of the stories because it wouldn’t have been fair.
Vents: Out of all of the notable personalities that you’ve had the privilege of working with and around in the industry, who has left the biggest impression on you?
Shelley Herman: Wow. That’s a loaded question because I took so many life lessons from so many different people.
Vents: Perhaps that question was too much akin to a Sophie’s Choice sort of question where it’s really an impossibility to choose one from another. Perhaps that’s not a fair question on my end.
Shelley Herman: No, but any Kevin Kline reference is okay by me (laughs)...
Vents: Are there any plans to adapt My Peacock Tale to film or television? It feels as if it would be a good fit in either one of those mediums.
Shelley Herman: Well, there’s this pesky writer’s strike going on (laughs). But I did a signing at Barnes & Noble last week and one of the people asked who I saw playing me on a TV series or in a movie and I replied, ‘Me with great lighting!’ (laughs) But circling back to life lessons as to who impacts me daily, it’s not even the big stars necessarily…I adore Harry Chapin. I think if people were a little more like Harry Chapin the world would be a better place.
By Ryan VandergriffArtifer
Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hi and thank you for your time!
What can you tell us about the title and meaning behind your most recent release?
“Still Alive” is about losing track of who you are as a person and the things you do in that kind of situation to stay afloat. Sacrificing your own self to keep up appearances.
How was the recording and writing process?
We started writing “Still Alive” originally as a more stereotypical modern metal song, with only some elements of synths and ambience but after a competition for original songs in Cyberpunk 2077 was announced, we decided to rewrite the song a bit for it to fit with the theme of the game. Didn’t succeed in getting in the game’s soundtrack but we’re still happy about how the song turned out.
Recording itself was super quick. It was 4 separate days but total hours would probably be close to 13-14h.
Where did you guys find the inspiration for the song and lyrics?
Like most of our songs, everything started with a melody and a phrase. The chorus melody as well as the last line, “I kill myself inside to stay alive”, were the starting point and then we started to build from there. For the instrumental we took inspiration from metalcore but also pop punk and synthwave. Lyrically we wanted to explore the thoughts someone, in this case a cyborg, might have after realising they don’t recognise who they are anymore.
Will you be hitting the road this year?
We still have a few shows away from Tallinn planned, but mostly we will be staying close to home to work on writing music.
What else is happening next in your world?
We’re working on releasing a new single hopefully soon. Other than that, more writing work for future releases and definitely more shows to give!
EXILIA
Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hey there! We’ve been doing great, thanks for having us on VENTS!
What can you tell us about the title and meaning behind your most recent release?
Our most recent release, “Heroes and Dust,” is all about the battles we face in life and the strength we find within ourselves to overcome them. It’s about embracing both our heroic moments and the moments when we feel like we’re just dust in the wind.
How was the recording and writing process?
The recording and writing process for this album was intense. We were at Principal Studios in Germany, working closely with our producer. We aimed to take a significant step forward with this record, translating all the changes we’ve experienced in recent years into our music.
Where did you guys find the inspiration for the song and lyrics?
Inspiration for our songs and lyrics draws from various facets of lifepersonal experiences, emotions, and the world that surrounds us. “Heroes and Dust” mirrors the challenges and victories we’ve encountered. Living life authentically often involves stumbling, but it’s also where we discover how to soar
Will you be hitting the road this year?
Absolutely! We’re always eager to hit the road and connect with our fans. Touring is where we come alive, and we can’t wait to bring our music to new and familiar places.
In just a few days, we’ll be rocking the stage in Germany at the Sinner Rock Festival and the legendary “The Pitcher” in Dusseldorf!
What else is happening next in your world?
In our world, creativity knows no bounds. We proudly run the NCDM Music Academy in Milan, a place where we nurture the next generation of musicians, providing them with a space to create and find solace in music. Aside from our musical endeavors, Masha is a passionate animal rights activist and a budding photographer.
As for EXILIA, we’re already hard at work on new music. In 2024, we’ll be celebrating the 20th anniversary of our masterpiece “Unleashed,” and we’ve got some thrilling surprises in the works for our dedicated fans. Stay tuned for more exciting developments from EXILIA!
