Artist: Webster Quoc Nguyen
Double Consciousness
Double Consciousness deals with the oftentimes clashing worlds and narratives placed on minorities living in white spaces. As a first generation Vietnamese son of refugees, Double Consciousness serves as a visual collection of emotions and narratives of someone who is heavily Americanized while retaining a rich culture that was heavily impacted by Western oppression.
I am honored to have asked to participate on the music panel for Santa Cruz Speaks 2017, part of the annual Santa Cruz Music Festival. Here are a few notes from my panel topic.
Grants - a.k.a. - free money. A lot of musicians think "arts" grants are limited to the fine arts like painting, sculpture, etc. but there is a significant amount of grant money available to all artists, including musicians. If you have the motivation to apply, locally, check out the Arts Council Santa Cruz County, specifically their site for Grant Seekers. Musicians should check out the Develop Grants – for individual artists and arts organizations seeking support for their professional and business development activities. Spring applications are being accepted now through March 15. Example proposals: A pianist taking a technique class to help recover her playing ability after an injury, A visual artist creating a website to promote his work, An installation artist creating a Kickstarter video to fund their next project. Locally, also check out the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.
Nationally there are also grants that revolve around music. Check out the California Arts Counsel Artist Calls. Music focused grant sites include:
New Music USA provides over $1 million each year in grant support for the creation and performance of new work and community building throughout the country. Lists current funding, as well as past awardees. Includes knowledge base.
Musical Online | Funding Resources features a compilation of funding resources including foundations and associations, grants, scholarships, and organizations.
Community - There is a lot of art in Santa Cruz and a good deal of infrastructure built in to support it, but somehow musicians don't always "join" and can miss out on natural opportunities that arise from being part of a group of like minded individuals. Some examples include:
Arts Council Associates - Arts Council Associates are a group of local artists and representatives of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations interested in mutual support, collaboration, and the promotion of arts events and programs. We meet every other month to chat, network, and catch-up, but also to share our challenges and triumphs, and figure out where partnerships can strengthen our community. They also co-produce the Gail Rich Awards (Feb. 22 this year), which celebrates local creatives and philanthropists who enrich our artistic community. Due are only $35 year.
Event Santa Cruz - Event Santa Cruz is a monthly happening that showcases thriving local businesses, and the people behind them. Our events provide valuable (and fun!) networking opportunities, delicious bites and drinks from local vendors, and live shows by talented local musicians. If you’re interested in volunteering or speaking at our next event, or if you’d like to showcase your artistic or culinary talents for the Santa Cruz community, please contact Matthew Swinnerton at Matthew@EventSantaCruz.com.
Balanced Breakfast San Jose - Balanced Breakfast is a music industry meet up, the local chapter to Santa Cruz is San Jose (currently over 900 members) - a group of Bay Area music industry professionals that meet every week to create community in our the music industry. Our topics change, but often relate to actions we can employ that will help the scene become a place where musicians & industry professionals can make money doing what they love. (Music).
People will to help you: We have many talented local music writers willing to help the community. One is Cat Johnson, a freelance writer focused on community, the commons, and music. She’s a regular contributor to Shareable and Good Times and has been writing about music since 2010. She helps coworking spaces and collaborative organizations tell their stories, amplify their message and grow their communities. See more on her coworking blog. Follow Cat on Twitter: @CatJohnson
Other cool ways to make money and get the word out locally include:
SoundSwell - a streaming database of Santa Cruz local music that library cardholders can download for free. It was created through a partnership between the Santa Cruz Public Libraries and the Santa Cruz Rehearsal Studios and is growing to become a comprehensive discovery tool for finding local music as well as a robust historical archive of the local music scene in Santa Cruz County. Under the licensing agreement, the library will pay you for a 2 year non-exclusive license as follows: $100 for a full length LP consisting of 9 or more songs, $75 for an EP consisting of 6-8 songs, and $50 for an EP consisting of 4-5 songs. During the term of the license, only those users with a valid library card will be able to download licensed songs. If you meet the criteria and wish to submit your work, please review, fill out, and sign a license agreement form. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to meet in person to go over any aspect of the agreement prior to signing please email Project Manager Diane Cowen at VirtualServices@santacruzpl.org or call Library Administration at 831-427-7706.
Local Open Mics
Rosie McCann's Open Mic Night Tuesdays in the Fireside lounge. Sign-ups 7:00, show begins at 8:00. Each person that buys a drink receives a ticket to vote for their favorite performer; the person with the most votes at the end of the night will win a prize! Contact rosieopenmicsc@yahoo.com
Ready for your open mic tour - check out Open Mic Bay Area for venues any day of the week.
Have more to add? Contact Jenn at jenn@santacruzrehearsalstudios.com
First Friday, September 2
In 1991 the world of metal was turned upside down with the release of Brockum's RockCards. 288 different cards were assembled featuring dozens of rock, hair and metal bands including Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Whitesnake, Megadeath - and a legion of classic bands. This First Friday we’ll feature some of our favorite RockCards from the early nineties, plus some surprise Super Country Music Trading cards and classic Rap Pack Trading cards.
First Friday Artist Reception: Friday, June 3 – 6-8 p.m.
Brandon Oleskey started photographing concerts in San Diego, California in 2014. Since then, Brandon has criss crossed the state, shooting as many shows as possible. Currently based in Santa Cruz, his concert photography is more than just than straight documentation. Brandon experiments with panning, blur, size, color, and black and white in an attempt to capture an image that truly expresses the energy of the concert experience through a still image. The bands he photographs range from well known acts, like Cake and Mac Demarco, to Santa Cruz favorites such as Drain and Watergate Sandals.
First Friday, May 6
Artist Reception: 6-8 p.m.
“Wheels of Life” includes the work of two artists: June Glenn and Brescia Rose. They will be showcasing contemporary street photography centered on the current cultures of skateboarding and vintage cars in Santa Cruz County.
Nature seems cruel. A hunter has nothing but its teeth and claws to survive. There is nothing to protect the prey but it's ability to hide. The artist's goal with this show is to explore the darker side of the circle of life in this dog-eat-dog world.
Artist reception will include sale of originals, metal prints, buttons, stickers, tiny canvas board paintings, and free high fives.https://www.instagram.com/blindperson/ or blindpersonart.etsy.com
Monica Calsbeek and Summer Stiegman both grew up in San Diego, California without acquaintance. Serendipitously, they both attended the university in Santa Cruz in the fall of 2012. Since then, they developed an artistic, feminine, and personal relationship in which they influence one another both materially and ideally. Enmesh is a photographic series where the human form and inanimate materials create a dialogue. The subject matter of the photographs are female bodies interacting with textiles. Ranging from natural landscapes to studio lighting, Enmesh explores photographic techniques by means of experimental digital alterations. The layering process suggests that relationships with the self and objects are bound to be multifaceted and tangled.
Attention bands:
If you are not already tuned one of the best local music show in Santa Cruz, check out Local Brew on KZSC (88.1 FM) on Saturdays from 9 a.m. - Noon. If you have new music or upcoming shows to share, contact the show via their Facebook page or by emailing localbrew@kzsc.org.
In the meantime, tune in this Saturday and spread the local music gospel.
Emerson Murray: Shadows on the Wall
Artist Statement: Painting is an emotional endeavor for me. Each piece is a distillation of a story, a theme, or a myth, boiled down to an emotional experience. Whether or not the viewer understands my meaning is irrelevant, as long as the viewer feels something, anything. I paint figures, abstracted into form and color set in abstract landscapes. The figures do not occupy the space volumetrically and light and shadow are generally not part of my tool set. I work in both acrylic and oil paint, the oil paint I mix from raw pigment in order to create my own colors. I generally work with a palette knife and my hands. I oftentimes throw and drip paint onto the canvas. The colors are selected on demand, I do not work from a predetermined palette of colors, but mix the colors as I paint, sometimes mixing colors right on the canvas. I am a disciplined painter and show up for work every day. I may stare at a work in progress for nights on end, but I am in the studio working.
Music videos are expensive and it takes a special set of skills to make them. Our town has epic local bands and film makers, but weirdly not a lot of local collaboration between the two of them - until now.
Gadgetbox just launched applications for their new One Night Stand live music series. Each month a local band and filmmaker will collaborate under our roof to produce a music video in 24 hours.
Applications for bands and filmmakers open now.
I am honored to have asked to participate on the music panel for Santa Cruz Speaks 2015, part of the 3rd annual Santa Cruz Music Festival. I'll be talking about some untapped resources for musicians based on this top 5 list.
Grants - a.k.a. - free money. A lot of musicians think "arts" grants are limited to the fine arts like painting, sculpture, etc. but there is a significant amount of grant money available to all artists, including musicians. If you have the motivation to apply, locally, check out the Arts Council Santa Cruz County, specifically their site for Grant Seekers. Musicians should check out the Develop Grants – for individual artists and arts organizations seeking support for their professional and business development activities. Guidelines here. Applications are accepted in Fall and Spring. The program is open to all Santa Cruz County artists. Example proposals: A pianist taking a technique class to help recover her playing ability after an injury, A visual artist creating a website to promote his work, An installation artist creating a Kickstarter video to fund their next project. Locally, also check out the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.
Nationally there are also grants that revolve around music. Check out the California Arts Counsel Artist Calls. Music focused grant sites include:
New Music USA provides over $1 million each year in grant support for the creation and performance of new work and community building throughout the country. Lists current funding, as well as past awardees. Includes knowledge base.
Musical Online | Funding Resources features a compilation of funding resources including foundations and associations, grants, scholarships, and organizations.
Community - There is a lot of art in Santa Cruz and a good deal of infrastructure built in to support it, but somehow musicians don't always "join" and can miss out on natural opportunities that arise from being part of a group of like minded individuals. Some examples include:
Arts Council Associates - Arts Council Associates are a group of local artists and representatives of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations interested in mutual support, collaboration, and the promotion of arts events and programs. We meet every other month to chat, network, and catch-up, but also to share our challenges and triumphs, and figure out where partnerships can strengthen our community.They also co-produce the Gail Rich Awards each January, which celebrates local creatives and philanthropists who enrich our artistic community. Due are only $35 year.
Event Santa Cruz - Event Santa Cruz is a monthly happening that showcases thriving local businesses, and the people behind them. Our events provide valuable (and fun!) networking opportunities, delicious bites and drinks from local vendors, and live shows by talented local musicians. If you’re interested in volunteering or speaking at our next event, or if you’d like to showcase your artistic or culinary talents for the Santa Cruz community, please contact Matthew Swinnerton at Matthew@EventSantaCruz.com. We’d love to have you at our next event!
Balanced Breakfast San Jose - Balanced Breakfast is a music industry meet up, the local chapter to Santa Cruz is San Jose (currently over 900 members) - a group of Bay Area music industry professionals that meet every week to create community in our the music industry. Our topics change, but often relate to actions we can employ that will help the scene become a place where musicians & industry professionals can make money doing what they love. (Music). Next mtg. Sat. Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. - Noon - Rockbar.
People will to help you: We have many talented local music writers willing to help the community. One is Cat Johnson who recently did a free workshop at SCRS on how to to write a band bio. Notes on that workshop will be up soon. Cat Johnson is a freelance writer focused on community, the commons, and music. She’s a regular contributor to Shareable and Good Times and has been writing about music since 2010. Publications include Yes! Magazine, Launchable Mag, Utne Reader, LifeHacker, Mother Jones, Mother Earth News, and Triple Pundit. She writes about freelance writing and blogging at The Freelance Cat. Follow her on Twitter: @CatJohnson
She is also building a Get Press For Your Band mini course, sign up here and she will be in touch.
Other cool ways to make money and get the word out locally include:
The Downtown Busker Fest - an ongoing series, on the 1st Saturday of each month in outdoor locations in Downtown Santa Cruz. The Downtown Association will promote the events and the individual performers, will provide access to posters and flyers for performers, and will arrange with the City of Santa Cruz for permits. Performers will receive a small stipend for their participation. Performers can accept gratuities during their performance time.
SoundSwell - a streaming database of Santa Cruz local music that library cardholders can download for free. It was created through a partnership between the Santa Cruz Public Libraries and the Santa Cruz Rehearsal Studios and is growing to become a comprehensive discovery tool for finding local music as well as a robust historical archive of the local music scene in Santa Cruz County. Under the licensing agreement, the library will pay you for a 2 year non-exclusive license as follows: $100 for a full length LP consisting of 9 or more songs, $75 for an EP consisting of 6-8 songs, and $50 for an EP consisting of 4-5 songs. During the term of the license, only those users with a valid library card will be able to download licensed songs. If you meet the criteria and wish to submit your work, please review, fill out, and sign a license agreement form. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to meet in person to go over any aspect of the agreement prior to signing please email Project Manager Diane Cowen at VirtualServices@santacruzpl.org or call Library Administration at 831-427-7706.
Monday, July 27 from 7-9 p.m. Santa Cruz Rehearsal Studios (RS. 3) 118 Coral Street Free
Nothing helps sell out a show like a good write up. Come down and find out what a working music writer needs to write about your band. Presentation followed by Q&A and working session. Bring your current bio, laptop, notebook, or just a blank sheet of paper to finally start your band's official bio.
About Cat Johnson: Cat Johnson is a freelance writer focused on music, community, and the commons. Publications include Utne Reader, GOOD, Yes! Magazine, Shareable, No Depression and Lifehacker. She blogs about freelancing, coworking, and thriving in the new economy at TheFreelanceCat.com.
Locally, Cat is a music writer for Good Times Santa Cruz, a long-timer at Streetlight Records, and the mastermind behind the Santa Cruz Freelancers, an open community working toward creating a thriving, supportive network of freelancers in Santa Cruz. https://santacruzfreelancers.wordpress.com/
Artist Reception: Friday, June 5 - 6-8 p.m.
Bio: Maddie Amelia Lewis is a 2D artist with a fondness for acrylic paint and ink. She is a recent graduate from UC Santa Cruz. She is fascinated by fantasy, the arts, and textures.
Paintings will be on sale from $20-$85, and lithographic prints will be selling from $5-$15. See artist website for preliminary prices: www.noxkitarts.com
Artist Statement:
I like making huge gestural brush strokes, circular voids reminiscent of black holes, drips, and fine lines. I paint abstracted landscapes and attempt to embody concepts like death, anxiety, love, daydreams, and imaginary places. I will go through great lengths to actualize an idea. I try to draw from the beauty and emotion in my life for my art so I can’t forget it. Each of my pieces is a space I create to reflect, and after I take my time with each one, I let it go.As an acrylic painter, I am a texture junkie. I love acrylic mediums—glass beads, resin sand, modeling paste, black lava—I’ve tried them all and I make full use of them. My paintings ensure dynamic and varied surfaces. I tend to work very quickly and use a lot of aggressive mark-making techniques. The larger the canvas, the more energetic I become while I paint it. For small works, I can be more delicate, but the restlessness remains. They say that drawing from live models gives the drawing itself more life, so I try to instill the energy, emotion, and intensity into my paintings by embodying those feelings as I paint.In the end, it all comes down to an obsession. I paint because I can never get paintings out of my head. A painting will tell me what it needs to be real, and I oblige it the best I can. It’s a piece of the world inside of me—it has always been, and will never cease to be.
The HOMEGROWN benefit brings together two stellar local bands to help raise awareness of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries Soundswell Local Music Collection. The SoundSwell project is one of kind in California, allowing library patrons to download and stream free local music with their library cards. This win/win project not only introduces Santa Cruz residents to their new favorite song, it also fairly compensates bands for their music and talent, and serves as a historical local music archive. A model for libraries across the country, our local library once again helps put Santa Cruz on the map as a forward thinking arts destination. Special Guest Emcee Kim Luke will be handing out great local raffle prizes too!
All proceeds from this event benefit the Santa Cruz Public Libraries SoundSwell Local Music Collection, a growing contemporary and historical local music archive that library cardholders can download for free. Tickets available at BrownPaperTickets.com.
The Arts Council Santa Cruz County has partnered with Hotel Paradox to offer an Artful Overnight preferred rate to the full arts community. Help promote Santa Cruz County as the arts destination we know it to be! Pass this info to your artsy friends and out-of-towners.
Make reservations in two ways to get the ARTS group rate: 1. By calling 831.425.7100 and asking for the “Arts Council Santa Cruz County” rate -or- 2. Go to www.thehotelparadox.com and enter dates of stay.Click “Book.”
The rate is given on a first-come, first-served basis with a limited number or rooms available at this rate at any given time.
Janina A. Larenas: Graphic Works on Paper A collection of design projects ranging from posters to hand printed sticker images to original book illustrations.
Artist Bio: Janina A. Larenas studied printmaking and book arts at the University of California Santa Cruz. Besides design her skills include relief, intaglio and letterpress printing, as well as painting, embroidery, bookmaking and food preserving. Her designs are most recognizable as hand printed printed stickers and as t-shirts for The Devil Makes Three.
The show is available to view during normal studio hours. Check schedule here. If a band is booked, then the studio is open.
If you live in Santa Cruz, I'm sure you know any number of truly amazing artists. I think you should meet another one. It's time you met Sugar Percussion. Tonight their custom five piece Honduran Mahogany drum set built in Santa Cruz made its way onto the stage at the Oscars thanks to Maroon 5 drummer Matt Flynn. The Oscars is a big stage and slowly but surely, Sugar Percussion is doing big things.
Founded in 2011, Sugar Percussion specializes in custom stave-built, solid wood drums. Rooted in nearly 20 years of custom woodworking, Sugar Percussion drums are conceived and built like fine furniture, carefully and precisely designed, dedicated and deliberate in their construction and custom to the nuanced particulars of every client. There is no ‘stock’ model. Every drum is built from and specifically to the deliberations and conversations between player and builder.
Before Maroon 5, Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, was one of Sugar Percussion’s first clients. Introduced to the company through one of their snares, Gorman immediately ordered the rest of his full kit, all built from a single plank of Eastern Black Cherry. Quoting his immediate response to the delivered kit… “Exactly how drums are supposed to sound, exactly how they’re supposed to feel.” Gorman used the kit throughout the final Black Crowes tour, and subsequently ordered a second kit made from Alaskan Yellow Cedar for his latest project, Trigger Hippy.
On the recording side of the glass, producer Eric Valentine was also introduced to the company through a single snare. A full kit and 3 snares later, Valentine continues to be a treasured ‘family’ member, as well as a tremendous resource. It was through 3 weeks of correspondence between Jefferson and Eric that the Eric Valentine Signature Recording Kit was born. Aiming to design a better kit made specifically for recording, the two employed shallow depths, thicker shells, blunter bearing edges and a dimension schedule based on prime numbers to inhibit sympathetic resonance between drums. All of this and more rendered a controlled and balanced sound ideally honed for studio use, scratching every itch of a meticulous, perfectionist producer, as demonstrated in a video produced by Jefferson and Eric using only a single microphone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FzziEGoUfQ
Sugar Percussion continues to build recording, live and hybrid kits and snares for a wide range of clients including Gadgetbox Studios (Santa Cruz), Blackbird Studios (Nashville), The Blasting Room (Ft. Collins), SIR (New York City), as well as backlines regularly for bands in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City.
Contact them at: js@sugarpercussion.com or http://sugarpercussion.com/
Every year the Santa Cruz Arts Council Associates puts on the Gail Rich Awards at the Rio Theatre. You've probably never been, but I think yo u should go. Here are my top 10 reasons to go to your first Gail Rich Awards next Wednesday, Jan. 28.
I really hope I see you there.
19th Annual Gail Rich Awards January 28th, 2015 at 7:30pm Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave. in Santa Cruz FREE and open to the public
2015 honorees:
This week I am taking part in the #YourTurnChallenge, a 7-day blogging challenge inspired by the Your Turn book by Seth Godin. Since being introduced to his daily blog years ago, I am constantly inspired by his views on work, art and how to treat people. A lot of what he writes about is along the lines of, "go, make something happen."
It was in this spirit that we approached starting the rehearsal studios in the first place, and most recently propelled our involvement with the SoundSwell project. Back in August of 2012 I read an article on Hypebot about the Iowa City Public Library and how they were offering free downloads of local musicians for those with a library card. I couldn't help but think that if they were doing it in Iowa, we could do it here in Santa Cruz. I tweeted as much to the Santa Cruz Public Library and the next day got an email from the virtual services coordinator.
She was aware of the ICPL work and was also about to attend a leadership retreat the next month which included the development of a year long project for which she would get help applying for grant funding. We got to emailing, she got to talking around her office and before you know it, we started to make something happen. Serendipity? It was through this one interaction that we opened the door to being involved with this amazing project from the ground up.
To date the Santa Cruz Public Library has paid local musicians over $5000 to license music for library patrons to download free of charge. This year they have another $4000 waiting to distribute to new local bands what would like to join.
This project is a win / win. Local musicians get real money in the bank ($100 for full length LP, $75 for EP). To earn that much from iTunes band would typically need to over 100 downloads. With SoundSwell, bands not only make the money up front, but only local library patrons can download the music, so bands are not only earning money, but also making new local fans. Our community also gets access to a library of free local music.
All it took was one tweet to make to make the connection to start this project. I encourage you to send one email, or tweet, dedicate a FB post or an Instagram hashtag to foster more SoundSwell connections.
If you know a local musician, tell them about the opportunity. If you have library card, download some new music. #keepsantacruzweird #liveformusic
2015 marks the five year anniversary of Santa Cruz Rehearsal Studios. We've been high, we've been low, but we're still here paying the rent every month thanks to our community of local musicians. Thank you.
Some days it is all we can do as a small business to just keep the doors open with all equipment running, other days (like today), we've got energy to spare and start thinking about all the OTHER projects we'd like to do in and around our space in the world.
The short list includes:
I am writing this blog as part of the #YourTurnChallenge, the goal is to blog for seven days straight. I realized I had not taken the time to blog since September, 2014 so I wanted to get the ideas flowing again and you know what, it's Day 1 and I feel like it's working.
If any of this inspires you in some way, please reach out, let's make something happen in Santa Cruz or beyond. You can email direct at jenn@santacruzrehearsaltudios.com or connect w/ us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
