A PLACE
ADDICTION RECOVERY FOR LGBTQ INDIVIDUALS IN CLEVELAND
MUSIC / ENTERTAINMENT / ARTS &
CULTURE / LIFE / INDEPENDENT / PRESSURELIFE.COM
S AY W H AT YO U S E E
PressureLife Creative Director, Owner Art Director, Partner
Jim Bacha
Alex Bieler
Content Strategist
Adam Dodd
Staff Writers
Media Producer
Dan Bernardi Gennifer Harding-Gosnell Darrick Tahir Rutledge Kevin Naughton Dave Sebille Kevin Naughton
Project Coordinator
Tiffany Fields
Contributors
Aaron Gelston @gelston.design
Anthony Franchino Ben Diamond Casey Rearick @caseyrearickphoto
Dave Skorepa India Pierre-Ingram James Earl Brassfield Keith Rowe Mike Suglio Wilson Rivera Zach Shildwachter Distribution
Weir was found by Eric hiding in our PressureFest ad in Issue 19 of PressureLife. Weir will he be next? For your chance to score a $25 gift card, locate the elusive Weir stashed in one of our advertisements and be the first to cast his location to @thepressurelife through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Hannah Allozi
Managing Editor
Senior Writers
FIND THIS GUY IN ONE OF OUR ADVERTISEMENTS + WIN $25
PMK Logistics
Enjoying PressureLife? We would love to hear your thoughts. PressureLife.com/feedback
Want to wear Weir?
PressureLife.com has your size.
CONTENTS AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018
06 Is Cleveland Ready For
Royal Beasts?
A mind-blowing new chapter in local music.
08 Rage On!
10 Buckland Rising
10
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Robert Kurtzman’s cult classic, The Rage.
The lineage of American witchcraft in Tremont.
14
30 22
26
12 The Black Artist Safe Space
The history and impact of Cleveland’s Karamu House.
14 Larder Delicatessen & Bakery
Dine with the PressureLife team.
16 A Place For Us
Addiction recovery for LGBTQ individuals at the B. Riley Sober House.
22 The Next Best Thing
24 That’s Not Your Culture
The danger of cultural adoption.
26 1984 Publishing: A Screenplay
Looking back (and ahead) with publisher Matthew Chojnacki.
28 For the Love of the Hype
How iLTHY turns viral hits into wearable art.
30 As a Matter of Facts
16
We get down to business with public work space, Beauty Shoppe.
5 questions worth asking before you accept a fact.
FOLLOW US Facebook // Twitter // YouTube // Instagram @thepressurelife
12
28
Join Us August 18th For
PRESSUREFEST it’s finally time for PressureFest. If you haven’t heard by now, we’re hosting a one-day festival Aug. 18 at The Foundry, Symposium, and The Five O’clock Lounge on Detroit Avenue in Lakewood to highlight some of the best entertainment Cleveland has to offer.
AFTER MONTHS OF PLANNING,
After more than three years of covering local art, food, and music, we’ve handpicked dozens of the top musicians and comedians in the city. Performances start at 4 p.m. at three different venues, so you can pick and choose what acts you want to see and where. In addition, PressureFest will feature local food trucks and vendors so that you can treat your eyes, ears, and taste buds all in the same stretch of Detroit Avenue. Do you know what’s the best part about PressureFest? Entry costs less than an Angelo’s pizza. You can buy tickets online at pressurelife.com/fest for only $12, while day-of-show tickets are a mere $15. Cleveland has so much to offer, and PressureFest promises to be a one-day bonanza of our city’s bustling entertainment scene. We’ll see you there.
Ready to experience a true Cleveland festival? Buy your tickets today at pressurelife.com/fest
PRESENTED BY
SPONSORED BY
Is Cleveland Ready For
Royal Beasts? A mind-blowing new chapter in local music Dave Sebille Photography // Rustin McCann
W
arning: If you are turned off by the following sentence, this is not a band for you.
Royal Beasts is a heavily-dynamic, groove-oriented, guitar-based, synth-friendly, melodic, instrumental, post-rock band that focuses mainly on creating an orchestral and moving experience through the use of hypnotic sound and imagery. Still reading? Royal Beasts is about to be your favorite band to ever come out of Cleveland. The band comes from many different musical backgrounds and previous or still ongoing projects, none of which is what we’re talking about here. Royal Beasts’ first album, a self-titled EP, is recorded, mixed, mastered, and hopefully set for release in September thanks to local heavy hitter Jim Stewart and the crew over at Cauliflower Audio. When it came time to record, the band only needed to book the studio for a day to track the album due to the set being crafted and perfected for months. The band members played live alongside each other in one room for most of the recording, as badasses do. The album moves as a cohesive collection of moods and tempos, touching briefly on post-rock tropes before deferring into an unpredictable soundscape showcasing every
6 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
member’s talents. There is no front man here. After multiple runs through the record, there is still something new to discover each listen.
the immediate cause of action for the band. “People started reaching out to us and encouraging us to release more material and play some actual shows,” Jason says. “We knew we were ready to start pushing forward and get our name out there.”
That feeling is not lost watching the band perform live. Royal Beasts stayed in a rehearsal space for about a year writing and tweaking this set of The egg is about to crack. songs. The patience paid Royal Beasts are on a off for the band at their couple of locally-influThe crowd was first live performance last ential and internationmesmerized month at Mahall’s. While ally-recognized bills this and silent before supporting two of Clevesummer and are already land’s rising bands, Royal rubbing elbows with the exploding into Beasts stole the show. The founder of Godspeed applause after crowd was mesmerized You! Black Emperor. the final note. and silent before exploding With the amount of into applause after the final talent, discipline, and note. This was applause proficiency that this that felt like the result of band exhibits, the band actually being entertained, not just supporting is almost guaranteed to become bigger your friends creative project. than most local acts. While the Mahall's crowd went wild over Royal Beasts, the band doesn't exactly fit into a neat little box. Despite this, Guitarists Jason Dunlap and Will Hooper are more focused on creating a sound that people actually enjoy instead of just trying to fit in an already built-in sonic scene. “It’s pretty accessible music, we’re not at all restricted to a genre,” Will answers without hesitation. “I think people will find themselves being moved by the music in a way they aren’t used to, because there is no front man coaching you,” Jason adds. After releasing a video from a live radio studio session, the members of the band received some positive feedback which helped chart
Try not to get caught only in the melody and time changes; Royal Beasts knows exactly how to get heavy and simple. If there’s one thing this band does, it’s flirting with the differences between acceptable beauty and uncomfortable, immense chaos through the use of classic tone and carefully-processed noise. The album can serve as perfect background music, a body of work to be meticulously studied, and anywhere in between. This city is growing up musically, and Royal Beasts are the beginning of the next phase. _____________________________
Royal Beasts will be performing on Aug. 18 at The Symposium during PressureFest. You can also check Royal Beasts out on Facebook and Instagram @royalbeastsmusic
Pressure Picks Upcoming Events to See
The Flaming Lips
Aug. 17 // The Agora Theatre
PressureFest
Aug. 18 // 5 O’clock Lounge, Symposium, Foundry
Absolute Intense Wrestling: Wrestlerager 3
Aug. 25 // Now That’s Class
Toto
Aug. 25 // Hard Rock Rocksino
ALL SUMMER LONG 8/1 Bully w/ Punch Drunk Tagalongs 8/4 Drummer Spotlight w/ Frank Zummo (of Sum 41) 8/8 Screaming Females w/ Forager 8/11 Social Distortion @ Klipschfest
8/15 A Giant Dog w/Sister Smirk 8/16 Bike Nite
Accidental Comedy Fest
Aug. 29 – Sept. 2 // Hilarities
Ottawa & Samfox
Aug. 31 // Grog Shop
Ancient River
Sept. 2 // Beachland Tavern
Nothing
w/ JD & the Straight Shot
8/22 Sarah Shook & the Disarmers w/ The Whiskey Hollow 8/25-26 InCuya MUSIC Festival The weekend boasts local, regional and national artists including New Order, Avett Brothers, SZA and AWOLNATION in downtown Cleveland.
9/15 2014 Inductee John Oates (Hall & Oates) w/ Good Road Band
Sarah Shook
Bully
Sept. 8 // Grog Shop
The Nude Party
Sept. 17 // Beachland Tavern
Neck Deep
Sept. 29 // The Agora Theatre
BAR & FOOD TRUCKS OPEN FOR ALL EVENTS
Details & tickets: rockhall.com/summer Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 7
zards return each year to circle the skies in search of meat.
RAGE ON! Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Robert Kurtzman’s shot-in-Ohio cult classic, The Rage Zach Shildwachter
It’s
been 10 years since Robert Kurtzman’s The Rage was released on DVD. Shot entirely in Ohio, this horror film touts Oscar-caliber special effects makeup on an extremely low budget.
Another nod to Ohio folklore is the inspiration drawn from the infamous Dr. Crow and his Melon Heads; human guinea pigs tortured with unethical experimentation. Tipping the hat to these pieces of Ohio folklore is what makes The Rage stick out a bit more than just a masked slasher running through the woods. It all ends up playing out like The Island of Dr. Moreau on crystal meth. The cast is an interesting group including the Wishmaster himself, Andrew Divoff, Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm franchise, and prolific underground actress, Erin Brown, better known as Misty Mundae.
Kurtzman was the “K” in K.N.B. EFX Group, a powerhouse of special effects artists that have crafted the movie magic of most of Hollywood’s seminal blockbusters through the ‘90s and beyond. It was his move back to Ohio in 2002 to start a studio in his hometown of Crestline that not only altered the course of his creature creation and special effects wizardry, but also offered a new lease on his special effects makeup career, nabbing work on popular films and television shows like The Walking Dead. The Rage centers on a mad scientist crafting a biological weapon that infects people with a virus that amplifies anger and transforms people with murderous results. There’s lofty ideals decreed of the purpose of science meant to help humanity when it’s much easier to destroy it. An unwilling test subject escapes, and soon becomes dinner to several dozen buzzards. These birds then carry the virus en masse, infecting the surrounding areas. Cue the hot and horny 20-somethings who exist to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time—and I’m not talking about the guest appearance by Cleveland’s own shock rockers, Mushroomhead. There’s blood, guts, and awful one-liners. Everything here is perfect for six-pack cinema; tossing back cold ones with your buddies late at night and giving Mystery Science Theater 3000 a run for their money with your own commentary. The killer buzzards seem to be drawn from Buzzard Day in Hinckley, Ohio, a March 15th celebration of when buz-
8 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
The special effects are noteworthy for several reasons, with Kurtzman overIt all ends up seeing unique vision of mutated monsters. playing out like Amazing practical makeup effects are mixed in with some dodgy CGI work that The Island of make the film Dr. Moreau on even more crystal meth. endearing to fans from the Buckeye state. It’s this juxtaposition that encapsulates the late 2000s horror movie scene in a way we can scoff at now, knowing full well you probably still have a pair of JNCO’s in storage somewhere. Concerned parents and eagle eyed
Interesting sights to witness during The Rage. gore-lovers should be on the lookout for: An infected vulture that spits acid in a man’s face. It’s this same dissolved face that becomes infected and then smashes to a kid to death. An infected mutant who is repeatedly impaled, including through the butt. Yup. Repeatedly. A little mutant who is repeatedly hacked at with a cleaver. An uncomfortable amount of repeatedly. Another mutant man who is decapitated and then has his decapitated head chopped in half horizontally.
The Rage may be off of many cinephile’s radars as there was quite a lot of screaming coming from the studio system and even overseas to have any chance to be heard during its release. Think back to 2008 and you may recall film fans were given Twilight, Saw V, Repo: The Genetic Opera, The Happening, and Cloverfield in addition to foreign smash hits like Let the Right One In, Martyrs, Loved Ones, and Tokyo Gore Police. With a slate like that, it’s no wonder The Rage is often a forgotten treat soaked in red Karo syrup. Sporting a 4.3 out of 10 on imdb.com and an 18 percent audience score on rottentomatoes.com, this flick is a wonderful acquired taste for gorehounds looking for something new.
Cleveland Curiosities’
MOST CURIOUS CURIOSITIES Looking for a mantlepiece that’ll really freak out your parents? Maybe you just want to see some cool, bizarre history that you won’t find in a museum? Cleveland Curiosities is the place for you!
ARE YOU ITCHING TO LET OUT YOUR INNER GOTH KID?
Located at 13375 Madison Ave. in Lakewood, this oddities shop will more than satisfy the need for some wonderful weirdness in your life. The shop’s proprietors, Clement Kunkle and Hallie Wallace, were kind enough to highlight some of their favorite items in the store. _______________________________ Kunkle: “One of the most interesting pieces we have—and she’s not for sale, sadly, because she’s so cool—is an authentic Jim Moody freak animal. This is one of his original two-faced living cows he had with the circus. She was taxidermied after death, and we got her from a private collector in New Jersey. He owned three of the original freak animals from the Jim Moody’s freak animal circus. It was a traveling circus; he had all different types of oddball animals, including this lady.” Wallace: “We have a fully articulated dental phantom done by Jacob Kane, Basically it’s a full set of human teeth that you can open and close, and it’s kind of badass.” Kunkle: “Another really cool piece we have here is one of the original Melrose 1960s straightjackets. This came from one of the sanitariums in Ohio, and it does have the original iron stains on it from the blood, and the straps and everything are in really good condition. We actually tried it out, which was pretty awesome. Wallace: “One of our biggest sellers and probably the most infamous moth ever is the death’s-head [hawkmoth]. You’ll probably recognize it from the cover of Silence of the Lambs. It’s interesting because it’s basically a moth that has a skull imprinted on it’s back. Kunkle: “This is a new piece we recently acquired for the shop, and it’s really cool. It’s Howard Thurston’s—the famous illusionist—original guillotine he used for some of his magic act. It was actually billed in the 1920s by the Abbott Magic Company, and then it was sold to him and he used it for a bunch of magic performances. We ended up getting it from a private collector right here in Cleveland. It’s amazing to be able to add this to the shop; it’s one of a kind. It’s something you’ll never see.”
Check out Cleveland Curiosities at 13375 Madison Ave. in Lakewood or visit clevelandcuriosities.com
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 9
caretaker who had what remained of the Buckland Museum gathering dust in her attic.
Buckland Rising The lineage of American witchcraft in Tremont Adam Dodd
T
he heavy wooden door parts and a man with silvered hair welcomes you to the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft. A purple woolen robe stands sentry in its glass case while crowns and horned helmets line black walls. Years removed from their place in ceremonies, these talismans prove no less potent as the tour begins.
More than a disparate collection of the occult and macabre, the Buckland Museum owes both its name and much of its content to Raymond Buckland, an occultist and author who learned at the feet of Gerald Gardner, considered the father figure of modern witchcraft. After opening in 1966, Buckland’s original museum eventually met with financial problems in 1999 before changing hands and moving south to New Orleans. From here, the current Buckland Museum owner and curator, Steven Intermill, enters the saga. After reaching out in inquiry to state of the original museum, Intermill was forwarded to Toni Rotonda, a surrogate
“I called and she said ‘the museum’s all in boxes, but if you want to see any of it, come on down to Columbus,’” Intermill recounts. “I thought I was just going to go and it would just be a story I’d be able to tell my friends over drinks about seeing the original Buckland museum.” After a road trip and a mutual agreement that saw Rotonda put her collection on loan, the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft had been reborn. “I never thought it would go this far,” Intermill says. “Now, here we are.” The "here" sees Intermill taking root in his own small corner of Tremont with an increasingly crowded guest book that contains signatures from across the country, despite the location opening its doors less than a year ago. “We’ve shown a lot of growth since we’ve opened,” Intermill states. “We’ve actually doubled in size since then. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if anyone was going to show up at first.” The 300-plus guests that crowded the quaint building for the museum’s grand opening were a stark and welcome contradiction to his initial jitters. Intermill believes part of Buckland’s importance rests in its inclusivity; its ability to draw a diverse patronage from seasoned occultists, novices, weekend sightseers, and impassioned eccentrics in equal measure. “If 10 pagans walk in, at least 20 different interpretations of what being a pagan is enters with them,” he reflects. “Everyone knows a pagan, whether they know it or not. We are living is a
A Time for Magick 1963
1964
1966
1999
2015
2016
2017
2018
Raymond Buckland receives ceremonial initiation from Gerald Gardner.
Buckland first visits Gardner's museum on the Isle of Man, soon starts his collection.
The original Buckland museum opens to public in Long Island, N.Y.
Buckland sells his collection to interests in New Orleans.
Toni Rotonda saves collection, brings it to Ohio.
Steven Intermill makes contact with Rotonda and Buckland, gains consent and collection.
Intermill opens the new Buckland Museum in Tremont, Ohio, April 29.
The demon, Belphagor, gets name dropped in an issue of PressureLife.
10 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
repressed society, where people’s spiritual beliefs need to be kept hidden. This is America, and we pay lip service to the First Amendment, but it’s important to realize why we have things like the First Amendment.” Taking the guided tour is deceptively immersive. Intermill weaves throughout the space, narrating the histories of the objects on display as well as the engaging anecdotes of his personal quest to open the new museum. In one instance, he stands underneath a ragged and unusual broom hanging from the ceiling and gushes, “this is ground zero for Wicca.” A personal artifact of Gerald Gardner, this witches broom, or besom as its known around the Wiccan watercooler, was one of the few incredibly rare items Intermill was able to purchase Everyone knows before it was sold to Ripley’s: Believe it or a pagan, whether Not like other Gardner memorabilia.
they know it or not.
One would be remiss to not mention the museum’s permanent resident, Belphagor. As Intermill recounts, Buckland was once tasked by a friend to aid a summoning gone awry. Something dark had entered this world through a magician’s circle. After several days, Buckland was able to trap the spirit in a small metal box wrapped in wire and surrounded by a ring of salt and protective incantations. “Up until the last week of his life, [Buckland] would call me up, warning me, ‘Don’t open the box,’” Intermill admits. “Once, he was meditating and said he had a vision of someone offering me a large sum of money for the box. Later that weekend, someone came in and offered me $500 for the box.”
Tremont has served the latest iteration of the Buckland well, but Intermill acknowledges the effect of neighboring businesses closing down and considers relocating to a larger venue to allow for even more diverse offerings. “Once A Separate Reality [a record store] left next door, that affected part of our whole deal,” Intermill says. “The guys are like, ‘Hey, records!’ and the girlfriends are like, ‘Hey, I’m a witch!” so it was a perfect match.” “We need a place that has foot traffic,” he elaborates. “We’re here at the edge of Tremont. We’ve got our eye on a couple locations that would have room, maybe to have a [psychic] reader setup, maybe some room to include more contemporary work.” If the Buckland’s latest address does change, don’t expect a far commute. Intermill can’t help but espouse the dense legacy the occult maintains in Cleveland. Among his relics is the public assembly permit for the Samhian, or Halloween, ceremony held at Public Square in the heart of Downtown Cleveland in 1994. “If I move, it won’t be in a different city,” he says. “I think Cleveland is in an upward trend. [The occult] seems to be in a downward trend in our culture, right now. I think Cleveland has a healthy seed that seems to be growing every day.”
Be sure to check out the Buckland Museum for yourself at 2676 W. 14 St. in Cleveland. For more information, visit bucklandmuseum.org
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 11
and Central Avenue. The duo wanted a space where people of different races, religions, social, and economical identities could come together to share in common ventures. As time progressed, they found that the arts were a common ground that folks of varying identities could get behind.
The Black Artist
In the early ‘20s, Cleveland saw an influx of African-Americans migrating from the south. With their arrival in the area, Karamu House began to welcome the African-American community and uplift their narratives. “For the African-American community, It does beg the Karamu is a place of respite, a question as to why welcoming place and a gathering the only Africanplace,” says Aseelah Shareef, director of operations and community American theater engagement. “[It is] a place where in Cleveland lacks the many facets of who we are as that same visibility a community can be explored and presented. It is our cultural legacy.” outside of the black
SAFE SPACE The history and impact of Cleveland’s Karamu House India Pierre-Ingram
community.
“We
younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.” - Langston Hughes
It’s difficult to overstate the historical significance of Karamu House, an institution visited by the great Martin Luther King Jr. and called “a milestone in the progress of U.S. race relations” by Eleanor Roosevelt. Karamu House is the oldest African-American performing arts center in the country, making it one of the most important historical institutions in Cleveland. In spite of this, it remains on the fringes of the city’s vibrant local theatre scene. To really know the who, what, where, and why of Karamu House, it’s best to start at the beginning. The institution has existed since 1915 when Oberlin College graduates Russell Jelliffe and Rowena Woodham opened a settlement house at the corner of E. 38th Street
1940s Exterior of Karamu Playhouse.
12 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
1958 K8BET radio, The Voice of Karamu
In the 1940s, the settlement moved to Karamu House’s current location on E. 89th St. & Quincy Avenue. The new spot didn't just thrive in theater, but also in visual arts. In the book Transformations in Cleveland Art, author William Robinson wrote “It was only with the creation of a formal studio art program during the late 1920’s at Karamu house, a program specifically committed to fostering opportunities in the arts, that African-American visibility in the city’s professional art world became pronounced.” Without institutional backing, black artists in Cleveland wouldn't have had a space to thrive and grow in their art. Artists such as Elmer Brown, Hughie Lee-Smith, Charles L. Sallee Jr., and William E. Smith all worked with Karamu House and found success. Their realist and surrealist artworks produced African-American protagonists that were not based on stereotypes, but the artists’ lived experience. If you need another example of the importance of Karamu House, just look to one of the institution’s alumnus, Langston Hughes. Hughes attended classes and premiered several plays while at Karamu House.
1959 Star of Karamu Musical Jamaica, Gail Gordon
1960 Mister Johnson, Wedding Scene.
1982 Shango De Ima, Black History Month.
“It is a cultural shame that a great country like America, with 20 million people of color, has no primarily serious colored theater,” Hughes said when asked about Karamu House. “There isn’t. Karamu is the nearest thing to it.” Due to its history and impact on the Cleveland's African-American community, Karamu House is an important institution for many individuals, including the writer of this piece. I am an artist. I am specifically a bisexual, black woman artist. One part of me wishes I could just consider myself to be just an artist without all the identities defining the roles I am considered for and how my writing is perceived. But my work evolves and fluctuates based on my identities. I was able to star in the American premiere of The Adventures of the Black Girl in Search of God at Karamu House, and it was an experience that allowed for my identity to not be tokenized but centered. “I believe that the Karamu House has been a great start for artists who may have the love for a certain art form, but no outlet,” says Prophet Sey, actor and interim technician director at Karamu House. “Like so many before me, Karamu accepted me with no money, no formal education or degree, and without bias or prejudice.” There are plenty of local theaters that I know should have greater visibility, but it does beg the question as to why the only African-American theater in Cleveland lacks that same visibility outside of the black community. Karamu House as a performance center provides high-quality theater, music, and comedy. Beyond that, it serves as a community hub for events that include student theater, performing art classes, the Urban Black Film Festivals dinner meeting, and Dobama Theatre practices, just to name a few. The space is truly a multiethnic, diverse hub of creative energy. If you want to truly experience the history and the art of Karamu go and see a show, learn more of the history of Karamu House, and take a look around at the many amazing African-American-centered arts happening in your community.
To experience Karamu House, head to karamuhouse.org to purchase tickets and to learn more about the institutions’ contributions to the community.
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 13
What We Ate
The group's menu item ratings
LARDER
Pastrami Sandwich: 5 Lamb Ham and Cheese Sandwich: 4.5 Koji Currywurst: 4 Fried and Fresh Tomato Sandwich: 4.5 Chips and Dip: 4 Meat Board (assorted charcuterie, pickles, cheese, + bread): 4 Vegetarian Board (assorted deli salads, pickles, cheese, + bread): 4.5 Assorted Smoked and Pickled Fish: 3.5
Delicatessen and Bakery
Dine with the PressureLife Team
H
ate onions? Put ketchup on your ketchup? We all have unique likes and dislikes, so when you hear about a new restaurant, whether it be from a foodie or someone who lives off of toaster pastries, you don’t know if his or her tastes align with your own. So, instead of reading a review from one source, take it from four members of our team. Even though we are woefully under qualified to review a restaurant, at least one of us will likely share some of your distinct tastes.
For this issue, the PressureLife crew visited Larder Delicatessen & Bakery, and Eastern European-style deli located at 1455 W. 25th St. in Ohio City. The establishment, run by Jeremy Umansky, Allie La Valle-Umansky, and Kenny Scott, opened back in April of this year and already has developed a fervent following of fermentation fans. Did Larder meat expectations, or did we deem them the wurst? Find out what we thought in our review.
ALEX:
Larder is certainly a culinary adventure in curing, smoking, and pickling. After getting enough food to feed nearly 10 Jim Bachas, our crew got to try a plenty of delightful deli favorites and a few acquired tastes. Unless you’re the sworn enemy of salts and vin-
Likes + Dislikes Get to know the group's taste preferences 14 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
Alex: Mango is death; thinks garlic is a beautiful ingredient; can be seduced with a good meat and /or cheese board but hates blue cheese; loves meat in pretty much all forms. Jim: Prefers a salad over a burger but a steak over anything else; loves spicy
egars, you’ll likely to be able to find something you like at Larder. The sammiches were delicious, particularly the pastrami. If I was Bacchus, I’d have cherubs feed me shards of this delectable meat instead of some measly grapes. The various pickles, salads, and fish also had some highlights, particularly the pickled apples and the whitefish spread. Like the others, the head cheese just wasn’t for me due to the gelatinous consistency, but hey, if you love it, Larder’s got it. Rating: 4/5
JIM:
Hands down the most wild experience I’ve had with food. Jeremy Umansky is definitely a master of his craft and just generally a nice guy. Every sandwich, cheese, and deli salad he had were delicious. For me, it started getting adventurous when the pickled smelt, lardo, and head cheese came to the plate. They tasted good, but the texture of it made me lose the battle of me completely swallowing them. At the top of my list was the fried green tomato and fresh tomato sandwich, pimento cheese, pastrami, and potato salad. Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Larder. Rating: 4/5
and sour flavors; despises donuts and dry bakery; will try anything once. Hannah: Enjoys foods that are savory and slightly over-salted; meals are typically a collection of small snacks; hates funky cheeses and properly cooked red meat; generally not a picky eater.
Dave: The bolder, the better. Prefers big flavors that stick around in your molars. Not a huge fan of sweets; would rather have an Irish coffee for dessert. Tries to keep it as unique and local as possible, but is not above McDonald's breakfast. Please hold the zucchini and squash.
> RIDE > FOOD > MUSIC > BEER
THIS CYCLE REPEATS ALL WEEKEND LONG
Proudly serving
HANNAH:
I ate head cheese. I ate head cheese. Frankly, I'm still not over it. As it turns out, I don't really understand the intrigue for spreadable, jelly-like meats, although the actual flavors on the meat board were quite good if you can move past the whole texture issue. All of the sandwiches were excellent, but I especially enjoyed the lamb ham and cheese and the pastrami. I admittedly was a little unsure when Jeremy Umansky pointed out that we didn't order any seafood and brought over a tray of fermented fish, but the whitefish spread ended up being one of my favorite parts of the meal. A few other highlights for me were the pimento cheese, the chips and dip, and the potato salad—but you really can't go wrong with any of the sides. Overall, it was a great experience, I'm glad I tried some of the more adventurous parts of the meal, but am equally glad that Larder has something for everyone.
The nation’s largest urban cycling festival Edgewater Park // Sept. 7-9
NEOCYCLE.ORG
Rating: 4/5
DAVE:
Larder is a salty wet dream. All four sandwiches we ordered were flavorful, filling, unique, and priced to please. The twoway tomato sandwich harnessed the flavor of a fresh garden-picked tomato. It’s like summer cookouts at my grandma’s, except without my one weird aunt not letting her kids play with me. Spreadable meat is a superfood right? Freshly-baked bread can only be complemented by perfectly seasoned meat spreads, and Larder has a whitefish and mettwurst option, both delicious. Think of yourself as a culinary Indiana Jones and order outside of your comfort zone. The pickled smelt feels like a cooked green bean and tastes like pickled fish. The head cheese and lardo melt in your mouth, but if you prefer chewing, check out the lamb ham. Finally for all you real Evel Knievel's out there, Larder has the best potato salad I’ve ever had.
21490 lorain road fairview park
Rating: 5/5
Larder Delicatessen and Bakery 1455 W. 29th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44113 // 216.912.8203 larderdb.com
burger of the month the lake erie muenster fosters half pound burger & shaved pastrami from d.w. whitaker at the westside market, great lakes muenster cheese, bertmans horseradish sauce, topped with a cleveland pickle chunk
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 15
16 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
A PLACE
Kevin Naughton Illustrations // Anthony Zart
Celebrating One Year of Addiction Recovery for LGBTQ Individuals at the B. Riley Sober House
N
ortheast Ohio is in the midst of a drug addiction crisis. Meth, heroin, alcohol... you name it, we’re addicted to it. Fortunately, there are several recovery services in the region where individuals fighting addiction can seek help and, hopefully, retake control of their lives. If you’re a part of the LGBTQ community in Cleveland, however, things become a little more difficult.
“What we’ve come to discover is that oftentimes the residents we get are individuals who have not even sought treatment before because of fear of discrimination and prejudice,”
Tony Correa explains. Correa is the founder of the B. Riley Sober House, an addiction recovery facility specifically geared to members of the LGBTQ community. It’s one of just two such facilities in the country, and this July marks a full year since it first opened its doors to those struggling with substance abuse disorders. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), LGBT individuals are “more than twice as likely as heterosexual adults (39.1 percent versus 17.1 percent) to have used
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 17
any illicit drug in the past year” and “have a greater likelihood than non-LGBT persons of experiencing a substance use disorder (SUD) in their lifetime.” The virtual absence of LGBTQ-oriented treatment centers is surprising considering statistics on substance abuse in the gay community. Treatment centers like the B. Riley Sober House have shown to make a real difference, too. According to NIDA “addiction treatment programs offering specialized groups for gay and bisexual men showed better outcomes for those clients compared to gay and bisexual men in non-specialized programs.”
A NOTE ON ABBREVIATIONS The decision of what term
(gay, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQA, etc.) to use is a point of contention with many people in and out of the LGBTQ community. Efforts to be inclusive of all non-heteronormative gender identities and sexualities has created a vast array of variations in the terminology which, like all cultural lexicons, change with the times. While we acknowledge these distinctions and the tremendous value of the inclusiveness it represents, for the sake of readability, we are going to use “LGBTQ,” unless a quoted source uses a different term.
In spite of that reassuring data, one study notes that “only 7.4 percent of programs offered“ specialized services for LGBT patients.” Correa discovered this lack of LGBTQ-oriented services firsthand during his early attempts to seek help for his addiction as a gay male in treatment centers. “It was not conducive to my recovery,” he attests; the heteronormative climate he found inside the treatment centers was unaccepting of his sexual identity at best and openly hostile to it at worst. An unwelcoming and unaccepting atmosphere is just one of roadblocks to recovery for the LGBTQ community. Oftentimes, treatment centers will turn LGBTQ individuals away outright. “Places say, ‘Oh, our beds are filled,’ and then allow another woman or another man in,” Correa explains. “We get a lot of our referrals from the homeless shelter, from detox centers, other treatment centers that say, ‘Oh, we don’t know what to do with these people.’ What do you mean, ‘these people?’ I just don’t understand.”
''
We get a lot of our referrals from the homeless shelter, from detox centers, other treatment centers that say, ‘Oh, we don’t know what to do with these people.’ What do you mean, ‘these people?’ I just don’t understand.”
identity is suppressed. “There was one transgender female who they told her she can’t paint her nails, she can’t do her hair, she can’t wear makeup,” Correa recalls. “I just could not deal with that.”
Transgender individuals have an especially difficult time. “They could be transgender male or transgender female and they’ll try to go to the respective house,” he explains. “And they turn them away.”
Additionally, many addiction treatment programs invoke religion as an aid to recovery. “In the LGBT community, where so many of us have had a really fraught relationship with faith, often that connection to a higher power might not be as readily accessible as it might be in the straight community,” explains Ken Schenk, an associate professor of education at Baldwin Wallace University with a background in drug and alcohol education. “There are any number of gay people who have an incredible relationship with faith, but we know that’s a fraught relationship in many sectors of the LGBTQ population.”
If transgender individuals decide to enter a treatment center of the opposite gender identity, drugs that are prescribed by doctors for transitioning purposes are often prohibited and expression of their gender
The lack of LGBTQ-specific recovery houses is especially concerning when you consider the rates at which LGBTQ individuals experience addiction. While LGTBQ individuals aren’t any more predisposed
to substance abuse disorders than non-LGBTQ people, the LGBTQ community experiences a unique degree of exposure to interactions with drugs and alcohol. “If you look at all of corporate sponsors of most pride parades, you know, if you just looked at list of their sponsors, your jaw would drop,” says Dean Horn, a volunteer at the B. Riley House. “It’s mostly liquor companies and bars. So much of LGBT life is centered around the bars, or at least historically centered around the bars. It just seems to be almost a shoulder shrug when we talk about the overwhelming statistical need for recovery in the community.” The presence of drugs and alcohol in the gay community can often feel inescapable. “One of the basic tenets of some approaches to recovery is ‘people, places, and things,’” Schenk explains. “When you change the people you’re hanging out with, the places you’re going, and the things you’re doing; that supports a healthy recovery.” By removing bars
W H AT ' S I N A
NAME? The name “B. Riley” has a special, personal significance for Tony
Correa. “My mother was the first person I witnessed get sober,” he explains. Her substance abuse took an incredible toll on their relationship. “I couldn’t stand her. I hated her for never being there for me, ever, in my entire life.” When she was diagnosed with HIV, however, she made massive changes in her life. “I watched her get sober, I watched her get everything back in her life,” he recalls. “She ended up getting a house, she got a boyfriend, her HIV status was undetectable—this was like 20 years later—and she was doing really good for herself.”
In spite of this, Correa still resented her for the years of neglect, and he himself was in the middle of his own addiction. Once he sought treatment, part of his recovery was the “12 Step” program, a widely used course of action for recovery. “This last time going through my 12 steps, I got to the fourth step—which is a personal inventory of my life—and I inventoried my relationship,” he says. For the first time, he saw past his mother’s mishandling of their relationship and acknowledged his own. “I could have been more loving, more patient, more kind, more tolerant, more understanding.” The ninth step in the program has recovering individuals make amends with those they have
wronged in the past; unfortunately, it was impossible for Correa to do so with his mother, as she had died due to complications from HIV and AIDS. Instead, he decided to honor her memory in a way that would make her proud. “My mother’s name was Bridget Riley, so I named the house B. Riley Sober House after my mother, as a living amend.”
Building B. Riley Sober House
from an LGBTQ individual’s social life, he says, “You’ve just taken away so much of their gay identity.”
When Correa first conceived of the B. Riley Sober House, he had
This concept is reinforced by representations of the LGBTQ community in media, too. “In the presentation I did for B. Riley, I actually used clips from movies throughout the decades, and almost every gay character in a movie that I found was interacting with alcohol and other drugs in some way,” Schenk explains.
his work cut out for him. After completing the vast quantity of paperwork required to become a licensed treatment center, which Correa said was only possible through “prayer and meditation,” the first order of business was finding a location. The house he found might be described by a realtor as a “fixer-upper.” “This house was a disaster,” Correa says. “We had to put in all the work. We put in over $20,000 worth of work inside of this house. We kicked drug dealers out of it that were trapping out of it, it was disgusting.” After all the work was done, something special happened that let Correa know that it was going to be worth it. “The day that he gave me the keys, at the front door as you see the steps going up, he handed me the keys and—I’ve got goosebumps talking about it—the guy told me to look down,” Correa says. “I looked down and there was a butterfly AA coin on the ground. And I just knew, ‘Alright, I’m on the right path. I’m on the right track.’”
These few moments of LGBTQ representation can go a long way toward normalizing substance abuse in the community. “If you’re in the middle of nowhere and saying, ‘Oh my god, there’s a gay character, and I don’t get to see those’ and that character’s interacting with alcohol and other drugs, it sends the message of, ‘Oh, this is what gay people do,’” Schenk continues. “It’s not correct, but it’s still pervasive.” For LGBTQ individuals living in a heteronormative society, identity is fragile and must be fought for if it’s going to be maintained. The LGBTQ community faces attacks from all sides by a world that seeks to invalidate them, deliberately or otherwise. Oftentimes, simply ignoring the existence of the gay community and its struggles can be incredibly damaging. In fact, part of NIDA’s LGBTQ report reads “many federally funded surveys have only recently started to ask about sexual orientation and gender identification in their data collections,” concluding that “it is not yet possible to establish longterm trends about substance use and SUD prevalence in LGBT populations.” The lack of data
''
were on the waiting list, while they were waiting. So the need is certainly there.”
Only 7.4 percent of programs offered specialized services for LGBT patients.
inhibits public funding of organizations like the B. Riley Sober House, forcing private individuals like Correa to take matter in to his own hands. “That [lack of data is] probably going to get way worse,” Schenk says. “As the Trump administration—and this is an apolitical statement, it is truly factual—as the Trump administration moves towards removing questions about sexual orientation from data-collection efforts, most notably with the 2020 census, it’s going to be more difficult to tailor services to these communities because we’re not collecting the essential information.” In the face of all of this adversity, Correa and the volunteers at the B. Riley Sober House have their work cut out for them. “The need far outweighs the resources that the house has,” Horn says. “There’s a long, long waiting list. I know for a fact that at least two people have overdosed that
In its first year of operation, B. Riley Sober House has seen 24 individuals complete its treatment program and remain sober after leaving, and it’s helping many more individuals along the road to recover in spite of the fact that the maximum occupancy of the house is just 15. These early successes of B. Riley House speak for themselves, and Correa is excited to see them continue. “We are beginning to expand,” he proudly proclaims. “We’re seeking Columbus, Ohio. There’s a large LGBT population there, and then we’re going to branch to other 3/4 houses here in Cleveland.” In addition to running B. Riley House and covering expenses when necessary, Correa works and goes to school full time. His overall goal is to provide hope, and ultimately recovery to anyone in need, regardless of whether they’re part of the LGBTQ community. “If anyone out there that’s struggling needs a way out, or seeking a way out, they can feel free to call us and we will help guide them in the right direction,” he promises. “That’s straight, gay, rich, poor, black, white; it doesn’t matter.”
Want to support B. Riley Sober House? Find out about their services and how you can help at brileysoberhome.org
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 21
The Next Best Thing We get down to business with public work space, Beauty Shoppe Adam Dodd Photography // Lexi Ribar
W
hether it’s at coffee shops with wobbly tables, on your sofa while your roommate watches that same anime again, or, like the PressureLife crew does, in the back of some bar, we’ve all made the best of bad locations when there’s work to be done. Let’s face it, not everyone gets to chew the fat in the boardroom from Mad Men or the Hall of Justice. With Beauty Shoppe’s co-working office space poised to open its doors early this August at the historical Seymour Building on the corner of Detroit Avenue and W. 26 Street, locals now may have the next best thing in the heart of Cleveland.
“In the beginning, it was just an experiment,” explains Founder Zach Ciccone. “Beauty Shoppe came about from our desire, as friends and family, to bring about a generosity and a sense of authenticity to the workplace and our own work lives.” Feeling that modern work environments often lack the personal comforts that allow for true ingenuity and productivity to blossom, Ciccone spearheaded the creation of highly user-attentive workspaces that would come to define the Beauty Shoppe franchise. Starting in Pittsburgh’s historic East Liberty district, the first building that the group bought and remodeled to their ends was originally an actual beauty shop. “We were able to salvage the windows of that very first space,” Ciccone says. “It had ‘Beauty Shoppe’
22 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
emblazoned on the windows and we decided that it would be our company name. We felt it reflected the beauty, subtlety, and nuance of our work in bringing locals together. It also speaks to company’s commitment today, which is to community and honoring local history. I find the Seymour Building to be awesome. Our whole philosophy of taking under-utilized or desolate or abandoned space and turning it around, it’s something that really reflects what the community is up to.” The Beauty Shoppe ethos is more than just a mission statement. “We took a deeper dive," Ciccone explains. “We talked to retail owners, coffee shop owners. We observe people working in coffee shops. We talked to directors of real estate. Everyone’s talking about the future of work and the convenience and flexibility for their employees and themselves. We’re all more productive when we have more flexibility in how we go about doing our work and where we do it. We think broader.” This wide contemplation sees Beauty Shoppe breaking the mold of public work spaces less than 10 years from its inception. “We consider ourselves a lifestyle brand,” Ciccone continues. “We consider ourselves a hospitality company. We create friendly workspaces that are hotel lobby meets your friendly coffee shop meets a super accessible workplace that has traditionally not been available to individuals in small companies.” This cross-platform approach is typified in the inclusion of Foyer, Beauty Shoppe’s food and beverage café that welcomes guests from the lobby of the Seymour Building. “[Foyer] is a public lounge space where we hope to celebrate local artists, people who need a pop-up space, or have a lecture or host their own program,” Ciccone says. “They can come in and do all that here.” Ciccone was quick to share the credit on Foyer. “Our lead designer, Morgan Stewart, she’s a hospitality person, she comes from that world,” he clarifies. “She put her heart and soul into the Foyer concept. What they’ve created is super fresh with a lot of local sensibilities. We’re sourcing our food and products from local vendors.” Ciccone has a clear vision on shared work spaces, but goes further, delineating what sets Beauty Shoppe apart from the concept from which is was originally birthed. “For many people, it’s not just a workplace,” Ciccone states. “For students, it’s a place to meet peo-
ple and think about your career, think about mentors, and the kind of industries they want to move into. For many small businesses who are not venture backed, who don’t have major investment, it’s a space where they can continue to grow their company.” Much of the innovation that Ciccone touts falls under Beauty Shoppe’s proactive inclusivity. “We really want this product and these spaces to be seen as open to all; priced and designed and programmed to be open to all,” he says, a sentiment that’s echoed in Beauty Shoppe’s tiered memberships. “Members can select from a range of options based on their needs. There’s a new way that people need to think about the way that they consume professional space. We think that the subscription model makes the space more accessible. For us, it’s providing a variety of price points to access that space, whether you’re a fulltime, tenured consumer or someone who “We’re all more already has an office or a space at a university, but just wants to attend an event or use productive when a conference room. We want to make it as we have more easy as possible for people to access these.”
flexibility in how we go about doing our work and where we do it.”
Ciccone does not see Beauty Shoppe’s latest Ohio City venture as the beginning and end of the group’ involvement. “We hope to be involved in many local and citywide conversations—from universities to chambers of commerce—to understand how best we can play a role in facilitating new relationships in local government, business leaders, and policy leaders in the city,” he claims.
Beauty Shoppe’s integration into the community has already begun with Foyer opening earlier last month and will continue as the public work spaces are set to open the first week in August, with memberships starting at $125 and additional discounts for students. With an abundance of artists and innovative entrepreneurs across the region, along with Beauty Shoppe’s proximity to the Downtown business district, Cleveland may soon find itself getting down to business in the next best thing.
Want to learn more about Beauty Shoppe? For more information, head to beautyshoppe.co
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 23
Opinion
That's Not
YOUR CULTURE not part of who you are, and figure out how to make it a part of your look, sound, dish, or merchandise.
The danger of cultural adoption James Earl Brassfield
W
hat is cool? Often times, cool is manifested as something material. Something you can adopt or imitate. If you step back and look at it, cool is almost always a product of cultural appropriation. You remember the story of America. How can any culture that’s been dragged off, hated on, and killed over the acquisition of this nation become the desired fall festival look?
America hated Black People. We hated Japanese people. We still harbor comedic acceptance over Apu. With the upcoming InCuya Music Festival being held in the home of the Race Record—a moniker for R&B records from the 1920s to the ‘40s— we pray you don’t let us down Cleveland. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a monument to the unstoppable nature of good music. However, do you remember how slave songs by the ‘20s had evolved into the blues? When I ask you to name a blues guitarist, do you think Clapton or Johnson?
Looking back, the growth and birth of America has been dictated by people who were stealing from black culture. Not long after we got to this country, giant wired bodices underneath a dress were made to imitate bulbous hindquarters for women in high society. Tanning, which some white women will literally die for, seems like a desperate attempt to imitate the kind of smooth, darkened skin that could only be obtained in the fields. While still acts of appropriation, these parrotings are, in a sense, a form of flattery. We are always adapting to escape the displacement of our worth, as even our literal bodies were dislodged from their roots. Where does that leave us today? Just a few years ago, girls would wear headdresses and little else to festivals all over the world. Now here in Cuyahoga County, we face our own dangers of appropriation. InCuya is a perfect opportunity for Northeast Ohio to display it’s wokeness. Otherwise it'll just be weird beads in the middle of white women's foreheads, headdresses, and feathers fluttering down as New Order plays. One should be fearful. The cultural atrocities we could face in the perfect storm that is Parma girls and direct festival access could be worse than football players kneeling.
Appropriation is a product of desire for social status. An adoption of other culture’s artifacts, all to enhance the optics of oneself, is a poor overuse of human diversity. In a struggle to be different, cool, and accepted by our peers, sometimes it's better to be the guy or gal known for the cool thing. The birth of cool starts We are always with observation and ends in theft. adapting to escape In the replication of any cultural artifact, there are flaws. How does one elevate your cultural status? You look around, see what is staunchly
24 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
the displacement of our worth, as even our literal bodies were dislodged from their roots.
Acts of appropriation and the negative reaction to players kneeling are actually similar, because they’re both kind of racist. The hatred, omission, and erasure of the cultures that white America wants to harbor as their own, will again force the disenfranchised to come up with something else to remember themselves and their history. Still, you wonder why the line dances got harder after “The Cupid Shuffle.”
EV
TECH TRENDS
FREE
SHIPPING
PRINT LOCAL
The 2016 Election Cyberattacks: What Happened and What it Means for 2018 Keith Rowe
RECENT STATEMENTS MADE BY OUR PRESIDENT in Helsinki seem to deny that Russians interfered in the 2016 election, but what exactly happened during the 2016 election? Almost two years have passed since then, rendering the details of the incidents largely forgotten outside of the ongoing investigation and indictments. However, the tactics and parties involved could very well resurface in the upcoming 2018 election, making it important to know just what went on during these cyberattacks.
ERY DAY
SAVE 15%
Intelligence experts all seem to agree that in 2016, Russian hackers launched numerous cyberattacks with the goal to damage and undermine the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and other candidates. This was done by hacking email servers and targeting other key campaign member’s email accounts. Any stolen emails and documents were then distributed to WikiLeaks.
ON BUSINESS CARDS, T-SHIRTS, STICKERS & MORE!
This was only part of the 2016 attack strategy. Trolls and troll factories — Russian hackers and bots with fake social media accounts — released and amplified fake news stories to sway voters’ opinions, create mistrust, and stir civil unrest.
Call for custom pricing on orders over $1000. Promo Expires 12/31/2018
Use Exclusive Promo Code
PRESSURE15 Call 216.622.6360 Click jakprints.com
Looking forward to the 2018 November midterm election, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats will be contested. The feeling is this is a good opportunity for the Democrats to win back at least one side of Congress from the Republicans, making this an extremely important election for all parties. Following the 2016 election cyberattack patterns, there have already been reports of hackers launching spear-phishing (email spoofing) campaigns against three reelection candidates. This appears only to be the beginning of the reports with the election almost three months away. Despite the targeted attacks, there are things people can do to combat the spread of fake news stories. Facebook now has built-in mechanisms for reporting bogus stories. This includes a partnership with FactCheck. org, which has several guides and tools, as well as an Ask a Question feature and a Fake News page, to determine a story's legitimacy. Time will tell if the heightened awareness in the media and intelligence communities—and the billions spent by Facebook and Google—will be enough to keep this election interference free.
This article is sponsored by Aztek, a web design, development, and digital marketing agency located in downtown Cleveland. aztekweb.com
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 25
MATTHEW (laughs) Well that’s good! I brought copies of the books if you want to have a look through. GENNIFER Yeah, absolutely. (Gennifer begins looking through Matthew’s book, Alternative Movie Posters II, More Film Art From The Underground.) GENNIFER Can you explain how these books came about? How you created them? MATTHEW
1984 Publishing:
A SCREENPLAY Book Publisher and Film Entrepreneur Matthew Chojnacki on looking back… and looking ahead Gennifer Harding-Gosnell Photography // Laura Wimbels
26 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
FADE IN… ____________________________________
INT. GYPSY CAFE, GORDON SQUARE - DAY Open at the counter at Gypsy Cafe. A new employee is introducing herself to a regular customer in the background. A man, MATTHEW CHOJNACKI, walks in and is immediately recognized by a woman, GENNIFER HARDING-GOSNELL, who is there to interview him about his work for an article in a local magazine called PRESSURELIFE. They exchange greetings and find a quiet table in the back of the cafe. GENNIFER (smiling and animated) You picked a great place to meet. I love everything on the menu and will probably try to eat one of everything before we go.
I had been a collector of one-sheet movie posters for so many years, just being a fan. So many of the older films like Airplane!, Police Academy… as a kid, I’d see the posters and they were fun, creative, and obviously made by truly talented artists. The poster would often make me want to see the film. Throughout the ‘90s and 2000s, studios started to rely more on star power to sell films, using more head shots of the actors and less artistic creation. There’s been a recent movement among artists to recreate movie posters for classic and cult films, and the posters have been a hit. It’s now a whole underground scene and its exploded into film festivals, Comic-Cons—it’s been amazing. I wanted to give more exposure and share my own fascination with the art, so I went through my own collection and started piecing the book together. The book includes prints of the posters and short bio-type facts directly from the artists about themselves, their influences and their inspirations. GENNIFER (Stops thumbing through book at the alternative poster for Vertigo.) This is amazing. I saw the story of it last night. I watched the documentary you worked on, Twenty Four By Thirty Six, and they talked about this poster in it. I love the original Vertigo artwork but this one is just fascinating.
MATTHEW (Pulls out the book, Ghoulish: The Art of Gary Pullin, from underneath the book Gennifer is currently looking at.) Yeah, that was one of the films I did executive production on. This guy, Ghoulish Gary Pullin, he’s an amazing artist. He’s also the subject of this book we’re publishing through 1984 all on his work. That Vertigo poster’s in this book, too. Gary is the current go-to horror artist, and two of my favorite posters are the official pieces he did for Vertigo. The variant with the winding staircase with the menacing eyeball at the base is a particular favorite, and it's also because a very valuable piece in the art market." GENNIFER So what made you decide to turn your hobby into a career? MATTHEW I had a great job working on finance, then two years ago I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I would go for chemo treatments and you’re just sitting there for hours at a time. I was among the youngest people in the room. Some of the people there were in their 90s and just trying to buy themselves another five years or so, and we would just get to talking to one another. And these people, they never
talked about ‘Hey, what a great job I had!’ or ‘Gee, I wish I’d worked more!,’ it was all memories about family and friends and experiences of things they loved. I had made connections within the industry and was able to get work on film projects, mostly executive producer roles, marketing and promotions. And I was able to start 1984 Publishing myself and publish books. I had made a few prints and sent them out and they were a hit. Things just took off from there.
appreciate the nostalgia of the music, the films, for exactly what those times were, but I always have to be moving ahead into something.
GENNIFER
No, not really.
Do you ever worry about running out of things to do? You’ve accomplished so much of what you love already, like, do you ever fear that there will be this peak and then it’s all downhill from there, ya know?
FADE OUT…
GENNIFER You sound like you don’t have time to look back. MATTHEW (smiles)
________________________________________ -END-
MATTHEW Hmmm. No, I don’t really feel that way, but I get what you mean. Every time I work on a film project or a book, I meet more people and it always leads to more things. I’ve been hit up to work on films while showcasing my books at Comic-Con. I can see Duran Duran 10 times and still enjoy it because I just love their music. It’s a great job. I’m always looking for new connections, new experiences, and they just keep happening. As much as I enjoy nostalgia and collecting all this amazing work, I don’t live in the past. I
For more information on Matthew Chojnacki’s work, head to matthewchojnacki.com and 1984publishing.com.
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 27
For the Love of the
HYPE How one Cleveland company turns viral hits into wearable art.
28 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
James Earl Brassfield
H
ow do you make money off the internet? Just follow the Hype. Glen Infante is the man behind iLTHY—an abbreviation of the “I Love The Hype”—a trend-based apparel company. This guy is the prime example of someone who is retooling the culture to evade what we now call the “Washed”—aka boring-ass dads.
iLTHY was born during the 2008 Cavs season with a single T-shirt based on the now-famous incident when Delonte West was a special correspondent on Jim Rome is Burning. You can't easily forget a line like “you betta have my donuts.” In the viral aftermath of that short, Glen had an idea: a hype-based clothing company that literally evolves with whatever people find most interesting. The uniqueness of Glen's vision is the answer to the monotony of fashion. Glen's forethought to adapt his style with the culture is key to creating a desirable, popular, and visually-striking brand. While other companies are trying to find inspiration, Glen is actively changing his whole lookbook based on the most popular social media posts or viral videos. If it has a million If it has a million likes, someone's going to buy it on a shirt.
likes, someone's going to buy it on a shirt.
While tees are a big part of his business, iLTHY is so much more than just a shirt company. Glen’s offers hats, sweaters, jackets, headbands, and other apparel, all of which are amazingly styled and sometimes even cut and designed by Glen himself. He's on the forefront of what is fashionable. In fact, Glen recently stayed in Los Angeles for an exclusive iLTHY pop up shop. While iLTHY’s reach extends outside of Ohio, he still maintains a brick and mortar store in Gordon Square.
Glen is just a local guy, but he's created a brand that is instantly recognizable, desired, and inspired rather than derivative. In a world where fashion feels like a copy of a copy, Glen remains original. Everyone's worn a hoodie. However Glen learned it all on his own. With no formal education for fashion design, Glen may have avoided the pretentiousness that comes with that level of formal schooling. A native Ohioan born and raised, Glen exudes a strong desire to look good and represent the culture in new and changing ways. This is the kind of thing that makes fashion legends. What's next for the brand? Everyone involved in modern fashion wants to go to New York. Glen is no different; he would love to have a brick-and-mortar location in the big city. Still, he thinks his favorite store will always be his original location on Madison in Lakewood. They put a grocery store where coolness used to live. Now there's gluten-free yogurts. Cleveland is always changing and Glen's ready for it. Hopefully we can keep him around long enough to thank the next guy that leaves the Cavs.
Want to wear the hype? Head to iLTHY’s store at 6602 Detroit Ave. or online at ilthy.com.
Issue 20
| PRESSURELIFE.com 29
Matter of Facts 5 Questions Worth Asking Before You Accept a Fact Last issue, I had fun discussing opinions and how you can go about forming one of you own. Perhaps the most important element of a proper, upstanding opinion is the facts that support it. Thanks to the First Amendment, any fool can put words on a page and present complete bullshit as truth. I'm even doing it right now.
Dan Bernardi
I CAN VOUCH
that truth is often at odds with comedy, so knowing how to separate the two can be crucial to your senses of both reality and humor. Once you strip away the sarcasm, bluster, metaphor, and litany of devices people like me use to enhance opinion-driven narratives such as this, all that remains are the cold, hard facts (or lack thereof). With a healthy dose of skepticism, here are, in my opinion, five essential questions to ask yourself when checking facts. I'll admit that sometimes I don't make it past the headline of a story. I often won't remember who wrote a piece or pay any mind to the author in the first place (there's a chance I won't even remember writing this). It seems like the human mind easily strips away any authorship from information and reduces it to a basic factoid for later regurgitation. But when in doubt, it's critical that the person presenting any given fact must be a trusted source. Just think of Chicken Little. He cried wolf time and time again and his nose grew to unprecedented lengths. Once his pants caught fire, he admitted to chopping down the cherry tree and, because of his son's birthday wish, he never told a lie again. Now that's a trusted source.
WHO IS PRESENTING THIS FACT?
People routinely sling their opinions around haphazardly, but when something is declared a fact, those people better have more facts prepared. We want research, data, and proof to reinforce the facts, because things get tricky when we don't have the luxury of experiencing truth first hand. I've heard about, read of, and seen pictures of both the Statue of Liberty and the Dark Lord Cthulhu. I don't have the resources to visit New York City or R'lyeh to personally witness either. When you're not sure what to believe, it's best to go with your gut and bow before the Great Old One.
WHAT IS THE BASIS OF THIS FACT?
30 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 20
Am I watching Cartoon Network or Fox News? Which is better for informative content? I don't have the answers to these questions, but it’s best to know the source to judge a "fact." Each organization has agendas and slanted perspectives, aimed to skew the facts in their favor and skewer your brain with bullshit. The talking heads may be biased, but the truth is not. Know where the facts come from. If you always acquire them from the same place, you may live in a bubble. Consider bursting the fuck out of it immediately.
WHERE IS THIS FACT BEING PRESENTED?
As the state of existence ebbs and flows over time, some facts of life change with it. It’s paramount that your facts are up to date. You may have read in an article yesterday that Abraham Lincoln is alive and well, and he's running in the next presidential election. Before you get excited and order a “Make America Great Again” top hat, take a moment to realize that article you read was printed in May of 1860. This fact has expired. Be sure to consider the expiration dates of all future facts before you file them in you mental bank of permanent truths.
WHEN WAS THIS FACT PRESENTED?
Sometimes, in pondering the importance of any given information, it helps further solidify facts into reality. Why is the sky blue? Because tiny molecules of blue light are scattered in the Earth's atmosphere. Why only blue? Because blue travels in easily dispersed waves of light. Why? I don't fucking know, because the question of why is actually a bottomless philosophical pit. If you ask it enough times, you will run out of answers. Sometimes we just don't have the truth, and we have to use our best judgment to make due with what we've got. And that's a fact… but don't take my word for it.
WHY THE FUCK IS THIS A FACT?
Beauty Shoppe Seymour Building 2529 D E T RO I T AV E . O H I O C I T Y
FIND YOUR PL ACE
A place for meaningful work. A space for creative exchange. A workplace for every pursuit.
C O W O R K I N G . P R I V A T E O F F I C E S & S U I T E S . P R O F E S S I O N A L M E E T I N G & C O N V E N I N G S PA C E S .
BE AUT YSHOPPE.CO/ SEYMOUR
•
S A L E S @ B E A U T Y S H O .CO IssueP20P| E PRESSURELIFE.com 31