LAUREN ELYSE / NO.001 by MARS MAGAZINE

FOUNDER / EDITOR IN CHIEF PENÉLOPE MARTÍNEZ COPY EDITOR LEAH DICKERMAN CONTRIBUTORS K I K A C H AT T E R J E E , L E A H D I C K E R M A N , P E N É LO P E M A R T Í N E Z , A S H L E Y Y U

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

W H AT ’ S I N S I D E

Making the decision to walk away from

ELLIE PRITTS................... 4

something you created and poured your heart and soul into was one of the

ELIJAH NOLL................... 12

hardest things I’ve ever had to do—the hardest part being actually admitting to yourself that it’s time to let go.

JORDAN HEFLER.............. 18

When

I finally had the courage to do so, I felt

L A U R E N E LY S E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4

as if a big part of my life was missing. As time passed, that feeling just got

K AY L A K E R N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4

even worse due to the fact that so many events were happening in the political

KELSEY GONZALEZ......... 40

world--events that scared and affected m e g r e a t l y. L u c k i l y, I w a s s h o w e r e d with love and support by friends and strangers alike, and I slowly got out of possibly one of the worst

periods of my

MARS MAGAZINE centers around

life, and thus this project was born. I’ve

showcasing people who work in all

been working on this for about 6 months

aspects of the entertainment, music,

and I am beyond excited to finally

a n d c r e a t i v e i n d u s t r y. O u r g o a l i s t o

release it. So please, read, glance,

tell their stories give insight as to how

enjoy and share it. Special thanks to

challenging and important every job is

Leah, Anam, my mom, Ryan, Amanda,

in a group of industries this vast and

Kika, Ashley and everyone who agreed

complex. We hope to celebrate music,

to be a part of this.

a r t , s e l f e x p r e s s i o n , l o v e , a n d e m p a t h y.

MARSZINE.COM - @MARSMAGZINE

IF YOU HAVE ANY SORT OF HANKERING to be a part of the music industry, you probably know that most of your time is spent asking “How?” As in, How do I get my foot in the door? How do I gain experience? How do I put together a portfolio? How do I land a job? How do I get on tour? But for many of us, the hardest question to answer was How the hell do I even start? (Spoiler: Chances are, you already have.) Photographer Ellie Pritts answered that last question by tumbling into the industry headfirst. “When I first started trying to make a career out of photography, I was shooting anything and everything. I was on Craigslist every day finding work,” she says. “One day I responded to an ad for an (unpaid) gig shooting a show at The Vic. It was my first time shooting a concert and I didn’t know what to expect. But I was, and still am, a huge music fanatic. So it just clicked; my love for music and photography. Looking back, I’d say it was definitely challenging to get my foot in the door. But I didn’t really see it that way at the time. I was just relentless about it.”

Pritts is Chicago born and raised, and spent her upbringing in the Chicago Public School system. It was there that she took advantage of various arts programs, including pursuing music at a young age, first in violin and then in cello. “When I had to pick what high schools to apply to, I wanted nothing more than to attend the Chicago Academy For The Arts,” Pritts reminisces. “My parents told me I was too young to know what I wanted to do with my career, and that going there would close doors for me in the future. Funny how things turned out!” Although that first obstacle could have closed the door to opportunity early on, Pritts was determined. At 14 years old, a summer class in photography at Columbia College set Pritts on her path towards photography. 15 years later, that drive has paid off in dividends: Namely, gigs at SPIN, NPR, Pitchfork, Apple and more, as well as building from the ground up an app called Hippo, which “fosters collaboration by connecting aspiring and professional creatives from all over the world” by allowing anyone to upload artwork and edit others’ work.

Now, Pritts finds herself as an Art Director at TBWA/Media Arts Lab, Apple’s out-of-house marketing team. On all counts, it’s a dream job: stable (which is a lot to ask of many creative jobs), salaried, and in a field she’s passionate about. But that doesn’t mean Pritts’ career path has been without obstacles. “Music photography as a career has been slowly dying since I started. I feel like I just got in on the tail end of it still being a sustainable profession, and for that I’m incredibly grateful,” she says. And as for the looming spectre of the industry, rampant sexism? “I have heard horror stories from others in my industry and feel very fortunate that I haven’t had anything traumatic happen to me. Of course, I get ‘mansplained’ all the time still but I’ve grown a thick skin. I try to just let my work speak for itself,” she says. But a thick skin can only take you so far. “The most hurtful experience I had was learning that a longtime favorite client of mine was paying me half the rate of my male counterparts. At first I couldn’t believe it. I started inquiring about it and they’ve never hired me since then. It was heartbreaking,” Pritts says. “You will experience bias. It does not define you, you are better than that.” In the face of every obstacle, Pritts has persisted. Unsurprisingly, that’s her most important piece of advice to aspiring photographers: “Never stop hustling. Seriously. Never.” Other wisdoms: “Quit your day job as soon as you can,” she says, and to “do what you love; the money will come later.” Even as Pritts faces more roadblocks, some of her own making—“It’s really hard in this day and age not to compare your life, your work, with others’. I still find myself looking as some people’s work and think, ‘What am I even doing? I’m not nearly as good as them’”—the future looks bright, and maybe even a little different than before, for both her and other creators. “It’s a million times easier to create brand for yourself now, thanks to platforms like Instagram. But the flip side of this is that now more than ever, great photographers are a dime a dozen…But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Change is good! It’s more democratic now. Instagram is the great equalizer.” She’s right—scrolling through Instagram, half of the posts I see are from both aspiring and successful music photographers. Nevertheless, that’s not a reason to stop; in fact, it’s all the more reason to jump in the ring. That means sending cold emails (that’s how Pritts got her SPIN gig!) and drawing inspiration from absolutely anything: “This last election really affected me. I remember being on a plane the day after Trump won and I had all of these insane creative ideas for short films, music videos, etc. It caught me by surprise,” Pritts says. So for young creatives, maybe the question to ask isn’t How do I get started? Maybe, the answer is to just do it, and as long as the hustle is there, the rewards will come. Ellie Pritts is living proof. “If you’re [only] chasing money in the creative world, you’re going to have a hard time,” she says. “But people recognize passion. It’s magnetic. If you care about something enough, eventually someone will pay you to do it.” And what could be more rewarding than that? MARS

INTERVIEW PENÉLOPE MARTÍNEZ S TO R Y K I K A C H AT T E R J E E PHOTOS PROVIDED / PROPERTY OF ELLIE PRITTS

“ YOU WI L L E X P E R IE NCE BIAS . IT D OE S N OT DE F INE YOU, YOU AR E BE T T E R T HAN T HAT.”

E LI J AH NOLL INTERVIEW / STORY / PHOTOS PENÉLOPE MARTÍNEZ

“NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME HERE!” JOKES ELIJAH NOLL WHILE STANDING UP TO GET A CUP OF WATER. WE’RE SITTING IN HIS LIVING ROOM IN WHAT SEEMS TO BE A GARAGE TURNED-HOUSE. OR MAYBE IT WAS ONCE A GUEST HOUSE, BUT WITH ONLY 10 MINUTES FROM DOWNTOWN CHICAGO, THAT’S HARD TO BELIEVE. “I’VE TRIED FOR TOO LONG,” I HEAR YELLED FROM THE KITCHEN. Noll graduated from Columbia College and has lived in Chicago since he was a student there. Recently, he came to terms with the fact that while Hip Hop and Alternative music thrive in Chicago, his sound and style simply don’t fit into those categories and he doesn’t see much for him there anymore. But instead of giving up and putting his dream on a shelf indefinitely, he decided to pack up his belongings and move LA. “Every time I go out there I’m welcomed with open arms,” he comments. “Not that it will be any easier but it’ll make my time more useful. I’ll be actually making moves with the time that I put in instead of making moves on my own and watching them just disappear into thin air.” Elijah has been playing music since he was a toddler after his mom put a violin in his hands when he was around three years old. With his dad being a poet, and his mom introducing him to music at such a young age, it was only a matter of time before Noll began to write his own music—which he did at the age of 15. As a child, he would ask kids from his neighborhood to be his backup dancers and would then have his mom record his crew and him dancing and singing along to music--namely to the Backstreet Boys. It was performances like these that helped Elijah feel comfortable in front of people. While he always found ways to entertain people—whether it was by putting on these performances or participating in talent shows, he is still learning how to do that onstage. Not in the sense of him not knowing how to perform, but simply being able to fill in the gaps between the music. It’s those few seconds in between songs that he’s still not completely confident with.

“That’s the hardest part: talking. I’m still just trying to get better at keeping a conversation between the music,” Elijah admits. “Because when you’re up there, the best feeling is just playing the music. Many people will be like, well that’s all you need to do because that’s why people are there. But then there’s this customary thing where you have to talk to people.” When offstage, the challenges don’t stop. If anything, they multiply. Writing music, staying inspired, growing a fanbase, earning a platform—all some of the most challenging aspects of being a musician. Elijah decided that in order to do any of these, he had to challenge himself, work harder, and never let the idea of quitting consume his thoughts. “I watched other people give up or do other things because they decided that music wasn’t their thing and that’s totally fine, but then I was like ‘damn, I’m never going to be that person,’” he elaborates. “I know I can do this, I just need to work harder. And it took me until after college to realize that I wasn’t working hard enough.” Consequently, he recently made the decision to challenge his songwriting skills by writing one song per day for a month. “It was a fun challenge, but it was tough” he chuckles. “But one thing I learned is that you can always come up with a song, you just have to find different ways to do it. Your life’s not that interesting that you’re always going to have some really deep feeling about something. Maybe it’s because I don’t dig deep enough, but some days I just sit and think ‘I don’t care about anything.’” When that feeling consumes him—the feeling of numbness—he’ll go to a place where he can be alone and let his mind wonder, writing the random thoughts that come to him until he’s content again. It’s his perseverance and hard-headed dedication that keeps him from letting that negativity devour him.

“ IF I’M GOING TO GIVE UP, I MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD.” 15

Noll explains that regardless of what is happening around him, it could never be bad enough to make him quit music. “There’s this fucked up part of me that will never give up,” he confesses. “I will never let myself give up no matter how bad it gets. If I’m going to give up, I might as well be dead.” Even so, the insecurities still come and the infamous “what-ifs” sometimes dominate his mind. What if he had moved to LA sooner? What if he had dropped out of college and pursued music earlier? There’s no telling where his life would be had he done things differently, but Elijah is a firm believer of the mentality that things happen for a reason. While the possibility that his career might have taken off sooner had he moved halfway through college or followed popular trends is there, Eli knows that shortcuts are not the way to make it

“WE CAN CREATE ANYTHING THAT WE WANT TO, AT ANY POINT IN TIME, BUT IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PLATFORM TO LIFT OFF OF YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO LIFT OFF.”

in any industry. Being on the path he’s on, he was able to learn to appreciate the little things such as getting a “yes” every now and then or a even a reply. “I’m so used to being shot down . . . which isn’t a bad thing because this happens to everybody and it should, but you just get used to hearing no or not hearing anything and the ability to just say ‘fuck it’ and keep going is cool,” Eli explains. As of now, Eli has been in LA and is continuing to work on his music and learning as much as possible. He hopes to gain a bigger platform because as he pointed out “We can create anything that we want to, at any point in time, but if you don’t have a platform to lift off of you’re never going to lift off.” In an industry oversaturated with people taking the short route or doing the bare minimum expecting only the best outcome, it’s refreshing to see people like Elijah hustling to fulfill their dreams. MARS

Jordan Hefler

PHOTO BY ERIC GARCIA

IT SEEMS THAT EVERY DAY MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE PICKING UP A CAMERA AND MAKING THEIR WAY INTO THE PHOTOGRAPHY INDUSTRY. WITH THE EVIDENT OVERSATURATION OF PHOTOGRAPHERS, IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO STAND OUT. HOWEVER, ONE LOOK AT PHOTOGRAPHER’S JORDAN HEFLER’S WEBSITE (OR INSTAGRAM) MIGHT LEAD YOU TO THINK THAT SHE HAS IT ALL FIGURED OUT. Jordan, who is also a creative director, is based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she became an LLC in February of 2016. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, this means that she is, under the state of Louisiana, officially a business. Rest assured, becoming an LLC didn’t change too many things for Jordan. “I don’t have any alter egos or anything!” she jokes. An LLC offers a handful of benefits such as making your business easier to manage and can ease the pressure freelancers often feel during tax season. Jordan admits that becoming an LLC was mostly something she needed to do, stating that “[she] was making too much money doing it on the side to consider it a hobby for taxes.” Before any of this, Jordan was just like many other photographers. She’d set up objects around her home—namely her stuffed animals—and would take photos of them with her dad’s film camera. When she got to middle school, she took interest, or as she put it became “obsessed”, with making stop motion films with Barbie dolls. It wasn’t until her junior year of high school that she began to take her art to the next level by doing style shoots and senior portraits mainly to be used in Myspace with her friends. Roughly 3 years ago, she found herself in a Facebook group name VSCO Film where photographers posted images they processed with VSCO presets. It was here that she saw an image of a band called PVRIS that was taken by another talented individual, Kayla Surico. Upon seeing this photo, being a fan of the band, she simply commented with “HOW!?”—to which she got countless of replies from the community sharing their tips on how to get started in music photography.

She had always seen photos of artists such as Taylor Swift’s arena tour floating around tumblr, and she loved seeing old live photos of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, but now that she had the knowledge and ability to create her own interpretation of the photos she so often admired, she was hooked. Hefler began to actively look for publications to shoot for whilst contacting local bands offering her services for free in hopes that she could build a portfolio that she could later use to send out to more publications. Ultimately, she landed a volunteer job for Baton Rouge Blues Festival. As she continued to expand her portfolios, more people began to reach out to her in need of her services to the point where she made the decision to quit her job to focus on freelancing. The day she decided to notify her boss, she received an email from an employee of Vans Warped Tour who was looking to make her a part of their freelance design team. Strangely, designing is something she doesn’t usually advertise—or even practices very much anymore—yet she managed to land this job. “My mind was blown because I just don’t even know how they found me,” Jordan shares. “I really don’t have a design portfolio on my website and I honestly don’t really quote jobs for it very much.” As if that wasn’t enough, the person who contacted her about this job also worked for Good Dye Young—Hayley Williams’ hair dye company. What followed was something Jordan never expected: photographing social media content for GDY. It’s situations like these that reminds us of how truly small the creative and music industry is and how strange life can be. Jordan took the opportunities she was given—opportunities she worked for—and continued to work on creating content that would make her stand out and that she enjoyed doing.

“DON’T LET THE WORLD TRICK YOU INTO THINKING THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU LIKE WHAT YOU DO THAT YOU AREN’T ALLOWED TO MAKE MONEY DOING IT.”

One of those creations was her terrific book, #OccupiedVacant Vol. 1. It was her visit to Memphis, Tennessee that inspired the creation of it. “[I] was so intrigued by how sketchy yet colorful all the bathrooms were in the bars on Beale Street. I started snapping photos of them from my phone sort of as a color study,” Jordan explains. “I began to post them and I think people thought I was crazy.” As she continued to post them, more people began to notice how unique and astounding the project and images were. Before she knew it, people were wondering if she would be releasing a book with all of the images. Having had three self-published books already, and with the knowledge she had from her photo book class, Jordan gladly obliged and created the first volume of #OccupiedVacant. “It’s been super expensive to do through selfpublishing (for both me and anyone interested in buying a copy),” Jordan admits, “but it’s cool to see that people are interested.” Despite this, she hopes to have a second volume published someday. As of now, people purchase a copy via Amazon or snap photos of cool bathrooms and share them on Instagram, tagging @OccupiedVacant. At only 24, Jordan is undoubtedly an incredibly talented artist and creator. But her passion for photography is constantly being put to the test by her health. “I have an extra lumbar vertebrae which causes pressure in my lower back, and I just recently found out I have a small cyst down there near my spine which keeps getting inflamed and causing discomfort,”Jordan discloses. “I slipped a disc in my neck somehow last year and spent the better half of a year with my right arm being numb from nerve damage, and so I just had to have a disc replacement surgery in my neck a few months ago.” Because of these health issues, Jordan is constantly in pain, making simple tasks such as standing for long periods at time (like at a concert) almost unbearable. Not only does she have to stand the shows, but she has the extra weight of her camera gear on her which only makes her situation even more challenging.

Additionally, it’s the people in the same field that she loves that often try to patronize her. “Dude photographers are always the first to try and size me up with “gear talk” and I usually just stay clear of that when I can,” Hefler explains. “When I’m at a concert I’m there to do my thing and I have nothing to prove to people who I usually end up finding the work of later and realizing it’s not near as good as their confidence level anyways.” Yet one of the biggest struggles she faces is one that most freelancers know too well—compensation. “I struggle with this big time,” she explains. “I have to think of myself as if I’m an employee at a 9-5 job in a cubicle working for someone else and think about how things would be different. You deserve to be paid and you deserve vacations and breaks.” “Don’t let the world trick you into thinking that just because you LIKE what you do that you aren’t allowed to make money doing it,” she emphasizes. Even with the challenges she has faced and continues to face, Jordan keeps her positive attitude alive and constantly applies the lessons she’s learned to her career; One of the most important ones being that comparing yourself to others can only hurt you. “You can’t compare yourself, and you HAVE to make time to do what you want or else you will burn out really fast.” She expands. “Stop comparing yourself and trying to make work that looks like so-and-so’s because you’ll be able to identify your style much quicker if you ignore all the noise and focus on your own work.” Jordan stands by her choice of risking it all to become a full time creator and encourages others to do so as well. “It is risky and scary,” Hefler admits. “And who knows! This time next month I may be eating dirt but who cares! You’ll never know if you don’t try.” So in reality, what’s stopping YOU from following your dreams? Is it the perpetuate fear of being a “starving artist” that society has placed on us? Or is it your fear of not being certain of your future as a freelancer and losing the stability you currently have? Either way, take the risk because odds are, it’ll be worth it. MARS

INTERVIEW + STORY

PENÉLOPE MARTÍNEZ

I L L U S T R AT I O N S

PENÉLOPE MARTÍNEZ

PHOTOS

PROPERTY OF JORDAN HEFLER

lauren elyse INTERVIEW / STORY / PHOTOS PENÉLOPE MARTÍNEZ

“DON’T LET THE MAKEUP, HAIR, AND NAILS FOOL YOU—I’M A TOMBOY AT HEART,” Lauren admits—although it’s hard to believe if you scroll through her Instagram. “I’ve always been that way,” she explains. “But there was something about watching my mom and my grandma put makeup on that always fascinated me.”

Raised by her mother and grandmother as an only child, Lauren had a lot of free time growing up. “According to them, the second they placed a piece of paper and a pencil in front of me when I was 2, I just started drawing,” she shares. Aside from that, her grandma was just as crafty and creative and would make porcelain dolls. Whenever her grandma was creating, regardless of what it was, Lauren was more than likely “right beside her, watching in awe.” It was during her childhood that she was also diagnosed with vitiligo: a skin disease that causes part of your skin to lose pigmentation, thus creating patches of lighter skin appear in random parts of your body, sometimes on your eyes, hair, and mouth. Initially, the vitiligo had only been present on her knees, but by the age of 20, certain parts of her face had begun to lose pigmentation. “I was super self-conscious after being diagnosed,” she admits. “I didn’t feel ‘normal’ and was always anxious that other kids would make fun of me for being different.” Despite this, she didn’t experience much bullying for it simply because the disease hadn’t expanded to noticeable parts of her body. However, she has now had to deal with people making remarks in heat of an argument. While most people simply say to ignore these comments, whether they’re said in person or online, it’s obviously easier said than done. Lauren reveals how she’ll ignore most, but every now and then she’ll reply ‘cheeky’ by thanking them or she’ll opt to educate the person behind the screen and those watching the situation unravel. “I like to use some humor to show those people that they’re not saying anything I haven’t heard or haven’t already told myself before,” she expands. Now 26, she has turned the tables on those who once attempted to use her vitiligo against her. With two identical patches around her eyes, Lauren has embraced them as part of her identity and uses makeup to emphasize them rather than to cover and conceal them. “Being someone that someone could look up to was never my goal initially,” Lauren admits. “I just wanted to put my work out there, grow as an artist, and further my career in some way.” But soon enough, messages from fans, followers, and admirers thanking her for inspiring them, calling her a role model, and even claiming she gave them confidence began to roll in as she continued to share her art. “I never imagined people would look up to me—or see me as this super-confident person—when I struggled with confidence so much throughout my life,” Lauren expresses.

“A LOT OF PE OP L E T HOUG HT I WA S TOTA L LY ACCE P T ING OF M YS E L F WHE N I WAS OF T E N T I M E S CRY ING ABOUT H OW I LOOK E D BE HIND CLO SE D D OOR S .” 28

For Lauren, it was difficult finding someone to look up to as child which is why the concept of representation is something she holds close to her heart. “I feel like there’s still a lack of representation from big brands and even in film and television,” Lauren explains. “But at least there are people on social media that others can see and feel connected to.” While it may seem that she is completely comfortable with herself, Lauren admits she isn’t at the place she would like to be at just yet. “I still have a lot of insecurities but I’m way more comfortable than I’ve ever been,” she shares. “I faked confidence till I made it,” she explains. “A lot of people thought I was totally accepting of myself when I was oftentimes crying about how I looked behind closed doors.” Still, she continued to work on her confidence by pushing herself outside her comfort zone and doing what she feared most: showing off her skin to those online and in real life. “I was panicking inside, but on the outside, I played it cool,” she emphasizes. However, working on her confidence, self-esteem, and learning to appreciate herself was only the first part of her journey. Getting out of her own head and making the decision to put herself out there was the most challenging thing for Lauren. She made this decision after she noticed that the most engagement on her Instagram often came from selfies where she shared a makeup look. While it made her nervous to make that transition from regular personal Instagram account with behind the scenes looks, showing off her friends, illustrations, or her day to day adventures, to a sole beauty/makeup account, the end result was full of positivity. Yet she still battles with her own thoughts, wondering if people like the art she creates or if it’s ‘good enough.’ “I’ll see all of these artists I admire doing these amazing and less conventional looks and I’ll just get down about myself, wishing I had as much creativity as they do,” she explains. It got to the point where she believed she had to follow the trends and look like other beauty gurus and girls on Instagram in order to be accepted and recognized. So she did just that and ultimately realized she wasn’t happy doing so. “That look was never the type of person I am and one day it just clicked,” she discusses. “I don’t HAVE to look like this. I don’t HAVE to not be the little weirdo that I am.”

“Part of me wishes I was never in that place, but I’m grateful I was there because it really helped me realize that I’m truly an artist at heart and I see so many things from such a different perspective,” Lauren continues. It’s this very fact—being able be so diverse with her work—that makes her love the beauty industry. There are no rules, no set style one has to stick to, and you have all the freedom to express yourself and to create the art you want. Yet the downside of this is pretty unfortunate: Because there are so many styles there are some that get pushed to the side and receive more criticism. “People who do your everyday, ‘glam’ looks and have these bright and bubbly personalities tend to be the most successful and most prominent on social media,” Lauren discusses. “Because of them, all of the spectators expect you to be the same way—make YouTube videos, go along with the fads and have that same type of personality.” The reality is that the beauty industry can be extremely cut-throat. You don’t often find Instagram makeup artists that don’t already have a YouTube channel where they post reviews, tutorials, or vlogs. Many times, YT is the platform that helps artists gain a following. Even so, not every artist’s goal is to have a YT channel. Not every MUA wants to show you how to contour for the ten thousand time with whatever object they have next to them. While it’s impressive how some Instagrammers can use the strangest objects to create looks or how many dupes exists for a Kylie Jenner lip kit, some artists want to show crazy, creative, unique looks you might never wear, but can still appreciate and admire. “I think everyone should pay more attention to those lesser known, more creative and talented people instead of just focusing on everyone who’s doing the same things over and over again,” Lauren shares.

Nonetheless, the beauty industry is a beautiful one and if it’s your passion, don’t allow the negative side of it hinder you from pursuing your goals. “TAKE YOUR TIME,” Lauren emphasizes. “There are way too many people out here trying to get big as quickly as possible. Most of the people you admire didn’t make it to where they wanted to be overnight or at a very young age, so it’s ok to take time to fully realize your vision and hone your craft.” After practicing makeup professionally for the past five years, Lauren has gathered a following that is constantly supporting her and shutting down that naysayers—whether they’re making remarks on her look because of the length of the lashes she chose or because they think that saying things like You looked pretty without makeup! or You don’t need the makeup is a compliment. For Lauren, that’s the farthest thing from a compliment. “I don’t like to compare my bare face to me wearing a full face of makeup because I think they’re both beautiful in their own right,” she states. “Makeup isn’t worn for the sole purposes of covering up an insecurity or to attract male attention, but as a tool one can use to express them self.” As for now, Lauren continues to share her art with the world via Instagram with the goal of someday working in fashion—specifically doing runway and editorial shoots. “I also want to shake up the beauty industry and help change society’s perspective of what beauty is and what makeup is used for,” she expands. “I like to spread the message that the traditional beauty standard is bullshit and that we need to see the beauty in everything we were taught to perceive as ‘ugly’.” “One day, I might create my own line and I want to show REAL diversity: different races, skin tones, sizes, genders, styles- just really be all inclusive and show that what we’re often told isn’t always the truth,” she continues. And when she does, we’ll be first in line waiting for our own kits. MARS

“THE TRAD I TI ON AL B EAUTY S TAN DARD IS B ULLS H I T . . . W E N EED TO S EE THE B EAUTY I N EVERYTHI N G W E W ER E TAUGH T TO P ER C EI VE AS ‘U G LY’.”

INTERVIEW + STORY PENÉLOPE MARTÍNEZ

PHOTOS ASHLEY YU

I L L U S T R AT I O N + L E T T E R I N G P E N É L O P E M A R T Í N E Z

“I grew up in rural Minnesota, in a small town of 300 people, with a small farm on a 40-acre plot.” Kayla shares. “I spent more time with myself, my own imagination, with more space to think than I might ever have again in my life.” “The days seemed to go on forever,” she reminisces about her childhood. “Creativity thrives when as children we are forced to figure it out on your own.” It was those long days that drove Graphic Designer Kayla Kern to explore her surroundings and dive into the creative part of her mind. Kayla recalls “laying in the the tall grass staring at the sky and just imagining what’s above all of those clouds in the sky, watching them turn from white to orange, purple and red and the sunsets over the flat land,” acknowledging that it was those same surroundings that influence how she works today. Now-a-days, Kayla finds herself surrounded by other creatives in an office in New York where she works for NYLON magazine as the Art Director. Her path to graphic design started when she made the decision to attend art school. Although she didn’t know what she was getting herself into, she knew what her end goal was: to create anything that was visually appealing. It was her school, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, that really helped her find the jobs and internships that lead her to where she is now. Kayla acknowledges that “MCAD was a really immersive time and threw [her] into everything I needed in order to get me to where I am today.” Furthermore, MCAD constantly made an effort to connect students with companies in the industry. The school also had an in-house design team where Kayla was employed before she had even graduated. The design team was made up of students and recent graduates alike who were in charge of creating the content and materials that were to be used by the school for events such as commencement, exhibitions, etc.

“Through connections and recommendations I continuously found myself in roles that really taught me what this world is all about,” Kayla notes. “It is more the way of thinking and the process that goes in behind it all that gives the work you’re creating depth and meaning. I think that’s really what keeps me on my toes.” But how is it possible to stay on your toes in an industry where trends are continuously changing, seemingly out of nowhere? Kayla admits that although trends are hard to pin point, you have to be one step ahead. Moreover, our world is so full of information and our attention-spans are constantly being put to the test which makes us want—and need—the content we receive to be as simple as possible. While certain trends may seem a certain way at first glance, Kayla explains that those trends can look distinct once looked from a larger perspective. That said, staying on top of trends are only part of a graphic designer’s job. You then have to create content that will make your company and clients stand out from the rest so that it doesn’t fall into the large abyss with all of the other similar designs. You also have to be able to run your own business, which is one of the most challenging aspects for Kayla—and surely the majority of freelancers. Balancing your income, properly claiming taxes (taxes + freelancing = headaches), and of course, finding jobs. Kayla elaborates on this, stating that balancing a job and running a business requires sending out more emails than you thought you’d be able to send in a day, making phone calls, and simply reaching out. “You won’t have the work if you don’t get the work,” she states. “You have to make a plan, and what you’re doing or not doing now will affect you six months down the road.” This however does not mean one should email and try to get any job available simply to have a job. This may seem like a smart idea and nothing more—you’d have a job and an income what can go wrong, right? But the reality is that you should be working for a company that asks you to create the content you want to make—art that you will enjoy making. “You just have to love it, and if you don’t, you’re not doing anyone a favor.” Kayla states. “Being excited about the work you are making is so important and everyone around you can feel that. When you’re excited, everyone you’re working with will be too.” With that in mind, Kayla stressed the importance of knowing the clients you’ll be working for. “You should be already making the type of work that you want to be making for that job. You should understand the industry you’re getting yourself into,” she continues. For Kayla, this mindset is what helped her in the long run—albeit it took her some time to figure it out. She got an internship at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis which was a dream for her. “It was a prized position that so many students wished to get (or

maybe it was just me),” she comments. “I didn’t think I would get it, and I didn’t really believe it when I did.” That moment changed her perspective on her and her art, saying that she realized she “had the ability to make work that was considered to be good or at the very least hirable.” Kayla also worked in Mike Perry’s studio after graduating, noting that it was “His studio space that allowed [her] to let down [her] guard of the expectations of what [she] thought [she] should be making, and just make without hesitation.” The environment, which she describes as “creatively stimulating”, helped her get more comfortable and confident with releasing work she enjoyed and made without the pressure of whether or not it’d be well received or popular. “Sometimes getting swept up in what everyone else was doing hindered my ability to make with my own voice,” Kayla admits. “There was a period of time I was so cautious about what I was making. Sometimes it’s about not thinking too hard and just doing what feels right. Then that is where the best true work comes from.” As of now, Kayla works for NYLON where she has focused on slightly rebranding the company, giving it a bit of an update. Despite the jobs she’s had in the past and the clients she has now, Kayla knows the struggle of unpaid internships and the hardships that come with freelancing. As if being an artist wasn’t challenging enough, it’s even harder when people don’t respect your work— or you—and expect to get work done for free. Kayla argues that “There needs to be more respect and appreciation for design, photo, fashion, illustration, and the whole creative industry.” Kern has now been designing professionally for roughly 5 years now, freelancing for three after graduating, and she continues to learn and grow. “As someone who has tendencies of a perfectionist, sometimes just letting it go is the hardest thing to do,” Kayla admits. “It is easy to feel like something is never quite done or when you do, you later on find something wrong, an imperfection or error. The only way is to keep moving forward onto the next thing and try again to make it from a fresh start.” So if you’re telling yourself you’ll never make it because of where you come from, or because you don’t know how to get started, remember Kayla’s story. Go outside and let your surroundings inspire you, take your time, and let her following words resonate whenever you have doubts: “Your imagination is able to go wild if you let it.” MARS

“YOUR IMAGINATION IS ABLE TO GO WILD IF YOU LET IT.”

THERE ARE FEW THINGS GUARANTEED IN LIFE; HOWEVER, ONE THING WE CAN ALL GUARANTEE IS UNCERTAINTY. LIFE HAS A FUNNY WAY OF STEERING US IN A DIRECTION WE NEVER THOUGHT WE WOULD GO IN. IF YOU NEED AN EXAMPLE, TAKE KELSEY GONZALEZ, THE LIGHTING DIRECTOR FOR BANDS SUCH AS AFI AND THE FRAY.

Becoming a lighting director wasn’t her dream career from the get-go. Growing up in Los Angeles, she was surrounded by opportunities to learn filmmaking. In high school, she was able to learn about lighting and cinematography through the film program they had along with a variety of film competitions. This experience gave Kelsey her first taste of working with lights. “Once I graduated high school,” Kelsey recounts, “ I went to the University of Colorado at Boulder with the goal of being a film major and criminology major. I hated my film classes, for the most part, because a majority of the professors were “their way or the highway” in terms of shots and lighting.” What Kelsey enjoyed the most about the films she made was that she was allowed “the freedom of choice” when it came to lighting and shots. With her professors stuck in their ways, she began to look for other options. “I stumbled across the programming board on campus, called Program Council, and learned about concert lighting. I haven’t looked back since,” she affirms. Starting as a stagehand at Program Council, she quickly worked her way up to becoming the director there. “At the same time, I was working various internships at local venues and lighting companies, as well as working as a house [Lighting Director] at AEG venues in Denver, like The Bluebird and Gothic Theatres,” she elaborates. “I still work as a house LD when I am home!”

With her feet in both the creative and scientific world, Kelsey’s love for directing and designing lighting definitely comes from a unique place. “I’m a huge sucker for a warm color temperature and an interesting shadow. I think it comes from the whole criminology thing and creating uncomfortable emotions with colors and direction. I don’t know what exactly sparked it,” she reveals, “but it has been a whirlwind of craziness lately learning how to do more with it. All I know is, I don’t see my love for it fading anytime soon!” Despite also having a degree in criminology, her extracurriculars ended up putting her on the path towards her current career. “It was more a series of events where the whole lighting thing started to take over many aspects of my life and I decided to stick with it,” she describes. As Kelsey’s path started to unfold, this series of fortunate events lead her to a career in the music industry—something her high school self probably never would have predicted. She illustrates that she started looking into the music industry when she realized she was no longer paying attention to the bands on stage— but at the lighting and overall production. “That was kind of the beginning of it for me; it was becoming a ‘fan’ of an LD and then figuring out what they were doing by just watching their shows live,” Kelsey comments. After taking in what other lighting directors were doing and honing her craft,

KELSEY GONZALEZ

INTERVIEW / STORY / PHOTOS LEAH DICKERMAN I L L U S T R AT I O N S P E N É L O P E M A R T Í N E Z

Kelsey is now in a place where she is the one calling the shots. Like any creative endeavor, one has to find inspiration from somewhere. “Sometimes I listen to their music to get an idea or look at album covers and music videos, but most of the time it’s from something random that I see at an art museum or walking down the street. Inspiration comes from the most random places,” she muses.

the entire show so everyone can see what, ideally, it would look like. “From a lighting standpoint, you get to hear what the songs sound like live, which can vary drastically from the recorded version depending on how the band likes to play it in real life,” she explains. This allows for the LD to program the full show as their client needs it, they see it, and tour begins.

Regardless how much inspiration a lighting director has, a great lighting director brings songs to life. In order to do that, Kelsey listens to the music until she can envision it on stage. Sometimes it comes almost immediately, while other times it takes a few days. “Sometimes, sleeping on it or listening to a completely unrelated song by some totally different artist in a different genre can give you the idea you need to make an awesome lighting show for a song,” Gonzales elaborates.

However, there are times where there aren’t any rehearsals, but the LD is allowed programming time, which is where it’s just an LD and their lighting rig—programming away to their heart’s content. “Sometimes you get a day, sometimes you get weeks or months. It’s all dependent on the budget. Then, there’s the reality of it where you get nothing. You show up the first day of tour and hope that your programming basics you did at home on your laptop look okay in real life when you see the lighting rig and the band plays for the first time at the first show.”

On the other hand, the process for lighting a tour is completely different as “it varies based on what is affordable.” In ideal situations, there are rehearsals where the whole band and crew run through

No matter how much prep time she has, Kelsey always keeps her goals at the forefront of her mind, which “are to

“You should always follow your dream, because work doesn’t feel like work then.”

AFI’S BLOOD TOUR

channel the image the band wants for the show, whether it be theatrical or shapes or whatever it may be, and to make the lighting the best they’ve ever had.” Currently, Kelsey is working on the summer leg of AFI’s The Blood Tour. All across social media, fans have been in awe at the band’s lighting for this run— which was actually designed by a friend of Kelsey’s. Some things fans might not realize though, is that the unpredictability of their setlists keeps Kelsey on her toes. To give an illustration, at their show in New Jersey this past June, due to incessant demand of the crowd, AFI came out for an unplanned, legitimate encore. Kelsey reminisces, “Upon walking on the stage, they still weren’t sure what song they were going to play. It ended up being a song they rarely play, therefore our backline techs and I weren’t necessarily prepared for it, but we pulled it off! I heard [drummer] Adam set the tempo on the kit and I used a different song’s programming to run the base for their surprise encore that I knew had a similar beat to it. It was fun! I got to use a bunch of stuff I don’t ever really need to because I program out their songs they play so I can make sure the lighting is exactly as the band wants it every time.” That show was a true testament to what she feels are some of the most rewarding aspect of her job: “I personally love the outcome of a good show. It’s the best feeling when the band has a great show, the crowd is awesome, and you feel like you had a great night hitting all of your cues,” she declares. Of course, the highs from successful shows are not without their lows. As with any job, that of a lighting director’s is not immune to setbacks or challenges. For

one, it’s working in a male-dominated industry. There will be a day where the gender issue doesn’t come up in regards to the working-woman. Since we aren’t quite there yet, it needs to be discussed so slowly, but surely, we can smash the patriarchy. Incidentally, there have been times where Kelsey has been treated differently than her male peers: “I wish I could say “no, never!” but it unfortunately happens all the time,” she admits. “You know it’s going to be an interesting day when you walk off the bus and they think you’re the merch girl. But, you just give a smile, politely say no, and have them run your feeder and snake.” “Being a female, despite there being so many kick ass women out there touring the world and ruling every aspect of the music industry, is still a shock to many older male veteran stage hands and house guys. Though the more they doubt you, the more rewarding it is to have a killer show. Your work will speak louder than any of their negative words.” Another challenge, arguably the most challenging hurdle Kelsey’s had to overcome until this point in her career, is the fact that we live in world where technology is constantly changing, which results in an arduous learning curve. Because her job relies on technology, it can get frustrating when it is constantly changing and having to learn how to use the new tools and programs. “Keeping up with all of the new technology and how it works and how to fix it is challenging in itself,” she adds. “Little robots like to break, so knowing how to keep them happy is hard, but so rewarding.” It’s no question that being a lighting director is Kelsey’s dream job; however, as with any new career, she couldn’t

fully devote all her time into it in order to make end’s meet. “As someone who has always had, up until late May of this year, a regular job as well as my lighting job, having a regular job is kind of the backbone of getting to follow your dream. There are people who drop everything and focus on their dream and succeed, but I am far too much of a worrier about the future to do that,” she laughs. Amongst her conscientious planning for the future, Kelsey has also found a support system that helps guide her to be the best she can be: “From the days I was volunteering on Warped Tour to present day, I have met some fantastic industry veterans that have been there for guidance the whole way. From tour managers, to backline technicians, to my previous lighting manager, they have all given me advice that has helped me beyond whatever I could ever think of. The one piece of advice they have all given me and that I keep with me every day is to just to keep working hard, stay out of trouble, and stay humble. It seems simple, but is sometimes far harder than it seems. Plus, it goes farther than just in the music industry. Anyone and everyone could follow this advice and hopefully help them get to the next step in any career that they wish to pursue.”

you might not have a shift for months at a time,” she advises. Even today, she still has a job back at home that is flexible with her when it comes to touring, so that when she returns home she’s still able to get some hours. As with any kind of work in a creative field, it’s extremely hard to be able to do it full time. No matter what path you decide to follow in your life, if you have a positive mindset and determination, you will end up where you need be. Chances are, it will be better than anything you could have imagined for yourself. Kelsey is proof of that. MARS

While Kelsey’s colleagues have given her excellent advice, she has some words of wisdom of her own: “You should always follow your dream, because work doesn’t feel like work then. It makes insane hours (like 23 hour days) go by a little smoother with plenty of coffee, of course. However, until you become the amazing rockstar and are making insane amounts of money with plenty of work, I would keep a normal job that supports your dream as well and is understanding of the fact that