FEATURED FOLKZ

Artist Bio: Lisa Winter ~ Artist of A Thousand WordZ

2010-04-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

Lisa Winter artist bio

Lisa Winter graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Art, June 2009. This is her first postgraduate show. She has been an artist of infinite mediums since early childhood and has recently gravitated towards printmaking. A few topics that inspire her art include: animal and human rights, class segregation, and bike culture. Many of the pieces she is displaying at May Day: The Second Coming comment on modern society’s treatment of the working class. She has taken the past 9 months to get settled in her career and hopes to use this experience to get back into the production of political art that will inspire others.

Musician/Band Bio: Weather Pending ~ member of Digital Bliss Productions

2010-04-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Weather Pending music bio:

Weather Pending is a San Francisco quartet that makes music with a subtle electronic groove that brings together jazz, pop, rock, dub reggae, hip hop, and world music. The band creates smoky late night grooves with a deep romantic resonance highlighted by Janie Oliver’s honey and gunpowder vocals. The resulting music is hard to categorize. Call it sultry songs with a cinematic, one drop, hip hop flavor if you like, pop music for grown ups with a cosmopolitan vibe that’s both unique and strangely familiar, with exceptional warmth and a quiet intensity all its own.

Links:

weatherpending.net

Musician/Band Bio: Return To Mono ~ member of Digital Bliss Productions

2010-04-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Return To Mono music bio:

Return To Mono formed in 2006, with members Tanya Kelleher, Andy Sybilrud and J.G. Paulos. They've been described by Keyboard magazine as "Repositioning the proven hybrid of edgy female vocals & dark, grooving electronics used by Garbagem Portishead & Mechanical Birds." While hailing their EP Involution as "Original, sophisticated, skillfully crafted, and highly listenable."

Their upcoming full length album Framebreaker is an electronic rock manifesto with undercurrents of lush spacey ambiance. delivering crunchy beats, swirling guitars, deep electronic landscapes and "Full bodied vocals that just drip with sultriness."

Links:
http://www.returntomono.com/
http://www.myspace.com/returntomono
http://www.garageband.com/artist/returntomono

Musician/Band Bio: Artemis ~ member of Digital Bliss Productions

2010-04-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

Artemis music bio:

If such a joyous sonic welter as the music of Oakland's Artemis needs a handle, then call it “pavement psychedelia,” or “urban robot raga” or “trip-pop.” On a song like “Hypno,” spectral keyboard washes and sinuous dance beats set up a feeling of warm alienation before the singer's voice heats things further. Over the thump and shimmer, she croons with detached fervor, the production dissolving in a storm of pixie-dust disco until a rude riot of effects snaps the tether and she vanishes. Aesthetically, the band is a poppier variant on trip-hop, with layers of beats and synth effects providing atmospherics for sophisticated classic rock song structures and the velvet swoop of Artemis's vocals.

Artemis co-produces and performs with various members of the RTFM collective, which includes the polymathic likes of Daniel Berkman (aka Colfax, multi-instrumentalist and wizard of the kora, a twelve-string harp-lute used extensively in West African music), Cliff Tune (the drummer, who adds to orthodox skin-pounding masses of programmed beats layered for pallidly funky effect) and Keith Crusher (producer, programmer and sonic theoretician) lowering the ambient temperature to dry-ice.

Despite the variety of syncretic means, the whole wraps around the singer in true rockist fashion like a flash-frozen Big Brother & the Holding Company. The music pulses with downtempo beats while ambient sound FX sinks tethers from the world outside into the listener only to pull them pleasantly loose with the band's coruscating riffs and hooky churn. Artemis presides over this aural slow-burn like one of Wim Wenders' angels; warm, wise, detached and waiting for you...

Links:
http://Artemis.FM
http://RTFMRecords.com

Artist Bio: Jack Eastgate (Artist, and Co-organizer of A Thousand WordZ)

2010-02-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

Jack Eastgate: artist bio

(Mr. Eastgate showed his artwork at the Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haiti relief)

I didn’t start living until I moved to America. I smile every time I think back at my first years, months, and even days when my “fresh off the blane” ready to experience life attitude naively wondered the streets of Oakland. I was 18, straight from a farm in the middle of a jungle on an island surrounded by hella warm water. That was seven years ago.

Oakland…buck wild, shady, sunny, beautiful crazy all at once. America on the other hand was the one that got me. Caught up in it all, the shine began to wear and I wandered without cause, my state of mind was unsatisfied, my spirit malnourished. I felt there was something missing and it bothered me.

Questioning everything, my fascination with the world grew. As I am as insignificant as a mustard seed in the whole scheme of things, I had the nerve to ask who was I and why did I exist? That’s when my being opened up to an environment seen only when still. A place where time becomes irrelevant, and every cell in your body reverberates in synchronisation to the universe, and a place where they say angels gather to listen in bliss.

Like a Taurus, I dove headfirst into the infinite world of spirituality and found my self sitting with the Sufi’s and mystics of many traditions. It was amazing. My life and art changed, unintentionally giving me a better understanding of my shortcomings, but, most of all my strength- my humanness.

During this time I came to realise that a common factor, whether intentional or not, is often concealed, misinterpreted or simply confused. Everything is One, like a circle, a drum. All the different perspectives we have, have been shaped by each individual or collective reality- their language, geography, climate and culture. It still in its essence universal, and it is still collectively interpreted human. This is what I want to reflect. This is what inspires me.

Life is art is life. Inspired by life and the beauty that comes with struggles, Jack Eastgate, a bay area transplant from the Fiji Islands, has infused the elements of his present urban society with his multicultural roots, allowing him to articulate his personal and shared experiences. Jack is currently a senior pursuing a degree in Graphic design at Cal State University East Bay. Traditionally an illustrator, Jack has incorporated several mediums into his work including acrylic, spray paints, and collage.

Band Bio: Dragon Spit 22

2010-02-16T01:44:00.000-08:00

Dragon Spit 22 music bio:
Dragon Spit 22 (DS22) was created by Atiim Chenzira with the vision of diversifying his musical range, and singing Rock to fuse it with his soul, hip hop, and funk flavor. With only keys, bass, drums and vocals the band began with two songs, and now DS22 has more than a full set list, and are gearing up to record, and perform. DS22 continues to rehearse and book for 2010.
The sound of DS22 is an old' school flavor of soul, and funk, with the forward drive of rock, mixed with linguistic poetry of smooth hip hop, and poetry.

Musicians:
Atiim Chenzira ~ Vocals, writer, production, and arrangement
T. Hallenbeck ~ Bass, production, and arrangement
Chris Lujan ~ Drums, production, and arrangement
Kenji Matsui ~ Guitar, production, and arrangement
Ronald Jones ~ Keys, and arrangement
David Jones ~ production, and arrangement

The Origins of the Name 'Dragon Spit 22'

Meaning of Dragon ~ In Chinese daily language, excellent and outstanding people are compared to the dragon while incapable people with no achievements are compared with other, disesteemed creatures, such as the worm. A number of Chinese proverbs and idioms feature references to the dragon, for example: "Hoping one's son will become a dragon" (望子成龍, i.e. be as successful and powerful as a dragon). Chinese dragons are strongly associated with water in popular belief. They are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas. They can show themselves as water spouts (tornado or twister over water). In this capacity as the rulers of water and weather, the dragon is more anthropomorphic in form, often depicted as a humanoid, dressed in a king's costume, but with a dragon head wearing a king's headdress.

Meaning of Spit ~ To speak rhythmically, to rap, to talk.

Meaning of # 22 ~ A Catch-22 is a logical paradox wherein an individual finds him or herself in need of something which can only be had by not being in need of it. It is often spoken in regards to rules, regulations, procedures, or situations in which one has knowledge of being or becoming a victim but has no control over it occurring.
Also: qualities - creativity, humility, understanding, and compassion. Twenty-two is a higher octave of four. It contains the secrets to many esoteric questions, as evidenced by the fact that there are twenty two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, twenty two pathways in many versions of the Kabbalah, and twenty two cards in the Major Arcana. Twenty two carries with it psychic gifts such as heightened sensitivity, intuition and psychic awareness, but is also predisposed to pitfalls such as treachery from hidden enemies and over sensitivity.
22 represents practical idealism - practical genius, creator of the future, power on all levels, master of the material, philanthropy, universality, international direction, and service to mankind.

Link:
http://www.Myspace.com/DragonSpit22
http://www.ReverbNation.com/DragonSpit22

Artist Bio: Reshma Azmi (Artist of A Thousand WordZ)

2010-02-16T01:27:00.000-08:00

Reshma Azmi artist bio:
(Reshma showed her work at our Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haitian Relief)
Reshma Azmi decided to pursue painting as her lifetime goal soon after the tenth grade, at which time she enrolled in the Fine Arts Program of the College of Arts and Crafts at the University of Lucknow in India. Here, for a period of five years, she got the opportunity to study and develop her art abilities, under the guidance of some extremely talented and well-known art teachers and artists. Since graduation from college, Reshma has painted relentlessly over the years, working on a wide variety of subjects. She has participated in several solo and group shows in India and the United States. Several of her painting series are currently on display in both public and private collections. She has explored various media including acrylic, oil, fabric, pencil, charcoal and watercolor. Her strongest interest, and the majority of her work, however, is in oils and acrylics.

When Reshma relocated from Lucknow, India to the California Bay Area in early 2005, she saw a magnolia for the first time. Since then, magnolias have appeared in her artwork on several occasions. But flowers and the natural world have always been a part of Reshma's artwork; for her, living in the United States has been not only an introduction to new experiences and cultural landscapes, but also an opportunity for reinterpretation of roads already traveled.
As an East Indian residing in the U.S., Reshma is acutely aware of the dichotomies between American and South Asian ways of life. While observing how American society expresses itself in the visual arena, Reshma has become particularly interested in what she reluctantly calls 'pop art' for lack of a better term: the de-emphasis of documentary depiction in favor of movement, texture, and pattern. She sees this 'zooming in,' as she calls it, everywhere in American society - fine arts, advertising, design, and even cinema - and she expects that it will influence her next set of paintings, which will evolve from the double-vision she has learned to embrace and even celebrate as an inevitable result of her immersion in a new culture.
A crucial aspect of Reshma's artistic expression is desire: sublimated, unfulfilled, suppressed, unspoken, or made manifest at great risk. The pleasant images in her paintings - birds, flowers, beautiful women, the tranquility of quiet rooms - typically belie a suggestion of loss, or danger, or quiet suffering. While growing up in India, Reshma painted this beauty/pain dichotomy because she saw it around her, in a close-knit, conservative society that often demands adherence to ancient traditions at the expense of personal choice. Now, she paints that dichotomy because, as she says, she sees it on the faces of Americans. She proposes that perhaps the freedom and openness of American society is accompanied by, or comes at the price of, the breakdown of family structures and the consequent isolation and loneliness.
Endnote
Although her paintings are quite expressive, Reshma does not necessarily want the viewer to feel what she feels, or see what she sees. She hopes that viewers will be sufficiently intrigued to find their own meaning in her work.
Reshma Azmi resides in Oakland, California, with her husband, musician and artist T. Hallenbeck. She is currently working with colored pencil, mixed media, and a new series of oil paintings.

Link:http://www.reshmaazmi.net

Art Crew Bio: Local 365

2010-02-16T01:21:00.001-08:00

Local 365 Crew art bio:
San Francisco Collaborative Community Presents: Local 365 - an inter-arts collective facilitating creative collaborations between local artists & musicians, in celebration of the eclectic tastes of local audiences and the flourishing artistic culture of the San Francisco Bay Area!
Created to nurture community, collaboration, and cohesion within our local arts & music scene, Local 365 brings together some of SF's finest artists and musicians to collaborate and inspire each others' work while making our local SF creative culture more visible and accessible to local audiences!

Our many fabulous resident artists & musicians perform live together regularly around SF, composing pieces of art & music as inspired by those collaborations; to be shown and performed during the course of/at the end of the project year.

We welcome all to come out & support the local creative culture of which you are a part!!!

Check out our photos & slideshow for a glimpse of our distinguished participants
+ JOIN US ON F.A.C.E.B.O.O.K !!!

Artist Bio: Suzie Ferras (Artist of Local 365)

2010-02-16T01:19:00.000-08:00

Suzie Ferras artist bio:

(Miss Ferras performed live art work at the Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haiti relief)
With a background in drawing, illustration, painting and sculpture, Suzie Ferras has been working professionally in the arts for over 10 years as a fine artist, illustrator, arts educator, curator and event organizer. Suzie has been one of many championing the live art movement in the San Francisco Bay Area, doing live art to live music regularly in and around San Francisco, collaborating with some of the Bay Areas finest local musicians. In 2008, she founded the art & music collective, Local 365, to facilitate collaboration and cohesion within local creative culture, while making the fine arts more visible and accessible to local audiences. She has exhibited art and/or has done live art with The de Young Museum, The New York Stock Exchange, Sesame Street, The San Francisco Jazz Heritage Museum and Yoshi's SF.

website: http://www.suzieferras.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/suzieferras?ref=profile
myspace Local 365 calendar: http://www.myspace.com/local365sfcc
facebook art album link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=67129&id=705808697

Photographer Bio: SooozhyQ

2010-02-16T01:15:00.000-08:00

SooozhyQ photo bio:

(SoozhyQ showed art work at the Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haiti relief)
Born in San Francisco’s Mission district, Soozhyq started her love affair with digital photography in 2005 while travelling abroad.

Favorite photo subjects include food porn, the underside of mushrooms, belly dancers, and her ‘hood (Dogpatch/Potrero Hill). SooozhyQ is a Flickr addict and recently launched her own website #fotofeedbackloop. SooozhyQ takes an occasional break from photography and music to stalk Japanese snow monkeys and be left-brainy for a local biotech firm.

Links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sooozhyq/
http://fotofeedbackloop.wordpress.com/
Contact: sooozhyq@yahoo.com
Flowers: http://sites.google.com/site/fotofeedback/

Photographer Bio: Bethanie Hines

2010-02-16T01:13:00.000-08:00

Bethanie Hines photo bio:

(Miss Stower showed art work at the Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haiti relief)

my story is simple: i am passionate about the human experience. as long as i can remember, i have been fascinated by people, finding light in the inconspicuous, giving attention to the barely discernible, delighting in seeing the visible in the invisible.

my photography is an out-growth of my interest in movement, emotion and healing. capturing moments, whether they're intense or sexy, mysterious or ethereal, joyful or evocative, is what I do. i want the observer to see what i see: the textural beauty of humanity.

my photos evoke who you really are, what you live for, the varying shades of your dreams, what lies beneath the everyday. i give attention to and affirm who you are and in the process, i liberate the essence of your moments. i dare to show the beauty and the power of you; i invite you to be seen.

Links:
http://www.bethaniehines.com/Site/home.html

Website: http://www.BethanieHines.com

Contact: bethanie@bethaniehines.com

Photographer Bio: Lauren Stower

2010-02-16T01:09:00.000-08:00

Lauren Stower photo bio:

(Miss Stower showed art work at the Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haiti relief)
Lauren Stower is a Bay Area native and UC Santa Cruz alum, passionate about change and obsessed with live music, traveling and community-building. Currently at USF for a masters teaching credential in Secondary English, her focus is on continual learning, prison abolition, gender-bending queer poliking capitalism-undermining critical feminist counter-hegemonic philosophizing and action. A world traveler with a knack for photography, she shows the faces of friends and strangers who have crossed and blessed her path through this world, sharing the oft-unseen with the eager eye of the observer.

Contact info:
For prints or live photography, contact Lauren at (510) 909-7719, or LaurenStower@gmail.com.

Band Bio: Ecdysis

2010-02-16T01:07:00.001-08:00

"Ecdysis" music bio:
The Process by which A Soul Sheds Its Skin

An amalgamation of antiquity and modernity, "Ecdysis" seeks to merge
the timeless nature of sound with the experience of this time.
With melodies ranging from traditional Malian to eclectic Jazz fusion, "Ecdysis"
embarks on a journey to breathe life into an age-old movement;
the evolution of your soul.

Musicians:

(Written and Arranged by all musicians)
Amber McZeal - Vocals, Balafon
Sandra Lawson - Vocals
Nora Barrows-Friedman - Cello
Doug Stewart - Upright Bass
Jon Provost - Drum kit, Percussion, Frame drum
Keenan Weber - Kora, Flute, Balafon

Musician Bio: Dahrio Wonder

2010-02-16T01:05:00.001-08:00

DAHRIO WONDER music bio:
(urban pop/r&b solo artist)
Dahrio Wonder is a San Francisco Bay Area native who fits no mold, initiates a change of mind, and continuously steps outside the box with any project he gets a hold of. With a mission to leave his stamp on ears that appreciate great music no matter what genre of music they favor, he is constantly working on taking his music to new heights.
Having already worked with some of the industry's notable recording artists as a professional choreographer and dancer, Dahrio has transcended from an accomplished behind the scenes facilitator, to an all-around entertainer, singer, songwriter, and producer. As a dancer and choreographer, he has performed and worked with Britney Spears, Madonna, Jamie Foxx, Angela Winbush, the late Celia Cruz, and the Ying Yang Twins. In 2007 he penned a music publishing deal with Foxx King/Bug Music, and also opened for the legendary Isley Brothers US tour in Fresno,CA and Atlanta,GA. In 2008, he performed in Washington D.C. at the 1st Annual Velocity Magazine Awards where his debut album WONDERLAND also won the award for Best R&B Album. In 2009, Dahrio continued to headline many shows including sold out shows at The Oakland Metro Theater and two shows at Oakland's Yoshi's Supper Club. Dahrio was also a featured artist on Jamie Foxx's FOXX HOLE LIVE showcase at the LA hot spot, The Conga Room.

With his WONDERLAND LP, you truly get sucked into an album that allows you to escape into another world, an album full of conceptual sound and idea. On his upcoming sophomore LP entitled WONDER, Dahrio introduces a work of variant dimensions by showcasing a sexy and eclectic vibe. The WONDER LP exhibits his growth as an artist as he draws you in enough to make you feel like you truly know him. Making you dance and relate to where he's coming from, then getting more personal and vunerable than the work showcased on his debut album. He drops you into a whirlwind of clever lyrics, smooth vocals, strong arrangements, and hip hop and pop beats set in remarkable songs with an R&B flare. You want to get to know more about him, because around him is where you want to be.

Being a charming, innovative and imaginary thinker, Dahrio Wonder brings creativity, class, and sex appeal to his live stage shows. He captivates people with his unmistakeable stage presence that's exciting, and every time he performs, he continues to fascinate any crowd with his well-rounded talent. He is a true conductor of the stage and crowd. Saying Dahrio Wonder is a triple threat is an understatement, yet he is one of the most humble artist anyone can work with.

Dahrio Wonder gets back to the basics in true regard to what real music and entertainment does to the soul. Dahrio Wonder understands music on an intricate level that not many artists do. He returns to the rawness and realness of what music's first purpose is; it makes you feel good, it moves your body involuntarily, and it improves any mood by taking you on a roller coaster of emotions. Dahrio's music makes you feel imaginative, connected, sexy, and moved. His intuitive take on a new sound is impeccable and he plans to continue to make his impression on the world of music as a superb solo recording artist and entertainer.

Links:

www.myspace.com/dahriowonder
www.facebook.com/dahriowonder

WONDERLAND MANAGEMENT 2934 TELEGRAPH AVE. OAKLAND, CA 94609 510-919-1968 wonderlandmgmt@gmail.com
Dahrio Wonder's WONDERLAND available on itunes, cdbaby.com and pinoytunes.net

Musician Bio: Divasonic and member/owner of Digital Bliss Productions

2010-02-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Divasonic music bio:
(Divasonic played at the Feb. 27th, 2010 show, and helped raise $1,800 for Haiti relief)
Genres: Electronica/Dance / Alternative / Pop
Label: Digital Bliss Productions/Cyberset, Digital Bliss Productions
Lynda Arnold is a jack of all trades in the music business, simultaneously operating as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, performer and educator. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lynda performs and produces as 'Divasonic' molding her own sound of downtempo, house and d-n-b mixed with ethereal vocals and jazz flute inprovisations.
Her label credits include EMI, Clubstar (Germany), Cyberset (SF), Epiphyte (SF) and her own label, Digital Bliss.
More About Divasonic
Divasonic

"The road of individuality is not a straight line..."

Divasonic is built around the production, songwriting, and multi-instrumental talents of Lynda Arnold, who got started at an early age by taking dance lessons, then adding piano and flute to her repertoire. "My parents said I always had talent with rhythm and my ability to move to the music," says Lynda. "Even though I was trained as an instrumentalist, it's no surprise that I enjoy playing around with rhythms. Dancing was my artistic escape during my teenage years when I was learning classical music. " After earning a classical music degree from DePauw University and a recording/production degree from Ex'pression College for the Digital Arts, Lynda started producing and performing her own music in 2000. She says her real release as a musician came when she started to improvise and program her own music after her classical training ended. "I started to put down what I was hearing in my head," she says. "There's nothing like creating in the moment."
Lynda's extensive performance schedule has included a variety of projects, from performing with electronic and live bands to putting on shows with renowned DJs. When she's not on stage, she is recording with an assortment of Bay Area artists and producers or composing music for herself or other projects, such as the acclaimed multimedia dance troupe Capacitor. And then there is her production company, Digital Bliss Productions (digitalblissproductions.com), whose goal is to bring more attention to women producers in the male-dominated field of electronic music. Some such efforts include sponsoring performances and releasing compilations, all of which focus on women producers and vocalists.

As you may expect, Lynda is not a woman with a lot of free time. Ask about her biggest challenge, and she responds: "Being able to do it all. To write, produce, record, promote, perform, tour, and finance the whole damn thing! Oh, the day will be sweet when I will be able to have a manager, a band, and a comfy tour bus! The more I engage in this artistic and business process, the more I realize that I need an army to get things done."
But if her second full-length album, Changing Wind, is any indication, Lynda should be soon enjoying a taste of that sweeter lifestyle. Where her debut album, Birth, was about spirituality and "the internal journey of the soul gaining confidence and overcoming fears and insecurities," Lynda uses Changing Wind more as an outlet for contemplations about relationships, including the ups and downs of "elations, surprises, sensuality, reality, growth, partnership, nurturing, falling in love, and enduring love through its changes." It also stretches a bit further musically, showing off a stronger jazz influence mixed with stronger soul and pop vibes, all wrapped around the elements Lynda has come to be known for, including drum-and-bass rhythms, experimental percussive sounds, and flute and vocal melodies derived from her own poetry.
In addition to everything she has already accomplished and everything she is currently in the midst of, Lynda has even bigger hopes for the future, from performing to producing to teaching. Fortunately for her listeners, those plans largely revolve around her music. "Even if I changed careers at some point in my life, I would always have a musical project," she says. "Music has been a part of my daily life for many years now, and I can't imagine living without the inspiration of it. It's a light that never seems to run dry."

Live musicians:

Lynda Arnold ~ Flute, programming, keys, and lead vocals
Tom Hallenbeck: Bass
Atiim Chenzira: Support Vocalist
Jet Man: Drums

websites:
http://www.divasonic.com
http://www.digitalblissproductions.com
buy CD - http://www.cdbaby.com/divasonicmusic

Musician's Bio: Xandra

2010-02-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

Xandra music bio:

"Raised in California's Owens Valley, Xandra moved to San Francisco in 2002 to study writing. After picking up the guitar in 2003, she quickly found her passion for singing/songwriting and made her debut at the corner of 16th and Mission as a performer. She blends soulful vocals with a guitar style that mixes blues and bossa nova. Check out her soul/funk explosion Con Brio for a fuller, dirtier version of her songs."

Link:

http://TheBandConBrio.com

Musician's Bio: Marcell William

2010-02-16T00:56:00.000-08:00

MARCELL WILLIAM

Being a newcomer to the music scene can be overwhelming for most, but for an artist like Marcell William, the obstacles and occurrences already accomplished only continue to drive his determination on becoming an appreciated entertainer. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, Marcell William separates himself from what R&B has become and strives to bring back what traditional rhythm and blues is. His goal is to inspire today’s youth to know and experience what true R&B sounds like. Marcell feels like vocalists back in the day had only their voices, no outlandish tricks or antics, just themselves and a microphone. Thus, he is looking to bring class back to R&B music. Marcell is like no other when he performs. On stage he makes the audience understand that they are listening to a story, a plot, a time-line or a specific moment in his life, not just a song. He truly puts on a full fledged show. Being a singer, songwriter, composer, performer and natural comedian helps him incorporate different dynamics into his shows. Marcell draws his influence from the likes of Jackie Wilson, Frankie Lyman, David Ruffin, Carl Thomas, Tank, and Maxwell.

The true beginning of the musical aspect in his life was when he got accepted into the Oakland school of the Arts in 2003. There he studied vocal, piano and drama. He stared in the schools leading plays, The Wiz, Footloose and The Wild Party. In 2006 Marcell toured with the school concert choir to Italy. There they performed for 2 weeks at different venues in Florence and Venice for crowds of 700 people. During the years 2005-2007 he studied at the University of California in the Young Musicians Program (YMP) with a full scholarship. During his junior year of high school he was given a 1 year scholarship to Berkelee College of Music in Boston upon his high school graduation. His high school years clearly solidifies his love and commitment to music. In 2006 Marcell opened at the Concord Pavilion in Concord California for Tina Marie’s tour and in 2008 Marcell opened for Patrice Rushen and Roberta Flack at the Oakland Museum “Experience on the Green”. This was the start of Marcell William's solo career as he would soon team with Jaime Hawkins to begin work on his debut album. He most recently teamed with ready artist and blood brother Dahrio Wonder on their musical production called “The Pleasures of Love Show” which successfully enjoyed a sellout of 2 shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland California. Aswell the Oakland Metro Theater and Q's Lounge. On his debut album entitled “Music&MoonTrips Vol.1-A Lover’s Welcome” Marcell introduces a work that showcases someone beyond his years. Simply put, Marcell loves the thought of Love and expresses that in every song he writes and performs. His lyrics are uniquely different, not the same words you hear everyday on the radio. He sings about situations that you feel, understand and can relate to. He loves where creating wonderful melodies can take him. “A Lover’s Welcome” is the journey from the prepartation of loving someone, the vulnerable stage of loving them, trials, change, and the growth of love all delivered on tracks that captivate every emotion you can think of. Marcell does music with a passion. It’s what he is, what makes him and how he makes his best decisions. Sparking an emotion in him causes him to share this in his writing, and his composing .
Marcell’s music is tasteful and sweet, ready for anyone to listen to. The richness of his voice makes it easy for him to comfortably blend with any genre of music or track he sings on. Marcell is a go-getter, the live-wire with a confident seductiveness, a role player and does not want to put a stamp on his music to a specific audience. Marcell is embarking on a journey that he is humbly and fully prepared to take on, appreciate and welcome. Marcell William promises to take and deepen his audiences understanding of great R&B music.

RhineStone Carboys

2010-02-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

The Rhinestone Carboys:

The Rhinestone Carboys are made up of four members:

Geoff Witek
Heather Benson
Patrick Linskey
Deb Barley

They are helping the DNA Brewing Organization cook the recipe of ingredients for our two charity beers Porter-Of-Princes, and Haiti Hopeaweizen. These two beers will raise funds for Haitian relief at our February 27th 2010 show at the legendary Oakland Noodle Factroy. A Thousand WordZ (ATW) is based at the Oakland Noodle Factory in a new and diverse community of artists of mixed genres; including musicians, painters, photographers, dancers, etc. Roots of The DNA Brewing Organization.

Story:

After talking about the idea of fund-raising for Haitians with a few people in San Francisco, the newly named, but already formed collaborative, The Rhinestone Carboys, stood up, and volunteered their time and resources to help DNA produce enough beer in an effort to raise enough donations to help Haitians at the A Thousand WordZ event 'A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words'.

Event:Feb. 27th, 2010 (exhibit/music - 7pm-12pm, afterparties - 2/3am)

DNA: http://DNAbeer.blogspot.com

ATW: http://APictureZWorth.Blogspot.com

The RhineStone Carboys ~ An Interview:

RhineStone Carboy

Geoff Witek

Heather Benson

Patrick Linskey

Deb Barley

ATW: "What do you do for a full time job?"
HB: “Teach K-5^th graders how to farm at Tenderloin Community (Public School) SFUSD”

2.

ATW: "What got you into brewing beers?"HB: "Made first beer 15 years ago. I loved the science of it. Grew up on farm. Grew our own food. Fun to try fermenting process. I grew wheat and hops. Made a couple of beers. Mead Honey Wine. (Instead of wheat and hops) Mead has honey and water in it. That process takes up to 10 years. I brewed it with Geoff. "
3.

ATW: "What do you hope your involvement in A Thousand WordZ fund-raising will mean to Haitians?"
HB: “I want to give them HOPE for the future. I think keeping thinking about the Sunami, and Hurricane Katrina is important too. At any moment anything can happen. Instead of hanging around BrewCraft and asking questions and talking about beer ingredients, it sounded good to make good beer, and connecting with your community to help others.

The last big fund-raising event I did was the Tibetan Freedom Concert, in Golden Gate Park with lots of musicians, etc. We wanted to keep the cause of Tibetan’s on the minds of many. We kept the beer, the music, and community as a common cause.”

ATW: "What is your favorite beer?"

HB: Favorite beer to drink is an IPA. I love bitter beer.

ATW: "Second favorite?"

HB: Porter.

II.

RhineStone Carboys

Geoff Witek

Heather Benson

Patrick Linskey

Deb Barley

ATW: "What do you do for a full time job?"

GW: "Summer: Mountain Guide. Winter: Legal Translator."

ATW: "What got you into brewing beers?"

GW: "Inability to buy beer when I was 17, and afascination with the fermentation process as an adult. There are plenty of great beers out there to be bought, but it's so much more exciting and satisfying to drink something you created."

ATW: "What do you hope your involvement in A Thousand WordZ fund-raising will mean to Haitians?"

GW: "A bit of relief ($) and a sense that they have not been forgotten."

ATW: "What is your favorite beer?"

GW: "Aside from our own, I love Delirium Tremens by Huyghe Brewery."

III.

RhineStone Carboys

Geoff Witek

Heather Benson

Patrick Linskey

Deb Barley

ATW: "What do you do for a full time job?"

DB: "Advocate to protect the environment. "

ATW: "What got you into brewing beers?"

DB: "A text message asking if I'd like to brew some beer with a couple of cool folks (that like to put rhinestones on their carboys)."

ATW: "What do you hope your involvement in A Thousand WordZ fund-raising will mean to Haitians?"

DB: "A bit of relief ($) and a sense that they have not been forgotten. (I liked Geoff's answer, so I will ditto it.)"

ATW: "What is your favorite beer?"

DB: "Dogfish Head Pale Ales, I'll drink any and all of them. (Of course, once I drink the next batch from the RC's, I may be singing a different tune.)"

IV.

RhineStone Carboys

Geoff Witek

Heather Benson

Patrick Linskey

Deb Barley

ATW: "What do you do for a full time job?"

PL: "Software engineer. "

ATW: "What got you into brewing beers?"

PL: "A friend's hops vines."

ATW: "What do you hope your involvement in A Thousand WordZ fund-raising will mean to Haitians?"

PL: "Awareness and support."

ATW: "What is your favorite beer?"

PL: "Hoegaarden."

The Cell: An interview with Atiim

2006-05-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

syndic. from Bakersfield, California's 'The Cell'.
May 2002 issue.

Interview by:
LisaAnn LoBasso

Standing six foot, seven, he is sure to get your attention. A towering man. One minute his boyish smile eludes gentle youth, and the next, you are bound to notice the moment stress enters into his boundary. The scowl makes this domineering musician/poet almost seem dangerous. In this moment, he usually takes a quick, solemn smoke break alone. But the next instant, he is sipping his coffee, leaning gently over to remove his dominate posture, and placing his thin-rimmed glasses on: looking just like a college boy, not necessarily someone who grew up on the streets of Oakland. He is glowing as he asks you to listen to another rap, or read one more spoken word piece; eager to share of his inner self; his words; animated in disclosing what makes him tick, what he believes makes us all tick, in the pursuit of happiness in our lives.
A recent description of him as pelting bullets at us with his words in a Bakersfield Californian article shook him a little; he wasn’t sure if that was a positive or negative review. And there he emerges again: the demur guy, unsure of his powerful words and the audience reaction. Atiim Bomani Chenzira says he wants to shake you, punch you, rattle you with his words. And one minute, this self-confident rapper and spoken word performer is pounding some feeling into us, and then caressing us with his smooth, compelling, rhythmic words. Thought words, from love to violence, from struggle to acceptance. He is the essence of a performer, an artist; one minute, self-confident, the next, walking on the edge of uncertainty. And he radiates performance artist: there is not a moment that his moods aren’t revealed so clearly in his physical movements, actions, and face gestures. It is no wonder he makes the performance part look like a cinch.
The Cell was privy to discover Atiim at a reading recently, and was immersed in his performance, and the audience’s reaction. Atiim describes himself as “driven by dreams of becoming a rapper,” and explains his rapping-style growth has moved towards predominant and crucial pro-black and spiritual themes. The Cell describes Atiim as nothing short of a luminary looming on the horizon of the clouds of success. So sit back, open your ears, eyes and heart, and let the magnetic performer perform his magic in this up close and private interview with Bakersfield’s freshest rapper on the scene.

The Cell: Do you consider yourself a musician or a writer?

Atiim: A writer who writes for musical purposes is a musician, so I’m a musician. You can’t separate music from writing. Without writing a note they’re writing music. Most of my writing goes to beats that D-Jones writes. The music that he writes with his emotion, ideas and feelings, I try to match his music with my words and his ideas. Almost like a marriage; like American Sign Language and talking; writing with a pen, just in a different language.

The Cell: How long have you been in Bakersfield and what brought you here?

Atiim: I’ve been in Bakersfield since last August and . . . uh . . . my word . . . brought me here. I promised my wife I would follow her to Bakersfield if she would go to the Bay Area with me for three years. We actually only spent two years in the Bay Area together, though. I don’t have a problem with change, though. It gives me a chance to test one, my faith, two, my courage, and three, my ability to survive.

The Cell: What do you like most and least about being in Bakersfield? It is quite different than the Bay Area.

Atiim: Mostly I like the new experience, that’s basically everything even if it is negative. And least: starting all over again. Once I get comfortable, I get comfortable so it takes a whole lot to just pick up and jump.

The Cell: Describe your music for us.

Atiim: My music is who I am without . . . speaking. It’s like someone hears my CD and they appreciate my words or one line that reached them ; like they’re saying they appreciate who I am. And there are parts in me that I am unable to express like I would like, parts that I haven’t done. My music is a reminder of what I need to do. I threw away a rap book in 1989 because a DJ told my band that there was no market for rap. This was before Chris Cross came out. He said extinguish your dreams and be a man. He gave no room for growth. As soon as Chris Cross came out, I was disappointed that I allowed, that we allowed ourselves to give up. Almost like a distant lover, if I’m not able to spend time with a mic, not able to get closer to my dream, I don’t feel like I’m doing anything.

The Cell: What is your dream?

Atiim: You know I have this solid picture of where I’ll be when I’m able to give up my pursuit and let them keep it going. My dream is to get to that point; when I’m able to just cross my arms and say take me, I’m done. I’m planting as many seeds with my music . . .to be free through my expressions; to let the world see how I’ve grown as I’ve seen some grow; maybe not the whole world, but my world. I want to be respected by those in my world. It would hurt if those people didn’t respect me in my world, not that I need their respect. My dream is having complete access to a studio at any time so it is just as easy as writing a poem at any time; to go to the studio, record lyrics, whenever I want . . . it just sounds like I’m saying to be free.

The Cell: Who are your influences? Who do you respect? Who do you emulate?

Atiim: Three very different questions, but mistaken for the same.

The Cell: They’re not the same . . . but, I wanted to mix it up a little for you . . . challenge your answer.

Atiim: My father brought me up on so many different types of music. He introduced me to about 60% of the music. I appreciate a lot of artists. I’ve grown to appreciate a lot of different types. A couple of my friends I went to school with opened me to jazz, old R & R, Coltrane, especially the album Time. Joe Sample, always. Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of My Life. Whodini, although his brother’s work, his more political songs. His song “Friends” really made me want to make rap. There’s that one line always stuck with me. “You can look it up again and again, but the dictionary doesn’t have the meaning of friends.” I can’t forget Bob Marley, ya, Bob Marley. Music that let’s you be free. His music makes me at ease. Music, in general, that allows me to go to another place. Most recently, 2Pac; not all of his stuff; his more rational messages. But, like emulate . . . I grew up in Oakland, so I used to always wanna be Too $hort, not necessarily his message of wanting to be pimping. No matter what album he did, 90% was about being a player, but he did always have at least one song that was about liftin’ your head up. He always said sex sells, so that’s what he did, but there was always the message underneath and I believe that is who he was. He always said go to school. The thing that always caught me about Too $hort was his song “I Ain’t Trippin’”

The Cell: What did you go to college for?

Atiim: I went for a backup plan. Initially, I was torn between making it a backup plan or something I should go full force into. I went to be a pediatrician, first a gynecologist, then a pediatrician. I like working with kids and making lots of money.

The Cell: Where did you go to school? Did you finish?

Atiim: I went to Cal State Northridge, and ended up graduating with a Bachelors in African Studies . . . studies about Africans around the world. Then I went to San Francisco State and got a Bachelor’s in Sociology.

The Cell: Do you use your degrees?

Atiim: Not to make enough money, but I, yeah, I do use them to be a better person. Classes I’ve went through, people I’ve met, professors I’ve studied under; going through the whole process has taught me a lot. I’m a whole lot more calm than before I got interested in the cases. I was definitely cluttered with effects.

The Cell: I’ve been listening to some of your stuff and . . . umm . . . I’ve noticed a certain style, well two different styles: one where you’re smoother, melodic, mesmerizing and another where you have some powerful punches. I want to know: what are your goals with those methods, those styles?

Atiim: Excuse me . . . do you mind? (Atiim steps outside for a cigarette.) I feel like a brand new man.

The Cell: Do you?

Atiim: Ya. You know what: the different subjects bring out different expressions cause I can’t sweet talk anger and I can’t blurt out love.

The Cell: What do you have to be angry about?

Atiim: Whatever makes me be angry. I have a whole lot to be angry at; the way things don’t work out for me; things don’t work for others; blindness people express everyday. My best friend told me last night . . . he is on the same page as me, but sometimes he expresses it in words I couldn’t find before. Mind you, this is the only cat I know I can get in his face and bark, and he can to me, but underneath know that there is love. The trust remains and the love prevails. I would never lay a hand on that man; I love him too much. We sat and talked politics many of nights, poured out tears in frustration and anger, but more because we had to be patient with it. He said to me last night: relationships get mixed up over the small things, but if everybody would just let everybody just be themselves, instead of trying to change them into someone else. There wouldn’t be half as much conflict if people knew the best way to change someone’s idea would be to accept them for who they are; there wouldn’t be as much distance. The distance is just showing the inability to communicate, to show the right words. And that’s all I try to do; try to find the right words. I still have a whole lot further to go. I’m just getting good at it. I told him “practice makes perfect”, and he said no. He slapped that down. “No! No one’s perfect, practice makes better.” And that’s comforting. Preacher man . . . ya, that’s his name. (Atiim stops for a few seconds, reflecting; talking about the ants in the ground; how the sunset is taking him to another place. He is meditating on the sunset, the traffic, the wind in the leaves, all reminding him of the Bay.) He is talking about Cinderella; the story of acceptance, regardless of where you’re at. That’s my dream: to just be accepted.

The Cell: I used to live in Oakland, and I know it is a very different environment than Bakersfield. The pace is poles apart. I know that when I lived there, there was a big difference than being here. What was it like growing up there? Was there a big negative influence?

Atiim: Well, my uncle told me something: you put a bean in the middle of a table, table is round, and all that bean sees, knows, is just that table. The minute you take that bean and put it on that counter above that table, it can finally see what that table looks like. Going away, I’ve finally had that opportunity, to sit on my counter and see that table. The Bay Area is a very popular place and each city has its flavor. When I first went to Berkeley, I thought it was crazy. Then when I lived there, I appreciated the craziness, its freeness. San Francisco is a whole ‘nother world only connected by a bridge. When I went there it was so packed with people, it almost drowned me out.

The Cell: Yes, when I was living there I didn’t realize it. I came back to Bakersfield, and had to go up there for a few weeks. And San Francisco was so fast paced; I realized it after being away for a month. It was like being on drugs when I returned to the City, like speed. I don’t think you realize it while you are there.

Atiim: Naw, you don’t. So, it wasn’t rough growing up. I didn’t think about the process growing up. I got to look at it later. People, who grew up before me, gave me their quick fixes on things. Being a loner, I just didn’t deal with it. The rough part was defining and translating what I’ve learned to new experiences. That’s becoming easier. I left in ’94. Ya, there was a kind of shell shock. Let me tell you something about Oakland: to a young black kid, it is very familiar to me, comfortable. It wasn’t until I left Oakland that I realized that all the faces on the streets, in the stores, weren’t like me. That’s what got me interested in Sociology. The Bay Area is very diverse, but not mixed. Funkadelics, George Clinton and his crew, I think they call it Chocolate City. Chocolate Cities, places populated mostly by blacks. Oakland I’d definitely call a Chocolate City.

The Cell: Sounds sweet.

Atiim: Ya.

The Cell: So, are you bored?

Atiim: Bored? Ha Ha.

The Cell: Not with me? Ha Ha.

Atiim: Naw. I wouldn’t say bored. When I have the opportunity to enjoy company then I’m able to feel comfortable. It does my soul good; makes me feel comforted. I haven’t been bored, just trying to work through frustration; translating. It’s like driving the interstate 5 to San Francisco. At first the radio stations are fine, but as you go, they start to disappear; you’re tuning in each station to try to make it as clear as possible; get the static out.

The Cell: When I first met you, I heard you do some spoken word, some amazing spoken word. And I’ve heard your spoken word album. I even prefer it to your rap. Have you done any poetry slams, or do you want to? Or, do you just want to stick to, focus on, your rap?

Atiim: I want to stick with communication in any form. I am walking lightly in the spider web since this is not my city. If I could sing right now, I would. I want to express myself in any way I can. Some people can pick up an instrument and express themselves just like that. I don’t have an instrument, but I have words that I can use to express myself. But to answer your question, Hell, ya I want to do some slams.

The Cell: What are the names of your albums?

Atiim: In Pursuit of Happiness, released in 2002 is my rap album. And Life in Time is the spoken word CD; it is still being fine tuned, and isn’t released yet. I haven’t had a satisfactory release party for my album though.

The Cell: What does the future hold for you? What will it bring you?

Atiim: I know my dream will be fulfilled. My dream is gonna bring me to that complete happiness I envision. Ironically, my pursuit of happiness won’t be a pursuit in my life in time. Even the whole idea of pursuing happiness is almost ludicrous. Then, I’ll be able to relax; but in this system you almost have to pursue happiness. Make some money to do what we need to do, and then, do what we want to do. I’ll add this: all that I’m doing and want to do requires help. I can’t do any of this alone. I haven’t done any of this alone, so I think it is important that bridges don’t get burned.

The Cell: Period?

Atiim: Period!

For additional information, booking requests, or CD orders, contact Ridah Ridah Entertainment at 5324 San Pablo Ave. Emeryville, Ca. 94608 or Atiim Chenzira @ 510.593.4636 or Atiim@AtiimChenzira.com

For a look at 'The Cell' or a years subscription contact Charles Spencer at P.O. box 9764 Bakersfield, CA. 93389 and/or visit www.ViewTheCell.com

An Interview with Donnel Lester, poet from Bakersfield, California.

2005-10-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Listening to the Heart

An Interview with Donnel Lester, poet from Bakersfield, California.
(February 28, 2005)

Question: What prompted you to start writing poetry?

Donnel: I have enjoyed reading poetry over the last twelve year or more. I wrote an occasional poem but I wasn't aware of any inspiration to continue writing poetry. It wasn't that I didn't have inspirational moments, just that I didn't connect them with writing.

Much of the poetry that I was exposed to over those twelve years dealt with the hazards and joys of being male, the struggle for masculine identity, the paradoxes, the trials and celebrations of discovering the male mystique. I guess that was what drew me into poetry, a vehicle that took me to places in myself that I hadn't seen or appreciated before.

The poem "Free Flight" that appears elsewhere on this webasite was probably where I reached what is called "critical mass" in nuclear physics, the point of no return. I didn't know it at the time, but looking back on it now, something happpened that day from which there was no turning back. I had seen too much of myself to hide in denial.

Question: What was it about the poem "Free Flight" that drew you further into writing poetry?

Donnel: It was just three days after my birthday and my delightful wife told me she had a surprise birthday gift for me and we had to go to Solvang so she could give it to me. We drove into a valley back toward the mountains and my heart went wild when I saw the gliders at an airport, realizing my wife was giving me the gift I had longed for more than 25 years. I was going up in a glider!

Talk about a peak experience! I was that little kid with his first brand new bicycle for his birthday, just the right color with everything he wanted on it. Once we were released from the launch plane, we caught a thermal and rose up above the mountains where we could see the ocean, the whole valley and the town of Solvang. That was when the pilot said "It's yours now. You're the pilot" and for about twenty minutes we soared very close to heaven.

After the pilot landed the glider, I walked over to my wife who was waiting expectantly, perhaps wondering if the candor of my expression suggested that I was on drugs and why didn't my feet touch the ground when I walked? After about five minutes of describing my experience, I blurted out "I need to write now" and grabbed my notebook from the car and started writing. In less than twenty minutes I had written the poem, in essentially the same form as it is now. Before we left the airport I found the pilot and read the poem to him as a way of saying thank you, something I had already done a dozen times. I knew that we had seen the same thing, in the same way, when he asked me to send him a copy to put on his office wall. I heard a key turn inside me and I crossed a threshold; I didn't know it at the time but there was no going back

Question: When did you start to write poetry on a regular basis?

Donnel: A couple of months later I guess. My mother had died the month before that birthday and I had been keeping a grieving journal even before she died which I continued into the next year. The grief journal eventually morphed into my life journal. Then for some reason I stopped writing in it regularly and it faded into the background. I became restless and uneasy when the writing in my journal tapered off; I guess detached would be a good word to describe the exerience, detached from myself.

About the same time, my wife, amazing how she shows up at the right times, introduced me to a poetry mentor and coach. In her subtle and convincing way, my wife suggested that I attend a workshop series that Alexa was offering here in Bakersfield. The voice inside me said "go" and I did. In January the following year I went to another poetry writing workshop series and decided that I would write at least one poem a week for the remainder of that year. By the end of that year poetry had become part of the fabric of my life, and so I continue to write.

Question: Do you have a particular style of writing?

Donnel: Not really. I'm still exploring the possibilities of who I can be in poetic expression. If this works the way I think it does, I will always be open to new ways of expressing myself through writing, not unlike a painter who keeps experimenting with new styles of expression.

Question: Do you have plans to publish any of your poems?

Donnel: I'm not considering publishing anything at this point. I'm retired and write poems because it helps me to be a whole person. By whole, I mean emotionally and spiritually well. I think that is the purpose of writing and reading poetry, for personal wellbeing. Before there was psychotherapy there was poetry and all of the other creative means of expressions. I think everyone needs to have creative outlets where they bring the best of what lies within them into the world.... and it makes no diference what anyone else thinks of it either. I admire those who make a living writing poetry, sculpting or painting; it's risky business and I applaud them; it's just not something I'm interested in for myself.

___________________________________________________________________________________

There is nothing we must do. There is nothing we must have. There is nothing we must be. There is nothing we must know. However, it is important to remember that when it rains we can get wet and that fire burns.

COMING SOON!

2005-10-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

COMING SOON!

Interviewz with:

· Desi W.O.M.E. ~ organizer/ promoter / beautiful citizen.

· Divasonic ~ check out her muzik in the meantime (check the side bar).

· Groovus ~ How they came together to Groove Us.

· Russ Blaine of IZUM

· The 'FEEL REAL' Cafe & Restaurant in the Judah Beach District of San Francisco (great food and environment!).