2019, the third year students of Willem De Kooning Academy had the honour to interview the curator of the Dutch National Museum of Photography Frits Gierstberg about the curation of the current exhibition “Sterke Verhalen” (Engl. Tall stories). This set of the inspiration for an ongoing series of interviews by Schroeder with various Artist all around the world.
The New Normal is The Nu Now. Hailing from the year 3000, Adrienne Coulter and Dylan Weberbauer form the yin and yang of a futuristic synthpop duo who have come back to the present with one message: It is vitally important for human beings to love each other. This is the core theme explored in their upcoming album Love All Ways and behind their latest music video Truth, which has already been featured on Radio Plus in The Netherlands and a compilation CD by German label Conzoom. The Nu Now create dynamic anthems infused with inspirational mantras which elevate the listener into a new dimension of consciousness. Powerful female vocals (think London Grammar, Adele, Florence Welch) soar atop intricate synth soundscapes (think Daft Punk, Royksopp, Pink Floyd) while the whole package is rounded out with driving beats to keep you moving and strikingly clear, innovative production that will keep you guessing and make you feel positively immersed in the universe of sound.
Braino and Harry Todd
Braino is a young artist based in Sydney Australia, who aims to create honest music. Blending a mix of classic rock, folk and punk sounds, Braino looks to create images of life and emotion within songs.
Rob whiskey and Big Badd wolf
This interview will be between two rappers based in two different parts of the world.
Rob Lenathen a.k.a Rob Whiskey Was born Sept, 21st,1984 In Toronto, Canada. Growing up as a young kid I he used to love listening to music, during the early years of his life he listened to all sorts of it. It was in fact, when his brother Pat recorded rap videos off a tv program called ” Rap City” back in the early 90’s and 2000’s, when Lenathen first caught interest in the rap culture. Still during this time, he still listened to a variety of genres such rap, dance, alternative, rock.. etc He states: “I would just play it as long as it sounded good”. Further Lenathen states, that his style was based and formed by the music of the 80’s 90’s and early 2000s hiphop. To name a few of his big inspirations such as: “Naughty By Nature”, “Tupac”, “Biggie”, “Fuschnickens”, “Wu-tang Clan”, “Big Pun”, “Fat Joe”, and last but not least 90ties legend: “Eminem”. All those artists influenced his style and shaped the way he creates and produces his music now. So, growing up a lot of different Genres influenced his style of music and over the years he thought to himself: “That’s pretty funny I can do that too”, especially when he first heard of Weird Al Yankovic and all the parodies that he had done. That motivated Lenathen around 4th grade, to start to write his own parodies of songs that I heard on the radio or seen on video countdowns. Years later in his teens, he got into battle rap and started competing against anyone and everyone; During that time everyone used to watch 106 and Park on the B.E.T Network ( Freestyle Friday ) so that influenced his rap style a lot over the years too. Later on in life; in his late teens and early 20’s his friends and him formed the rap group R.O.T a.k.a The Reign, We made a lot of songs, but had a fallen out with the independent record label that we were working with. Shortly after, during his mid 20’s, he started to compete in battle rap again. “I competed in several battle rap leagues like – KOTD, KOTD GZ, BeastMode,GotBars, Bang Out Battles.”, he states proudly. After taking a break from music for about 7 years Rob Lenathen aka Rob Whiskey, decided to build his own music production studio to create his own record label “OverProof Records.” During this time Lenathen worked on his debut album “The Whiskey Effect”, that I am introducing to you today. On September 21st 2019 Rob Lenathen, released “The Whiskey Effect” on all online platforms; Him and the other co-producers pressed up over 1000 copies of the album on to CD. These days he is still working on several different projects with other artists that are a part of the OverProof Records family. The next release from Lenathen’s label is – Raw B Snatch’s album – “The Art Of Raw”.
Bradley J. Billingsley, a.k.a. Big Badd Wolf is an aspiring artist out if Crowley, Texas. Growing up, he’s always had a deep love for music. His Grandmother had him scooting around her apartment while she would sing, and he loved listening to the radio while riding in the car with his parents. One thing he’s proud of is how expensive his taste in music is thanks to his parents. He took enough interest to become a percussionist in the school band from sixth grade, until his freshman year of high school. He wouldn’t create anything musically until after high school. Most of his creative skillset was in the visual medium. Sketching, photography, photo editing, architecture all kept Bradley using his artist muscles. He wrote his first song after a heartbreak in collage at University of North Texas. Once he decided that he wanted to start making music, he reconnected with some old drummer friends, and the recording in their duplex. Since then he has gone from studio, to studio, learning, and molding his craft. He recorded his first EP titled “Preface” at FSMG Studios in Arlington. Once they closed down, he eventually found Banger Boy Studio. There, he recorded his debut album “Careless Whispers” that dropped late last year, and has been making music there ever since. His new single “Bae (She’s All That)” releases at the end of this month, March 28th.
Interviewed by John Gómez, Cyril Keller and your homie SLUNI.
© Celina Schroeder Production, 2021 http://www.sluni.net
John Gómez
John Gomez is a writer from Bucaramanga, Colombia, with a master’s degree in philosophy from the Industrial University of Santander. He grew up in Bucaramanga, a city where apparently nothing happens, surrounded by family and university students.
John is also the director of the cultural platform “Alter Vox Media” and “Sátiro Press House”, founding partner of the “Cinicoteca Library”, and creator of the “National Trash Poetry Contest”. He obtained Mention of Honour in the International Contest Hacia Itaca 2017 (Mar del Plata, Argentina, 2017), winner of the 9th RCN-MEN National Short Story Contest (Colombia, 2015), finalist of the III La Cueva National Short Story Award (Colombia, 2014) and second place in the National Poetry Contest Café Con-verso Ciudad de Bucaramanga (Colombia, 2012). Loser in countless contests, awards and literary calls.
Author of XIII (2019), No te creas poeta (2019), Fantasmas (2020) and Baladas Baladíes (2020). He was part of the I and II International Poetry Encounter in Bucaramanga (Colombia, 2013-2014), the I International Emerging Poetry Encounter in Aculco, State of Mexico (Mexico, 2017), the XI Manizales International Poetry Festival (Colombia, 2020) and the VIII Festival Poetry of Fusagasugá (Colombia, 2020). He detests mafias around cultural institutions and dreams about the arrival of the end of the world.
In Spanish:
John Gómez es un escritor de Bucaramanga, Colombia, con una maestría en filosofía de la Universidad Industrial de Santander. Creció en Bucaramanga, una ciudad en la que nada pasa (aparentemente), rodeado por su familia y estudiantes universitarios.
John es el director de la plataforma cultural Alter Vox Media y la Editorial Sátiro, socio fundador de la Librería Cinicoteca y creador del Certamen Nacional de Poesía Basura John Gómez. Obtuvo mención de honor en el Certamen Internacional Hacia Ítaca 2017 (Mar del Plata, Argentina, 2017), ganador del 9° Concurso Nacional de Cuento RCN-MEN (Colombia, 2015), finalista del III Premio Nacional de Cuento La Cueva (Colombia, 2014) y segundo puesto en el Concurso Nacional de Poesía Café Con-verso Ciudad de Bucaramanga (Colombia, 2012). Perdedor en infinidad de concursos, premios y convocatorias literarias.
Autor de XIII (2019), No te creas poeta (2019), Fantasmas (2020) y Baladas Baladíes (2020). Hizo parte del I y II Encuentro Internacional de Poesía en Bucaramanga (2013-2014), el I Encuentro Internacional de Poesía Emergente en Aculco, Estado de México (2017), el XI Festival Internacional de Poesía de Manizales (2020) y el VIII Festival de Poesía de Fusagasugá (2020). Detesta las mafias alrededor de las instituciones culturales. Sueña con la llegada del fin del mundo.
Clara Robolio
Clara is a design student originally form North Italy, but based in Sweden. She grew up in a small village not far from the Alps, but she always felt like traveling and to find her way somewhere else. She always had a passion for drawing, painting and photography, but during her high school years she started considering what she wanted to do after, at the time she was studying foreign languages, but she realised that art was something she just didn’t want to keep as passion and she felt to bring it back to life, in her life. After graduation she took a gap year and traveled around Europe she had the chance to have time to go back to be creative again, exploring digital drawing.
Now she is a visual communication student in a Swedish university and she is getting into graphic design, typography and digital illustration and infographics. Her statement is: I really like to create posters and graphics that could end up on t shirts or other products. In fact she started making some customised t shirts with her graphics for family and friends but she thinks she should start taking it to another level. Her art is principally abstract, photo collages and but also vapour wave inspired, a sort of modern and vintage look combined, however her style is yet to be defined. She thinks that, creative art styles always evolve with time and practice.
ilona Mrgole
Ilona is a visual artist, using photography as a tool of expression. She grew up in Slovenia surrounded by mountains and wild forests, in a family that cherishes nature and passes on the love for it from generation to generation.
That is why her creative and calm soul is most alive when it is in tune with nature and everything connected to it. Because Ilona is currently living in a city, Rotterdam, she senses a lack of connection in the people around her with the natural world. This prompted her to share the sparkle she has for natural beauty, so perhaps they might discover it within themselves. She also values emotional connection, respect and freedom all themes that Ilona explores through photography. She strongly believes that these are our basic needs for survival.
Jeff Yang
Jeff Yang is an artist based in Shanghai (China). The inspiration for his realistic drawings and jewellery designs, he takes form different cultural influences; it is not only his Chinese heritage that inspires and shapes his design, but also the various countries he has lived and studied art at, such as the Netherlands and England.
During this interview, I will ask Jeff Yang specifically to tell us about the differences of the art scenes of these countries and how they had impacted him. I would also like to find out what relevance his Chinese roots play, when creating new designs. This will be a very interesting interview, since the Chinese art scene seems to be somewhat isolated from the art scene of the rest of the world. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and I want to thank Jeff Yang for this chance to get to know about the Chinese art scene out of first hand.
Maria Storgaard
Maria Storgaard is a Danish tax consultant who favours the art scene and finds a lot of inspiration in painting especially. During this talk, I will interview Maria Storgaard about the Danish art scene specifically and what she views as valid benefit to society of the creative industry. We will also talk about Painting vs Photography based on the viewers experience and I will let her ask question about my work to me.
It will be an interesting talk, because we will try to connect “the art bubble” called creative industry with the experience of the viewer and find common grounds. This will be a talk, where two people from totally different industries discourse with each other in a respectful way about their industries.