Features

“I no longer want to make a record that launches 100 meaningless paragraphs,” David Berman says as he takes a sip of his tea. Wearing a rather stately cardigan over a button down oxford and carrying a pile of brightly colored folders tucked under his arm, Berman looks more like a college professor than a rock star. With this is mind, it seems only fitting that he would much rather talk about America’s history than his new album. Luckily the two are intertwined.

Angela S. - Taking The World By Storm

Angela Severiano, better known as Angela S. in the industry has come a long way on her own since moving to New York four years ago after receiving a development deal from Bad Boy Records. Raised in a humble background in South Florida by her Spanish Father and Swedish Mother, she discovered her love of creating music at the age of eight while playing the clarinet and piano. Although she is shy, the hunger for performing on stage burst out after her first appearance on the Mickey Mouse Club.

The Awakening

Frank Stokes is the unlikely leader and bassist of The Awakening. At first glance he looks as though he wandered away from a commune on a spirit journey circa 1972, got lost in Brooklyn and just decided to call it home. In reality, New York City has always been his home. He recalls his first live performance at a block party on 4^th and 53^rd in the early 1970s “I had a pawn shop bass and they let me plug in. When it was over, I went and found another block party.”

Kerli

With her long white hair, unique fashion sense, and powerful voice, everything about Kerli demands one’s attention. Critics have labeled her the “Estonian Pop Princess,” although she personally would rather defy categorization, and with her debut album, Love Is Dead, hitting stores July 8th she does just that. Beyond Race caught up with the “Walking on Air” singer to find out more about her home country, her lust for escapism, and why Love Is Dead took five years to make.

Over the past several years, writer/artist Alex Robinson has made a name for himself in independent comics. He has received Eisner, Harvey and Ignatz Awards for his work in Box Office Poison and Tricked for Top Shelf Comix. His new book, Too Cool To Be Forgotten, focuses on Andy Wicks, an adult who takes an unexpected trip back to his days in high school.

What is the premise of Too Cool To Be Forgotten?
It's about a guy who's middle-aged like myself. He wants to quit smoking, so he goes to get himself hypnotized, and it winds up sending him back to 1985, where he has to relive his own high school years.

What inspired the premise of the story?
I graduated from high school in 1987. Last year was my twentieth high school reunion, and I figured that was a good excuse to visit my high school years, examine why it looms so large. I seem to still see a lot of things in those terms, and I think of myself in that high school sort of fashion. I don't know if that's accurate anymore. It's like an art therapy project.

"When a person needs something, I would jump in to figure out how to make that happen. I try my best to provide," says Nando Rodriguez, co-director of Open Road Park, a park created by teens for teens. Walking into the park located on 12th Street, between 1st and A avenue, it takes a second to realize that there's about an acres worth of land devoted to recreational activity.

From basketball courts to skate ramps, greenhouses to BBQ spaces, graffiti events to music concerts, waterfalls to ponds, the park provides a playground for teens ages 13-18.

An intense graffiti event is going on outside on a Saturday afternoon where summer rain is unpredictable but the weather couldn't drive the participants away. White Ts soaked and all, they continued to spray-praint visual works of art on canvasses distributed throughout the basketball courts. A couple of teenagers are strewn around Rodriguez, who is patiently getting a haircut from his cousin in one of two heated greenhouses located in the park. Though he is restricted to minimal movement, he passionately discusses the birth of the park.

Read more...

<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next > End >>

Page 1 of 6

Popular