Q: WHY LITERATURE?
Well, fiction primarily. But who doesn’t like a story? The concept of symbolism and archetypes in movies was introduced to me from a podcast around 2011. Before then I never watched something and thought about what this character represented, or what a scene was symbolic of. And I read this article years later titled Symbolism in Feature Film by Edward Bakony. That was just another layer.
I consider myself a writer after writing rhymes over so many years. It was something I cultivated around friends but only used it for one purpose. As I got older I started thinking, why not use your writing beyond raps? That time has pretty much passed but the point was why not use this craft to develop stories like a song. Both require a certain imagination, style… but with fiction it opens up a different kind of freedom as far as telling a story. It’s not just me speaking about myself. There’s characters, situations, and having them navigate a world that you created from your own mind.
There’s a couple ideas I’m interesting in seeing what comes of them. Some based on dreams and others on actual events. None of that is really important until I’ve written them down, but it’s been my intention to give myself the opportunity to expand my writing in other areas.
Q. WHY MUSIC?
As I said earlier it’s something that started long ago. From middle school going into high school, music became this tool of expression. I can say it was one of several “healthy” outlets. Now imagine years of experimenting and it transforming into actual music recordings and performances.
I often regret pursuing it… but it was something I kept doing. And here today, I find myself still in this entanglement with music but not for writing lyrics. The production has taken my interest in recent years although it’s a tricky and complex hobby I think. I’m currently studying a book titled Music Production by Michael Zager. There’s other materials such as Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music from The Teaching Company. The amount of resources that exist on producing is damn near endless.
To make something truly worth listening to requires more than a basic understanding. Even after years of being familiar with drum samplers like Maschine, and more recently the MPC, it’s something that requires your full attention to truly be a master at.
There’s a lot I’d like to achieve with music. My home base is Hip-Hop and that’ll never change. However, I wouldn’t mind exploring other areas. I listen to many styles as a producer, and I hear what is out there and simply would like to make my mark just the same… but really work at it so it’s not a complete trash one.
Q: WHAT INSPIRES YOU ABOUT DRAWING?
It’s the least skill I have at the moment so I don’t know much about it to be honest. But I have a cousin who was always exceptional, and being on the internet can flood you with how great people are with their craft. Drawing use to be this thing that felt like it was reserved for certain people, but I’ve realized that’s not the right perspective.
For example, there’s two books that sit in my library: How To Draw What You See and The Practice & Science of Drawing. There’s many other learning materials and resources (almost too many), but you begin to realize it’s like any other skill that requires a level of understanding, your time, and practice, practice, practice!