A Look in the Mirror: Black Nerd Mafia Talks Identity and Black Opportunity in the Columbia Music Scene

Black Nerd Mafia was born out of frustration– frustration with stereotypes and people’s ignorance about Black people. Choosing to not be named or be the focus of this article, the creator and founder desired to showcase the diversity within the Black community and provide a place for those who don’t fit in society’s boxes– a safe and inviting space for independent Black artists and fans. Originally started as a Facebook group in 2014 for Black people tired of being typecast, Black Nerd Mafia has grown into so much more.

 

JASPER: Best dad joke you've heard? 

BNM: A dyslexic man walks into a bra. 

 

JASPER: So, the Facebook group was the original manifestation of it, but how did Black Nerd Mafia come to be what it is today? 

BNM: I always pushed entrepreneurship on my sons and then one day in 2021 I’m talking to my son and I’m pressing upon him to be an entrepreneur and he very frankly just asked me, “Well, you always tell us to own our own business, why don't you own your own?” He said it just like that, and I said, son, you're right. The next day we went and did the LLC paperwork and that's how Black Nerd Mafia came to be. 

 

JASPER: You do lots of things today: you have merch, you organize shows, poetry readings, and trivia just to name a few. Where did you start?  

BNM: The first year it was completely different than what it looks like now. We were doing website building for people, we were doing interviews, we were doing photography, videography – doing just a lot of things that I knew how to do and pretty much anything that I knew how to do to try to make it a business.  

It really didn't start becoming what you see it as now until about a year ago. In 2021 we had our first shows in November after I met Greg at Curiosity… I went to Greg with the idea that I wanted to host shows for independent local artists. He loved the idea, and he pretty much just gave me like carte blanche to do whatever I wanted to do. 

 

JASPER: Tell us a little more about the logo you sent in place of a photo.  

BNM: The little person isn't like a little mascot… it isn't just something that looks cool—it's all intentional. The very first thing you see he's holding like a big water gun. The water gun is a Super Soaker and Super Soaker was invented by a Black person, a Black scientist; his name is Lonnie Johnson. A lot of times people associate Black people with violence and guns and everything. I wanted to take a spin on that and have a gun but a gun that was created to be this amazing child’s toy that was created by a Black person, so that's where the little gun thing comes in. He also has a mirror face… basically that says there's no face to Black Nerd Mafia. He has a mask on so you can't see his face, but also, it’s a reflective mask so if you did look at the character, all you would see is yourself in the reflection. This is to say that Black Nerd Mafia is all of us.

 

JASPER: Tell us about some of the shows and events you have put on. Any that were particularly special to you?  

BNM: It's going to be hard to say, and this is gonna sound like cliché, but all the shows that we've had are dope. I will say that that's the one thing that I do well. I can curate shows well, and I know how to match artists together well, so I quite frankly think that all of our shows have been really dope– really talented people.  

I don't want to like single any of the guys out either, but I would say our first show. It was Eezy Olah and Tam The Viibe. MidiMarc and Airborne Audio did beat sets. It was our first show, so it was really dope and that's always gonna be special to me.

 

JASPER: What do you look for when putting together a lineup for a show, what is your process?  

BNM: I don't pick artists because they have a name. I don't pick artists because they have a lot of followers. I pick artists because I watch, I listen to their music, and I watch their Instagram profiles, and I see their energy, you know, and I go off that. I look for just dopeness first, like I'll come first and foremost… That’s the first thing I look for– the talent. Once I find that and it's easier than you would think, there's a lot of very talented people here in Columbia and the surrounding areas.  

I also listen to the subject matter of the music. I don't want to censor people, but I also just don't 

want to promote music that has just arbitrary violence, just random doesn't make any sense violence. If you can make it artistic, if you can make it great art about your life and why it’s so hard and why you had to do these things, I’ll listen to it and I'll put you on stage.

 

JASPER: What are you looking forward to? What does success look like for Black Nerd Mafia? 

BNM: I'm looking forward to people becoming more aware of the artists that perform at our shows… and Black artist getting to perform comfortably at any venue in Columbia just like anybody else. I want to be a non-biased, platform where the only thing that matters is if you're dope, no politics, nothing. 

  

JASPER: What advice do you have for other artists? 

BNM: Make the music that you love, make the music that you like. Don't try to copy what's cool on the radio. Don't try to sound like Drake. Don't try to sound like anybody else. Make the music that you like and talk about the things that are in your life. You don't have to live some kind of fake lifestyle in your music. Write the music that you know and write about the things that you are passionate about. Just don't give up. I come from a different generation, and it was like if you turned 30 and you were still rapping at 30 years old, you were a loser. I let that type of thing stop me from making music and I want to say if you really really love it and it's really really in you, you gotta dedicate yourself to it and not listen to anybody else. 

The biggest thing I tell all the artists—you need to have some type of merch. Get T-shirts, get stickers and get something that you can sell to finance the things that you're going to need as a musician. You can pay for your studio time, for photo shoots, for anything else you need to pay for by selling merch, and that's something that you can make yourself for very cheap.

Ultimately, it's not the artist fault, it's the venues and the publications. They just keep regurgitating the same people because they don't want to do the work to go find the real dope artists around here, and that is what I do. So hopefully if people come out on November 4th, they can see that.

 

JASPER: What are your thoughts on Columbia's Art Scene?  

BNM: I just gotta be honest about this. I wasn't going to do this, but I gotta be honest– not a fan of Columbia's scene. The music scene here, the art scene, it can be very discouraging and anti-Black.

That’s kind of why I like doing what I do, and that's why I'm doing what I do. I've lived in Columbia ever since I was a kid, and It's always been the same thing. A lot of these venues, downtown Vista, Five Points—quite frankly—don't want Black people in their venues. They don't want Black people in their establishments, so they make rules and do their best to try to keep Black people out of these spaces. If you talk to a lot of Black artists around here, they're like it's very hard to get to play downtown or all these other places, because essentially the owners don't want a house full of Black people, and that's really sad.  

I'm sure some people say “no, that's not true, because I saw this and that person.” There are a few that they let through, and it seems to me—not just me; I talk to a lot of other Black artists—that they only pick Black artists that have a primarily white fanbase… Another reason I know venues treat people bad is because after shows, Black people come to me all the time like, “Man, I love Curiosity, I love it here. Everybody was so respectful to us and was so nice to us. Everybody treated us like people.” That very simple thing—“they treated us like people.” That’s why I’ll always love, Greg and Sandra. 'Cause you can tell that it's a culture that they bring top down, that everybody that works there is always nothing but nice, nothing but respectful to any and everybody. No matter if you're gay, Black, white, male, or female like, everybody is treated fair and equally there. ­ 

[Black Nerd Mafia] are creating an environment to where Black indie artists, get to perform “downtown,” and I think that we've been successful at proving their fears wrong– that Black people are going to be there and there is going to be some kind of violence and fighting or something stupid. We've been doing shows for a year…with zero violence, zero fights, zero calling the cops, zero tempers flared. There's not been one person to even get angry at one of our shows. No pushing, no yelling, no throwing a drink or whatever, nothing negative whatsoever has happened at any of these shows, and the majority are black, and the crowds are all majority black, and so I think that if people can see what we do at Curiosity and what Black Nerd Mafia does maybe it'll let these other venue owners know that, hey, we should be more tolerant and we should be more open to black artists.  

Ultimately, it's not the artist fault, it's the venues and the publications. They just keep regurgitating the same people because they don't want to do the work to go find the real dope artists around here, and that is what I do. So hopefully if people come out on November 4th, they can see that. Right here in Columbia, there's dozens of super talented amazing artists that make positive music that's not about killing people or selling drugs or things like that. You can come to our shows and feel safe. You can bring your wife and you can bring your kids. They are people that bring their whole families to our shows, and I take pride in it. 

 

JASPER: Tell us about the anniversary party. What can we expect?  

BNM: If you've ever seen Dave Chappelle's Block Party, it will be a block party, like a big jam session where we have a bunch of artists that are really good performers lined up and on deck, ready to go. A freestyle type of vibe, but controlled… I like things that just feel organic. They don't just feel like this person is gonna perform and then this person. Let’s do something different here, use some creativity and give the crowd something they haven't seen before.  

I don't wanna talk about some of the artists because I'm just gonna like leave people out, but Midi Marc is a producer from Columbia and he's just amazing and he really is the key to all of this. I've known Midi for a long, over 10 years. The majority of people that you see on this list make all of their own music at home and in a home studio with very cheap equipment, but they’ve mastered it, and they know how to make the music sound good. I feel confident saying that you could pick anybody off this list, and they're dope in their own right. They're all very different, but they're all dope, and that's really all that matters. 

Come to Black Nerd Mafia’s one year anniversary show at Curiosity Coffee Bar Friday November 4th from 5-10pm featuring everyone that has performed for them this past year. Attend the show for free by donating one item from the Oliver Gospel Mission list of winter needs.

 

 

 

 

A message from Cindi

Look at these amazing Jasper supporters! Every year for Mardi Gras the Krewe de Jasper Arts gathers to celebrate the arts. Like most of our Jasper projects, it costs very little — mostly just time and energy — but it delivers an incredible sense of purpose, community, and joy. Please plan to march with us in 2023.

Hi Friends!

I’m coming to you once again to ask for your help in bringing to fruition a project that I’ve devoted almost twelve years to–the publication of Jasper Magazine.

As you probably know, Jasper is a grass roots non-profit with no paid employees—including me! Every penny that comes into the Jasper Project goes back out to artists either in the form of promotion, sharing their work via events, or actually as remittance for their work. Other than insurance and a few cyber fees, we have no overhead that would suck up any money you might give. No office, no desks, no benefits.

But we do have an amazing working board of directors and helpers and a volunteer staff, made up of your friends and colleagues, all of whom have invested their energy and talent into the Jasper mission.

Mission Statement

The Jasper Project is a project-oriented, multidisciplinary arts facilitator serving the greater Columbia and South Carolina communities by providing collaborative arts engineering and community-wide arts communication.

~~~

The Jasper Project Priorities

The Jasper Project is committed to four integrated priorities:

  • Process – illuminating the unique processes endemic to all art forms in order to provide a greater level of understanding and respect for that discipline.

  • Community/Collaboration – nurturing community both within and between arts disciplines.

  • Narrative – creating a more positive and progressive understanding of SC culture.

  • Economy – being efficient stewards of arts funding committed to creating more with less.

But to be honest, because we’re small and facing greater and greater costs of publishing Jasper, we’re finding it harder and harder to keep Jasper free. Call us naïve, but we really hope we can continue to put Jasper into the hands of everyone, no matter what their ability to pay, for as long as we can.

So, I’m coming to you once again, our readers, supporters, colleagues, and friends, to ask for your help in continuing the work of the Jasper Project and publishing Jasper Magazine. The fall 2022 magazine is written and ready to go to the printer. We have stories about the Midlands beloved Jazz scene, artists Jim Arendt, Wilma King, Elizabeth Catlett, Jamie Blackburn, stories about three local films—two of which made it to the Tribeca film festival this year, poetry, book reviews, album reviews, and so much more!

Publishing this issue of Jasper will cost well over $10K. Please donate whatever you can at our website , on Facebook, or by joining the Jasper Guild.

I can’t thank you enough for your generous support over the past 11+ years. It’s because of donors and helpers and good-hearted people who believe in arts at the grass-roots level that the Jasper Project has grown to be the force that it is, impacting thousands of Midlands artists and arts lovers each year with our events, publications, and more than 20 active projects.

Thank you. And remember there is always a place for you at Jasper.

Take care,

Cindi

This is me at the launch of Jasper Magazine in 2011. I’m holding the first ever Jasper featuring one of my favorite artists, David Yaghjian, on the cover. Next month, Jasper will install David’s art in one of our captured galleries at MTC’s Harbison Theatre lobby. We’ve grown a lot in the 11 years since we started, but we’re still here for the arts and the artists we value so highly. Thank you for your continued support of the Jasper Project and Jasper Magazine.

Photog Caleb Brown of Saucewithspoons Photo-Documents Jasper's 1st House Show - October 2022

Last Saturday, Jasper board member and local arts leader Bekah Rice hosted a house show at the One Columbia co-op as a fundraiser for the upcoming issue of Jasper Magazine. Featured bands included Death Ray Robin, Opus and the Frequencies, and Joseph Hunter Duncan, all of whom blew the crowd away. And by the way, let’s send out one more happy birthday to Joseph Hunter Duncan and thank him for spending his special day on our stage.

Featured artists included Gina Langston Brewer, David Dohan, Adam Corbett, Emily Moffitt, and Olivia Pope, who showed their work pop-up style inside the house at 1013 Duke Avenue, the old Indie Grits homeplace. This is the same place where Al Black hosts his monthly Front Porch Swing Sunday afternoon concert series as well as his once-a-month Jasper’s Tuesday night Poetry Salon.

By the way, Gina Langston Brewer is Jasper’s featured artist-in-residence at the Jasper First Thursday Gallery at Sound Bites in November — and David will be in residence in January 2023.

The bands were sponsored by board members Libby Campbell and Paul Leo with Eric Tucker, the wine and popcorn by Coal Powered Filmworks, and the beer by Muddy Ford Press. We also had a boat load of new helpers, most of whom were friends and family of Bekah. We can’t thank all of these sponsors and volunteers enough. You all rock!

But we were also lucky enough to be visited by local photographer Caleb Brown of Saucewithspoons who grabbed some pretty fabulous shots of the night. Caleb shared some of these shots with us; now we happily share them with you.

Libby Bernardin Book Launch at Stormwater

LIBBY BERNARDIN’S NEW BOOK LAUNCH

HOUSE IN NEED OF MOORING

 

Thursday, November 10; 5:30 – 7:00pm

 

Fellow poet, Jim Peterson, has written about Libby’s new book:

“These poems by Libby Bernardin are keenly sensitive to nature.  They also embody the losses, fears, sorrows, loves and simple pleasures of life lived deeply—a quiet mind seeing, and yes, reflecting, but never looking away from what has gone so wrong and so right in these times.  Bernardin’s poems reveal without explaining.  They conjure her beloved South Carolina—lowcountry wetlands, city streets and suburbs, mountains, the people and their endeavors—and yet at the same time embrace the unknowable.”

 

Poetry reading and book signing for her new book, House in need of Mooring:

Libby’s reading will start shortly after 5:30; other invited poets will also present readings.

Book signing: 6:30- 7:00pm.

 

About the Author:

South Carolina poet Libby Bernardin is the author of Stones Ripe for Sowing (Press 53, 2018) and two chapbooks, The Book of Myth (SC Poetry Initiative, 2009) and Layers of Song (Finishing Line Press, 2011). Journal publications include The Asheville Poetry Review, Southern Poetry Review, Kakalak. She has won poetry awards from the Poetry Society of South Carolina and the North Carolina Poetry Society, and has served as co-director of the highly respected Litchfield Tea & Poetry Series until 2019. Her new book, House in Need of Mooring (Press 53, 2022), is yet another testament to the silver lining of the pandemic. A retired English teacher from the University of South Carolina, she leads poetry workshops for the Georgetown County Library. She is a lifetime member of the Board of Governors of the SC Academy of Authors.

The Sound of Silence: Mummenschanz at the Koger Center

Mummenschanz is something you need to see to believe.

 You might not recognize them by name, but if someone mentions to you, “that one skit from Sesame Street with the green clam thing” or “the group that was on the last episode of the first season of the Muppet Show” then you will remember who they are.

A silent theatre and performing arts troupe from Switzerland, Mummenschanz was created in 1972. Now, 50 years after its conception, the troupe is taking a celebration tour across the United States and Europe to perform a brand-new production, aptly titled “50 Years.” The group has been to Columbia before, so the Koger Center is ecstatic to host a homecoming of sorts for such a beloved group. “Mummenschanz came to Columbia in 1991 and 1993, and we’re really excited to bring them back,” Koger Center director Nate Terracio said. “It’s a sort of homecoming for us that we’re looking forward to, and it’s great that they’re coming back for such a landmark achievement.” The company is led by the remaining founder, Floriana Frassetto, amongst other Swiss talents. “50 Years” will start touring in New Jersey during mid-October and will conclude next June abroad in Germany. The New York Times has described the troupe as “witty madness...dazzling and delightful,” and it does not take too long to find out you agree with them.

 

Mummenschanz has cemented itself as one of the most avant-garde performing arts groups in history. Their unique stage direction and costumes bewilder audiences of all ages, often prompting the younger members to verbally respond to the performers, indicating all sorts of engagement and excitement. The silence of the performers beckons audience response as well, allowing the audience to fill in the gaps with their own sense of dialogue or story. The lack of dialogue does not mean that the performance lacks heart; it multiplies as the performance continues. The audience grows to feel attached to the Clay Faces, the Green Clam, and everything else in between. Mummenschanz gives a voice to the creative minds that may prefer to speak in silence.

Mummenschanz’s performance at the Koger Center for the Arts is on Friday, November 4, at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available for purchase in person at the Koger Center box office or online

Tiny Gallery Artists Debora Life Converges Love for Gardening and Pottery in Her Ceramic Creations

This month, we have been delighted to showcase Debora Martin Life’s ceramics during out October Tiny Gallery show. Learn more about her and her work below! 

Debora Life grew up in Adena, a small coal-mining town in Ohio. She recalls her father having his own trucks and employees—while her mother kept both the books and the home—and cites observing them as one of her early influences: “That may have been an early exposure to seeing how things worked and what it took to keep a business up and running.” 

Though her first real exposure to art, and pottery specifically, would come after a move to Marietta when she was 11. This larger school brought hands-on experience with pottery and various mediums. In terms of training, though, art is not what Life went to school for—on the contrary, she is a trained nurse. 

Her first love of creation was really with plants. Life remembers “early passions include[ing] seeing the country by way of motorcycle riding with our daughters in a sidecar, then progressing to backseat passengers as they grew. We made several cross-country trips, falling in love with the West.” 

After moving to Arizona, Life became a Master Gardner and then became involved with a Cactus Society that met monthly at the Botanical Garden in Phoenix. As she learned about the world and its nature, she came to a conclusion: “with plants you need pottery.” 

Life began taking ceramic classes with every instructor she could at Arizona’s community colleges, and even after she moved to Columbia a few years ago, she continued this new love, working with pottery regularly at the City of Columbia Art Studio, which she still frequents. 

“My work has evolved as I have improved with practice and having the time to explore new avenues. Working a few evenings at the City Studio every week, friendships have grown also,” she shares, adding that her love of gardening and pottery have begun to merge, “Using leaves and textures are often incorporated into my artwork. I also have chickens and vermiculture at my Rosewood home.”  

In this Tiny Gallery show, Life has presented a plethora of practical yet beautiful pieces. Butter dishes and serving trays are lined with bright hues of cerulean or carved with individual faces and cities. The occasional pendant, animal, and even creature makes an appearance too.  

This is only the most recent in South Carolina opportunities Life reflects on as poignant to her. She has attended various conferences, a pottery exhibit at the Chandler Center, and was a vendor at the Phoenix Botanical Garden during a Cactus Society Show and Sale. 

On creating ceramic work, she reflects as such: “While I think of myself as someone who can carry out a task in a prompt fashion, pottery has been the most humbling of crafts that I have taken up.” 

You can view Life’s work until October 31st at Jasper’s virtual gallery: https://the-jasper-project.square.site/tiny-gallery  

In the future, you can see Life’s work at the State Fair (10/12-23), Sesquicentennial State Park (11/6), Melrose Art Crawl (11/20), and Midlands Clay Art Society and Cottontown Art Crawl (11/23).

University of South Carolina and Local Cinema Studios is Seeking Feature & Pilot Scripts for Production

Do you have a feature or pilot script that you can’t wait to see come to life? Are you passionate about collaboration and mentorship? We have a million dollar (okay, realistically ~$100k opportunity) for you!

Local Cinema Studios, with support from the South Carolina Film Commission and the University of South Carolina, is producing their second project in South Carolina during Summer 2023.

They are searching for feature length and pilot scripts that can be shot in roughly six weeks, bringing on professional crews, student interns, mentors, and community members to come together on a professional production.

Entries are due Nov. 1, 2022. View the requirements and submit your script here.

This is an annual initiative that kicked off in 2021 when UofSC and their production team made a feature film called HERO. According to Local Cinema Studios, they see the low budget as an opportunity to problem solve and use passion and grit to get things done on set. They'll also have goals to raise more depending on the script.

Please reach out to Dustin at dwhitehead@localcinemastudios.com with any questions.

Announcing Fall Lines Volume IX Winners and Accepted Authors

The Jasper Project is delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 Fall Lines Awards and the accepted submissions to Fall Lines Volume IX.

The Broad River Prize for Prose goes to Tim Conroy for his short fiction, Nasty Bites and the Saluda River Prize for Poetry goes to Jo Angela Edwins for her poem, Stricken.

Fall Lines volume IX will be released on Sunday, February 5th, 2023, at the Main Branch of the Richland Library, 1431 Assembly Street in Columbia, SC. The event will begin at 3 pm and all contributors are invited to read one poem or approximately one page of their published prose. Contributors are welcome to two copies of the journal and additional copies may be purchased for $10 each. Proceeds from purchased journals will help defray the dramatically increased costs of publication. Watch this space for pre-order information.


Poetry and prose accepted for publication in this year’s Fall Lines journal include the following

Fruit – Gil Allen

The turning – Ken Autry

The last battle in Alabama – Ken Autry

Bachman's Warbler – Ken Autry

Bird – Libby Bernardin

with spoiled fruit – Evelyn Berry

Dear Raphael – Al Black

Porcelain doll – Al Black

If I were a man – Cindi Boiter

Prudent – Cindi Boiter

Seamstress – Carolina Bowden

Signs that say what you want them to say (not signs that say what someone else wants you to say) – Lucia Brown

Before we turn on the table saw – Lucia Brown

walking a half-marathon through your hometown – Lucia Brown

Members of the backyard church – Tim Conroy

Nasty Bites – Tim Conroy

How to cut up a chicken – Susan Craig

Touching Wyse's Ferry Bridge – Susan Craig

The Older Poet Yearns to Carpe the Diem – Debra Daniels

Dream Three – Heather Dearmon

Bring Me Something – Heather Dearmon

Across the River - Marlanda DeKine

talking to themselves -  Marlanda DeKine

For my cat, every Sunday afternoon – Graham Duncan

Ghosts in Poems – Jo Angela Edwins

Stricken – Jo Angela Edwins

Nana Lencha – Vera Gomez

You don't know what you don't know – Vera Gomez

Coattails – Kristine Hartvigsen

River – Kristine Hartvigsen

A Quiet Love – Jammie Huynh

A ghazal to my father – Jammie Huynh

Bad Idea Boyfriend, or White Jesus – Shannon Ivey

D. – Suzanne Kamata

Red Bird / Blue Bird – Bentz Kirby

Hunter's Chapel Road – Len Laurin

I love you 3000 – Len Lawson

Crown – Terri McCord

Space – Terri McCord

For a 20% Tip – Rosalie McCracken

"Yes, please" – Melanie McGhee

Cycles – Joseph Mills

Office hours – Joseph Mills

Those of us with bushy white beards – Joseph Mills

So long, Greenie – Eric Morris

Chopin all over her – Eric Morris

Old photos (for Ahmaud Arbery) – Yvette Murray

Thundering shadows – Frances Pearce

Gone to the birds – Glenis Redmond

"Praise how the ordinary turns sacred" – Glenis Redmond

Strangers in a Strange Field – Aida Rogers

Pre-Columbia Intersections – Lawrence Rhu

Meaningless – Michael Rubin

Small things I notice – Randy Spencer

Next Day Now - Randy Spencer

Above the poplars – Arthur Turfa

For the Love of Mz. Joe – Ceille Welch

Congratulations to

Tim Conroy and Jo Angela Edwins

and all the accepted poets and prose writers for

Fall Lines Volume IX!

 

PREVIEW: DEATH OF A SALESMAN AT WORKSHOP THEATRE BY JON TUTTLE

The grinding wheel of American capitalism has become a Catherine Wheel: if you’re not helping to turn it, you’ll get lashed to it. This is what Miller called, in his eponymous essay, the tragedy of the common man: “the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world. Among us today this fear is strong, and perhaps stronger, than it ever was.”

The watershed moment for American drama occurred at about 10:30pm on January 22, 1949, at the Locust Street Theatre in downtown Philadelphia. It consisted of a stunned silence.  

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman had been in rehearsals for several weeks but came to Philadelphia for a tryout before opening at the Morosco on Broadway. It would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best play, as well as a raft of other awards, and would be remounted on Broadway five times—including right now at the Hudson Theatre, with an all- African-American cast. There is no official count of such things, but it is surely one of the most-produced plays in history. At any rate, it ranks at or near the top of lists—such as a recent one by the Denver Post—of the most important American plays.  

But when the when the curtain came down on the first public performance of The Great American Play, there was no applause, no response at all. In his autobiography, Timebends, Miller recalls the strange moment: “Strange things began to go on in the audience. With the curtain down, some people stood to put their coats on and then sat down again; some, especially men, were bent forward, covering their faces, and others were openly weeping. People crossed the theatre to stand quietly, talking with one another. It seemed forever before someone remembered to applaud, and then there was no end to it. I was standing at the back and saw a distinguished-looking elderly man being led up the aisle; he was talking excitedly into the ear of what seemed to be his male secretary or assistant. This, I learned, was Bernard Gimbel, head of the department store chain, who that night gave an order that no one in his stores was to be fired for being overage.”

Salesman tells the story, of course, of Willy Loman, the disposable American Everyman who measures his worth only in dollars, and of his wife, Linda, whose every encouragement hastens his suicide. His sons, Biff and Hap, represent the competing halves of his personality and of the American psyche—one a rugged outdoorsman still invested in pre-Depression ideals of hard work and camaraderie, the other a wannabe cut-throat executive who equates price with value. Reunited for twenty-four hours, the Lomans can no longer live together under the same roof. By the end of the play, the family home—the artifact upon which the American mythos is based--is paid for—but empty.

We are living in the fallout from unchecked capitalism and patriarchy - burnout, classism, exploitation, income and wealth inequality, housing shortages, climate crises. We are poorer now than our parents were at our age, and without significant and sustained changes to our system, the future looks more uncertain than ever. Social media has turned many of us into salespeople, selling the version of our lives that we want others to see, angling for as many likes as we can get to increase our self-worth, believing as Willy does that it's important to be well-liked.” - Patrick Michael Kelly

“Attention, attention must be paid,” says Linda of her hapless husband, and by extension of every well-meaning, faceless citizen failing to fulfill their obligations to the economy, and that’s truer now than it was in 1949. The grinding wheel of American capitalism has become a Catherine Wheel: if you’re not helping to turn it, you’ll get lashed to it. This is what Miller called, in his eponymous essay, the tragedy of the common man: “the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world. Among us today this fear is strong, and perhaps stronger, than it ever was.” 

Patrick Michael Kelly, who is directing the Workshop Theatre production opening November 4, concurs. “Salesman speaks to many of the issues we grapple with today,” he says. “Miller sought to deflate the idea of the American Dream - that anyone could achieve anything with hard work and determination. My generation and younger generations believe less and less in that idea, and this play underscores our disillusionment. We are living in the fallout from unchecked capitalism and patriarchy - burnout, classism, exploitation, income and wealth inequality, housing shortages, climate crises. We are poorer now than our parents were at our age, and without significant and sustained changes to our system, the future looks more uncertain than ever. Social media has turned many of us into salespeople, selling the version of our lives that we want others to see, angling for as many likes as we can get to increase our self-worth, believing as Willy does that it's important to be well-liked.”  

Kelly’s production will emphasize, he says, the concept that originally informed the play—the stream of consciousness running through the mind of its protagonist. Miller composed the first act of the play in a single night in his backyard shed in Connecticut—emerging the next morning, he said, aching and exhausted. His working title was The Inside of His Head, and he imagined the setting of the play as an enormous face which would open, like French doors, to reveal the interior of the Loman household. Designer Jo Mielziner prevailed upon Miller to do away with the cranium, but the operative principle that drives the play—that Willy cannot separate his illusions and memories from his realities—remained part of its DNA. It’s that element that Kelly’s production will emphasize. 

“We are highlighting that much of the play takes place in Willy’s mind,” says Kelly, “in his memories, with moveable settings to illustrate the fleeting nature and impermanence of memory and time. Beyond a few period accents, our set largely eschews reality and instead looks to illustrate Willy’s true passion for building things and his desire to get ahead. A skeletal staircase to nowhere is the only permanent fixture - a visual metaphor for his thwarted dreams, which Biff declares in the requiem as being ‘all, all wrong.’” 

What’s different about this production, however, is that Kelly is seeking to “decolonize and deconstruct” it as much as possible. The cast is racially diverse because “we want audience members of all backgrounds to see themselves in this story,” and his set is “somewhat Brechtian” in its minimalism and desire to keep the audience asking the right questions. “Salesman is almost entirely devoid of references to race,” Kelly says, and is primarily “focused more on classism. Racism was very much alive in the ‘40s however, so it cannot be ignored, and casting this play with a diverse group of people presents new dynamics and problems that were not originally intended. At the end of the day, I wanted to work with the best actors I could find, and I believe I found them. We’ve got a stellar team.” 

Veteran Columbia professionals Paul Kaufmann and Libby Campbell as Willy and Linda head that team. “I always love working with my longtime friend and colleague Paul Kaufmann,” says Kelly. “Paul is a wonderful artist and will bring his expertise in creating a more sensitive version of Willy Loman, balancing the ferocity of his fears with his sweetness and sentimentality. This play is the third time I’ve had the pleasure of directing him. [And] Libby is Columbia theatre royalty. This is my first time working with her.” 

Kelly notes that Deon Turner (Biff) and Jon Whit McClinton (Happy) are fresh from Trustus Theatre’s True Crime Rep--Jason Stokes Composure and Charlie Finesilver’s House Calls, and that “Jonathan Yi (Bernard) was one of my students last year at the University of South Carolina, and actually played Biff in scene study in that class, so it’s a treat to work with him on this play. Ripley Thames (Charley) is an actor I’ve admired for some time, but never gotten to work with. Same goes for Emily Meadows (Woman/Letta). Caroline McGee is a 2022 UofSC theatre graduate, and Roderick Haynes, Jr. stepped in late in the process and has been a joy. Mostly, it’s just an honor to get to tell this story - it’s one of the greatest American plays for a reason, and it’s a privilege to get to work on it intensely. It’s intimidating, but I love a challenge, and I hope audiences love what we’re creating for them.” 

Likewise, he relishes the opportunity to work once again—in a new venue--with Workshop, for whom he’s performed in Some Girl(s) (2017) and The Little Foxes (2002). This production is the culmination of conversations he’d been having with Jeni McCaughan, Workshop’s executive director, about remounting American classics. “I don’t think we go back to the dramatic classics enough,” he says. “I am a champion of new work. I think fostering new voices and nurturing new plays is the most important work a theatre can undertake, but we can still learn a lot from producing the plays of Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams, and many others.”   

And he is “thrilled” about Workshop’s partnership with Columbia College. “I know it’s going to benefit both organizations in a big way - and I’m excited to direct a show in the historic Cottingham Theatre. It’s a beautiful space and an actor’s dream as far as acoustics are concerned. I’ve never directed in a true proscenium theatre that has wings and fly space before either, so it’s a real treat.” 

Workshop Theatre’s production of Death of a Salesman will run November 4 through 13 at Cottingham Theatre on the campus of Columbia College. Tickets are available here.

Drink Small at the Koger Center

Wednesday, October 26th at 7:30 pm

Koger Center for the Arts

Drink Small is famous for many things, not the least of which is his modeling career. Right in the heart of Five Points sits Drink Small in the “V” of the iconic Five Points mural.

A native of Bishopville, SC, Small has been playing the guitar since his childhood. He has made a huge name for himself through his stage presence, his vocal tonality, and the ease with which he masters different musical styles. Now approaching his 90th birthday, even after losing his eyesight, Small continues to perform for audiences with aplomb. Small is known for his signature “Drink-isms,” a mixture of aphorism, stage banter, and charm that you cannot find with anyone else.

On October 26 at 7:30 PM, come to the Koger Center for the first of a brand-new concert series: “Koger Center Presents: Onstage With...” which Drink Small will introduce.

The concert is a result of the continued partnership between the Koger Center and the ColaJazz Foundation. South Carolina ETV and Public Radio are also partnering with these groups to record and videotape the entirety of the performance. The concert will include performances from other blues performers like the Randy Newton Trio and Brittany Turnipseed while also featuring the SC State University Choir. The audience will continue to stay on stage for each of these performances so they get an even more intimate concert experience than they may be used to.

“We’re really excited to bring such a legend to the Koger Center,” says Nate Terracio, Director of the Koger Center. “This new concert series is something we have been looking forward to putting on for a while and starting it off with such a musical powerhouse is really encouraging.”

The Koger Center has been dedicating itself to continuing and improving the diversity of its performance catalog. The directorial staff of Koger knows just how diverse the Midlands are (and the rest of South Carolina altogether) and aims to consistently accommodate the interests of everyone involved with the arts or music. The University of South Carolina has been making headway with their own Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion expectations, and Koger hopes to not only fulfill those expectations but exceed them. Supporting the arts of all audiences is integral for the growth of the art industry, and the Koger Center hopes that the celebration of such an important artist as Drink Small will bring in support for both the Columbia jazz scene and Mr. Small himself.

Gina Langston Brewer is the First Thursday Artist in Residence at Sound Bites in November

First Thursday

November 3rd @ 6 pm

Sound Bites Eatery

Gina Langston Brewer

The Jasper Project is excited to announce that Gina Langston Brewer will be the November artist-i-residence at the Sound Bites First Thursday Gallery, with an opening reception on Thursday, November 3rd, beginning at 6 pm.

According to Langston Brewer, “Much of my art is inspired by the community of strong women all around me, women who lift one another up every day, who are constantly present, like the air, providing currents of nurturing support and love. My images celebrate our curves, our colors, our joys, and our sorrows — all that gives us dimension and hope and fire in this world.”

Gina Langston Brewer

Langston Brewer’s show will be up throughout the month of November, but the artist will be in house on the night of the 3rd to meet patrons and answer questions.

Sound Bites Eatery has a full menu of sandwiches, salads, and more plus beer, wine, and other beverages.

Opus and the Frequencies Want to Bring People and Good Vibes Together

“Be yourself and do what you love. It might not take you to the moon, but at least you’ll find your people and where you belong.”

Photo by Kati Baldwin

Opus & the Frequencies is genre-bending band lead by Tony “Opus” Williams on vocals, piano and guitar with Steven Tapia-Macias on bass, Jesse Tortorella on drums and Kirk Barnes on guitar. Their fun high energy live shows, and eclectic set list that is the perfect mix of originals and covers, has positioned them to be a Columbia favorite.

JASPER: How did Opus & the Frequencies come to be?

O&TF: Tony describes it as a heist movie, when the lead thief has to assemble a team, each brings something unique to the table. He first met Steven, bassist and social media guru, and Joud, our future sound man and equipment extraordinaire, at jams in his off-campus apartment while they were students at South Carolina. Tony had known Jesse, the drummer man, from some other gigs around town and he was the next to be collected. Then when he was working at Campus IT, he had a co-worker whose boyfriend played guitar. He went to meet him, and check if he was really worth a damn since everybody plays guitar, so Kirk was the last of the Frequencies to be brought into the fold.  

Since Tony briefly thought he was a Pokemon trainer, and he set out to catch ‘em all, with the group originally having several different members and line-ups before finally settling into Opus and The Frequencies. 

 

JASPER: What does your writing process look like?

O&TF: Everyone in the group is different, but we’ll focus on Tony since he writes the majority of the lyrics. First, he’ll have an idea that basically starts worming its way into his ear. Then settling into humming and singing melodies and different instrumental ideas before going to the piano, or occasionally guitar, to play around with it until something more occurs to him. Once settled on things like melody and chord progression, he’ll usually use fill-in, “dummy,” lyrics until he can sit and have some time to flesh out the lyrics seriously. For F.A.M., we have a very early recording, probably the first day we had been messing with it so all it was a guitar riff so Tony starts to sing “I’ll Make a Man out of You” from the movie Mulan, for whatever reason that was what spoke to him the most in that moment. As for the whole group if we’re doing group writing day or something to that effect, we all bring our own individual ideas, but just jamming on something, liking it, and then running with it is our usual M.O.

 

JASPER: You guys, Tony specifically is all about conveying honest emotions on stage. Can you talk a little more about that and how emotion fits into your music.

O&FT: Honestly, it’s mostly about being human, and being accepted for that. Things in life are rarely easy, but doing what you love and having people not only accept that, but really vibe with it as well, is incredibly fulfilling. For “Jesse’s Song” specifically, Kirk wrote the music years ago on his own, and he didn’t even realize or set out to give the song the vibe it has, but for whatever reason I (Tony) picked up on that immediately. I really bonded with the feelings it produced, and combined with things my own personal life, everything just fit together perfectly. When I sat down to write the lyrics, they turned out to not only fit the tune, but some of the feelings he had when he was originally writing it. 

 

JASPER: When do you know if something is done?

O&FT: Nothing’s ever done! Or at least it doesn’t feel like we’re ever finished with anything that we’re doing. Things percolate and get refined and eventually settle into the established order. We usually either run out of time or we’ve got nothing left, and then we’re “done” until our next great idea. 

 

JASPER: Who inspires you?

O&FT: We’re a pretty eclectic group, and we pride ourselves on being diverse musically and personality-wise. Some specific artists who inspire us would be Bruno Mars, George Daniel (The 1975), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Fela Kuti, as well as the musical community here in Columbia. There are so many artists and friends doing so many incredible things that it’s hard not to be inspired.  

 

JASPER: What motivates you?

O&FT: As cliche as it sounds, it's all about having fun and a good time, for us and hopefully the audience. There are all these different energies and “frequencies” coming together, not just between the guys, but also between us and the crowd. When that comes together it’s really an incredible feeling. The band is a melting pot, and Columbia is too, so you get this really crazy, beautiful mix of music people and experiences. 

 

JASPER: What gets in your way?

O&FT: What gets in anyone’s way?  The usual stuff: someone’s having a bad day or in a bad mood, we forgot some piece of equipment and we’re 2 hours from home and an hour from the venue, Jesse losing his glasses.  Having fun is essential, but it can also distract you. The usual stuff.  

 

JASPER: What is your favorite or least favorite show you’ve played and why?

O&FT: We’ve had a lot of great ones, including one last year with Kirk proposing with a song he wrote.  We had a lot of friends and family there so that was a special one. But overall, we’d have to say our show this past summer at Music at Midsummer, a festival hosted by Valley Bear Collective. We really swung for the fences by adding in 5 other musicians, including horns and background vocalists, in addition to our core four. It was almost too much, but somehow, we pulled it off with the great people at VBC and our honorary Freq’s.  

We got to see the glory of “The Tentapolis at OpusCity” which was our campground set up.  You really can’t beat spending a weekend up in the mountains with a couple hundred awesome people and just rocking out for 3 straight days. Especially when there’s great music and company all around you.  

 

JASPER: Do you have any kind of pre-show rituals or traditions?

O&FT: As we get closer to showtime Tony will start to do his vocal warm ups and meditation, to really get in the zone. Then we get the group together and have a stretching session just like back in gym class. Some hype-up stuff goes on, a little bit of light ragging each other and joking around, and then we’re off. Occasionally Kirk and Tony sing “Ironic” by Alanis Morisette, but not for anything other than fun and because that song rocks.  

 

JASPER: What do you like and or dislike about the Columbia music scene?

O&FT: We've briefly touched on this previously, but you can boil it down to the community and camaraderie you get with other artists here in town. There is a ton of cross-pollination happening with genres, bands and community. People show up and support each other! There are just so many people out here trying to take Columbia’s scene to the next level. You see it in sharing news of friend’s upcoming gigs, and raising money for local causes and you can’t help but be in awe of it.

 

JASPER: What advice do you have for other artists?

O&FT: Be yourself and do what you love. It might not take you to the moon, but at least you’ll find your people and where you belong. You’ll probably learn a lot about yourself along the way.  

                       

JASPER: Anything else you want readers to know?

JASPER: We’ve got a saying we like to live by: “All Frequencies (Freq’s) Welcome!” It means that you are welcome in our community, and we want to bring people and good vibes together  

 

Opus & the Frequencies are releasing their new single “Jesse’s Song” and a music video for “Survivor” on October 20th. They also have an EP on the way soon. Come see them play live October 21st at Jasper Project’s House Show with Death Ray Robin and Joseph Hunter Duncan at

You can also check our their website for upcoming shows at opusfrequencies.com and follow them on instagram and facebook

REVIEW: The Rocky Horror Show at Trustus Theatre Really Does Have Something for Everyone

 

What better way to kick off October and Trustus Theatre’s 38th season, “(Un) Familiar,” than with a familiar classic that explores what once were (and sadly for some might still be) very unfamiliar topics?

Cult classic The Rocky Horror Show at Trustus Theatre was, as expected, a great time had by all, and yet very different from the show longtime fans might have come to expect. A sold out showing on Friday, October 7th, the crowd was a mix of veteran fans ready to participate and soon to be new fans squirting each other with tiny water guns. Many viewers were decked out, ready to sing and dance along to the classics they know and love. Director, choreographer, and international award-winning performing artist, Terrance Henderson, has brought refreshing life and transformation to the Rocky Horror legacy.  

With this show, Henderson succeeds at making space for everyone. In his note to the  audience, Trustus veteran Henderson says he looked at the cult classic from his “unapologetically Black and Queer perspective honoring some of [his] own cultural languages and traditions.” Taking inspiration from “Black feminine and gender fluid beings, Black queer, Black trans, Black intersectional and FREE people” Henderson overtly celebrates duality, a classic attribute that is very much at the heart of the show. This blatant duality, arguably the point and purpose of the show, has been criticized for perpetrating harmful stereotypes while also mocking them, both hurting and celebrating the LGBTQ community. But Jasper was not moved toward criticism. In fact, we found that Henderson’s approach, and the alterations he made to the show, felt like a  better, more imaginative Rocky Horror and, most importantly, more inclusive.  

The casting choices for the show were excellent and reflected Henderson’s vision well, with almost every major character in the show being Actors of Color. The vocal talent of the cast members was beyond impressive and well matched by the live band in the theatre’s loft space lead by music director Chris Cockrell.  

Katrina Garvin (Magenta, Usherette), a member of the Trustus Company, mesmerized the audience singing the opening number “Science Fiction Double Feature.” Fellow company member, Samuel McWhite (Riff Raff), induced chills as he descended the staircase singing his solo in “Over at the Frankenstein Place.” It was hard to believe Mel Driggers (Columbia), was new to performing at Trustus, clearly belonging on that stage, and holding their own. Veteran of the role, Walter Graham’s incredible costume changes and perfectly over the top portrayal of Frank N’ Furter received roaring applause and gasps throughout the night while company members Michael Hazin and Katie Leitner kept the audience laughing as Brad and Janet.

 We won’t spoil any other surprises for you, but we can guarantee you will have a great time! 

The Rocky Horror Show will be performed at Trustus Theatre through October 29th.

Jasper Partners with Curiosity Coffee and Gardener's Outpost on Pumpkin Carving Contest with Some of the City's Finest Artists

The Jasper Project is excited to host some of the city’s spookiest artists in a pumpkin carving contest and you’re invited to vote on the Greatest Pumpkin People’s Choice Award!

Join us on Friday October 28th from 4 - 8 pm at Curiosity Coffee as more than a dozen local artists bring their scariest, funniest, and most innovative pumpkin creations to Curiosity Coffee to be admired and assessed by a panel of judges and YOU!

Our Artists include:  

 Bohumila Augustinova

Abstract Alexandra

Kimber Carpenter

Lauren Chapman Casassa

Tennyson Corley

Thomas Crouch

Billy Guess

Jennifer Hill

Michael Krajewski

Michael McGuirt

Lucas Sams

Olga Yukhno

Thomas Washington

Cait Maloney     

A panel of judges will select the Scariest, Silliest, and Most Innovative Pumpkins of the night and award them blue ribbons.

But You will determine the grand prize winner by purchasing special Jasper Candy Votes and and placing your votes in the trick-or-treat bag assigned to your favorite pumpkin. Candy votes will be $1 each and sold in $5 bags. At the end of the night, votes will be tallied, prizes will be awarded, and we’ll all divvy up the candy or donate it to sugar-crazy children. All proceeds will go toward publication costs for Jasper Magazine.

Curiosity Coffee has lots more fun planned, too, including Mary’s Arepas, Spooky Vibes by DJ Liv, and you can pick up your “Nightmare in Elmwood 5K Road Race” packet from 4 - 6:30pm.

We can’t wait to see what some of our favorite artists create and share the fun with all of you!

CALL for Jasper First Thursday/Sound Bites Artists

Since April, Jasper has been hosting a monthly artist at the restaurant with an opening on First Thursday evenings. Jasper schedules the artist and promotes the art and artist via social media and on the Jasper Project website. We manage any sales and ask that 25 percent of sales go to sustaining Jasper. (As you may remember, Jasper has no paid staff so 100 percent of any income goes directly into service of the Midlands arts community.) The remaining 75 percent goes to the featured artist.

We’re scheduling the next few months of artists-in-residence at Sound Bites Eatery whose work will show throughout the month with a grand opening reception on the first Thursday of the month you are chosen to show.

The gallery space is very small, so we recommend smaller 2-D pieces and easily affordable price points. However, additional art & prints may be brought in for opening night only.

We’re looking for artists whose work is small to medium in format, bright, colorful, and whimsical and is offered at a modest price point.

Right now, we are scheduling for November, December, January, February, and March.

 If interested, please send three examples of the work you’d like to feature along with their prices to JasperProjectColumbia@gmail.com.

Robert Kennedy - My Life in the Figure at Stormwater Studios

By Meg Carroll

The opening reception for Robert Kennedy’s exhibition My Life in the Figure is at Stormwater Studios on Thursday, October 13th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. The exhibition will be on view at the studio complex from October 12th to the 15th.

My Life in the Figure is the culmination of the last 30 years of Robert Kennedy’s work. His first experience with figure drawing was at the Academia de’Belle Arte in Florence, Italy where he was enrolled at the age of 23. The Academia de’Belle Arte was founded in 1563 by Cosimo I de’ Medici and is associated with many famous artists such as Michelangelo — obviously a very prestigious academy for art.

Kennedy began his studies as a watercolor painter, and eventually moved on to oils, acrylics, and charcoal. He favors using charcoal and conte crayon on paper or acrylic on canvas for his figure drawings. However, Kennedy works in many mediums, listing on his artist page that he sculpts, as well.

However, since his enrollment some 60 odd years ago, figure drawing has remained Kennedy’s favorite mode of work, and he has worked in many mediums but usually with a live model. He appreciates the diversity of the human face and form, as working with models is never the same. “No two are alike as the movement of the model presents a new image each time,” he says.

This exhibition is collected from a vast amount of work which Kennedy completed both at Gallery 80808 and Stormwater Studios, where he is a resident artist. He has also worked in collaboration with About Face, a studio project which sponsors figure drawing in Columbia.

Stormwater Studios offers space for 10 practicing artists and gallery space for community artists. The space was started through a collaboration between the Columbia Development Corporation and the City of Columbia in order to revitalize InnoVista efforts, the city’s plan to create a diverse and multi-faceted urban landscape.

Stormwater Studios is located at 413 Pendleton Street in Columbia, SC.

PATx Dressing For The Fight and Getting “Naked” for His Fans

“We’re always at war with something. If those things were tangible, how would you dress?”

 
 

Patrick Rutledge, PATx, is a self-produced recording artist, performer, filmmaker, and visual artist, and his music is just as multifaceted as he is. Each of his albums presents a new surface, but with a solid unmistakable core that is his sound. A sound that is its own unique creature– furious, complex, emotionally raw and pieced together from all the best parts of hardcore, metal, and hip-hop. With this sound, his talent for writing, mixing, producing, and rapping, along with a strong visual aesthetic PATx is definitely impressive.

 

JASPER: First off, is there anything you aren't good at? Videos, music, and visual art –Is it difficult to juggle all of that, and how do you decide what gets focus? 

RUTLEDGE: I can’t whistle, so that’s definitely something I’m not good at. But yeah, I always find myself prioritizing ideas: some have to live in fantasy world for a bit because the resources needed are just unrealistic at this stage, others get placed in a list based on various factors like time-sensitivity, how long it would take to make, how excited I am about it, etc. etc. It gets tough to juggle sometimes, but I’d rather have a lot of ideas than a lack of.

 

JASPER: You say tactical gear and masks are part of your aesthetic because they are a “physical representation of raging against internal struggles and fighting adversity”. Can you talk more about this and how you’ve built your visual identity?

RUTLEDGE: I think my aesthetic has been built by my self-actualization. I didn’t really find/establish my brand until 2019, but many of its factors were cursory long before…just not fully explored or developed. Everything is representative of battling self-and/or other: the tactical gear, the masks worn, the content in the songs, the visuals. I think my brand works because it’s an attention grabber. For those who are experiencing it for face-value: great, it’s interesting enough to click. For those that stick around and really dissect it, there’s even more there for you. I reflect on the human experience like anyone else, but maybe it’s harder to push those thoughts to the periphery when I do it…it’s too loud.

I take a lot of inspiration from techwear, military gear, grunge, goth, and streetwear fashion. We’re always at war with something. If those things were tangible, how would you dress?

 

JASPER: What is your creative process like?

RUTLEDGE: My creative process is pretty formless in its initial stages. It can be a voice recording of me humming into my phone a melody or concept (I have countless recordings like that), a instrumental I made, or lyrics I thought of. Of course, as you continue to build on an idea, you have to introduce structure, but I always try to keep an open mental pocket for impromptu decisions and spontaneity…my best work always come from that element.

 

JASPER: Which of your songs is your favorite or least favorite and why? 

RUTLEDGE: I don’t think I have a favorite or a least-favorite. My favorite (I guess) is typically the most-recent for a bit, and my least-favorite (I guess) is the one I listen to at a later date and realize all the things I could’ve done to make it better.

 

JASPER: Is there a particular verse or line you've written that you really love? 

RUTLEDGE:  My second verse on Lanc III (feat. H3RO) is a favorite because I think it does such a good job of encapsulating my entire experience pursuing music. A couple of other one-liners (or whatever) that mean a ton to me are, “how do you describe the feeling that you’ve been feeling? How to make it rhyme and fit it inside a sentence,” and “On my mama Heaven aint a place and we create our Hell, on my mama God and Satan both exist within ourselves.”

 

JASPER: What motivates you?

RUTLEDGE:  I’m very motivated by my own potential. That sounds narcissistic, but I’ve always felt like just that…potential. To see the actualization of all that potential and the value it can provide is a big driver for me.

 

JASPER: What gets in your way? 

RUTLEDGE:  Of course, I can say all the external things: money, time, location, things I didn’t have a say in, blah blah blah. But really, I’m the only thing in my way. Everything is my fault…and it may seem counter-intuitive, but I find solace in that. Giving myself that full accountability returns the leverage and control (or the mirage thereof) back to me.

 

JASPER: How do you know when something is done? 

RUTLEDGE: Something in my head just says “yeah, we’re done here.” Rarely do I finish songs in one session though. There’s song that sat halfway done for years even before revisiting and finishing them. Divine timing, laziness, scatterbrain, who knows.

 

JASPER: Who are your biggest influences and why? 

RUTLEDGE: I don’t know. I’m inspired by everything…examples of what I wanna do, what I definitely DON’T wanna do. If you’d rather have names: J.Cole is like a big brother to me. Eminem took my innocence. Kanye West’s contribution to both fashion, public discord (good and bad), and music is inspiring, XXXTENTACION, Mac Miller, System of a Down, Ghostemane, Rise Against, Gorillaz. I’m going to look back and hate myself for the names I missed, but here we are.

 

JASPER: Out of all the videos you've made, which is your favorite and why?

RUTLEDGE:  Crazytown is my favorite music video thus far. It is VERY close to what I envisioned in my head. I also like the theme: it is a large metaphor for protecting your heart from temptation, doubt, etc. etc.

I watched it again recently and decided that Werewolf is also another favorite. When I made it, it wasn’t quite what I envisioned, but there are some parts in there that I think are great, particularly the scene where I’m fighting myself from turning into a werewolf.

I think both visuals have the grit and aesthetic I’m going for with my imagery.

 

JASPER: If three of your songs were a location, place or physical space what would they be?

RUTLEDGE:  “Breach” would be a sold out show where I jump into the crowd from the stage and mosh with them.

Someone listened to “Foolish” and told me it felt like Los Angeles and walking the beach, which is amazing because I created the Moving Still project in LA…much of it being conceptualized either in Hollywood, Santa Monica Beach, or Hermosa Beach.

I didn’t release this album under my name, but Crew (2014) feels like my hometown. It is a love letter to it and my friends, my “crew.” It’s under artist name TCAP803, which has its own explanation as well.

  

JASPER: What do you like and or dislike about the Columbia music scene? 

RUTLEDGE:  I love that there are so many artists and opportunities to build here. I dislike the lack of platform. Many people are doing great things, very few are doing these things at scale (whether that “scale” be profitability or audience).

 

JASPER: Do you have any advice for other artists? 

RUTLEDGE:  You’re a business, operate like it. Learn marketing, it is the answer

 

JASPER: Anything else you want us to know? 

RUTLEDGE:  I have a show and you should come. If enough people come, I’m gonna take my clothes off so…

You can see PATx, potentially without clothes on, at New Brookland Tavern on October 15th from 7-11pm for a zombie-themed experience featuring Crazy Karl, H3RO & The Villians.
Learn more about THE ExPERIENCE: OUTBREAK.

Jasper Galleries Announces Art Shows at Harbison Theatre featuring David Yaghjian, Michael Krajewski, Lori Isom, and Olga Yukhno

David Yaghjian

The Jasper Project is delighted to announce the next several artists whose work will be featured in the Gallery Space of MTC’s Harbison Theatre at 7300 College Street in Irmo, SC.

Following the closing of the Steven White show on October 28th, we will be opening an exhibition by renown Columbia-based artist, David Yaghjian. Yaghjian’s work will show from early November through mid-January. We will celebrate Yaghjian’s art with a special reception on Sunday afternoon, December 11th in conjunction with the Holiday Pops concert by the SC Philharmonic. The reception will begin at 2:30 followed by the concert at 3:30. While the reception is free tickets to the concert may be purchased at Harbison theatre.

Following the Yaghjian exhibit, Jasper will welcome Columbia-based artist Michael Krajewski on Friday, January 20th, 2023. Krajewski’s exhibit will coincide with a concert featuring the comedy offerings of Tom Papa. A (free) reception for Krajewski’s work will begin at 6:30, followed by the Tom Papa show at 7:30. Tickets.

Lori Isom

On Friday, February 24, 2023, Jasper has invited Columbia/Camden-based artist Lori Isom to open a show of her work in conjunction with a concert by Camden native and country rockstar Patrick Davis. Reception (free) at 6:30 and concert at 7:30. Tickets.

And on Saturday, April 1st, artist Olga Yukhno will open a showing of her 2D and 3D ceramics at the Harbison Theatre Gallery in conjunction with a Concert by the tenor trio GENTRI. Reception at 6:30 and concert at 7:30. Tickets.

For more information on Harbison art please contact the Jasper Project at   jasperprojectcolumbia@gmail.com. For more information about performances please contact Harbison Theatre at  Harbisontheatre@midlandstech.edu

Call for Scripts!

From our friends at Local Cinema —

Local Cinema Studios, a local film production company committed to bridging the gap from academia to industry, is launching their second annual Get On Set initiative with the support of the South Carolina Film Commission and the University of South Carolina. Part of the launch includes a script call for the upcoming Summer 2023 project.

“We are excited to bring a screenwriter’s vision to life,” says Dustin Whitehead, Artistic Director of Local Cinema Studios and UofSC Assistant Professor, Theatre and Dance. “Get on Set is about pairing industry professionals with local students to tell a story we believe in. We demonstrated last summer with the feature film Hero that this initiative can work in South Carolina and we are excited to do it again. Local Cinema is all about finding the homegrown stories of the South and bringing them to the big screen.”

Local Cinema Studios is currently accepting feature film or pilot script submissions for a project to be filmed Summer 2023. They are also seeking professional directors and other crew to be part of the “Get On Set” Team. Those interested should apply online by November 1st. The application can be found here:

For more information about Local Cinema Studios or the Get on Set Initiative, contact Dustin Whitehead via email at dwhitehead@localcinemastudios.com.

And watch out in November for our feature print story on Whitehead and the cast and crew of Hero, Local Cinema’s 2022 summer project!