Singer Songwriter Christopher Smedley ~ Interview about the Soundcolor Sessions

Christopher Smedley debut album was release earlier this summer. On my first encounter listening to the music there was little to no accompanying information about Christopher, and that was exactly the point. This is music performed by a musician for music lover.  No hype needed, simple listen and enjoy.

CS talks with me about his experience, expectations and the joy of creating music for the "Soundcolor Sessions".

1.Knowing the little that I do know about you and your music it seems that you have created this album for the simple pleasure of creating and sharing it with the world. This approach to creating (anything) aligns well with my philosophy of “Create, Connect & Grow”:  Can you share with me some of the joys (& I am guessing) some of the obstacles you experienced while recording?

I always enjoyed music and singing but didn’t really explore it or get involved with it until college.  Something happened where it became almost like an itch that I had to scratch.  I bought a guitar and began to teach myself to play so that I had something to sing with as an outlet.  Eventually, after about 4 or 5 years of playing, I became interested in songwriting.  I simply created the album because I wanted to and because I felt like I had something to say musically.  I honestly didn’t care if I sold a single album, I just wanted to create something I could be proud of and share with the people that I know.

When you create a song for the first time and you are in the swell of ideas and emotions, there is a high you experience.  It’s a rush and it’s when all of your best work happens.  I’ve found that writing comes best when you are in a high or a low moment in life.  So for me the best moments were when it was simply me and the guitar, alone, creating, and finding something that was worth exploring and sharing.

There were many obstacles along the way.  First, I had no clue what I was doing so I had to learn how to play and write.  It took some time to find my style and voice and along the way it just sort of happened.  I’m a bit linear and sequential in my thinking so trying to do two things at once (i.e. play guitar and sing) was a bit of a challenge.  I was sort of stumbling through the writing process and really had a hard time assessing if and when a song was done.  Luckily, when I was deep into the writing process I went to SoundColor Productions to record the idea for the song “Unwind.”  There I met Jay Weaver the owner and accomplished guitarist and that is when it all truly started.  Jay and I collaborated from there on out and he helped me finish the songs.  From then until the end,  I would continue to bring ideas and melodies to Jay at the studio and together we would shape and refine the songs until they were ready to perform and ultimately record.

The self-funded album took about 5 years to write, record, and finish.  If you think about it from beginning to end I changed jobs 3 times, started and finished graduate school, got engaged, married, had my first child, and moved all before the album was even finished.  So time and resources were always limited but somehow through perseverance and a bit of stubbornness we got done.  Jay and I tended to be perfectionists as well, so we would record and re-record parts until we got it right.  But in our minds, it wasn’t done until we could live with it, and when I say it, I mean all of it.

2. For newcomers to your music, what can first time listeners expect to experience? 

For me the songs are very unique and different, but they all hang together.  It’s something you can put on and play through to the end.  It keeps your interest and attention and at the same time is chill enough that it isn’t in your face.  I envision people opening a bottle of wine, cooking some dinner, and enjoying the music.  For me the album is about life, love, and living.

3. Tell me the story behind the album cover concept. The image simply draws me right in.  I am yearning to hold this in a physical vinyl album.   The art work is a perfect fit for the music. 

The album art was created by a talented friend and artist Zach Beresh.  We talked through the concept of the design while having dinner in Napa with our wives and drew the first concept of the album design on the back of a napkin.  To me I wanted the cover to represent that fact that the album was recorded to feel like a live jam session and not something that was oversimplified.  In other words, each musician had the opportunity to put some of their own style on the parts of the album much like you would in a live performance.   So instead of playing everything straight ahead and in an oversimplified way, we let the performers put themselves into the music.

I also knew that I wanted to title it the “SoundColor” sessions because so much of the album was developed in the studio in Pittsburgh.  The combination of the words sound and color to me just painted a picture of a stage with all of the musicians playing under the colored lights.  We took actual pictures from live performances of the individuals in the band and created the silhouettes to capture their feeling and emotion.

4. You are pretty much invisible on the internet. You are what I would call a web-ghost. That tells me that you are more interested in creating music than marketing.  It is truly refreshing to see somebody put something out into the world first before creating a following. Your approach to creating music is truly missed in this digital age. But now that the project is completed and you are searchable on iTunes how do you plan on sharing this music with world? 

I’ll keep playing a handful of shows each year in Pittsburgh and Raleigh and sharing it with family and friends and anyone else that is willing to listen.  It isn’t a recipe for success in terms of how most people would define it but for me it is.  I love the feeling of playing in front of a crowd by myself with my guitar or with the band and perform for three or four hours.  At times the room is loud and you can hardly hear yourself, but sometimes you can hear a pin drop.  You can’t put a price on that experience.  I feel blessed to know what it feels like to be able to connect with music, give it everything you have, and move an audience.

Ultimately, I created the album because I wanted to do it for me.  If I don’t sell another copy of the album tomorrow or the day after I am ok with that because that was never my source of motivation.  I created it because in doing so I am living and if I wasn’t doing it I wouldn’t feel like I was breathing .  Perhaps if someone listens to this album and they like it they’ll pass it along to a friend, and they’ll pass it on to another.  While I say that, I am pleasantly surprised by the support it has received.  It does feel good to know that people are listening to it.


5. I heard a rumor that you may possibly be playing a show at Club Cafe right here in Pittsburgh. Can you let me know if the dates has been confirmed?  And if so I know a great photographer right here in Pittsburgh who also moonlights as a djembe drummer that would love to sit in. 

We have a tentative date in November for a release in Pittsburgh.  Club Café has always been a place I wanted to come back to and play.  Hopefully we will get the date firmed up in the upcoming weeks.  We need more djembe so count on it!

6. Let’s get tech-geeky: can you tell me about your band and your approach to writing and recording this album? 

There are so many ways that songs are written but for me what worked was an interactive approach.  I would spend a lot of time playing my acoustic guitar, coming up with riffs that I liked.  Once I found a riff or two that were of interest, I would play them over and over and experiment by singing different melodies.  In many ways it was really unconscious and not intentional during the early stages.  Once the song started to take shape, I would try to focus on the emotion or vibe of the song and put the right words to it.  Jay and I would then work on different parts of the song, phrasing, and overall structure to make it sit right.  It isn’t the most efficient process but for me it is the only one that worked where I found both inspiration and creativity.

7. Who are your top 5 influences?

1. My wife Nicole.  She provided the inspiration for nearly all of the songs.  So much of the album is about our experiences together.  I’m so thankful for her and for her support.  Without her it would not be what it is today.
2. Stevie Wonder
3. Jeff Buckley
4. Ray Charles
5. Bob Marley

You can preview and purchase Christopher's music (HERE)

5 Question Interview Series with Kimberly Reed”

Elizabeth interviews Kimberly Reed..read it here

5 Question Interview Series with Kit Anderson

Kit Anderson a producer, writer, director and author of “Never Cry Jack” has graciously agreed to take part in my ongoing “5 Question Interview Series.”

Amazon.com editorial description of Anderson book:

“Jack Champagne wanted the life, liberty and hot pursuits promised to her. She traded a world of tall trees, dirt bikes and milk money stains for a Big Apple American Dream. Her story begins with Monday Night Footbal, bobble head Jesus, a clock blinking eights and a cassette tape. It ends on blood letter print, the iPod, a Glock 27 and a crimson tulip growing from cracked mortar and broken eggshells. This is her life. This is Jack in Manhattan 1996-2001. Don't mind the smoke... “


How and when did you get started as a writer?

I’ve always been a storyteller. As a boy, my mother would sit me down and say, “Kit—That’s a good story, but you do know that actually never happened.” Typically, I would defend the story, passionately claiming it was true and honestly confused when realizing, indeed... It was only a story. “Only a story” I could sound off on that, but I’ll just say this. “Only a story” is akin to looking at the heavens and saying, “It’s only a bunch of rocks and gas floating around.” When I was ten or eleven, I wrote a 200-page story about an epic battle, being waged in the carpeting of my Lego room. The Carpet Commandos and Rug Rat Rebels were fighting WWIII and I was the only person aware of the conflict, so I wrote about it. I’m not sure what happened to that story, probably on a floppy disk somewhere. In college, a Creative Writing professor told me to switch from Graphic Design to his curriculum, but I rejected the idea. I hated studying anything creative shackled to a desk in a sterile classroom. I announced, “I am a writer—but I will write when I have something to talk about. Right now, I’m late for a snowboarding competition.”

What are the major challenges that you have faced in your career?

Major challenges? Does putting food on the table count? My career as a professional artist is brand new. I spent 10 years pursuing a professional snowboarding dream, but eight concussions turned my head into an eggshell and I got bumped out of all my snowboarding sponsorships and replaced by some seventeen-year-old kid. The same week, a truck ran over my rice-burner. Then a buddy was murdered, then a couple more... I broke down. Now, I have to write. It’s survival. It’s how I’ve learned to function. It’s a compulsion. Without a notebook nearby—Well, I just keep one with me all the time. We don’t have to talk about me without the notebook nearby. I don’t like that version of me. I like me as a writer—it’s the most stable version of me yet. Maybe, I’m just growing up.

Why did you choose to license your book with a Creative Commons copyright?

Why license through the creative commons? I became a fan in 2004. I had just finished making a movie with my production partner Ben Mahoney of http://web.mac.com/freshuan/iWeb/FreshuanFilms/Freshuan.html—Ben is the one who got me into making movies. I didn’t know you could do that. I thought rich people made movies, but he showed me some stuff he’d made. He told me to spend the insurance money from my wrecked rice-burner on a camera. I bought the camera the next day. I started shooting the snowboard park at Breckenridge, Colorado. It was a role-reversal for me. I was behind a camera now—Anyways, two years later I had moved to Lake Tahoe, California and finished shooting a movie we called Gapers Gone Wild. It was a quirky satire we billed as “The Most Extreme Movie Ever Made”. One day I get a letter--Girls Gone Wild is suing us. I got well versed in copyright and trademark law, really quickly. We won. We kept the name, but I learned some things. The simple fact is this—if we don’t change the laws, we will destroy a hundred years of creativity in American arts. The current laws are driven by purely capitalistic engines and are completely disconnected from the nature of the creative process. Read Ezekiel. There is nothing new under the sun. What you say is not unique—language is shared. Our voice is unique, not what we say. No one else can tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk quite like me. That’s the fun. This “life of the artist—plus 70 years”… Let me put it this way: If Napoleon was born today--His last name would be Disney.

What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?

What inspires me? Well, I feel like I covered that earlier, but motivation can be difficult. I don’t have a problem being creative all the time, writing, drawing, shooting, whatever—mostly my big issue is focus. I do a lot of visualization techniques, something I learned from snowboarding. I also pay attention to my diet. I also adopted a kind of monastic existence. Everything I have right now is listed at my old blog, with the addition of my cowboy hat, new boots and jacket. I like it simple—real simple. Inside my head is complicated enough. Got to stay Zen, or things get ugly quick.

What’s next for you? New book, Movie deals?

What’s next? Currently I’m working on a series of short films on the American Dream. A feature length movie adaptation of my novel called Luxury-and-the-AfterBang is in pre-production right now. I also just finished a two year project with the mathematicians called Transdimensional Odyssey of Doom. It’s footage from over 100 shows and two national tours, combined with some badass anime we made. Anyone in Washington DC for the inauguration can party with me and Mathematicians at the http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/. I’m also producing a new western on snowmobiles that is something like a Mad-Max/Point-Break mash-up based on a true story. We’re working on financing now. Anyone interested in being a part of that project can contact me through my Kit Anderson. The next novel is in pre-writing now and tentatively titled “Once Upon A Black Flag; Blood”. It is a historical fiction piece about my ancestor Bloody Bill Anderson. He taught Frank and Jesse James outlawry, led the first train robbery and the first daylight bank robbery in American history, and was the first to fly the black flag without skull and crossbones. Anything else? Let me think… That’s all that’s fit to mention right now. anyone interested in my novel or any of my other projects should exploit these links:file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/craigja/Desktop/www.kitanderson.com & Never Cry Jack: A Novel.

5 Question Interview Series with David Burke

Elizabeth interviewed David Burke, (click her to read the interview).

5 Question Interview Series with Peter Kater

Peter Kater is a Multi-Platinum Selling pianist-composer, Kater, has received 5 Grammy nominations in the last 5 years and has scored over 100 television programs and films including 11 Off and On-Broadway plays. He is also a proud recipient of the prestigious Environmental Leadership Award from the United Nations.

Kater graciously agreed to take part in my ongoing “5 Question Interview Series”



How long have you had an interest in healing music?
I think since I was a teenager I was attracted to playing music that simply made me feel "good". There was a lot of family stress, illness and death around me and suddenly my music veered from Rock and Top 40 to my own improvisations. And in playing these improvisations I felt I was somehow helping to bring myself into a greater balance and deeper peace.

What is healing music and methods for stimulating healing?
There are many theories around what healing music is. I've read many and studied a few. But it's my belief that the most poignant and powerful healing music comes when the composer or performer (in this case, me) is expressing from a deep place of healing, presence and peace. There has to be a huge degree of acceptance and inclusion energetically. The mind needs to take a back seat and allow what's "essential" to emerge. In a sense, one must access the "divine" from within and communicate it thru one's instrument.

What was the “click” (or) “it” moment of your life that you knew that healing music was a passion that you needed to explore and develop?
I never had that "click" or moment. I've always had a sense that what I do naturally and easily is in many ways my strongest and most unique expression. Even though I've explored and will continue to explore other forms of music and sound, my love for music that heals and brings peace to my Self and others will always be where I return to.


What inspires your creative process to write music for the sole purpose of healing? Better question yet, how do you know when music develops into healing music?
There's a certain kind of "listening" that's essential to creating what I would call "healing"music. I've always said that music is not really a "Creative" process. It's a "Receptive" process. People that pride themselves in being Creative are often coming from their ego and are trying to take credit for what naturally exists in all the Universe . . . Creation. Every moment of life and every aspect of life is miracle of creation. There is no linear or tangible explanation for how all this exists and why. Life, in itself is the ultimate creative act. And that includes every moment, circumstance, person and living thing. And since everything is alive you don't have to look very far for inspiration. I don't try and write music for the sole purpose of healing. I allow myself to be a vehicle for the expression of what's "true" in any given moment. And what's "true" is everything, not just the pretty stuff. But all life is an expression of light and dark, happiness and sorrow, birth and death. To deny one is to deny the other. One needs to embrace all of it to become whole.

Your current collaboration CD: “In a Dream” with Dominic Miller is transcendental music. It has quickly become one of my all time favorites. Do you think that you and Miller will have any future partnerships?

I truly hope that Dominic and I will do more music together. And I think we will. We have a synergy together that I think is very beautiful and interesting.


***Bonus Question***

How does a guy who is born in Germany and raised in New Jersey develop a passion for Native American music, which led to winning United Nations Environment Leadership Award?
I guess one step at time.

5 Question Interview Series with Charlotte Rains Dixon

Charlotte Rains Dixon is a freelance writer, novelist, copywriter, ghostwriter and creative writing teacher living in Portland. Charlotte has a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and is the editor of “Book Strumpet” and the author of the “Word Strumpet” blog. Dixon graciously agreed to take part in my ongoing “5 Question Interview Series”.


What’s a Word Strumpet & why name your blog after a Middle English name for a prostitute?

A wordstrumpet is someone who can’t get enough writing, or enough words. The implication being that the prostitute can’t get enough sex, which is probably an erroneous assumption, but oh well. And thank you for knowing what the word strumpet means, you’d be surprised how many people don’t. My inspiration for the name comes from how we say (at least I do) “I’m an email whore” or “I’m a slut for email.” Kind of along those lines. Most people intuitively get it. I’ve also had people think the title means Words Trumpet, which also makes sense so I guess its okay.

Why blog? How did you get started with blogging?

I was actually trying to remember the other day what motivated me to start blogging. I can’t remember the exact inspiration. I was doing a lot of copywriting for the internet and I needed a website and a blog seemed to be the easiest way to get one. Now I think of it as sort of a website/blog hybrid, which I think is becoming more and more common. Often I land on traditional websites and get bored, thinking, where’s all the new info? The updates? The interesting personal stuff?

What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?

Oh God, that’s such a good question. What inspires me? I don’t even know. Life, the people in my life, family, friends, the absolute absurdity of the human condition. Love, wanting to figure it out (when really it’s very simple), relationships, helping others. One of my writing mentors, Melissa Pritchard, once said that to be a good writer you have to know a lot about life. I think that’s true—and I also think that I, at least, figure life out as I write about it. Making up stories about my life gives it meaning. How do I stay motivated? Trying to figure the next thing out. Also, I’ve reached the point in my life where I don’t seem to be able to stop writing. Whether it is for self-initiated projects or for others, I’m writing a lot every day. I’ve said this a million times, but for me, writing truly is like breathing. I just don’t get how people live without it.

On the completion of your novel: How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by your blog audience compare with writing the blog?

It’s funny, the blog is very free form to me. I get an idea for a post, and sometimes it is just a vague idea based on my writing life, and I start writing and it just flows. Often the posts end up being way longer than I think they are going to be when I’ve started. In some respects, writing the novel was the same way, at least in the first draft. After that, there’s a lot more shaping involved, since the plot has to work and the characters need an arc and all that. I try not to be too specific about my novel in the blog, my idea being that readers want to read about the process of writing it, not the novel itself. So it will be interesting to see the reaction when it is published.

Your life seems to be a journey that is totally expressed by blogging: Do we know the real you or do you keep a private life that is not told to your readers?

I’d probably panic if I went back and read all my past posts and realized how much of myself I’ve revealed. But in truth, I write so much that I tend to write things and forget about them. I’m on to the next thing. The thought occurs that this could be a self-protective mechanism. I’m halfway toying with the idea of starting a memoir next, so what you don’t get from the blog you’ll probably get in there. I’d say people get about 90% of the real me. Everybody deserves a few secrets, don’t you think?

5 Question Interview Series with Katherine Turner

Katherine Turner is the author of Dating God, which is a blog that focuses on her journey throughout the cosmos. Her style of writing is configuring life-as-a-jigsaw-puzzle fitting it all together with dancing words. She has recently just completed her first novel, appropriately titled “Dating God”. Katherine graciously agreed to take part in my ongoing “5 Question Interview Series”.


Please tell me about your novel. Is it autobiographical in nature, fiction, spiritual or all of the above?

It's called Dating God of course :) I don't yet have a groove to offer up as a synopsis, so instead I give you some adjectives/images: psychic bartender meets hero cop; downwardly/inwardly mobile; high quality cigarettes and double cappuccinos; human love versus true love; sexual healing; urban dwelling versus ecovillage; holy moments in unlikely spaces; tequila; angels cleverly disguised as buttheads; the soulmate machinery; saving your own life.

It's fiction, and it's spiritual. It's also rowdy and funky. It's not autobiographical, but it contains things that I'm intimate with. For example, I tended bar in NYC and dated cops. I went through a rough patch understanding how to manage my psychic abilities. I was a hottie who got hit on a lot, and used it like ecstatic currency. I drank lots of tequila and coffee, smoked a lot of cigarettes. People that knew me from that time will recognize elements of reality, but the story is all in my head/heart.

Will your blog readers of the past 5 years (congratulations on that) get a sneak peak before publication?

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. My instincts say to offer it up to DG readers, let them read it before it goes anywhere. But this also makes me nervous (as you probably know from being a blogger yourself) as some blog readers have "orifice ripper" as their undeclared (and largely unconscious) but righteously pursued avocation. So, I'm more inclined to just send it to the few dozen folks who comment a lot and are warm-hearted and will be supportive, even if they pass on constructive criticism (which I hope they do). But who knows? Maybe I'll just toss the whole shebang wide open and let folks have at it :) (Most likely I'll open it up in ever-widening circles . . .)

What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?

I think I have a sort of "perspective" OCD that expresses itself verbally. I'll go through an experience or witness something, and I become obsessed with telling it in a way that captures the emotional light I saw it in. And it has to be done first person. I've tried other narratives and it loses its fire.

I remember someone telling me that you can't "want" to be a writer. You either write or you don't. I totally agree with that. I'm motivated to write like I'm motivated to eat. I love food and I eat to stay alive. I love words and I write to stay alive. This is not a metaphor.

I've been writing since I was seven or eight and have never stopped. I'm obsessed with words and concepts, heightened states of being and wild wooly metaphors, verbal symbols that stand for huge swaths of organic experience and the power of raw unflinching honesty. I love that I can take an experience, perspective, that lives inside of me, animates me, and with the right combo of words, transfer that experience into you. It's like making love. Telepathically :)


Your life seems to be a voyage that is perfectly expressed by blogging: Do we know the real you or do you keep a private life that is not told to your readers?

I think folks are always a little disappointed to meet me. I'm actually pretty quiet in person, withdrawn. I don't like to be seen. All of which is the exact opposite of what I'm like on the blog. Plus, I have a hard time with most folk's energy, and tend to be avoidant, which people tend to take personally :) I also think that it appears that I love to dwell on Problems, love to Vent and Be Vented Upon, when in fact this is my idea of Fiery, Burning Hell, Live and On Location. IRL, I prefer to just live and leave the gumflapping exchange for others to exercise. (Although I seem to have an almost bottomless well of listening for the handful of people I love, the people who I get truly love me.)

The only parts I withhold from the blog are info about other people that would hurt them or freak them out to see made public, and negative spew that would add to the Pointless Bullshit of the world. (although I have been very guilty of posting both)

How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by your blog audience compare with writing the blog?

I actually didn't write this book with anyone in mind. I just wrote it because it was burning a hole in my brain and heart. And I wrote the first draft 10 years ago, way before I even knew what a blog was.

The latest draft (that I finished last month) was actually written with a credo (written with a purple and green sharpie and scotch taped to the wall in front of my desk) that reads: "DatingGod: 1. Show Up 2. Write It From Now 3. Make Art, Tell Your Story". I had gotten so incredibly stuck that I knew that rewriting was pointless. I hated the book, knew it was shite, but felt powerless to fix it, even as I could feel this shining truth radiating out of it, haunting me and taunting me and telling me that it was going to f*ck my sh*t up for the rest of my life if I didn't get at it.

I finally grew the ovaries to do a shamanic journey around it, and I met with an editor in shamanic reality who told me how to finish the book. He was this sweet, funny man, and he told me that I needed to put myself in front of my computer, to have the courage to show up. And then I needed to stop trying to write from who I was, who I used to be ten years ago when that first draft was completed, and instead have the courage to write from where I am, who I am Now. It was outrageously scary. And like performing a million amputations. But incredibly liberating. The book actually turned into something that didn't make me feel like vomiting from embarrassment every time I thought of how many people I'd let read it over the past decade. (I still cringe. I'm cringing even right now :) And of course, now this latest draft makes me gag too, which means that it still needs another draft. And on and on and on . . .

I can't wait to finish it. I can't wait to let you read it :)

5 Question Interview Series with Glenn Kurtz

Glenn Kurtz is the author of “Practicing - A Musician’s Return to Music”.

Kurtz is a graduate of the New England Conservatory-Tufts University double degree program. He also holds a PhD from Stanford University in German Studies and Comparative Literature. His writing has been published in ZYZZYVA, Artweek, Tema Celeste, and elsewhere, and he has taught at Stanford University, San Francisco State University, and California College of the Arts.

Glenn Kurtz graciously agreed to take part in my on going “5 Question Interview Series”.

1) My only complaint about the book is that it made me want to put the book down and go practice my guitar. Did the same urge happen to you while writing the book?

I have a fantasy that the book will inspire a nationwide resurgence in art-making by all sorts of former artists, musicians, painters, etc. So many people have spoken or written to me about wanting to pick up their instrument or their craft again after reading the book. It's very gratifying. For me, while writing "Practicing," I was constantly picking up the guitar; putting it down to write; picking it up again. Playing was research, as well as practice. I tried to capture the rhythm of a practice session in the writing, along with what it felt like to play.


2) The physical act of playing the guitar seems like a meditation practice for you. Do you have a personal mediation that you practice in your daily life?

Not really. When I was a performing musician, I used to do an idiosyncratic form of breathing work, which I suppose you could call meditation. But I haven't done it in a long time. These days, I find that practicing itself is my best practice, whether music or writing.

3) Bach is a major motivator for your inspiration. Are there any current/contemporary musicians that give you Bach-like inspiration?

I get inspiration from so many different kinds of music that it's hard to keep track! When I was younger, I think I was pretty snobbish about the kinds of music I listened to: Bach and Mozart were at the top of my list, along with classic jazz--say, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Django, and Charlie Parker. I also listened to a lot of classical guitar players: Pepe Romero, John Williams, and the Davids: Leisner, Tanenbaum, and Russell. But I didn't really listen to much else. These days, my ears have opened up much more. In any given day, I'll run the gamut from Bach to John Cage (I love the "Music for Prepared Piano"); from The Beatles to Death Cab for Cutie; from Gnawa music of Morocco to Javanese Gamelan. For some reason, I've been in an Anton von Webern phase lately, listening to his string quartets. Any music that takes me into its own time, its own temporality, and shapes my experience there inspires me.

4) In one of your essays, “Who cares about Classical Music”, you write about public response to a master violinist. Do you foresee the public schooling system (or even media) placing greater emphasis on the arts?

Sadly, no. I don't see much chance of the public school system or the mainstream media placing much--indeed, any--emphasis on art or arts education in the near future. Schools, especially, are still staggering under the profoundly misguided "Standards" movement, which has swallowed most "non-essential" subjects like art, music, and drama. It's pretty discouraging. But I have to say I'm of two minds on this subject. When most people speak of "arts education," they tend to mean things like music appreciation classes, in which students are taught that Beethoven was great. I'm definitely of the camp that believes Beethoven is great. Yet I'm also of the camp that believes it may be more important to teach students to play an instrument--any instrument, in any style--rather than perpetuate a veneration for the past. For this reason, my essays for The Huffington Post, "Who Cares About Classical Music?" have been interesting. I'm just as despondent about the loss of interest among the general public in classical music (and "great literature") as anyone. But I think it would be far more valuable to get students interested in making music or creating literature than to sit them down and tell them how great Beethoven (or
Charlotte Brontë) was. It's a pedagogical difference. --But a moot one, I fear. Neither is going to happen soon.

5) What’s next for you? New book, additional essays?

Both. I'm working on a novel now, set in the closing days of World War II. And I'll keep writing shorter pieces--on music and art, primarily--because there's a lot to be said for keeping things brief!

5 Question Interview Series with Dominic Smith

The Beautiful Miscellaneous is the sophomore effort by Dominic Smith. His writing awards include the Dobie Paisano Fellowship from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Sherwood Anderson Fiction Prize, and the Gulf Coast Fiction Prize. In 2006, his debut novel "The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre" was selected for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great News Writers Program. It also received the Steven Turner Prize for First Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters.

Today Dominic Smith graciously agreed to take part in my on going “5 Question Interview Series”.

1) Is this book autobiographical in nature? The book is not directly autobiographical, but like everything I write I use details and stories from my own life. I don't have an overbearing scientific father or an old world mother, but the characters are compilations of people I've known and heard about.

2) If it is proper to ask, may I ask what your relationship is like with your father? I have a good relationship with my father. He lives in Australia, where I grew up, so we don't see each other all that often. He has always been very supportive of my writing.

3) Photography, meditation, and hiking are listed as interests to you on your My Space page. Can you explain how they influence your writing style? That's an interesting question. Photography definitely makes you see things in a different way. You look at objects and the way they interact with light. Taking pictures makes me better at describing things. Meditation keeps me grounded and reduces the stress and white noise in my life. I write immediately after meditating and I like to think it makes me focused when I go in to face the blank page. Hiking is something I like but not something I do very often. Being in nature helps me get clarity about my life and my work.

4) Will you tell us about your style of meditation, and how long you have been practicing meditation? I have been practicing Transcendental Meditation for ten years. It's a really important part of my life and something I'm very grateful for.

5) Since this blog is mainly a photography blog (your 1st novel is about a photographer going mad)any advice for the photographer (to keep us all sane)?
Not sure I have a whole lot of practical advice for photographers. I think that photography is a lot like writing in that you have to find your own "voice." We each have a sensibility and learning to trust and hone that is an important part of our development as artists. I remember hearing George Saunders says that he learned to write stories that only he could write and this was a huge turning point for him. The same applies to all art. Find a terrain and a style that feels organic to whom you are. That's your strength.

5 Question Interview Series with Howard Grill

Howard Grill has re-ignited my passion for reading about photography. In the truest meaning of the word “Motivation” (the name of Howard’s blog), that’s what he has given me. Reading about photography has become too technical for me; reading about how images are created on Photoshop does nothing for me. The art of composing a photograph seemed to be lost in my daily reading of the photography blog/internet world.

Then early in January ‘07 I clicked my way onto Howard’s blog and have been a daily reader ever since. There are a couple of things I’d like to share about why I enjoy his blog so much: strong focus on composition, great discussion/dialogue in his comments about his postings, local Pittsburgher and a fine selection of “Favorite Blogs” (that he reads located on the his blog side bar). Howard has graciously agreed to be part of my 5 question interview series. I hope you enjoy the interview and be sure to check out his “Favorite Blogs & Podcast” after perusing his site.

1) As a physician by profession, do you have an analysis on art therapy/photo therapy as a healing method?

Well, I’m not a psychiatrist (though I suspect that my wife sometimes thinks I could use one), so, in actuality, I’m not really sure that I know any more than you about that topic. However, that said, (and I am not trying to be glib here) it sure doesn’t seem like it could do any harm!

2) You seem to have a passion for the technique of printing a photograph; will you explain your printing process?

I probably do a lot of things the same as most people. I work in a color managed workflow with a hardware calibrated monitor and print on an Epson 7600 using the ImagePrint RIP.

One thing that perhaps I do a bit differently than ‘the books say to’, is that I feel that the ultimate decision as to how to make a print is based on how it actually looks on paper as opposed to following strict rules about where the highlight and shadow values should fall. I might find, for example, that retaining perfect shadow detail might lead to a flat looking print, in which case IF it looks good on paper I might well be willing to sacrifice some of the shadow detail for a better looking print overall. If the print looks flat it doesn’t make me feel any better to know that I can define objects that are in the shadows. The aesthetic result has to come first, in my opinion.

Along the same lines, I work a great deal at making adjustments to contrast and saturation locally, as opposed to globally, to try to make the print look like I think it should. I print my work on matte paper (a result both of my liking the matte aesthetic and of the 7600 making it an expensive pain in the butt to change over to semi-gloss paper) and I seem to find that prints need more contrast on matte paper as compared to semi-gloss or luster.

It takes me a good deal of time to end up with a print I am satisfied with and expresses what I wanted it to and so even though I soft-proof in Photoshop I find that I go through a good many ‘working prints’ before I am done. I guess the fact that I don’t do this professionally gives me the luxury to take the time and effort needed for me to get to where I want to be without deadlines, profit margins etc.

At some point I would like to get another somewhat smaller format printer to try my hand at black and white inkjet printing on some of the newer papers that are said to more closely emulate traditional gelatin silver prints.

3) You The digital photo age is still in its infancy stage: are there parts of the film world that you miss and/or wish that the digital world could duplicate as well as film did?

Despite the fact that I am 49 years old, I am still mostly a product of the ‘digital revolution’, at least as far as photography goes. I got started in photography when I was in high-school. At that time I put together a small darkroom. I am sure my parents, who had no connection to photography or the arts at all, thought I totally lost it when I would lock myself into our tiny linen closet and stuff towels into the bottom crack of the door in order to block out the light so that I could transfer my black and white film to the developing tank.

But after high school there was a VERY long hiatus of probably 20 or 25 years before I so much as picked up a camera again because of time limitations in college, medical school, post-graduate training etc. When I got the chance to come back to it, the digital revolution was well under way. Though I restarted with film and a scanner, I moved to pure digital capture relatively quickly. I taught myself the digital darkroom and began printing myself because I was never happy with what I got back from the ‘photo shop’….I always wanted the image to be a little darker here, more contrast there and so on. The digital darkroom was the way to go for someone who tended to be a perfectionist and had limited time because of work and three young children…it was simply much easier to do 45 minutes of printing at 10pm in the digital, as opposed to the wet, darkroom.

4) Composition is a frequent subject matter on your blog. A topic that I personally feel is missing in photography dialogue today. Will you please expand your thoughts on why a strong focus on composition is a major writing theme for you?

There is just so much information on the technical aspects of photography out there that, frankly, I think I would have very little to add. I think one of the reasons there is so much technical material out there is because that is the part of photography that is actually the easiest to learn and the easiest to teach.

I think composition is the heart and soul of photography. It is where the creation emerges. You can always learn more, practice more, and improve. It is not textbook learning and often there is no right or wrong, but that is what makes it so interesting and challenging. I enjoy that challenge of learning, doing, and writing about it.

In a way, composition also leads to the social part of photography. It is where people can get together and discuss an image and learn from each other. It is also a ‘great equalizer’, in that you can get great composition out of an inexpensive point and shoot and poor composition out of a 1Ds MkII. It only depends on who is behind the lens and not how much the lens costs.

5) What does the future hold for Grill Photographic ?

I honestly don’t know. If I think ahead five or six years, I would love to be in a situation where I can spend more time on my photography than I am currently able to. I guess for now I have to try to make the absolute most that I can from the time I do have.

I have also set some specific goals for myself. They include finishing several well defined photographic projects that I have in mind and trying to get the images ‘out there’. The project that I have written about on my blog is my so-called “Twin Jewels Project”, which is a photographic exploration of two relatively local parks that I have found very intriguing. Once completed, I would like to see if I can get the photos displayed locally.

Right now, I have been making some print sales, but, as I am sure you know, no matter how good your work is, the trick is having the time and ability to ‘market’ your artwork in one way or another.

I don’t know, sometimes it seems difficult to just plan past the next week!

5 Question Interview Series with Jeremy Willet

At this moment I get the opportunity to intermix my love for photography, music and writing and have it all represented in my ‘5 Question Interview Series” with Jeremy Willet. I first met Jeremy last year at a photography session with his band "Willet" for various promo shots. This past March Jeremy kindly forwarded a copy of his new book to me, “Far From Home” that I reviewed on this blog (check out the cool cover shot, guess who took it??). Today Jeremy graciously agreed to take part in my on going “5 Question Interview Series”.


How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by your music audience compare with writing music?

The reason for writing a book actually came out of our songwriting process. A single WILLET song heard live or on an album is normally a product of 8-12 months of journaling, reading, demos, rehearsals, pastoral evaluation, re-writing, and perfecting. I decided to write a book to allow more time and pages to better explain the meaning behind some songs, the vision of WILLET, and the challenge behind why the band was started.
After I have a lyric concept, Justin normally sends me an mp3 of a new song demo. I listen to it over and over before writing a melody. We then collaborate on the structure, work with Jordan to add the bass part, and develop the drum pattern that would work best. Once we have rehearsed the song with the band, we normally send the lyrics to our band pastor, and father, Glen Willet. He checks the lyrics for biblical accuracy and content, and throws us his ideas. Then, it’s back to the practice studio to add in additional tracking, keyboard patches, and sound effects for the live show.
This book was written for our audience as an extension of our show. During a WILLET concert, I normally have about 3 minutes to talk about the work we are doing in Africa, throw out a challenge, and then back into the music. There is no room in the set to explain why we wrote the songs, why we play in both churches and clubs, and why we have a heart for Africa. FAR FROM HOME was written to be able to lay it all out in the open.


Will you explain/expand on OPERATION 400?

OPERATION 400 was a goal we made for ourselves in January 2006. We wanted to see 400 children sponsored in Africa before the year ended. After touring heavily for a year, our goal was actually surpassed with over 450 sponsors! OPERATION 400 has actually transitioned into THE PROJECT ZEWAY TOUR now in 2007. Because of the success of THE OPERATION 400 TOUR, we decided to stretch ourselves and actually sponsor a specific village. The goal for 2007 is 1000 sponsored children from ZEWAY, ETHIOPIA.

Provide us a little info on your next/current project? (2nd Book? New CD?)

The next project that WILLET is releasing is the brand new E.P. “SOMETIMES A CITY NEEDS A BOMB”. It has been over 2 years since the band put out any new material. This album has the most aggressive songs (lyrically, and musically) then any other project to date.
In addition to the new e.p., we have just released FAR FROM HOME 2nd EDITION. This was a follow up to the first book with added chapters from our trip to Africa, as well as a new cover.


What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?

I am inspired by passion. Whether in a movie, a song, an article, a live performance, a sermon, a speech, a painting, a book, an act of kindness…anything that is done 100% with excellence. Notice I said “excellence” and not “perfection”. There is a huge difference. “Excellence” is when someone gives everything they have to convey a message. “Perfection” is something done well, but done in a way that shows they are simply going “through” the motions. I would much rather see someone pour their heart into what they are conveying then have someone “play the part”.
I stay motivated by staying in devotion with Christ on a daily basis. In my Bible, I read a chapter out of the Old Testament, a Psalms, a Proverb (chapter based on the day of the month), and a chapter from the New Testament. On whatever particular chapter I am reading, I always write the date and what part of the world I am in. This helps me recall where I was both spiritually and physically in years past. It helps me evaluate progress, struggles, and maturity in my personal life. During these times, I also journal from verses that really spoke to me, prayer requests, or something interesting that I read in a book. I am always reading 5-7 different books at one time. My book selection always seems to consist of a book on Worship, U2, leadership, church, and youth culture. I have found that my faith is the only thing I can rely on to stay “level” in a world of constant roller coasters. God never leaves me no matter where I am spiritually or physically. I can always rely on him to lead the path that I’m supposed to take. That’s why he is the Great Shepherd. He leads his sheep rather then pushes them. He is willing to go out before his children.
I enjoy listening to all sorts of music from hard rock, to piano ballads, to modern worship, to hymns. Again, anything performed with passion is what I am attracted to. I am motivated by times with my wife (which are treasured due to a heavy touring schedule). I love to be outside enjoying God’s nature. I love to go to Baltimore Oriole games, and watch the Ravens on Sunday football. I love to write music on guitar and piano, as well as write articles and devotions for SCRIPTS FOOTWEAR and FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY.


"Sometimes a city needs a bomb e.p." – What a great but odd name for a CD. What is the story behind the title?

Wow! I am so glad someone finally asked that question! What a controversial title in a time of terrorists threats, war, and uncertainty…but what a great way to use that as a metaphor for a challenge! The full title of the album, which is completed on the back of the cd jacket, is “SOMETIMES A CITY NEEDS A BOMB…BEFORE IT CAN BE REBUILT”. This record has been 2 years in the making. Writing lyrics in airplanes, on tour buses, in the van, and in Africa, the band brings a diverse selection of tracks bound to impress the listener. We chose this title because it summarized the past 2 years of this band. After touring full time for over 2 years, playing close to 500 shows, we got to a point of frustration. We were taken advantage of by so many churches, venues, and people, got thrown around by record companies, experienced a church split, and found ourselves in a financial hole at the end of 2006. It was at this time that we almost ended the band and got jobs to recover from the blow. I think that God can use your lowest times in life to really speak to you, because it was at this time that he brought the children of Zeway to our attention. When we thought we had lost it all as a band, He showed us kids who had no water, food or clothes. This really put things into perspective for us as a band, and allowed us time to refocus. After flying to Arizona to meet with Food for the Hungry, we began planning for our trip to Africa. We later realized that God would use the next few months to mold us into the true vision of WILLET.
We were to a point that we couldn’t handle the “wounds” of the past year. We were asking questions like, “Why would God allow us to be in debt to so many people, to allow our van to break down, to have tours cancelled, to have a record company drop us, to lose team members, to be dropped by a booking agency, and more…? Why would He allow this when we have sacrificed so much to be “missionaries” to the youth?”
When we finally let go of ourselves and asked God to direct us, the mission behind WILLET began to explode. Our eyes were opened to a village in Africa, which gave us a real example of servant-hood to portray to Americans through our concerts. Tour schedules began to fill up, endorsements began to come together, we were able to self produce a record on our own, showcases were put together in Nashville for record companies, and sponsorships began to roll in for kids in Zeway! That’s when we really saw the title of this record come to life.
Sometimes, you get so involved in something through programs, material possessions, money, time, organization, business, etc, that you can lose the real focus of what you were called to do in the first place. Everyone has a “city” of their own, and for us, it took a “bomb” going off to rebuild the vision of what we set out to do.

5 Question Interview Series with Matthew Dallman

In the blog world few artists progress into more than just blogging. Matthew Dallmen is one of them. Dallmen’s multi-talented, multi-disciplined approach to all things art has captivated my daily reading for the last couple of years. In a fortunate discovery I was introduced to Dallmen through another blogger that was interviewing him. Since that time I have developed into a fan and a daily reader of Dallmen’s works. Matthew has graciously agreed to be part of my 5 question interview series.

1) What is next for you? You record music, score independent films, publish POLYSEMY magazine, write countless essays, keep a daily blog. Any coming attractions in your life you wish to share?

What's next for me? Well, being the father of twins, perhaps my biggest challenge yet! My wife, Hannah, is doubly pregnant, and doubly due in September-ish. These will be our second and third children, after our daughter Twyla, who is 19 months and rockin' the dance floor, our sprightly music lover. Right now, we are figuring out where Hannah is going to deliver the twins, because we don't want an overly medical birth if it isn't needed. Birth need not necessarily be a medical event; it is a life event first, to be celebrated as an expression of deep, profound spirit. If high-risk medical procedure is needed, by all means; but we just don't think birth ought start there.

As far as adding to the pursuits you list above, I will say that work continues on my long-delayed book for working artists, called "A River of One's Own". This is long-delayed because I keep finding new areas of research, which I must master before I feel ready to ask artists to read what I have to say. I'm also exploring whether I can develop and sell any music specifically intended for commercial uses (TV, radio, web) because, well, babies gonna need some shoes. One thing I don't often talk about is that my day job is in advertising, as an editor. The initial feelers I put out within my agency about writing commercial music were responded to favorable, so we'll see.

Also, I continue the testing of my hypothesis that close-reading the great works of Western literature and thought (through my enrollment in such an adult-ed program offered by the University of Chicago) will help me be a better artist. I do verbal as well as non-verbal art. That this program would help the former seems like a good hypothesis; that it will help the latter is less intuitive, perhaps wrong, but my sense is that there is a good chance it will, at least indirectly. It is a four-yr program; year one has had me read works by Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles, Dostoevsky, Herodotus, books of the Bible, Shakespeare, Hobbes, Rousseau, Machiavelli, and Twain. Plus I've started to teach myself Latin. So look forward to the fruits of all that, whatever those fruits might be. I've chosen to lay roots in this ground; we'll see what grows.

2) Integral Art - Can you expand/explain about your personal philosophy towards integral art?

I take it you mean what I use as working principles in my own work, distinct from the more formal, impersonal principles that make up my various essays on integral art. I usually don't think in the way you ask, so here's a shot at an answer.

On the personal side, I can sum up a lot by saying that art comes from what you live with. Those sensations, feelings, perceptions, conceptions, perspectives, and meanings that have been part of my gut, my muscles, my bones, my mind, my breaths, my shadows -- the stuff you live with, that lives with you day in and day out, this is where your art comes from. I've written of the idea that the stuff that makes up you is like a river. To you, your river is boring as hell. Completely uninteresting (it is a temptation to think this way). But to others, it holds mystery, a mystery you can spoil by talking about too much or by down-playing it; yet it is a mystery that is so to others in the same way that "the grass is always greener on the other side". A lot of the battle of artistry is allowing your river just to be your river, to others. And not trying to make your river something other than what it is, because then it isn't as mysterious, isn't as evocative. You live with your river; in lives in you. Your art comes from it, and rides along it. Let that be so, I say. Don't fight it. Let it fill you up; let it flow out; get the obstacle that is your constricted fear out of the way by letting it flow, as well. Make it so that others can live with it, too.

3) You have written about classical education in connection with an integral approach, can you expand upon this?

Oh, of my favorite topics! Ok, here's the nutshell. Classical education has two goals. One is, at its essence, to embed the process by which we consciously learn how to learn. Whether engaged in by home-educated children, college students, or older adults, classical education is a graduated, macro-developmental approach that throws learning itself into open scrutiny, and shows us how we learn in the micro, moment to moment, in every new area we come upon. The other goal of classical education is to enter into the Great Conversation about the Great Ideas that have built Western civilization, and will continue to build Western culture. (Though those terms, "Great Conversation" and "Great Ideas" are only about 60 years old; the conversation and the ideas themselves of course
go back to ancient culture.)

At the root here is the principle of "paideia". This ancient Greek term is quite alive today. It means the process by which a person's character is educated, enriched, and enlightened. Permanently, enduringly upon the body, mind, and soul. Through genuine paideia, we amplify and cultivate our true nature, and in the process, uplift all with whom we interact. Thinking about, wrestling with, and creatively expressing our insights about the Great Ideas means we, in our own ways, are participant in the Great Conversation. By mere virtue of contemplation of the Great Ideas, we are in the company of the great minds, and the great artists. This is character-forming, for one, and a fantastic method to open ourselves to the same river of intuition in which all great thinkers have swam.

Art, as "imaginative fullness", and whether verbal or non-verbal art, has in its objects encoded, discreet information, for those sensitive. Art reflects our symbol-making techniques; our symbol-making techniques reflect our consciousness; our consciousness reflects our experiences; our experiences reflect how we learn; how we learn reflects what we've learned; what we learn reflects what we study; what we study reflects upon what we deliberate. Thus what we deliberate upon is crucial, and I say there is nothing more sustainable to deliberate upon, to befriend, to wrestle with, than the Great Ideas and how these are woven into our greatest works of art and thought. What is art? What is beauty? What are sign and symbol? What is memory and imagination? And on through the over 100 Great Ideas. All roads lead to enlightenment.

Because there is no strict formula for "imaginative fullness", nor laws to dictate how artistry ought occur (not that anyone would want such things), the best we can do -- in fact, all we can do -- is gather the best available information about artistry, experience life to its fullest, trust our imagination to coalesce intuitively as play, and hone the manifest expression as the art object we make and show others. To the extent that comprises a formula, it is a very loose and open-ended one. But it is the best way I can see for artists to overcome the aesthetic malaise of "postmodernism". The great stories, the great themes, the great perceptions -- these all ought be the basics for today's artists, verbal and non-verbal alike. Plus, the Great Ideas provide substance for conversation between two people, no matter their background -- a handy perk for those moments we
are low in inspiration.

4) Do see any advancement in the foreseeable future for the working arts? Either in technology, social networking or a general philosophical approach for the working arts?

I wouldn't know where to begin as far as technology or social networking go. I'm a lover of lyric poetry and all things classical. (Though, of course, I like plenty brand new; for example, this will be the second summer that my wife and I will attend the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, a showcase for so many great, indie rock bands, many of whom I like quite a bit. I would in fact argue that the best indie rock bands are often classically-influenced, but that is an argument for another day.)

But as far as philosophically, I will say this: I think artists will stop wondering whether meaning exists. Knowing profoundly that, in fact, commonly-shared meaning does exist is the single magic bullet that forever exposes the sham of postmodern art's skin-deep worship of fashion, nihilism, and novelty for their own sakes. Relatedly, I think that artists will continue to explore how all the arts are knitted together, and what that means today, rather than what it used to mean. The rise of the multimedia artist dramatizes that the disciplines can be integrated beyond opera and cinema (the two original multimedia arts). Multimedia artists face, I think, the problem of content -- namely, what to fill their multiple mediums with? The medium is the message, as McLuhan said, and the content of a medium is one or more mediums -- of course color, tone, word, shape, gesture, material, these are all mediums, too. And our minds create meanings from them.

5) Your life seems to be a voyage that is perfectly expressed by blogging: Do we know the real you or do you keep a private life that is not told to your readers?

I didn't tell you I was blogging all this time from an Illinois State Penitentiary?

Huh.

Well, it's funny. You actually aren't the first to tell me that the blogging is a medium where I seem to thrive. I have no idea why. I'm a lover of words (grammarian that I am), and I enjoy blogging as an outlet to my thoughts and intuitions. I particularly laugh when I talk to friends in person or on the phone, and I start to recap recent life stuff, and they say, "oh yeah, I read about that on your blog". It is kind of weird to have the two worlds meet. My guess is that if you read my blog, you know a particularly honest side of me (Orwell bemoaned the honesty required to be a genuine writer). But you probably don't know a lot about what it is like to hang out with me. Which is obvious but at the same time, it is one of my favorite things to do -- hang out with Hannah, Twyla, and a couple friends. At home, preferably. Quentin Tarantino said his favorite kind of movies are "hang-out movies". Usually, mine are, too (one example, "Dazed and Confused"). I'm sure this reflects on my personality. But before this self-inquiry gets too creepy or weird, I'll stop. :)

md

Update + Ransom Seaborn

Congratulations to Bill Deasy on wining the 2006 Needle Award. To read my interview with Bill click here...

5 Question Interview Series with Bill Deasy

Last year, I attended my first book reading by author/singer/songwriter Bill Deasy. This year, I asked Bill to take part in my “5 Question Interview Series”. Congratulations to Bill for Ransom Seaborn being nominated for a 2006 Needle Award. Click here to get the whole scoop. The winner will be announced March 7th. To learn more about Bill Deasy click here & here.


How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by your music audience compare with writing music?

I didn’t really think about an audience as I wrote “Ransom.” I just wanted to see if I could do it, write a novel, I mean. In general, I get the same rush writing fiction that I get writing songs -- it just takes longer stretches of concentration.

Your life seems to be a journey that is totally expressed by your words either in song or in your novel: Do we know the real you or do you keep a private life that is not told to your readers/listeners?

I’m really not sure. I think there is definitely a big chunk of me revealed in my songs, but doubt I’m quite as tortured or sad or sensitive as my lyrics might indicate. At least I hope I’m not!

What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?

I think I’m inspired by my love of the process. Feeling an inspiration, allowing it to grow and become something, working it into a form that moves me then sharing it with others and hoping it moves them, feeling it when they connect with it. That process is kind of addictive.

Will you give us a little info on your next/current project? (2nd novel? New CD?)

Just finished a draft of a second novel called “Traveling Clothes” and I’m inching toward a new CD. I have a bunch of songs written but don’t quite know how they all fit together yet.

Why Pittsburgh, PA? What keeps you based in Pittsburgh? Why have you not moved to Nashville or LA?

I LOVE PITTSBURGH!!! I love the rivers and the gray skies and all the little neighborhoods and the people. And I’m willing to travel so I go to all those cities on a regular basis but live here. It helps me to keep from burning out and to keep my priorities in line.

5 Question Interview Series with Joe Perez

In the blog world few writers evolve into more than just blogging. Perez is one of them; his self-reflective writing has captivated my daily reading for the last couple of years. Joe Perez is the author of the blogs Until, GS&C, and Whole Writing. His fourth coming book, Soulfully Gay, will be published by Shambhala/Integral books this May. Joe has graciously agreed to be part of my 5 question interview series.


If readers are to come away from Soulfully Gay with something, what would you want it to be?


Soulfully Gay is a story about my life over 14 months. I spend lots of time telling you the story and very little effort at trying to say, "this is what it all means." So it's not a conventional memoir. If readers come away from the book with anything, I hope they will try to make sense of the book for themselves. I hope they will wrestle with its questions and work through its puzzles. I hope the gestalt, the whole story with its twists and turns and surprises, sticks with them in an enduring way.

How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by your blog audience compare with writing the blog?

Well, actually when I was writing the book I didn't know I was writing a book. I was writing a blog, a column, and keeping a journal. Much of Soulfully Gay actually was blogged, my first blog, The Soulful Blogger, which I kept over 14 months. The book is the combination of blog, journal, columns, and memoir (plus help from the editors in
making everything flow together). The book reads in a very blog-like fashion that will be very familiar and comfortable for any of my blog readers. What makes the book different, really, is that it tells a story (like a novel or a screenplay). A story that even to this day
I've never told publicly outside of the book.

Can you expand/explain about your Whole Writing blog and art of whole writing?

I'm dribbling out the Whole Writing method on the blog, so I don't have anything really sophisticated to offer at this time. What I'm doing is focusing on the practice of writing and sharing everything I know about how to fine-tune this ordinary practice into a supercharged method for expanding one's awareness and changing one's life. There are many good ways to write, just as there are many ways to spend an hour in a gym. Just sheer repetition in doing something will eventually pay off with results. My goal is to present Whole Writing the way a good personal trainer presents the best, most effective techniques of a full-body workout. I'm asking: how can we get the most out of writing to aid our self-awareness and meditative consciousness? My answer is, it starts with what's worked for me and what I've found in my research so far. I've incorporated the best stuff from other writing methods and added insights from Integral Theory. Eventually I'll get to the point where I can explain it fairly simply, but maybe like meditation or working out it will take more than just a good explanation. I think it might be easier to sit down with someone, write together, and show them how the technique works than to blog
this stuff.

Your life seems to be a journey that is totally expressed by blogging: Do we know the real you or do you keep a private life that is not told to your readers?

That's a tough one. Many bloggers self-consciously adopt a persona and they blog from that space. This helps keep us sane because unless we can always write about stuff that nobody disagrees with there are a lot of sharp words flying around. I haven't done that consciously, so I think I'm writing the "real me." But I definitely do keep parts of my life behind the curtain. Some parts of my life that I kept behind the curtain a few years ago (like my struggles with HIV disease) I'm feeling increasingly comfortable writing about in front of the curtain. But it's work and it takes time to get more and more transparent (and to know when to pull up a curtain).

As a reader of blogs, it's always a good idea to remember that the other bloggers are just as flawed as you are. Just because someone writes 500 words about "10 healthy foods that I really like," doesn't mean that they don't pig out on pizza, carry 20 pounds of excess weight, or struggle with a food addiction, etc. Often people write about the areas of life that most trouble and perplex them. That's true for me at times, I'm sure.

What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?

I'm a classic Virgo in this respect, so I don't need much to inspire me. Having work I love, faith, and trying to be a better man is enough. Not very sexy, I know. The idea of becoming more "spiritually evolved" doesn't do anything for me; in fact, I'm rather averse to trying to change myself fundamentally. I'd rather just be open to experience, wherever it takes me.

As a writer, I'm also motivated by recognition and the desire to make an impact. No writer is motivated by the thought that some day 37 people will read his book. All things being equal, I hope lots of people eventually read Soulfully Gay. I do fret sometimes that the world of the chattering classes and the respectable literary magazines will completely ignore my book or, worse, totally misunderstand and misread it. I'm prepared for those possibilities, really. Expecting it, even. But it's fuel for the soul when people I respect and admire do get something valuable in my writing and it makes a difference to them.

5 Question Interview Series with ~C4Chaos

I blog today because I read ~C4Chaos yesterday. About three years ago I was doing a Google seach for Ken Wilber and a blog link popped up referencing posts about KW written by the blogger previously know as coolmel. From that day on I started my day off with coffee and reading ~C4Chaos. Then from his daily hyperlinking to other bloggers, today I read about 10 to 30 different bloggers religiously. Serendipitously today I get to post an interview with my personal catalyses for blogging.

1)Your life seems to be a journey that is totally expressed by blogging: Do we know the real you or do you keep a private life that is not told to your readers?

you can never know the “real” me. i even have a hard time knowing my real self. but getting the philosophical side of things out of the way, yes i prefer to keep a private life. hence the stupid monicker :)

2)The social entrepreneurship direction that you have been moving your blogging/life towards has struck a strong chord with me. Can you outline some small steps that we can all take in our daily lives to move more into a social entrepreneurial direction?

good question. to be honest, i'm still working on it. i'm still on the first step. i just got recently introduce to the concept of social entrepreneurship myself. the primary reason i blogged about it is to make a personal affirmation. i do that a lot on my blog. if i want to do something, i blog it first. that clarifies my intention and sets me up on a serendipitious quest.my first step would be to find out more information about this subject to know the people who are out there engaged in this thing. so i created a zBooks book shelf on the topic of Social Enterprise. i also started zPod:SSE so i can collectively learn with others and attract people who are already deep into Social Entrepreneurship. my goal would be to understand how social entereprenuers out there think and act in the “real world.”the next step would be to discover my own place(s) in social enterprise domain. i think i've already found one of those places since i already work for Zaadz :)

3)What is the longest you went without hyper-linking in the last 3yrs?

LOL. i can't remember. probably the same longest time i was offline.

4)Your photography at Flickr is quit vast in style, from fun to silly to documentation to the subtle awareness of the small things around you. (Which are my personal favorites) Can you express how you compose a photograph? What does photography bring to your life?

man, i don't know. sometimes i have a theme on my mind before i take a shot, but most of the time i don't have any idea where i'll use those photos. i simply get attracted to colors and things. then i enjoy tweaking them later using Photoshop. then later on when a blogging opportunity comes, i love to associate photos i took previously with my blogs. that's another way of working with serendipity i guess. a good photo organizing software is a must for my habit. and Flickr fits the bill perfectly. and here's my favorite photographic equation: Photographer + Camera + Subject = Photograph.

5)What is next for ~C4Chaos? You work for Zaadz, you get to cross post on Kew Wilber.com. A Goggle search under ~C4Chaos brings up 158,000 links. What is the next stage of your hyper-linking development? Any coming attractions in your life you wish to share?

what's next? no idea. blogging for KenWilber.com? didn't see that coming until a couple of weeks before they released the site. working for Zaadz? didn't see that coming until i blogged my heart out and poured my energy onto Zaadz. and that 158,000 links? don't get fooled, that's probably me linking to my own stuff :)but as far as my hyper-linking development is concerned, probably the next development would be to bring over that hyperlinking thing offline. meaning, real connections on meatspace as well. Zaadz and my personal blog would be my means for accomplishing these things. and that's another one of my affirmations ;)

thanks for asking!~C (for Carpe diem!)

5 Question Interview Series with Desiree` Annetoinette

Desiree' Annetoinette is an Eco-clothing designing momma, poetry writing, professional model, out-to-change-the-world-one-positive-moment-at-time type of girl. I was introduced to her through a serendipitous poem that she sent out to her Zaadz friends. From that poem on I have become a fan and supporter of Desiree’s work and purpose. Enjoy the interview and be sure to check out all the links, especially edgeware.biz

1) Can poetry change the world?
Anything and Anybody can change the world if they desire it enough!

2) How do you know when a poem is finished? (Read her poetry here & here)
Poetry is never finished… it is a constant work in progress as far as I'm concerned. (already edited “I climbed a mountain this morning” three times in two days! :-)

3) How do you use creativity in your life? How do you include it in your day to day work? Does your work feel like playing?
Creativity ooozes from my pores… I have no choice! My soul have been blessed with such passion so I have to express it or I die inside. Being thus, it encompasses every part of every day for me. My whole life feels like I'm playing… and I wouldn't want it ANY OTHER WAY! ;-)

4) Can you expand about Edgewear.biz (i.e. what a current day is like & future goals for the business?)
Well, today I'm cutting down about 400 pounds of material for the second round of the Fall/Winter line (no… not in one day?!! :-P) and as soon as I leave here to take my son to his doctor's appointment I will be sitting in the lobby-waiting for him-and finishing an article to submit to parenting magazines about a recycling project. It really depends on what day you catch me as too what I'm doing! :-P Future goals? To be the founder and major activist of the recycled material fashion industry. Just a little goal! :-)

5) On your Zaadz photo page you have some excellent photo's especially those eyes pix's and Diva pix's are you also a professional model? Can you expand upon what you thinks make a great photography?
I have been a professional model since junior high and worked with major guilds/agents for years prior to having my son. I LOVE the camera, always have… and think the best thing about ANYTHING in life (photography/modeling included) is that you have to see ALL ANGLES of it… so if your a photographer try being a model or makeup artist. If your a model be a MUA or photographer… and if you've never worked in a social industry (restaurants, retail, selling, etc.) get your butt out there and DO IT! You will NEVER appreciate compassion for another unless you open yourself up to THEIR EXPERIENCE!I hope this helps! Let me know if I can give you any more!Hugs from Beautiful Boulder!-Desiree' Annetoinette

5 question Interview series with HDW

High Desert Wanderer is a Blog that focuses on graphic design, personal views and random mutterings. I was attracted to this blog because of the Faces of Iraq series on photography, and then Photoshop and graphic design tips kept me coming back. Be sure to cross post this interview so other people can find this wanderer.

1) Why blog? How did you get started with blogging?
Due mostly to chance, I’ve tended to work with people who are non-designers, some older, but mostly younger. I’ve also tended to work with people who’ve spent most if not all of their lives in very urban areas of the East Coast. While I can work well with just about anyone, I find that we have little in common outside of our work to talk about. Over time I came to find this a little stifling. I started blogging in September of 2004 as a way of expressing myself.

2) Is the practice of blogging developing your graphic design skills?
More than anything the process of blogging has helped clarify my thoughts on graphic design and other subjects. I’ve found that it has been useful as a form of intellectual exercise. The process of sitting down and writing about something forces me to consider a subject as a whole rather than the bits and pieces I’ve picked up over time. My opinions and ideas about graphic design haven’t changed a lot, but they are clearer, and I can express them more clearly to my clients and coworkers.
The process of designing and maintaining my own site has also been beneficial. It lets me experiment in ways that I wouldn’t do for a paying client. It’s my site and I can crash it if I want to.

3) How do you use creativity in your life? How do you include it in your day to day work? Does your work feel like playing?
My work often does feel like playing, and my playing sometimes feels like work. I really enjoy the production process of graphic design. I actually quit a reasonably well paying Art Director position about two and a half years ago partially because I wanted to get back to the hands on process of graphic design.
I express myself creatively on a day to day basis. I take a lot of photographs, a few of which I have published on my site, and I paint and sculpt as well. My education was actually in Fine Art rather than graphic design.
My wife and I have remodeled one house completely and are working on our second. The first house included a lot of carpentry which I very much enjoyed. The current house has a lot more landscaping involved, and I’ve been enjoying as well.
I mentioned my playing sometimes feels like work. One of my creative exercises this last year or so has been building rock walls. I’ve currently built two dry fit rock walls in my yard from rocks I’ve found on the property. Very strenuous work, but rewarding as well, and they look great.

4) You have postings of photographs of the Iraq war; can you tell us how the media affects your view on current politics?
They’ve caused great frustration more than anything. I’ve been in some aspect of the publishing business for more than a decade. If I was to do the sort of sloppy work I’ve seen on network news and in the mainstream media lately I would no longer be working in this field. This recent controversy about the Qana photos is a good example. The news networks get a controversial story, and publish it. When the authenticity of the story comes into question, they don’t follow up. It’s bad for our country, it’s bad for the industry, and it’s bad for the individual networks. They are quickly loosing any semblance of integrity. They are becoming just another political pawn to be maneuvered.

5) Can you give us an explanation of why you chose High Desert Wanderer as your blogging title/name? Also, that is a great photograph in your title bar. Is that you? And is that a true moment or a graphic designer completed work?
I grew up in central Washington State. My first paying job was driving cattle on horse back. I also broke horses to help pay for college. I spent a good part of my youth literally wandering around the high desert country of that beautiful state on horseback. That aspect of my life defined who I am more than anything else.
The picture was taken by me for a college photography class, but it isn’t of me. It is however, my hat, jacket, and duffle bag in the photo. The subject of the photograph was a college roommate of mine who agreed to get up at the crack of dawn and pose for the photo. I took it with 35mm slide film and it is mostly unedited. I did extend the color slightly to the left to better fit the header. The right half of the image is original; the left half has been extended. The streaking on the left side was in the original, but I extended it about 20 percent or so. I’m also very fond of the repeating image down the left side. That is a tiled image of the tooling in my father’s saddle. I inherited the saddle when my father passed away in 2001 and it is one of the most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship I’ve ever had the honor of owning.
I did post a photo of myself a few days ago, but I didn’t identify myself in the post.