Issue 1 by The Artifact Magazine

the artifact Magazine

how will you be remembered? Vol. 1

THE ARTIFACT MAGAZINE ISSUE 1 | APRIL 2015

FOUNDER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LOURDES SUKARI

CONTRIBUTING PRINT + WEB WRITERS

ELIZABETH HANSEN

ALEX HARBIN

ERIN PATRICK

PETER O’NEAL

JASMINE JACOBS

JON LITTEN

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

AKI

DYLAN YORK

COVER ART BY DYLAN YORK

THEARTIFACTMAGAZINE.COM 4

INTERVIEW

DAKARAI, LAMEBROTHERHOOD

FEATURE DYLAN YORK

ALL COWS EAT GRASS

PHOTOGRAPHY

MUSIC

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“THIRD EYE” illustration by Dakarai, Founder of LameBrotherhood, LLC 7

sci-fi street art INTERVIEW BY LOURDES SUKARI | ART BY D A K A R A i

“I catered to the underdog — because Cleveland had always been an underdog, and Ohio in general is an underdog. That’s a little bit of where LameBrotherhood comes from. I think people in Ohio can really relate to that.” For people who don’t know who you are, can you

introduce yourself? Dakarai : I’m a 24-year-old graphic artist; I guess you could call me a painter, designer, and graphic artist. I have my own brand I started when I was 18 called “LameBrotherhood” and it started off where I was just doing street clothing. I’d do clothing important to the season. But over the years it’s turned into more of a prominent line. So now I’m doing more product design and painting.

What really inspired you to make the street line? What brought LameBrotherhood about? When I was a teenager, I was doing graffiti art a lot and I wanted to do something more with it. At the time I’d just discovered the brand Bathing Ape and it instantly became my favorite. I was too young to afford it, so I wanted to make my own, or make something that looked similar to that and gave me that same feeling I got when looking at their stuff. So, I got inspired to turn the graffiti art I was doing into a fashion line. Do you think that the Baked Squirtle that shows up in your art is derived from your own version of the Bathing Ape? No, no the Baked Squirtle is just kind of a fun thing that I do. I’ve been traveling a lot so when I go out I love to see all the street art around the city. I’ll shoot photos of street art that I’ve seen that I liked, and I’ll post them to a wall. I actually already had a wall called Baked Squirtle where I’d just put anything on there that I wanted, you know, but I’d never really utilized it. I use that name because, you know, I grew up in the 90s, so I love Pokemon. What inspired your transition to painting from

clothing and graphic design? Well, I’m a part of an art collective in Cleveland called Lab Cabin Cleveland, and most of the guys that are in the collective with me are painters and I had only dabbled in it. But we kept getting painting jobs around the city, people would ask us to do murals or live paintings or something like that. I would do it just because all of them were doing it, and then one day I just really started to like it and to have ideas of my own that I really wanted to paint. So I started working on my own paintings. The graphic design that I did that I’d post on Instagram, I still do. That’s kind of my process now: I do what I was already doing before but I take it a step further with painting. So before then you’d never really had any experience with painting? I did a little bit, but I had never really taken it seriously. It was actually my least favorite form of art because I felt like it was so hard, like it was something I couldn’t do. I kind of got thrown into it. But now it’s kind of therapeutic for me. I can paint for hours without taking breaks. You can get so much done, and it feels so much better than having a print because I’m actually putting my time and effort and emotion into it. You can’t get that through Illustrator. Since painting is therapeutic for you, do you think you’re going to lean more into doing painting alone? Yeah, I think that’s going to be a lot of the stuff that I create. I still do digital work on Illustrator and all that but it means so much more to turn things into a painting, I feel like that immortalizes it. The final product of everything I do will probably be a painting or even an installation. I could maybe even pick up sculpting one day.

I’ve noticed that celebrities are often a big part of your work, whether it’s graphic art or painting. What influence does pop culture or music have on your creative process? I think I was doing more celebrities before so that the masses would have something to relate to, so that they would see my style instead of me putting out things that I really care about doing which is like music, like trippy, psychedelic type of work. But music is really what drives my creativity. I’ll do recognizable figures in my work, but it’s always something that inspired me or something that I like about somebody. I get my inspiration from things that I can relate to and music has always been really important to me. How does music inspire you in your creative process? Do you hear a song and paint how you feel from it, or how does that work? It could be, or it could come from what I’d been listening to lately. I listen to a lot of underground hiphop type artists, or maybe I listen to some jazz. So it really is whatever I’m listening to at that time in my life. I can listen to an album for weeks because it’s inspiring me to express my emotions in a certain way. That’s kind of what I draw from in my paintings: The feeling I’m getting from whatever I’m listening to at the time.

So can you name what some of your most familiar pieces are inspired by? I have this portrait I did of Spongebob called “And then I was Spongebob” and that piece is actually inspired by my first mushroom trip. He’s got mushrooms in his mouth, you know, and he looks like he’s losing his mind. That’s not even about music — I just went off on some other shit. No, no it’s okay. So how was that? I don’t just do drugs all the time, you know, I do it for the experience, to actually learn something. I actually got something out of that experience. It taught me that I had more control over myself. It changes your view of certain things. For the next couple months my creativity was on some other shit after I did that. Being from Ohio — you’re from Garfield Heights, you live in Cleveland now — what type of influence does that have on your work ethic? Not only that, but what do you think made people gravitate toward LameBrotherhood at a time when the art scene in Cleveland wasn’t big? I think the time I came out, which was 2009, was a really key time to be doing what I was trying to do. That kind of stuff was new. There wasn’t much going

on at that time, so it was easy to grasp that attention. I catered toward the underdog — because Cleveland had always been an underdog, and Ohio in general is an underdog. That’s a little bit of where LameBrotherhood comes from. I think people in Ohio can really relate to that. So with your painting do you still have that mission of creating art for the rebel and the underdog? Yeah, the way that I go about doing that is by doing what’s true to me because a lot of people don’t do that. There are a lot of creative people that are allowing themselves to be controlled. I feel like me doing exactly what I want to do is me rebelling against that. I’m fighting having to conform to something that I don’t really care about, or something that I’m not passionate about. I’m doing what I like. Hopefully people like it. But for me it’s a way of expressing myself. LameBrotherhood is getting pretty big, but as far as your goals with painting, where do you see yourself going with that and how do those goals differ from the clothing line to your actual artistic career? Well, I’m actually reshaping the way the LameBrotherhood is set up. I don’t want it to just be

a clothing brand. I would like to still do clothing but I want LameBrotherhood to be able to produce whatever I want it to. It can be painting or photography or music or anything. I don’t want it to be stuck in one lane. I want to be able to do a wide variety of things. That’s how my style is. I jump to different things by the month. Tell me about your history with graffiti and street art. It wasn’t really something where I was out there as a teenager. It really was just stuff that I was doing, mimicking what I saw on the streets. I’d draw it all over my school work or my locker. I just like to draw graffiti or cartoon style characters in my notebook. I took it a step further and tried to go out and do that sometimes but I think I was too young and afraid to really do it the way that I could’ve done it. That’s really when I changed lanes and started to do it on clothing. Before I had LameBrotherhood I was just airbrushing t-shirts for people and selling that in school. Then I wanted to organize it and turn it into something bigger than that. So are you going to be doing more graffiti art now that you’re in that painting phase of your career? I could. I don’t like to really stick myself into any

category. When I’m creating I like to do what I feel. Maybe there’ll come a time when I want to do more graffiti style work, that’s always an influence but I may not do direct graffiti out on the streets. It could be something I do on the computer or something I do for a print on some clothing. It’s always been a major influence on my style though. It could show up anywhere.

What do you hope people get from seeing your work? I really want people to be able to find the creative person in themselves. I’d like people to get the same feeling that I get when I see my favorite artists’ work. It makes me want to go implement that, I want to go out and try to express myself in that same way too. I would hope that my work would inspire someone to go out and do something that makes them feel good. Can you tell me a little bit about your upcoming show without giving too much away? This particular show will be all paintings and I’m doing a secret project with a friend of mine that I grew up with, Shametra of Polyesterr Doll. She does runway style fashion. My main focus is to get some of my

paintings done and to get that collaboration done. And that’ll be a part of LameBrotherhood? The whole show will be a LameBrotherhood show. It’ll be me displaying what I really want to do because usually when I do a show it’s one thing. I’ll do an art show, or I’ll do a release party for a line. But I’m going to bring it all out together, so people know that LameBrotherhood is doing so much more than just fashion. I’m bringing the art into the atmosphere. How do you want to be remembered? I would like to be remembered as an artist that never compromised and always did exactly what he wanted to do and people could tell that. I don’t even have to say that, I just want people to feel that and say, “Wow, he has to be happy doing this.” I want people to know how I feel about this and I want them to feel the same way with things they’re passionate about. I think that’s something that’s really important for humans to experience: To find what they love and to really do it the best they can.

Travis Love Interview by Elizabeth Hansen | Art by Travis Love

“I came up with the name “Brainfood” because it represents staying inspired. It’s about ‘feeding your mind’ by filling your life with things that inspire you.”

Travis Love is a painter, graphic designer, and illustrator from Atlanta, Georgia. He recently launched his new clothing line, Brainfood, and celebrated with an event entitled “Grounded,” which featured his personal artwork. I sat down and interviewed him after the exhibit’s opening night, where Love hosted a pop-up shop of his clothing line alongside his paintings and drawings. Tell me more about your exhibition. What was the energy like on opening night? Travis Love: This is my first solo show, so it was a great feeling of accomplishment. Opening night was very hectic but it was incredible to see all my friends and family come out and support me. Quite a few more people came out than I was expected. I think that’s cool because it means they were genuinely interested in the art and went out of their way to check it out. What made you decide to launch your clothing line? I guess I had an “aha” moment after my first big lay off. It came as a major shock, but it pushed me to go in a new direction and pursue my own dreams and passions. What do you find is different from being an artist versus being a designer? When I’m drawing or painting or working on anything personal to me, I’m only focused on

how it looks. I’m focused on the composition, the colors, and how the work makes me feel. When I am working on a design, I focus on all of those factors, but also I try to solve a problem. What problem are you trying to solve with Brainfood? I came up with the name “Brainfood” because it represents staying inspired. It’s about “feeding your mind” by filling your life with things that inspire you. So the problem at hand is finding what moves you and gives your life meaning. If I can convey the importance of that message to people, I feel I have done my part. How would you describe the style of your designs? Bold, daring, fun, whimsical. I think I have developed a pretty distinct style over the years. I enjoyed drawing cartoons as a child, and that has remained an influence to this day. In my designs and personal artwork, I like to include my recurring character “Brodie the Braniac.” I guess he’s kind of like my mascot. What can we expect to see from you in the future? I recently illustrated children’s book, it’s called Theo and the Golden Leaf. I would love to do something like that again. I am also working on a line of skateboard art for Brainfood.

IT PUSHED ME TO GO IN A NEW DIRECTION & PURSUE MY OWN DREAMS. 17

Horace G. Williams The Tragedy of Human Degradation Interview by Lourdes Sukari | Written by Jon Litten | Art By Horace G. William s

THESE PAINTINGS CAPTURE THE SILENCE BEFORE THE SCREAM

here are two predominant countenances featured in Horace G. William’s work. The first is a primal scream, in which Williams paints subjects with mouths agape, in anguished roar. He depicts obscured faces, almost disfigured –or at the very least –somehow unseen, lurking from behind layers of indiscriminate angst, with streaking reds and whites, creating a frenzied anxiety. Sadly, the screaming countenance is not only understandable, but perhaps expected. Therefore, the second of the two, the plaintive disposition, intrigues most. The more melancholic of the subjects live, it seems, in the moment before. They are prefixes. Here, Williams captures the rare unknown or undocumented. Not that they are exceptional in their restraint, for certainly, they seethe equally with rage, terror or despair, but they represent some syncopation in the tragedy of human degradation. Whether the contemplative, upward gaze of a young girl, or the cold stoicism of

a man branded “nigger,” these paintings capture the silence before the scream. Williams says he aspires to “show the brutality of humanity, in hopes that we don’t continue down the same path.” In this duality, rage and restraint, he captures something often missing in depictions of suffering. To see only the ravages forces an internalization of a solitary vision of oppression. However, Williams complicates this single vision of suffering, adding a complexity and depth to his portrayal.

In another twist to his work, Williams implements a completely different style that infuses found objects, news clippings, and biological drawings, which he ostensibly pulls from his pre-artistic, dental aspirations. Before committing completely to his true artistic pursuits, Williams was a biology major, who always found himself in trouble for drawing in class. 19

“SHOW THE BRUTALITY OF HUMANITY, IN HOPES THAT WE DON’T CONTINUE DOWN THE SAME PATH.”

HORACE G. WILLIAMS

Yet in a rare, but fortunate turnabout, Williams abandoned the obligations of mainstream society in favor of his artistic inclinations. The result: a vital, new artistic visionary who bears a heavy burden—heavier indeed for the medium in which Williams finds his outlet. Visual artists, like poets, suffer a terrible alienation—their work offers little in the way of entertainment. It asks, unlike music or film, for its patrons to participate in an intimate intersection between themselves, the subject, and the painter. Furthermore, it asks without apology and without compensation. Often this intimacy results in a visceral or “moving” experience. But when it comes to subjects such as Williams’s, those we tend to avoid, subjects of suffering and loss, the movement is often less welcomed, perhaps feared. Certainly, Williams’ work contains aesthetic quality and beauty, but because it is so separate from commercial consumption, one must encounter his work in a way few of

us encounter anything: alone. These encounters, alone and unadorned, are those most necessary within art. We cannot rely on other mediums to present the unbridled and necessary portraits of truth and suffering. The news for instance will, like Williams notes regarding the Ferguson case, “…never address issues in our own country.” Or if it does address them, only temporarily. Not only does Williams’ art address these issues, it does so with inescapable ferocity. There’s no stylish beat to rest in, no screen to hide behind, and no community to seek refuge within. No repose. No respite. Ultimately, these negations do force one initial assertion, a whispering yes which forces its way upwards. The first, desperate, exhausted “Yes, I see.” Everything is peeled back, chipped away, denied until a tiny savage truth remains. Yes, suffering exists. Yes, racial degradation happens. And after this first internal mumble, we join in melancholy and stoicism; we join in the language of suffering as prefixes. Only, what now? This is where Williams leave us, rightly so.

aki phot

tography

dylan york Half-decent photography

PHOTOGRAPHY Dylan York by elizabeth hansen From hipster rooftop parties to high-end gallery openings, Dylan York has made a name for himself capturing the energy of any kind of event. You’ve probably seen him around; he’s hard to miss standing six foot five, thick tortoise shell glasses, and a camera in hand. Or, if you have seen his work online, the phrase #girlswithtattoos probably comes to mind. In the slide show below, York provided us here at The Artifact with some exclusive, unpublished images from his own personal collection.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. York emerged on the scene in Atlanta seemingly out of no where and his popularity grew rapidly. Poking a bit of fun at himself, he coined the slogan “Who the fuck is Dylan York?” and it caught on. Who was this guy? Where did he come from? I recently had the opportunity to meet and interview York about his own perspective on his work. We met at a bar in The Highlands, and he informed me I was “creepy” for recording our conversation. Not one to be deterred by leaving an odd first impression, I pulled out a notepad from my purse and told him I would also be taking notes. I don’t really consider myself a professional photographer. When you say “professional” I guess you mean when did

I start getting paid. So I guess maybe 4 years ago would be the answer to that. But I didn’t go to school for photography or anything, I just taught myself. How would you describe the evolution of your style? When I got my first camera about 7 years ago, it was just for fun. I started taking pictures of things that I liked: my friends, the music scene, the city, and just kind of went from there. I got started with digital photography a little later. I was friends with a lot of DJs and people in bands and they gave me free reign at their shows, backstage, onstage, the green room, what have you. Honestly, I would just go to the shows shithoused and take pictures of whatever sparked my drunken interest. The result was very raw, but people seemed to 37

like it and I began getting offers to shoot events. It really was just a bit of a shit show romp through life with a camera in my hand. I guess it still kind of is.

that idea is miserable to me. In this day and age, we are so bombarded with images every day in the media that we have come to expect art and even take it for granted. Advertising isn’t successful unless it’s also beautiful. Picasso So what you’re telling me is you just get gets plastered on a tissue box. Someone’s life drunk, aim your camera, and hope for the work boils down to a limited edition phone case. best? Art is the highest ground that we can have as I guess I do have more of a purpose now, human beings, but we all seem to be immune because I’m working for clients and have a to it. better understanding the art of photography, but at the same time, I hate art, so it’s like an Your work is all over social media; do you anti-art, I guess. But regardless, I do still try to associate that with people taking art for keep in mind what the art of photography does granted? mean. That way I’m not just a drunk asshole with That’s actually exactly what I am talking about. I a camera. recently decided to delete my instagram because I want to shift gears. The amount of thought I was What do you mean when you say you “hate putting into a little 2x2 inch square was just absurd. art?” If I’m going to put effort into something, I want it Art is a strange thing, because it is completely to be something that is going to last longer than unnecessary. In a biological or evolutionary someone scrolling through their news feed. I want sense, there’s no need for art. People say it is to focus on creating something more permanent. the closest to god that humans can get, and Whether that comes in the form of prints, album 40

“I STERILIZED ANY PERSONALITY I MIGHT HAVE HAD WITH WHISKEY YEARS AGO.” covers, editorials, what have you. And if only a What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done few people see it, that’s fine, but at least it will be or been asked to do in your career? something real instead of just a fleeting electronic moment. I have a really wide equilibrium. Nothing really shocks me. But I was recently asked to do the Tell me about your creative process, besides stills and background on a pornographic film. I getting liquored up. turned it down. When I go into a shoot, I already know how the final result will look. I know what the balance is What do you think you would be doing if you going to be, I know what knobs I need to turn, I weren’t a photographer? know what I’ll do later in Photoshop. I like to be I was a political science major in college. So… prepared. I believe that if you don’t have a thesis cashiering at CostCo. or a concept in mind, you have nothing. But, that being said, there’s still the human element to How do you try to put your own personality consider. Things don’t always go according to into your work? your plan; you can’t map out every little detail. I I sterilized any personality I might have had with tend to overthink things, so when I’m working, I whiskey years ago. The way I see it, I’m just a try to remind myself to just follow my gut instincts. dude with a camera. I don’t think my work is really Maybe that’s why I get so liquored up, as you about me, I’m trying to capture what is in front of say. the lens, not behind it.

wh0 we’re listening to by peter o’neal & aloysious harmon

ne Direction’s first single “What Makes You Beautiful” had three writers, two producers, two separate sound engineers and mixers, two major labels, and an enormous team of advertising and distribution agents that coordinated a four month social media hype train across North America before the song even hit the radio. This excludes the five singers who actually make up the band. It sold over 7 million copies, and maybe you contributed to that number. Or maybe you didn’t, because you knew that during those four months there was an artist that worked at a pizza place down the street from your job who went home everyday and wrote their music on borrowed instruments and pirated

software in their bedroom, and their songs were even better. No marketing team, studio, sound engineering degree, outside producer, or purchased ad space. Music that traversed unfiltered from within an artist to your ears, and that’s the purity that underground music has that the mainstream can never touch. his list was curated by the music editors at the Artifact, two guys who literally became friends over a last.fm shoutbox. Faced with boundless torrents of music that cover every possible dictionary definition of the word this is what we’ve plucked from the underground to wear out on repeat through our speakers and share with yours.

a closer look

sye elaine spence By Jon Litten From the opening banjo trickling spring dew, to the first vocals settling low and tingling outwards like a gentle hammock drift, Bloom swoons. There’s a warmth like a summer cabin in the lyrics, with a honeyhued optimism. Sye Elaine Spence spins lyrics giddily, like a lover who can’t bear the night, for sleep means separation. Including a fresh and thematically

appropriate Bob Marley cover, this collection features a delicate alternation of acoustic pleasure and melodic repose. Whether weaving summery images or soulful yearnings, Spence’s writing is like that after-nap homesickness or an intangible nostalgia. We can only hope this artist is a perennial, destined to bloom and bloom again.

sonia soniateclai teclai By Jon Litten By Jon Litten

Deeply soulful, erotic and just plain cool, Sonya Teclai’serotic sultryand voice and eeply soulful, just intoxicating to some plainlyrics cool, amount Sonya Teclai’s youthfulsultry infatuation, a first crush, or voice and intoxicating first kiss. The production on “Down” lyrics amount to some youthful infeatures an elastic boomerang beat fatuation, a first crush, or first kiss. while Teclai professes herfeatures loyalty The production on “Down” asan “straight down for ya.” But don’t elastic boomerang beat while get Teclai confused, she might be down, professes her loyalty as but is by no means submissive. “straight down for ya.” But don’t With get tremendous versatility and keen confused, she might be down, but lyrical dexterity, Teclai switches is by no means submissive. With from soulful singing to rhyming tremendous versatility and keenon “Funk,” claimingTeclai she’s “The from illest lyrical dexterity, switches thing Eve.” on It’s“Funk,” not all soulfulwalking singingsince to rhyming bravado hype “Veridical claiming and she’s “Thethough. illest thing walkParadox,” the title track, rips into ing since Eve.” It’s not all bravado relevant social, racial and political and hype though. “Veridical Paraissues. moment dox,” theThe titlemost track,poignant rips into relevant comes personal social,from racial her and deeply political issues. criticism media-material mania The mostof poignant moment comes and theher danger of personal comparing oneself from deeply criticism to of TVmedia-material puppets like the ones onthe MTV mania and cribs. The endsoneself strongly danger of album comparing to with TV “Twilight Zone,” a song that goes from puppets like the ones on MTV cribs. microscope to telescope in a “Twigreat The album ends strongly with balance of theapersonal narrative (lost light Zone,” song that goes from love) to a global-historical microscope to telescope innarrative a great (sexual violence, genocide). It’s the balance of the personal narrative sustained give-take between narthe (lost love) to a global-historical intimate and essential, aesthetic rative (sexual violence,the genocide). and thesustained political, give-take that makes Teclai It’s the between indispensable. thisaesis a the intimate andThankfully, essential, the voice thought that and makes poetry, theticrich andwith the political, one will surely continuethis to Teclaiwhich indispensable. Thankfully, create meaningful music and in pothe is a voice rich with thought years to come. etry, one which will surely continue to create meaningful music in the years to come.

ith tremendous versatility and keen lyrical dexterity, Teclai switches from soulful singing to rhyming on “Funk,” claiming she’s “The illest thing walking since Eve.” It’s not all bravado and hype though. “Veridical Paradox,” the title track, rips into relevant social, racial and political issues.

fear club

By Peter O’Neal

Something happened in the last 30 years in popular music where becoming the coolest artist around no longer had to involve meeting 3 to 4 other cool guys and getting on a stage and playing through songs you wrote in (if legend has it) a garage. Now there’s an established new narrative to becoming the cool guy making music and it ironically involves sitting alone for long hours in front of the computer with headphones on, cutting samples and balancing the minutiae of drum reverb and decay. From a distance I assume this looks a lot

like watching a bored friend nearly viscous beats and scroll through their twitter chopped female vocal feed. samples make the track sound like hip hop through a This isn’t said with the kaleidoscope as the familiar intention to discredit or parts become colorful and question the legitimacy of strange. The arrhythmic 2015 bedroom DJs and textures pulse slightly producers, and I’d be willing longer than expected and to use Fear Club as an the bass tumbles like it’s example of how valid the at the mercy of the ocean. path can be. The 24 year It’s beat centered chillwave old Parisian beat maker delivering on the promise and graphic artist (street of at once being organic, name Robin Huqueleux) nostalgic, and vibrantly names Washed Out and interesting. Fear Club M83 as influences but is a succeeds at making you better fit with the dreamier feel like you’re being that soul tinged artists in Flying cool guy on your computer Lotus’s label Brainfeeder’s even when you are just camp. On “Wax” stuttering checking your twitter feed. 51

Glances of gold

antoine rucker 52

BY PETER O’NEAL

Antoine Rucker AKA Twan Swanson is a rapper and producer out of Warren, Ohio. The young artist is set to release Glances of Gold, his first full length album later this March. If prodded to elaborate on the meaning of the album name the response might start simple before spidering out into a venous complicated weave of desires, hopes, identities, and anxieties. Which makes sense, Rucker is young and this release is the culmination of the work he’s put in at his rawest age. Instead of crippling the album, this long armed reach for purpose and meaning gives Glances of Gold its shine. The initial run of tracks of the album presents Rucker as a confident socialite if he cares to be one. A

seducer that can predict the regrets you’ll have for sleeping on him (possibly by not sleeping with him), but it’s a temporary persona that gets undermined by song four with guest rapper Openmic’s nodding exhausted response to “you’ll be the life of the party”. “Rose Petal Eyes” is absent of Rucker’s voice besides sparse pitch-shifted backing accompaniment that duck between the layers of broken synth chords, firework samples, and a lonely wide eyed vocal melody by Kala Ross. The track marks the transition into a series of introspective tracks touching on estrangement (“Alienation”) and doubt (“Forty - Niners”) before the album highlight “This Too Shall Pass”. A dreamy wail

of a siren collapses and lilts underneath tambourine hits and Rucker’s sharp self reflections on his path to the present (“Back in the day I was cool, I was pretty much kinda that nigga”) before dropping out to a pleading female vocal that comforts and hurts at the same time. The title track is another highlight that settles between a piano ballad and lush R&B arrangement with some of the strongest writing on the album. Rucker raps about his past and future, seeming especially keen of his dreams against his current position in the game, and more notably the sacrifices and conflicts that exist between the two. Glances of Gold as a title is multifaceted, and similarly there’s more than one reason to give it a listen. 53

micah freeman By Peter O’Neal

Micah Freeman is a singer, songwriter, emcee, and producer out of Atlanta, and Heartspace Vol. 1 is his first of three EPS to be released this year as the Heartspace series. Another member of the ever growing in ubiquity Awful Records collective, Freeman’s influences sit most comfortably with the stylish funk and soul of the 70s and 80s. As soon as the first bass line saunters in on the opening track it’s easy to imagine a musician much, much cooler than you behind the groove. Somebody who could legitimize wearing a fedora, or wear a tight fitted suit to your lunch date and not get ridiculed for trying too hard.

rarely sit on the same beats for thirty seconds straight and constant dynamic tides of choirs and funk wah guitar, but Freeman’s voice and message is the obvious star presence. His intonation and layered vocals are sometimes reminiscent of Frank Ocean but Freeman can claim to be the better emcee of the two, and is a natural talent at switching between the two mid-song. The series of EPs have ambitious inspirations: sacred geometry, our complicated place in woven time. He’s like an extroverted Kid Cudi with more vehicles for expression than joints and vapor, and has enough soulful charisma to keep anticipation of Vol. 2 piqued to the The production and instrumentals are top.puter even when you are just checking interesting on their own, drum kits that your twitter feed. 54

So Panda Bear’s got a new album out, Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, and it’s nearly impossible not to talk about it. This is his fourth full length under his own name, and althuogh there’s always been some nautical leanings in his solo work (“Surfer’s Hymn”, “Comfy in Nautica”) this kind of wistful feeling of wading in the tides layers the whole album. His vocals are still the most important instrument with waves of self harmonizing that

actually make me regret not taking choir when given the chance in middle school, but the instrumentals are generally more colorful and interesting than 2011’s Tomboy. Dub beats (the title is a reference to reggae / dub superstar Augustus Pablo) and synths that burble and morph in thevse alien patterns, but making the amorphously exotic not only listenable but beautiful has always been Animal Collective and

Kool As Hail Introduction By Peter O’neal | Interview by Lourdes sukari

All Cows Eat Grass is a name that derives from a pneumonic device for helping children recall the notes that fill the spaces on a bass clef, but it also holds a metaphorical meaning for main group producer and director, T. Brown, regarding the essential commonalities of humans. In a recent interview he defines these as the desires “...to live, love, to be loved…” and then follows with the more relevant “and to be cool and have fun.” This is a group that sees being cool and having fun as a natural right. If asked, they could probably locate the piece of grey matter in your brain that signals “BE KOOL” next to the one that demands with equal urgency “NEED FOOD”. The Kool Collection is a remastered singular release of three EPs recorded since 2012. A starter package to acquaint listeners to their cosmic streaked soul, funk, and hip hop meshing. Layers of colorful synths juke and bubble around the bass loops, and I admire the boldness of a band with the word “Cow” in their name while using cow bells so frivolously in their songs. Being dance worthy is clearly their foremost intention and the release coincided with a return to the live stage to test the inevitable effectiveness. It’s like Marvin Gaye in a Daft Punk helmet. Or Stevie Wonder if his glasses shot lasers like Cyclops. Could you imagine many things cooler? 56

All Cows

s Eat Grass

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like Marvin Gaye in a Daft Punk helmet. Or Stevie Wonder if his glasses shot lasers like Cyclops. Could you imagine many things cooler?

Who is All Cows Eat Grass? Jeff Cohran:Well the direct answer would be Terrence Brown, Reneeka Rae, and I’m Jeff Cohran. That’s the static answer. But for us it’s a lot bigger than just the three of us. The idea of ACEG is a really inclusive one. When we came up with the name All Cows Eat Grass it was about everyone in the world needing the same things: food and water. That’s it. So you know that really puts us on a level playing field. If everybody got food and water, I mean, life would be straight. The idea of ACEG is really about championing our sameness. The 70’s was the decade of me, the 80’s were more about diversity and being yourself, 90’s…as time goes on we’ve done a lot to champion what makes us different but ACEG is very much about championing the things that bind us together. So ACEG is really all of us. We try to collaborate with artists, like Cory Davis is a big one with us as far as collaborating on the album cover, you know. We’ve been in Atlanta for a while at this point and one thing that’s been really important is just collaboration. You know, collaboration inspires nations. So ACEG, as you’ll see over the coming months, we wanna get everybody involved so if you’ve got a talent it’s like “Oh, how can we fit this in?” and make it where it’s a global conversation, because that’s really where it came from, you know, is conversations.

You talked about being bonded together, so what bonded you two together? T. Brown: Well Jeff and I have known each other since we were 11…which is…it’s a long time.

J: Yeah, we’ve known each other for about 19 years. So we were 11 years old and I met T. Me and T used to sing in the choir when we were kids in Memphis, TN. We started in our first band playing for churches, he was the keyboard player and I was the drummer. We were very mature for our age musically, he was listening to Bach and Marvin Gay and R. Taylor and I was listening to like Wilson Pickett — you know what I’m saying? That kind of stuff. We had siblings that fed us a lot of music that we weren’t supposed to have, like I wasn’t supposed to have “All Eyes on Me”, but my sister gave it to me. And he had “NWA” so we’re listening to them and trying to rewind them back so they won’t know we listened to them. So, we always had a bunch of music even from when we first met each other — it was crazy. Fast forward from that age until about 18, we played and we did gospel first and then we were in a jazz band in high school and middle school. Once he went to Morehouse he started a band called Jaspects. I was at UT and I would produce shows in Knoxville and when I graduated from school I stayed on his couch for a year and started managing jazz gigs and a couple years later this little bubbly ray

“ALL COWS EAT GRASS IS VERY MUCH ABOUT CHAMPIONING THE THINGS THAT BIND US TOGETHER.”

-JEFF COHRAN

of sunshine Reneeka Rae came along and transformed our life. She started as an intern and became my assistant and quickly became our music. Reneeka is a bit younger than us so she was able to bring to the table that side of music that we didn’t have, you know, she was the electronic part of what we did. We had a lot of the formal jazz, classical, church stuff, but she had a great understanding of all of these things. I call her iPod shuffle, you know, she was very hip. We didn’t know. When you’ve been doing music so long you get stuck. She really inspired us. We continued to work for years with Jaspects and then later on Janelle Monae stuff — Terrence is the music director for Janelle, Reneeka is the production assistant, and I’m the production manager of her live show, so we’d been working for a few years on Janelle’s stuff and then from being on the road you know we’d talk about music and then Terrence would come back a week later with a whole record that sounded like what we’d been talking about! He was making this made-to-order music. All of this is T just listening to us.

Reneeka Rae: What definitely bonded me to these fellas is that they’re so freaking cool. I’m sitting here in ATL at Spellman and you know I got the internship but they really just took me under their wing, I found my big brothers. It was really cool. And aside from that just them being inspiring and their music background and history was just mind-blowing. For me, listening to a lot of different stuff, they knew all the samples in all the things I listened to so it was just like — woah. They’re from Memphis and I’m from Clarkesville, TN. They had a great history of all the stuff my mom and dad had listened to, so I knew about some things but they could really just tell me everything about the albums and the artists and the catalogs. Okay, so in the digital age, it’s interesting to me that a band with such lineage purposely makes their identity secondary to their online presence. Is that intentional? T: Of course, very much so. I don’t know why, but it is. J: I got the answer. There’s this guy T. Brown in a white leather jacket with tassels and a cowboy hat looking like Charlie Wilson. He came up with the crazy idea like “You guys are gonna be the band”. Like, “‘You guys’ who? I haven’t played for years! What are you talking about?” It’s just about the music. It’s really about the music. Being a black band is different. Now, being a black band is cool, but in 2006-2008 — there weren’t a lot out there. Even with Jaspects we had those struggles, we wouldn’t put faces on the record because people would see that and expect

things but we wanted people to really get the artistry of it as opposed to zoning in on us. As time has gone on and we’ve gotten more comfortable we’ve started to reveal more but it was definitely some kind of mystery. R: One thing I learned the hard way, like you said it’s not about each of us because you know it’s about each of us. We’re a band. We’re out here being a band. It’s really not about me. I’ve learned that with this band and with my job and working with Janelle Monae, you know, it’s not about me. You’ve got a lot of other people to give to and to serve and to cater to and to help out and to entertain. In lieu of that, would you say the Cow image is sort of emblematic for you guys? J: Oh Clyde? Clyde’s got a mind of his own. Clyde… T: Clyde is a beast. He’s more or less our mascot. He champions for us in ways we sometimes don’t appreciate but we love him regardless. He’s got a mind of his own as Jeff said. He says all the things we wish we could say. Do you individually or as a group have any connections to art? What inspired the Cow illustration? T: Well actually, Jeff and I would go back and forth about different images we like that stuck out to us, that were stark and shocking. So really, you know, the image of Clyde was inspired by those same images. How can we create something mascot wise that shocks us, that you can’t really forget. Something that you can’t un-see. We worked with Cory Davis. J: It’s so cool — I know we talk about everything being cool. Its crazy how you can put things in front of us and we’ll all kind of gravitate toward them. Like, he’s a Libra, she’s a Sagittarius, I’m a Virgo, and you can put things in front of us and 95% of the things we like are gonna be cool. We have an “inspiration” folder on dropbox and so we’ll drop in little pictures of things. For example on the “Be Kool” EP cover, you’ve got the real American Gothic kind of picture. That was really important to us. When you look at Clyde and at the old lady it’s supposed to be emblematic of Flotus and Potus. You know, you have the man who’s got the gas mask on that’s reacting — he’s like “It’s time to go, I don’t know if hell or high water is coming” and the woman is sitting there calm. It really speaks of the balance that you have in relationship. But it’s also in the backdrop of this piece. We’ve traveled a lot of places and we’re very thankful for that, you know, and we’ve had some of the worst days in some of the best backgrounds in the world.

So we think of the world like this; you’ve got to have perspective. So the theme of that album cover was perspective. Each cover has some type of theme about it. We try to be very careful about it, but some of the stuff is just cool. Like the cow with the grass; that’s self explanatory. Cory does a great job. That’s the cool thing about Cory, he’ll take an idea and just do it to the tee. The Kool Collection album cover — that was his draft, the first thing he sent us. We were like, “Try again.” But we look back now and we’re like, “Shit, this is great.” You really want to be able to say, this is our music, react to it. We’re all artists. Terrence is a poet in the Bobby Womack type of way. Reneeka is very much eloquent, she’s got a degree in English. It’s cool, everything comes from a space of art. I think that’s the thing that’s drawn us to Atlanta. Art is important. Memphis was great musically but it was very restrictive. Here in Atlanta there’s just so much art everywhere. In 2002, 2003 and 2004 you didn’t see that in cities. We use the art and the media as companion pieces. You’ll see that you’ll get more essays and things with our music to kind of explain ourselves a little bit more. That’s important when you’ve got these songs that are really really deep or funny or heavy. Each of them have an in-depth meaning to them. As far as inspiration, with these performances you’ve been a part of and seen, are there any particular live shows that inspired you? J: Prince. Because he works with Janelle Monae, so we’ve been blessed to be around him a lot. Boy, you talk about school. He basically takes you to school. He’ll sit you down for hours and let you know how he’s the baddest ever to do anything. I remember my moments with him and with Quincy Jones — we have ridiculous stories. But long story short I’ve been intentionally sober at those times to make sure I remembered every bit of it. I’ve taken in a lot from the live show of Prince. I study this stuff. Literally. Everything inspires me. The art in this room inspires me. We pass around YouTube clips a lot, i’s great. In our brainstorming sessions we pass these ideas around and its like yo, we can use that idea or expand on that. As far as who’s the baddest ever?

Prince. And Janelle. And Of Montreal. M: I’ll mention the cliche ones. For me, in Nashville, I saw Beyonce and Justin Timberlake—they’re some entertainers. J: We got to see Outkast last year and see the level of work they put in. If you see an artist on tour — they WORK. We’ve been with Janelle for years now and it just takes so much strength, organization and practice. We’ve had to learn those habits. T: Those dudes take it seriously. Watching them take it seriously when they could just go out there and do anything, they have such a legacy they create. They come in everyday and work, and they still love it, you can see it on their faces. They’re on board. I mean Dre would just come in our dressing room and say, “What’s up?” to us, literally out of the blue. I’d be in my underwear. I’d be like, “Woah, I don’t know how to feel right now.” To watch people that could take the backseat and just kind of chill put so much effort in, it’s really inspiring. Will you be touring anytime soon? J: If you’ve got a tour to put us on! T: It’s baby steps. You know, our agent is hard at work. People ask, “What took so long?” from the EP to the full length. We just always want to be prepared and ready. So even with the dance parties, you know, if we had to think of the ideal ACEG show, it’s a dance party. We’ll be at SXSW and that’ll be our first time doing a big festival. We talked about this recurrent theme of “cool.” What are some essential parts of being cool for you guys? J: We actually have a manifesto. The concept of cool is such a strong concept. People use that word so haphazardly, which is kind of a good thing, it can be used to describe the coolest person you know from the aesthetic perspective, or someone who’s just a cool person, no pomp and circumstance. So the concept of cool is so broad, there are so many layers there that

we’re excited to explore. Especially for us, being guys that grew up together, we were the blind leading the blind on how to get through life as a teenager. Like, “Hey man I don’t know what to do about this girl” and “I don’t know what I’m supposed to wear to this dance tonight.” We coached each other through those things. I don’t know why we coached each other, but we tried. We were wrapped up in that word, like “Really i’m not that kind of guy but that’s cool.” Until eventually we realized, well, I’m THIS kind of guy and that’s cool too. R: That’s really one of the major essentials is just being happy and confident in a state of self; knowing who you are and accepting that. That’s cool. J: Opposites attract but so do sames. When you’re secure in your being that’s kind of the state of coolness. We’re from an environment where checking, jones-ing, and talking about people is really important. If I walked in with these gold boots in 1995 in the cafeteria in Memphis, TN, people would be checking and talking about me. So you know you’ve really got to be comfortable. Terrence was one of the first kids to wear bow ties and other alien things. You’ve got to be cool being the person that breaks away. People gravitate towards confident people who know themselves, so that’s really the whole coolness: Being okay with yourself and having positive, inclusive vibes. Those are the type of people that make the world a better place.

How will you be remembered? Your music itself would be considered an artifact, that’s what you’re leaving behind. If you don’t know how you’ll be remembered, how would you like to be remembered? T: Free. Like I was a free man and we are free people.

There’s freedom that — I hope — cuts through in the music, you know from “We All Win” to “Shaking My Motherfucking Head.” You know what I’m saying? I hope more people live lives that show their freedom, and the duality of being able to turn up in the club, show a sense of love to your neighbor, and do community service in the morning after you leave the club. That’s the life I want to be remembered for. J: Free love. Love is a huge part of all of us. We’re bound by love. We take care of each other. Reneeka was a military brat, so she was around a lot of different people. But we’re [Terrence and Jeff] from the toughest part of one of the toughest cities. It’s like the murder olympics. Love has been what has prevailed in our lives. Our fathers are ministers and our mothers are women of God. We had an understanding early that we had to take care of each other. There was never a conversation. We did everything together. We played basketball, track, we would write together. So when we met Reneeka she was like the little sister we never had, but always wanted. It’s very important that we understand God’s purpose for us, you know, God is love. So for us it’s very important that we exude the fact that if you believe in God or a higher power, or if you believe in life, love is an essential part of that. Freedom is important, and also the respect for life through love. You grow up with this idea that this is wrong and this is right. They tell you a certain type of person is wrong or right. So it’s about us being able to be empathetic and try to understand where everyone is from and respect everyone’s freedom. It’s hard because, like they say, your freedom ends where another person’s begins. You have to be able to be respectful. You have to be able to respect and love everybody else’s self. We’ll be remembered for free love.

BY JASMINE JACOBS

TALKIN’ SHOP WITH SEAN FAHIE 64

Designer. Artist. Author. Seriously hilarious dude. I got the opportunity to sit down with Sean Fahie and pick his brain about the many pots he has his hands in. We met up at the cozy Carroll St Café (where the chai latte is phenom and the crab cakes are ridic) to get all the tea. Let’s dig in hunnies.

of, “Let’s celebrate what most people look outside Atlanta for, but is actually right here in the city.” Fahie received his masters degree in Illustration, which for him was a no brainer. “This is what I have wanted to do since I was 12 years old. It takes a lot of work and patience.” Although Fahie knows that he is doing what he should be doing, and has certainly created a theme for himself as an artist, he recognizes that it’s a process to find his distinct voice. “I use a lot of pastel colors. I go for a summertime feel, and I want my designs to look like those paintings. I think I am still looking for my style though.”

Fahie graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design and currently resides in Cabbagetown where, “some amazing things happen daily. The people are amazing, there are great festivals, art galleries and good vibes.” In a community of people striving to make their mark in their respective industry, Fahie fits right in. “I have a tattoo that says, ‘fucking awesome,’ because Fahie’s work can be seen all that’s how I want to live my over Atlanta. Candler Park life.” Market, Hodegepodge Coffee and Krog Tunnel to name a Fahie is also a part of an few. One of which makes his event called The Influencer, top greatest moments list. a bi-weekly event highlighting The others include becoming people in Atlanta who are a published author, writing a making strides and moves in short film and curating his first their industry, that might not art show. get the shine they deserve. Held every other Thursday at Having your hands in so 9pm at Studio No7, the event many worlds can surely make was created with the thought anyone feel pulled in multiple

directions, but for Fahie, he knows where his heart lies. “Art has been there the longest. Art is my wife, these other things are my mistresses. Art is a lot more freeing for me than design. It’s like my writing in visual form. I just try to explain what’s going on in my head visually. My central theme is love and life… to tell or complete a story.”

and still be compelling.” The books came about as a “coming of age story about me figuring out the craziness that’s happened during my time in Atlanta. The first book is about a young man partying to no avail. It was a big fuck you to my ex at the time. The second one though, it was more mature and understanding of what life is.”

A recurring theme in Fahie’s work is the phrase, Fahie is author of ‘Things About Women’ and “Quit bitching, Start Living,” which honestly ‘Letters to Lovers who Love to Hate Me’ both of means exactly what it says. “Atlanta is a feisty which are collections of short stories, one-liners young lady and she loves dinner dates, but and short poems. Fahie recognizes ‘Diary of a doesn’t want to put out,” chuckles Fahie. That Dirty Old Man’ as a real game changer for his theory is likely rooted in his views on the art scene craft. “It changed the way I wrote. It taught me in Atlanta “Atlanta has an amazing art scene and that I could just write the way I thought and spoke amazing artists. 66

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, KIDS. YOU TOO CAN BE A DRUNKARD WHO WRITES STORIES. The art scene is growing and finally getting to a place where Atlanta recognizes the jewels in their backyard.” As Atlanta continues to grow into that burgeoning art scene, Fahie hopes to see artists to continue to be uplifted and appreciated in order to allow artists to prosper financially, and not have to cheat themselves out of compensation in order to get work. While I was certainly there to get the scoop on this mover and shaker on the Atlanta scene, Fahie has his own purposes for spending some time telling me his story. “I definitely want to share my stories and experiences with others. But also, I want people to buy my shit. Come out to Influencers, and be a part of the world.”

bigger scale.” In terms of his art, simplicity is also the central theme. “I’m trying to simplify my art to a bare minimum. As simple as ‘Hey, you wanna hear a story?’ I want them to get feelings of happiness, and love and gushy shit.” The interview couldn’t end without some legit parting advice: “Believe in yourself kids. You too can be a drunkard who writes stories.” To find Fahie’s work: www.sfahie.com (portfolio) www.seanfahiebook.com (book) Social Media @seanfahie Email sean@sfahie.com

Over the next year Fahie’s plans are simple. “My plan for 2015 is to continue doing everything that I’ve been doing, but on a 67