Project Famous Issue 8 - Kay Laurent

GUERRILLA THRIFTER’S FRUGAL FALL FASHION • SON CONTRABANDO

SEPTEMBER 2013 | p ro jec t famous .com

008No.

Kay LaurentThe artists of RAW MADISON inEn Masse

On Her Way to “Better Days”

THE WAITING ROOM

•Madison’s48-HOURFILM

PROJECT

http://www.qualityfurnituremadison.com

Editor in Chief JOEY BROYLES

Managing Editor KELLY LAJTER

Ar ts Editor CHRISTY GRACEFashion Editor ADELINE PECK

Music Editor KAREN WHEELOCK

Copy Editors DANNY ATWATERABIGAIL BROWNNICK HOLSTON

ANTHONY ARLOTTA

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Contributing Writers48-HOUR FILM PROJECT FILMMAKERS

ALLAN O’CONNOROLIVIA CLAIRE

Contributing PhotographersAdeline Peck

Bradlee Ber tram | BMB GraphicsCar la Franco

Elizabeth WadiumJason OckerOdari KimaniPeter F. CastroWiliam Randos

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Project Famous, LLC. | PO Box 6292, Madison, WI 53716Letters to the editor, advertising opportunities, and all other questions, please email [email protected]

PROJECTFAMOUS.COM© 2013 All Rights Reserved.

September 2013 Issue 008

SEPTEMBER 2013

FEATUREKay Laurent

35

On Her Way to “Better Days”by Karen Wheelock

Photography by Peter F. Castro

SEPTMEBER 2013

FASHIONthe artsB E H I N D T H E

S C E N E S

Frugal Fall Fashionby Adeline Peck

The 2013 48-Hour Film Projectby Kelly Lajter

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07

17

31

Editor’s Letter

45

49

53

57

The Waiting Roomby Jacob Nelson

Meet the Artists of RAWby Christy Grace

IPG SUBMISSIONS

Paul Christianson

Making a Mint – The Spinning Gyre

MUSICSon Contrabando

by Allan O’Connor

T A K E T H EF I R S T S T E PHow To Market Yourself

by Olivia Claire

Do you write poetry ?

Short stories ?

Submit your poetry andshort stories here.

Project Famous Magazineis searching for artistsready to show theirtalent to the world!

Submit your

poems and

short stories

to

[email protected]

Letter from the Editor

The time ofchange is ap-proaching, as theleaves fade intonew colors we bidadieu to summer.Kay Laurent, ourcover girl, is no

stranger to shedding newcolors. Not too long ago, this beautiful woman wassinging the national anthem in the studio of RedDragon TV and now she is singing her own song“Better Days.” Kay is shopping for a band, so if youare looking to play a gig with stunning talent, I rec-ommend Kay Laurent.

You may notice we sent our Beauty sectionout for a well-needed spa treatment just in time forHalloween. Fear not beauty lovers! Good things arejust around the corner for all things spooky. GuerrillaThrifter is truly at her best this month with FrugalFall Fashion; check that dress out on page 15 –breathtaking. True, we are not in NYC, but GuerrillaThrifter has something just as fashionable for thefraction of the cost.

Revisiting Madison’s 48-Hour Film Project(Behind the Scenes page 17) showing you some ofthe participating teams from this summer’s chaoticfilm event. Full lists of the winners and some addi-tional information from several film companies inour Madison area are listed. Olivia Claire debuts herfirst article giving you some sound advice “How ToMarket Yourself” in our Take The First Step. Oliviais a go-getter and brings out the best in many of us,including myself. There isn’t a moment where Oliviaisn’t busy doing something glorious!

I’d like to thank the volunteer staff of ProjectFamous Magazine who spend countless hours col-lecting interviews, organizing photo shoots, takingpictures, copy editing, and networking. You make allthe difference to our readers. An interesting thingabout this magazine: I do a majority of the layout

that consumes many hours of my life. The constantjuggle of having a real job, coordinating schedules,being a performer, and running this magazine is noteasy. But nothing should ever be easy! This issuewas a welcoming change as our Managing Editor,Kelly Lajter helped with layout. When you seeKelly tell her what a lovely job she did with thisissue.

It’s no secret that a lot of the people wecover in this magazine happen to be our friends or afriend of a friend. However this magazine isn’t justa friend’s magazine. We strive to cover local inde-pendent artists and if you know someone whoshould be in this magazine please don’t be shy. Anyindependent artist living in Madison should be inthis magazine. We want our readers to know aboutall sorts of artists and there are no boundaries: anyart by any independent creative being should be inthis magazine. We don’t do reviews; we tell positivehuman-interest stories and spread awareness aboutthe artist and their journey.

Personally, I have found a lot of my “letterfrom the editor” letters to be very standard andthat’s about to change. Obviously if you downloadthe magazine you are looking to read about artists.And as lovely as my monthly summaries can be, Ifind them to be only half acceptable of an art maga-zine. I don’t intend to make this my personal journalas my life already overlaps in this magazine: ieProject Famous Films, Project Famous Collective,and my music. But I do want you to get to knowme, Joey Broyles, as the independent artist workingjust as hard as the rest of you. Starting next month ifyou want to know what you should read about inProject Famous Magazine please check out ourtable of contents. I believe my job as Editor in Chiefis to voice my own creativity and wisdom, so staytuned for a brand new page 6. Enjoy our beautifulSeptember issue and we’ll see you soon Superstars.

Page 6 Make Over

PROJECTFAMOUS.COM | SEPTEMBER 2013 6

FASHION

7

Frugal FALL Fashion

Guerrilla ThrifterFROM:

Hello Fashion Friends! Did summer fly by yet again this year? The sad-ness of summer ending is quickly turned around with the thought of Fall Fash-ion. And Frugal Fall Fashion at that! I felt inspired to share my favorite threefall looks. Guerrilla Thrifter is sporting fall’s newest “neutral:” red, knee high’sand animal print. Savor fall and all it has to offer. Be inspired by the changingcolors. Show a little leg, and by all means rock that animal print! Here’s toconfidence in clothing without breaking the bank!

BY ADELINE PECK

Photography ADELINE PECKModel ADELINE PECK


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Knee High in Paisley• Black Knee High Socks - Walgreens $0.99

• GAP Paisley Multi-Colored Shorts - Bethezda’s $2.99

• GAP Black Jersey Tee - St. Vinny’s $5.99

• Resin Cat Pin - Esty.com $9.99


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Red-y For Fall• Express Black Pencil Skirt - Goodwill $3.99

• Black Jersey Top - Goodwill $2.99

• Level 99 Red Linen Blazer - Re-Threads $7.99

• Vintage Red and White Espadrilles - Saver’s $11.99

FASHION

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Lean Mean Animal Print• Hearts Taupe Matte Jersey Cut-Out Dress - T.J. Maxx $16.99

• Gold-tone Black Enamel Leopard Cuff Bangle - St. Vinny’s $3.99

BEHIND THE SCENESThe 2013 Madison 48-Hour Film Project

**The Winners**The Noize by Firmament Films:

Best Cinematography, Best Directing, Best Graphics, Best Ensemble Acting, Best Film, Audience Favorite Group B

D by Project Famous:Best Editing, Best Sound Design, Best Use of Genre, Runner Up for Best Film

For Better Or For Worse by Public Image Media: Best Use of Character, Best Use of Line, Best Writing, Audience Favorite Group A

Rebecca Parmentier for Balance by Madison Media Independent:Best Actress

Kleptos by Filament Games:Best Choreography

Better Off Bread by Nice Melons Films:Best Costumes

Take It From Me by Drywater Productions:Best Musical Score

The Cure by Ai Wisconsin Team 1:Best Special Effects

Sleptomania by Oven Mitt Productions and Nicked by Grey Army:Best Use of Prop [tie]

by Kelly Lajter and Contributing Filmmakers

very year the48-Hour FilmP r o j e c tcomes toMadison and

challenges local filmmakers tocreate a film within 48 hours.The competition is one that hasvery specific rules, regulationsand other various specificationsthat must be considered. On topof the technical specs, filmsmust be within four to sevenminutes, each film must includefour elements within the film,and here’s the fun part- thegenre for each team is notknown until one hour beforefilmmaking can begin.

This means that teamscan brainstorm ideas prior to thecompetition weekend, but themeat and potatoes that go into ascreenplay cannot be imaginedfully until all of the pieces of the48-Hour Film Project puzzlecan be put together. For all film-

makers, the challenge comes asa welcome guest for this oneweekend. This year, 27 teamsformed to compete in the projecton July 19-21.

The elements necessaryto be used in the films were:Prop- Pillow, Character name-Sylvia or Sinclair Vandermint,Occupation- Kleptomaniac, andLine- “Forget everything I justsaid.” Again, all teams had toincorporate these pieces intotheir film or risk disqualificationfor awards if the elements werenot included. Each city has itsown winners, as well as an in-ternational winner being chosenfrom all contending cities.

Madison teams were in-vited to two screenings- GroupA and Group B- at SundanceCinema the week following thefilm deadline. Then, a coupleweeks later, all teams were in-vited to the High Noon Saloon

for the award ceremony. No onehad any idea who the winnerswould be until they saw theirfilm screened a potential secondtime on the High Noon’s projec-tion screen. This was an excit-ing way to showcase the “BestOf Madison” and after thescreenings, the winners were an-nounced.

The following pageswill give you a glimpse of thefilms that were included in the“Best Of,” several of the actualaward winners, and even somefilms that did not win anything,but still deserve an honorablemention in this feature. Beingon one of the teams, I am happyto share these with you, and Iam thankful to all those teamsthat shared their experienceswith me too. So sit back, relaxand enjoy the accounts of 48 ofthe coolest hours of a very hotweekend.

E


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THE TEAMSGROUP A

TEAM NAME FILM TITLE GENRE TEAM LEADERDrywater Productions Take It From Me Drama Stephen PickeringGrocery Boy Entertainment The Pillow of Ultimate... Fantasy Derek FriederichMaxout Productions Dead Man's Hand Mystery John JesudasonNice Melons Films Better Off Bread Thriller/Suspense William LoperNorth Grant Productions Preeminent Woman Superhero Mike StalsbergOven Mitt Productions Sleptomania Martial Arts Chris LangPelican Birds of a Feather Crime/Gangster Rick JacobsProject Famous D Horror Ben WydevenPublic Image Media For Better Or For Worse Buddy Film Gregory KuperScreening Mad Turtle Soup Mistaken Identity Tim BrubakerTBD Studios Panic Dark Comedy Clayton KellerThe Spinning Gyre Making a Mint Comedy Sarah Hesch

GROUP BTEAM NAME FILM TITLE GENRE TEAM LEADERAi Wisconsin Team 1 The Cure Superhero Rubin WhitmoreEpic Film Crew The Girl In the Yellow Dress Drama Alex NelsonFilament Games Kleptos Comedy Dan WhiteFirmament Films The Noize Mistaken Identity Chris MoehrFriends WithOUT Benefits The Way To A Man's Heart Romance Garrick HollenbeckGeoff Lafayette Productions Sleep Tight Horror Geoffrey LafayetteGrey Army Nicked Thriller/Suspense Brian ListonHISENG COW Foul Play Crime/Gangster Frances AuldInfinity Squared Follow Your Heart Dark Comedy Brian KaufmanMadison Media Independent Balance Fantasy Alex KudrnaSecondhand Cinema Our Brother's Vacation Vacation Joey SabaniSeven Dutchmen KL3P-2 Sci Fi Jamison StokdykStudio 88 Hinged Buddy Film Sam SorensonTrezyTV Grandmother Bear Film de Femme Trezy PeeblesZ Productions Baggage Romance Kristopher Zimmerman


Firmament Films – The Noize – 6 AwardsWritten by Chris Moehr and T.C. DeWitt

Team Members:Candace OstlerChad HalvorsonChris MoehrJon KlineKris SchulzT.C. DeWittDirected by: Kris Schulz & T.C. DeWittScreenplay by: Kris Schulz & T.C. DeWittMemorable Moment: Some memorable mo-ments came when we put our editor, ChadHalvorson, in front of the camera to riff as a radioDJ opposite Candace Ostler. They really broughtlife to those characters. We also had the pleas-ure of working with Backflip Films, whose graph-ics and credits treatment really polished off ourfilm. Troublesome Moment: The most troublingissue occurred when our audio clean-up soft-ware changed our sound to the wrong bit rate,making everything run at 95% speed and throw-ing off the whole film. Fortunately, we were ableto solve that problem with time to spare.

Also, while we were preparing to film thestunt with Oliver getting hit by the Prius, two po-lice cars rolled up. Being a 48, most filming isdone guerrilla-style, and one of the neighbors inthe area we were filming must have gotten a lit-tle nervous watching a group of weird strangerswith cameras prepare to hit a guy on a kid's bike.The cops were perfectly reasonable. ProducerChris Moehr explained the 48, and they left with-out another problem.Total time filming: 20 hours

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Photos courtesy of Firmament Films

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Project Famous – D – 4 AwardsWritten by Ben Wydeven

Team Members:Adam WilliamsBen WydevenBryan RoystonElisabeth SchrimpfEric SwierczekErik WittEvan ParquetteJacob NelsonJeff BlankenshipJoey BroylesJosh SchmoockKaren WheelockKatrina KingKelly LajterLee ColtNate BjorkNathan LoweNick HolstonSarah ThompsonDirected by: Ben WydevenScreenplay by: Joey BroylesMemorable Moment: When we picked the Hor-ror genre, I knew were going to have a blast.Joey, our writer, secluded himself in a dark roomin my basement and wrote most of the film him-self. Around 11pm we gathered in my room to goover the script and make changes.

I felt like having a solo writer worked, es-pecially in the case of the horror genre. Joeycame up with a great story involving somethingI’ve never thought I’d do: a woman (in this case,our production manager, Kelly Lajter) in a thongand pasties covered in lots of blood.

One of my favorite memories of thatweekend was coming home after shooting thefinal scene. It was somewhere around 3am onSunday morning. As I was editing a rough cut ofthe scene we had just shot, approximately sixpeople slept in my bed, a few of them watchingme edit on a dual monitor.

But my absolute favorite moment waswhen we won Best Editing, Best Sound Design,Best Use of Genre (Horror) and Runner-Up forBest Film. I was sitting next to Joey when Sierra(Shea) said the name of our film (onstage at theHigh Noon for the awards ceremony). I grabbedJoey’s shoulder and dragged him with me tothestage. The rest is a blur.

Troublesome Moment: We lost an SD card. Buteven without that, we still got our film edited.There were also some wasp stings at one of ourlocations. Thankfully, no one was allergic.Total time filming: 17 hours

Photos courtesy of Ben Wydeven


Public Image Media – For Better Or ForWorse – 4 AwardsWritten by Greg Kuper

Team Members:Aaron VeachAndrew TutenDale MitchellGreg KuperJarrod CrooksJesse PooleKarissa SimyabKatrina SimyabKaylyn StatzaMaurice PulleyNate HabanRenada PulleyWendy SimyabDirected by: Greg Kuper and Jarrod CrooksScreenplay by: Greg Kuper, Jarrod Crooks andKatrina SimyabMemorable Moment: I thought it was funnywhen Jarrod and Katrina posted photos of them-selves as bride and groom on Facebook and alot of people thought they actually got married.Troublesome Moment: We were very happy towork with Nate Haban and use his Red EpicCamera. For those of you who don’t know, aRed Epic is a Hollywood-grade camera. It shootsin 5k, which is very nice. Well, 5k footage equalsenormous files, which take a lot of time to renderand sometimes it lags quite a bit when editing. Inaddition, the files all had to be converted be-cause our editing software is a little old anddidn’t accept Red files. I wish everyone wouldjust use the same file types. It would end a lot ofheadaches in post.Total time filming: 9.5 Hours

Photos courtesy of Public Image Media


Madison Media Independent – Balance – 1AwardWritten by Alex Kudrna

Team Members:Alex Kudrna Champ RobinsonDan PhillipsEric LarsenMatt BlackwoodMike PratskiNathan ClaryNathan HaberkornRay IbsenRebecca Parmentier Sam GaudetSarah DopfSean LittleTrevor TriggsDirected by: Alex KudrnaScreenplay by: Sean LittleMemorable Moment: The best memory duringfilming is the "reaping" scenes, finding ways forour actress to kill people. All in all it was a greatexperience to work with an awesome team andsee what it is like to put a whole film together in48 hours. This is the first year that everyone onthe team has participated in the event and wewill be back next year. Troublesome Moment: The only trouble we hadis at 3pm Sunday afternoon. We found out wewere two minutes over the seven-minute timelimit and had to cut out those minutes to get usback on time. This was a tedious mistake thatshould have been watched more closely so wedid cut it so close to the end. Total time filming: 23 hours***Reflecting on her win as Best Actress***Written by Rebecca Parmentier

On the first night of the 48 Hour Film Proj-ect, I was driving back from Chicago in a thun-derstorm, feeling increasingly apprehensiveabout making it back to Madison to act in Bal-ance. I felt equally split between returning to thepositive, nurturing workshop I was leaving inChicago, and the emotional struggle of exploringsuch a dark character in a production with uncer-tain results. I called all my closest family andfriends and was gently urged to continue drivingand proceed outside of my comfort zone,through the pouring rain, late at night, not even

that I had the capability to play the role. When Iarrived on scene around 1:30am, I was in anangry mood. I apologetically warned the crewthat I was grumpy. They all just smiled and en-couraged me to go with it.

During the forty-eight hour period I slepttwice, four to five hours each time. Given the in-tensity of the character and my driving experi-ence the first night, playing the part of Sylviawas shockingly energizing. If Balance was madeinto a feature film I would like to explore thischaracter more fully and see all the team mem-bers get to have their creative visions fleshedout more completely.

My favorite part of filming Balance wasfully committing to the character. There is a greatpower in pretending, a power we all have to con-vince ourselves that something is true or real. Itfelt great to channel my emotional energy intothe character of Sylvia.

Photos courtesy of Madison Media Independent

The Spinning Gyre - Making a Mint Written by Sarah Hesch

Team Members:Alissa KulinskiAmy ThorstensonBrandon GrinsladeBri MuellerCarl Burgess Chris SnappKyle AustinMarcin TaszSarah HeschTim TowneDirected by: Sarah Hesch & Amy ThorstensonScreenplay by: Sarah Hesch & Amy Thorsten-sonMemorable Moment: My favorite memories

were filming in the Dream Bank in downtownMadison. We had the whole place to ourselvesand the scenes we filmed there were some ofmy favorites (the "Christmas party" scene andsmearing the lipstick on Alissa's face were par-ticularly fun).Troublesome Moment: At the end of our time atDream Bank, we had to shoot an exterior shot ofa building for the opening of the film. And ofcourse, as we were walking over to the buildingit started to rain. Not pour, but just sprinkleenough to be seen on film and spot up the lens.We had to cram ourselves and the camera underthe tiniest awning known to man and wait for agood fifteen minutes before the rain let upenough for us to get the shot. It was the mostdifficult thing we ended up shooting all day - astatic, silent shot of the building’s exterior.Total time filming: 9-10 hours

Photos courtesy of The Spinning Gyre


Nice Melons Films – Better Off Bread – 1 AwardWritten by Wil Loper

Team Members:Dustee HardyJosh HeathWil Loper

Directed by:Wil Loper and Dustee Hardy

Screenplay by: Wil Loper and Dustee HardyMemorable Moment: Our best memory waseasily shoving Josh Heath’s face deep into aplate full of small curd cottage cheese. This waseven more hilarious since Josh is lactose intoler-ant. Also, hearing gunshots from somewherewithin the woods we were shooting added a

wonderful sense of excitement and suspense toour film-shoot.Troublesome Moment: We shot in the deepwoods and made sure to forget to bring any bugspray, so by the end of filming we each hadabout 892 and a half mosquito bites. It made giv-ing a convincing performance really difficultwhen a mosquito was draining our blood at thesame time.

We also forgot the tripod head, so every-thing had to be handheld. Only having threepeople total can be very tricky, especially whentwo are actors and a third needs to play Larry(the giant white monster). Oftentimes one of usis running camera, and one or both actors areholding a light, bounce card, and/or shotgun mi-crophone at once.Total time filming: 6 hours

Photos courtesy of Nice Melon Films

Infinity Squared - Follow Your HeartWritten by Brian Kaufman

Team Members:Brian KaufmanDavid PedersonElizabeth WadiumHannah BarryKimberly KaufmanMary BettsMatt KordaMeghan RoseSimone LaPierreTrent MendezWill SealeDirected by: Brian KaufmanScreenplay by: Brian Kaufman, Kimberly Kauf-man, Mary Betts, Matt Korda and Will Seale,with songs by Meghan RoseMemorable Moment: Although the producershad heard it earlier in the day, we saved playingthe completed song until a bit later in the night (Ibelieve after we had wrapped two locations) sothat it would serve as an energy boost to thecrew and actors. It really worked. The song isamazingly catchy, and although the content is in-creasingly dark, the bubbly tone is so much fun!

Similarly, the first time I saw the excellentprop work creating the bloody heart... it was re-ally convincing, even on set where you couldwalk up and touch it. Simone really camethrough with the blood effects! There had beentalk of contacting a butcher friend for a realcow's heart and when I saw the prop, I thoughtthey'd actually gone through with it! Troublesome Moment: We started brainstorm-ing ideas at about 8pm. We had some greatideas, but none quite worked. Either they didn'twork with the time limitation on the film or theywere perhaps a bit too dark, even for a darkcomedy. So at 3:00am we were without a script,without even an idea for the script, and we hadactors expecting to show up in the morning toshoot. Finally, Matt came up with a simple solu-tion - we can tell a simple story, but we tell it likea bard's tale - in song.

Once we had that framework, the ideascame pretty quickly, and we were able to getdown the outline of the story before getting tobed around 4:30am.Total time filming: 14 Hours

Photos by Elizabeth Wadium


Photos by Elizabeth Wadium

Photo by William Randos

Oven Mitt Productions - SleptomaniaWritten by Chris Lang

Team Members:Chris Lang Corey FerrisDarla CourtneyMax Wegmann Melissa DonlinRicardo Rodríguez RamírezDirected by: Chris Lang Screenplay by: What really makes the 48 HourProject fun is the collaboration. Everyone con-tributed something to the final project.Memorable Moment: We always love pullingrandom people off of the street to get them in-volved in the shoot. Chris was able to hit sev-eral people with a pillow, including a pastor,bagpiper, bird handler and busker. That opportu-nity only comes along once in a lifetime.Troublesome Moment: This was the smoothest48 year for us. We had minor technical issuesand Chris woke up later Saturday morning thanhe planned…leading to that infamous realizationthat we had a day left to work and not much toshow for it yet.Total time filming: 8-10 hours

Drywater Productions - Take It From MeWritten by Stephen Pickering

Team Members:Aaron Williams Cameron PickeringFrank Purrino Jacob Cullum Jason Johnson Jeremy Heesen Jesica Altmann Jim LykeJoshua Vincent Phil Cooper Stephen PickeringDirected by: Stephen PickeringScreenplay by: Cameron Pickering, FrankPurrino, Jim Lyke and Stephen PickeringMemorable Moment: An interesting fact is thatwe didn't actually start filming until nearly 5pmon Saturday due to actor's (and locations) avail-ability... That really hurt us! Then by Sundaymorning (about 5am) we were all so delusionalthat takes were taking three times as long andlooking horrible... So we reshot a few shots onSunday about 1pm. Troublesome Moment: Well, we lost a card withsome of out footage on it which really wasn'tgood. We also ran into a glitch during final ex-port which required us to re-edit it in the car onthe way to Madison which gave us only 5 min-utes to spare when we handed it in. That cut it alittle close.

I also found out several days later thatone of the outside scenes we shot was actuallyin the midst of some kind of poison ivy or some-thing. Thankfully my actors stayed on the pathwhile I walked off the path to get the shots. Iended up going to Urgent Care later in the weekwith swollen legs and nasty, discolored and blis-tered legs... Next time I'll make the actors walkoff the path while I stay on it.Total time filming: 12 hours

Photos courtesy of Oven Mitt Productions PROJECTFAMOUS.COM | SEPTEMBER 2013 30

TAKE THE FIRST STEP

his article is ded-icated to thereader who has avision for them-selves and theirart. How you’regoing to get thereis not certain, but

what is known is your passion,and where you want to see your-self as an artist. If you feel a burnin your chest when you thinkabout performing, painting,singing, composing, designing,sculpting or anything that pulls theinner creative genius out of youand lays it out for all to see… Thisprose is dedicated to you.

You have a vision and youhave a gift. So, how do you set thegears in alignment to start thechurning of your dream engine?And more importantly, is it goingto be worth the energy, the some-times nervous feelings, the possi-ble failure and potential setbacks?

It’s very likely that youhave a picture of the “Mountain ofSuccess” in your mind. Bleak,

wispy clouds linger up at the coldshadowy peak, far, far away.There you stand at the bottom,looking up. You steadily, slowly,thoughtfully begin the climb:bruising your knees, going with-out food and rest for days… alone.Only the higher powers knowyour struggles, and you keep themto yourself because there’s no onearound who can even start to un-derstand the journey you’re on.

Stop the film roll please!Let’s add some sunshine, somefriends, some good food and a tonof humor. Now that sounds like aparty! Each person has their ownpersonal mission and each hastheir own set of strengths that theybring to the entourage. And itworks. No doubt, people will falland injure themselves, have set-backs, and maybe even cause anavalanche or two, but at leastyou’ve got some company!

What we’re talking abouthere is realizing that if you wantto grow with the gifts you’ve got,it’s going to require involvement

with other people. I’m not sayingyou have to be a “people person”per se, or even an extrovert. Butyou have to at least be able to rec-ognize that without other people,there would be nobody to appreci-ate your work, to promote you tothe ever-growing network of suc-cessful artists in this world, oreven to potentially invest in yourart. For you audio learners out there,your homework assignment is tolisten to the songs that title each ofthe below sections. I’ve includedthem with hope that they can bringyou some inspiration, as some-times words alone aren’t enoughto move someone to action.

Step 1: “Leave House”- Caribou

As a very first step forsomeone who’s seriously lookingat making their art a big part oftheir future, I would highly en-courage you to get out of yourcomputer chair and go interactwith some human beings in the

TMarketing Yourself

by Olivia Claire

31

flesh.Jazz vo-calist legendElla Fitzgerald once said, “It isn’twhere you came from, it’s whereyou’re going that counts.” Checkout some groups on meetup.com,go to some music shows, attendsome art openings, support afundraiser in your field of inter-est… but for goodness sake, leaveyour home! We all have this thingcalled a comfort zone. You mayhave also heard that right outsideof your comfort zone are yourdreams and aspirations. Many ofus find the most comfort at homeand it can be very easy to getsucked into the cycle of frustra-tion; you have a great idea, youthink about doing it, then youchoose “Dancing with the Stars”over real dancing, with real music,sweating real sweat.

In the big picture, if youreally do expect to be a successfulartist, it may eventually involveinvestment of your time and somemoney in things like booths at artfairs or showcasing your work ata community fundraiser. But howincredibly daunting is this, if youhaven’t even stepped out to bearound the people who are doingsimilar work as you? If you’veever taken a psychology classyou’ve probably heard of the term“systematic desensitization.” Thebasic idea is that if you have afear, one of the ways to get over

that fear is to consistentlytake baby steps in expos-

ing yourself to the verything that scares you.And if you have beendreaming of sharingyour art with theworld, first go andget around someother artists. It willmake the wholeprocess much moreenjoyable and a lot

less scary.

Step 2: “Lively UpYourself”- Bob Marley

Whether we like it or not,every person who we encounter aswe journey through life will makean initial judgment about us whenwe first meet them. After the firstimpression, we may potentiallyhave the opportunity to changethat perception… but what ifwe’re not given that opportunity?In marketing ourselves and ourwork, it’s very important to startdeveloping what’s called your“public persona.” Your public per-sona shouldn’t be a different per-son than you. In fact quite theopposite; your public personashould be the essence of you. Howdo you want people to feel whenthey meet you? How do you wantto be remembered? Do you givethe impression of yourself that youwant to give? Does your appear-ance match the image you want toportray?

Developing our publicpersona is something that takeswork, time, and a lot of love andpositive attention to each of us.Your ability to impact peoplewhen you first meet them isstrongly correlated with self-image, and having a healthy self-image is not automatic. Startworking things into your daily lifethat make you feel good. Doesspending time with your family ordoing some sun salutations reallyimprove your potential for success

in your field of work? I wouldventure a guess that choosing togo to your Grandma’s 90th birth-day party may bring you betterkarma than opting for a night ofbinge-drinking. You get the idea.

Step 3: “Give It Away”- Red HotChili Peppers

I hope I don’t spoil any-one’s dream here, but when you’refirst getting your feet wet in yourfield of interest, it’s very likelythat a lot of the work you do maynot immediately put coin in yourpocket. Keep your day job, butstart getting excited about doingthe work of your art. You areplanting seeds and seeds cansometimes take a long time togrow. But the more we do thework, the sharper our axe gets andthe more valuable our abilities be-come. Offer your services whenopportunity arises, be good foryour word and get pumped aboutthe sweat equity you’re buildingup.

And finally, when you seeor experience great art that movesyou… spread the word. Don’tkeep your appreciation to your-self. Follow the Golden Rule andmarket for others as you wouldwant them to market for you.Quality work deserves to be ac-knowledged; the more we give,the more we receive.

In winding down, I wantto remind the reader that there isno packaged deal for effectivemarketing in the art world. At theend of the day, it’s the energy andtime devoted to customizing andcrystallizing your art that is trulythe most important factor of all.No tip or recommendation willever outweigh the birth of a truemasterpiece. So keep your pencilssharpened, your banjo stringstuned, your kilns fired up andready; let’s get out there and makesome good art happen!


Sky Road Fly CD Release at the InfernoPhotos by Captured Light and Motion Photography

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On Her Way to “Better Days”

KAY LAURENT

by Karen WheelockPhotography PETER F. CASTRO

itting across from meat a local coffee shopis a small-framedwoman with a giantvoice, Kay Laurent. Ifirst came to know herwhen she performedon “Vaudevillains,”

and I have been a fan ever since.

Karen Wheelock: First of all,what is your background - howdid you get started in music?Kay Laurent: I started out inchurch. I was in a choir – Istarted attending my churchchoir probably at the age ofthirteen, and that’s where I gotmy musical background. I wasan alto at the time. We traveleda lot.KW: Where did you travel to?KL: To Lakeland, Florida… KeyWest – we went outside ofMiami area – never out of thestate when I was living inMiami, though.KW: Is that where you’re from?KL: Yep, born and raised. AndI’m of Haitian descent – both ofmy parents are Haitian. And Ispeak Creole. KW: So how did that affect theway you grew up? Were youaround other people who hadsimilar backgrounds and couldalso speak Creole?KL: Yeah, where I lived – I livedin North Miami – was prettypopulated with a lot of Haitianpeople. I mean, you know, it’sa big melting pot, but I had alot of Haitian friends who wereborn in Miami. It was a com-munity of similar backgrounds.KW: Did your background in-fluence your music at all? KL: I don’t think so… backthen, I wasn’t aware of my

vocal ability. I actually didn’t re-alize that I could sing until Iwas about eleven. For music, itwas kind of more from watch-ing old school MTV – that’show I picked it up. KW: Ok, cool. So you were inchurch choir, were you in otherchoirs at all? KL: I was in choir for one se-mester of my junior year inhigh school… but mainly, Iwasn’t doing anything extra-curricular at the time becauseI was involved in sports.KW: Did you do anything out-side of school on your own interms of singing? KL: No, I was shy…KW: So you kind of realizedyou could sing, you were inchurch choir, but then had a lit-tle hiatus?KL: Yeah.KW: Did you move up to Madi-son from Florida?KL: No, I moved to Cham-pagne, IL from Florida. I wasthere for about two years. I was

going to college at the time.Things kind of went south forme there and I landed up herewith my sister, who alreadylived here.KW: How long have you beenin Madison?KL: About a year and a couplemonths now.KW: Have you recorded anysongs?KL: I’ve recorded one song sofar called “Better Days.”KW: What is your writingprocess? KL: I come up with a melodyand I write to it. Most of mysongs are tunes that I come upwith off the top of my head, butright now I’m a little more fo-cused on creating a vocalmelody to instrumentals. KW: Are these instrumentalsby you or someone else?KL: Someone else. I find a lotof stuff online.KW: Like a sample?KL: Yeah, I’ll find a sample on-line… I keep digging and dig-ging until I find something Ilike.KW: So do you come up withan entire melody and then addlyrics to it?KL: I kind of do it as I go… a lotof times, I’ll come up with achorus, and then let everythingflow. So once I have the chorusdown, I can kind of picturewhat the rest of the songshould sound like. KW: What inspires you lyri-cally?KL: Probably personal experi-

S “Singing has alwaysbeen a passion ofmine and if I was tofeed into the negativ-ity, I would not havefound the confidenceI needed to embarkon this journey ofachieving my goals tobecoming an accom-plished singer andsongwriter.”

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ences, more so relationships,life… you know, certain adver-sities that I face within myselfthat I am every day trying tobetter myself with.KW: Do you find yourself moreinspired when you are goingthrough something that is diffi-cult in your life?KL: After the fact, yes. It helpsto write about it, or reference itin my writing.KW: I feel that way too. In fact,that’s why I’m having writer’sblock right now - I’m happy!KL: (laughs) Yeah, it’s easier towrite a sad song than a happysong!

Laurent has the ability to

make a sad song catchy. Her song,“Better Days” makes you want tosnap your fingers and sing along.Her powerhouse voice commandsattention while it tells you that sheis gaining confidence.

KW: Tell me about “BetterDays.” What’s the story behindthat?KL: Well the true underlyingstory is that it’s about my bat-tles with self-acceptance sincethe age of thirteen. Rejectionplayed a major part of why Ifelt that way. You know, whenpeople say or do things tomake you feel low about your-self, you start to believe it. It ul-timately affected my approachto the things I loved doing.Whether it was playing sportsor singing in the church choir,

the confidence just wasn’tthere. Sometimes you just getso sick and tired of somethingyou’re either going to give upand let people tell you you’renot good enough or you’regoing to channel that energyand turn it into something pos-itive and make it work to youradvantage – turning all thenaysayers into believers.Singing has always been apassion of mine and if I was tofeed into the negativity, I wouldnot have found the confidenceI needed to embark on thisjourney of achieving my goalsto becoming an accomplishedsinger and songwriter.KW: Do you feel like you kindof have a weight lifted onceyou are able to put how you’refeeling into words in a song


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like that?KL: Yeah, it’s like therapy tome!KW: Good! So, once you finishyour songs that you’re cur-rently working on, what do youplan on doing with them?KL: The songs I’m working onright now – I hope to makethem into a demo. I have sev-eral songs that I’m pickingover to decide what I want topresent to my listeners to kindof know who I am. I have ademo track that I’m trying toget together to build a portfoliowith as well.KW: Do you plan on releasingthese online? How do you planon promoting this?KL: Yep, and I plan on promot-ing through Facebook, Twitter,ITunes… sites like that.KW: When do you think you willrecord?KL: I am looking to record

around mid-September. I wantto make sure I get my lyricsdown and really know how Iwant it to sound first. I want tobe really prepared.KW: Are you planning on per-forming live anywhere?KL: I hope to. With new songscoming out, I want to get com-fortable onstage.KW: Do you want a band toplay with you live?KL: Definitely, I’d love to havea band back me up!KW: What are your musicalgoals?KL: I would definitely like toperform live – I want to havemany performances under mybelt… I want to be comfortablenot only with performing, butwith “Kay Laurent.” Eventually,I do want to venture out ofMadison… not sure when thatwould happen though. It’s notjust getting up and going – Ihave a lot of obligations here. I

want more people to be awareof me and the music that Iwrite.KW: I’ve been told that youhave the uncanny ability topick a melody out of thin airand never go out of tune,which is rare for an artist thatsings a cappella!KL: (laughs) I guess you cansay that it all depends on themood… most of my melodiescome from the shower. I holdonto it until right when I get outof the shower so I can recordit. I feel like I can confidentlyfreestyle on a note and figurestuff out while I’m in theshower.KW: How do you record yourmelodies? On your phone?KL: Yeah, I record on myphone. And then I use thatrecording to write over it a littlebit. I listen to it over and overto see if I can let the juices flowand see what I can get out ofthat initial melody. That’s where


I have the breakdown of whatthe first verse will be like, andthe bridge.KW: Cool. So, you were talkingabout a demo. Do you plan onreleasing and EP or full lengthalbum after that? What areyour plans?KL: I want to complete thedemo first, and then start withan EP. I really want people tohear me out and know what I’mall about. I want to be outthere, just trying to build it.KW: When do you plan on fin-ishing your demo?KL: Late September, I’d like toget it done. But I’d rather get itdone well than have it donespecifically at that time. KW: Once you are performing,would you want to just performaround in Wisconsin or eventu-ally do a national tour?KL: I think it would be easier tofocus on the crowd here first

for a little bit, but I would loveto venture outside of Madisonfor a bit. There are no limits.KW: Who are your influences?KL: Probably Mariah Carey.Growing up, I really lovedher… I loved her voice and themusic that she made. Groupslike Real McCoy… “AnotherNight” is one of my all-time fa-vorite songs. I liked Aaliyah,too… Beyonce – I admire her.Her hard work just shinesthrough. KW: Who would you say yousound the most like?KL: I haven’t quite figured thatout yet! Some people havetold me Jazmine Sullivan, a lit-tle bit of Amy Winehouse…KW: Who influences and sup-ports you the most in life?KL: My parents are my numberone influence in life… they arebig supporters in my life – theyare my backbone. I’ve wit-

nessed them go through a lot,but they are still here… they’realive and kickin’. I don’t knowany other individuals that haveworked harder than my momand my dad. My mom doesn’thave an education but she andmy dad were able to build alife, pay bills, etc.

As Laurent describes herparents, she starts tearing up. Herrespect and love for them is obvi-ous and it seems they fuel her pas-sion in music and in life. ThoughLaurent says she is still findingherself, I could tell that she isgrowing as a musician and as anindividual. She may seem quietand reserved to the average per-son, but once that person listens to“Better Days,” they will soon re-alize that Laurent has the ability tomove mountains with her voice.

http://soundcloud.com/kaylauren

http://www.reverbnation.com/kaylauren

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Get in touch with

Music Editor : Karen Wheelock

[email protected]@projectfamous.com

MUSIC

by Allan O’Connor

Get Up and Dance With Son Contrabando!

Photography CARLA FRANCO

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ith their uniquestyle of Latin fu-sion, Son Con-trabando willget you up andon your feet. The

band blends a wide variety ofLatin styles such as Salsa,Merengue, Cumbia and Bachatato form a unique urban soundthat is rooted in tradition. Theyare an energetic group who arevery passionate about creatingmusic that will appeal to a di-verse audience. After visitingwith the band, I came away withthe feeling that these guys aregenuinely down-to-earth peoplewho are excited to share their tra-ditions and music with everyone.

Son Contrabando wasformed in the summer of 2012 byCarlos Guzman and somefriends. The evolution of theband brought the current line-uptogether in early spring 2013.The band consists of Guzman onguitar/vocals, Francisco Martinezon drums/percussion/vocals, JuanTomas Martinez onpercussion/vocals, Andy Hansenon keys/trumpet/guiro/vocals,Richard Hildner on guitar/vocalsand Nick Moran on bass/vocals.

Son Contrabando con-sider themselves to be a Latin fu-sion band. “Latin fusionmaintains a Latin base using dif-ferent Latin styles but fuses moreurban styles such reggae, ska,blues, and jazz,” explains Guz-

man. Together Son Contrabandocreates sounds and melodies fromtheir cultural experiences in Do-minican Republic, Peru andVenezuela. Also incorporated inthe music are elements of funk,pop, rock, and punk. J.T. Mar-tinez confirms, “We like to thinkof ourselves as world music.”

The rhythms are drawnfrom African beats while the har-monies are created from the mix-ing of their Latin heritage andWestern culture. Each member ofthe band is well-versed in one ormore styles of Latin music.“When we do a style we like togive it full respect and authentic-ity,” says F. Martinez. Added J.T.Martinez, “We need to have re-spect for the style of music to beable to play it.”

Lyrically, the band tries tobe conscientious of and is pas-sionate about political systems,human rights and equality. Inorder to maintain their traditionthey made a conscious decisionto sing in Spanish. The name SonContrabando comes from severalideas, one of which is the factthat some of their friends, familyand fans are considered “illegal.”

“There is no questionthese people are part of the newgeneration in this country,” saysHildner. Hansen adds histhoughts to the name when hementions the idea that, “We liketo think that we are smugglingthese statements and blends of

music topeoplewho maynot knowwhatthey arehearing,but whenit is ex-plainedto themthey un-der-stand.”

When asked why people shouldgo to see a show the consensuswas to dance. “A Son Contra-bando concert is definitely some-thing you want to experience,”says Guzman. The energy andthe vibe of the band creates an at-mosphere that is exciting and en-ergizing. This is music that willmake you want to get out of yourseat and dance! The differentstyles of Latin music allow foranyone to find something thatthey like and even if you don’tknow how to dance, you willquickly catch on to the beats andrhythms. Getting an audience todance is very special for theband. “It’s my favorite part ofbeing in this band - when thecrowd is dancing!” exclaimsHansen.

They put a lot of effortinto writing and rehearsing. Theycall the group a collective where,according to F. Martinez, “Every-one is free to be creative; there isno one songwriter. It creates amore fun and democratic vibe forthe music.” They meticulouslygo over the parts to figure outwhat will work for the song. It’sonly after they play the song andgauge the audience’s reactionthat they know whether it works.Hildner adds, “When we writesomething and play it for peopleand they connect to it, that’s agreat feeling.”

You won’t have to lookfar when searching Madison for aunique experience; this band willbring it to you. Come and jointhe party with Son Contrabando.Once you start dancing withthem, they assure that you willwant to come back for more!Find more information on theseguys such as photos, videos,music and show dates by check-ing out their website and friendthem on Facebook.www.soncontrabando.com andwww.facebook.com/son.contra-bando.

WGet Up and Dance With

Son Contrabando! the Daze


THE FREQUENCY 121 W. Main StreetMadison, WI 53703Tel: (608) 819-8777

SEPTEMBER SHOWS

9/16 MAJESTIC LIVE presents SCOTT H. BIRAM w/ Black Pistol Fire 8:30 PM, 18+, $10 ADV $12 DOS

9/17 GOOD LUCK VARISTY w/ Let It Happen, Parias Day, Not Made Men 9 PM, 18+, $5

9/18 MAJESTIC LIVE presents BLUETECH 9 PM, 18+, $10

9/19 SPARETIME BLUEGRASS BAND 6 PM, 18+, $5 or 3 cans food for local pantry

9/19 HOOD SMOKE w/ Sepanta, Step Rockets 9 PM, 18+, $8

9/20 MAJESTIC LIVE presents SHIGETO & BEACON “GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL TOUR” w/ Nitemoves 9 PM, 18+, $12

9/21 LAND OF VANDALS w/ Icarus Himself, CONTROL 9 PM, 18+, $5

9/22 MAJESTIC LIVE presents DAVID WAX MUSEUM w/ Bombadil 8 PM, 18+, $10 ADV $12 DOS

9/23 MAJESTIC LIVE presents WAXAHATCHEE w/ Screaming Females, Tenement, Tiny Daggers 9 PM, 18+, $12

9/24 MAJESTIC LIVE presents THEO KATZMAN w/ Catch Kid 7:30 PM, 18+, $8

9/25 MAJESTIC LIVE presents EWERT & THE TWO DRAGONS w/ Trapper Schoepp 9 PM, 18+, $10

9/26 MUSTARD PLUG w/ The 4 A.M., Supervillain Fire Drill, The Moguls 9 PM, 18+, $10

9/27 VGHT’S FALL CARNIVAL (OF SORTS) featuring Venice Gas House Trolley, Los Chechos, Ethereal Groove Inc, Bath-tub Spring, Saaz 9 PM, 18+, $7

9/28 MAJESTIC LIVE presents HOUSES w/ Jamaican Queens 9 PM, 18+, $10 adv $12 dos

9/29 MAJESTIC LIVE presents DREW HOLCOMB & THE NEIGHBORS w/ David Ramirez 8 PM, 18+, $12 ADV $15 DOS

9/30 MAJESTIC LIVE presents MEAT PUPPETS w/ Enemy Planes 9 PM, 18+, $15

OCTOBER SHOWS

10/02 MAJESTIC LIVE presents GIRL IN A COMA / HUNTER VALENTINE w/ Krissy Krissy 8:30 PM, 18+, $13 adv $15 dos

10/05 THE FAITH HILLS HAVE EYES w/ Whisky Pig

10/10 MAJESTIC LIVE presents MOONDOGGIES w/ Rose Windows 9 PM, 18+, $12 ADV $14 DOS

10/11 MAJESTIC LIVE presents TEEN DAZE w/ Camp Counselors 9 PM, 18+, $10

10/12 LIVE SOUND CLASS 10 AM, All Ages w/ Parent, $

10/12 DEAL’S GONE BAD w/ The 4 A.M., The Bad Companions 10 PM, 18+, $10

10/16 COMMUNION MADISON featuring: Roadkill Ghost Choir, Willy Mason, 4 On The Floor, The Living Statues, Anna Vo-gelzang, Yacht Club DJ’s 8 PM, 18+, $12 adv $15 dos

10/17 SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU, BORIS YELTSIN w/ A Great Big Pile Of Leaves, Little Legend 9


Peach PiesCaburlesquePresent Red Car-pet Raunch

Pictured L to R: LizBaranowicz, MoxieRhodes, Mizz Lil-lzz, Greta Thorn,Seth Nayes

Photography byRIse Up LightsPhotography

THE ARTS

Pictured L to R: Jenna Side, Paul Lorentz and Bryan RoystonPhoto by Jason Ocker

Away from the apparentmagic of the stage, be it theatre,dance or music, there is a placewhere the actors and stagehandsgather. They patiently wait to playtheir part, having made many per-sonal sacrifices just to be there sothat the show can go on. Thisplace is aptly referred to as TheWaiting Room and is the title of anew play written by MichaelTooher.

I became a member thecast of The Waiting Room, throughwhat I believe was chance, when Ifirst met director Odari Kimaniduring a casting call for anotherproduction. Kimani approachedme early on about attending areading and eventually his owncasting call for his directorialdebut. Having just moved to

Madison, I was eager to try newcreative ventures - to find out whatit was like to be a part of the act.What I’ve discovered is a mixedbag, especially after participatingin The Waiting Room.

The story of The WaitingRoom focused specifically on thegoings-on in the union stagehandswaiting room, where a young newhire, played by Recey Love, hadcome into the midst of yet anotherheavy metal show. Through thecourse of the evening, the audi-ence witnessed to the trouble ofworking a concert with thousandsof attendees and theannoyance/joy of the steward andhouse electrician, played by BryanRoyston and Paul Lorentz, thatcomes with teaching a child whodoesn’t comprehend the life he’s

getting himself into – the life of astagehand.

Having rehearsed theshow into the ground so as tomake the illusion just right, I canonly wonder what it felt like to bein the audience watching the showwith fresh eyes. Working behind-the-scenes can make one jaded tothe process of theatrics. Rockmusic played constantly, its vol-ume rising whenever the produc-tion manager or the burnt outaudio department head, played byManny Jones (who also served asthe actual stage manager for theplay) and Jason Compton. Comp-ton’s performance painted the darkworld of a stagehand all too well.His routine ponderings, roundedout by the steward and house elec-trician’s made for an intense show.

A Backstage Pass to The Waiting Roomby Jacob Nelson


The cast of The Waiting Rom - Pictured L to R: Manny Jones, Recey Love, Bryan Royston,Paul Lorentz, Jacob Nelson, Jason Compton and Jenna Side Photo by Jason Ocker

The entryway into the theatrePhotos by Odari Kimani

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The three of them sharing storiesof days past and all the whileknowing how it would all end forthem was mesmerizing.

As art often imitates life,the darker themes of The WaitingRoom began to parallel my own

life. The commitment to the showand the time it takes from yourpersonal life feels rewarded aftera night’s performance. Until thatpoint, you’ve cut yourself off fromrelationships, you work throughthe day in a daze from the lack ofrest, and damn yourself for notbeing as grand as you should befor the stage! After the work putinto and taking the story of TheWaiting Room to heart, I have to

wonder if I’ll be able to see thestage as I once did.

Odd as it is, my fondestmemory was dedicated to a projectof Kimani’s making a large sectionof the Broom Street Theatre’s wallappear as a backstage filled with a

maddening number of musical(and not so musical) advertise-ments lit by black light. It took awhole week- right up to openingnight- to collect, print, sort andtape everything up for display.

The work could be calledfutile, because in the end itamounted to many tedious hoursjust to have the audience appreci-ate the illusion for a few moments

as they walk by. Kimani, Jonesand I worked past midnight everynight- joking and sharing stories tohelp pass the time. Those sharedmoments of labor made me feel Iwas creating something of worth,and I’d like to think we did justthat.

Throughit all, it must benoted the life ofa stagehand issomething thatTooher has actu-ally lived.Everything TheWaiting Roomconveys- thelong hours, lone-some living andpassing of oldand youngstagehands - allfor making arock show hap-pen - are entirelytrue. Seeingwhat one has toendure just tobring joy to an-other, let alonetasting just asmall portion ofwhat it means,changes a per-son. If ignoranceto this is better, Ido not know, buta respect hasbeen gained be-cause of it, andI’m thankful tohave been a partof this produc-

tion.The Waiting Room ran

from August 18th through Sep-tember 7th at the Broom StreetTheatre. Tooher continues to writefrom his home in Maine. Kimanihas uprooted from Madison andmoved to Chicago. The rest of thecast continues to dazzle Madisonand surrounding communitieswith their work.

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Recey LovePhoto by Jason Ocker


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Meet the Artists of RAW: Madison’s En Masseby Christy Grace

Photography Bradlee Bertram | BMB Graphics

On the night of Thursday,August 17th, at the High NoonSaloon, RAW: Natural BornArtists rocked Madison’s world,yet again with their Augustshowcase, En Masse. Starting at7pm, the line to get in extendedout of the door and down thesidewalk, full of people ready tobe surrounded with artistry of allkinds. From visual art and pho-tography to fashion, comedy,music, and performing art, RAWcreated an art bubble for gueststo enjoy.

If you haven’t heardabout RAW yet, they are “an in-dependent arts organization, forartists, by artists.” RAW showsare such a unique experience foreach guest and can sometimes bean artistic sensory overload. Hav-ing been involved in RAW showsas both a guest and an artist, Iknow that it can sometimes bedifficult to have a conversationwith the artists while there is aband or the DJ playing. This arti-cle is meant to give you a chanceto get to know some of the visualartists of RAW: Madison’s EnMasse a little better. After con-necting with these amazing peo-ple and learning more of theirhistory and their goals, I havebeen inspired. I hope you will betoo!

Jan PilonJan Pilon was born an

artist. She recalls, “When I waslittle, I would paint pictures allnight and leave them on the tablefor my mom; then she wouldn’t

wake me up for school! I went toHigh School in Sun Prairie andattended the Art Institute of Dal-las, where I received a degree inComputer Animation.”

She took all that shelearned and applied it to create ajob that she could enjoy and thatutilized her skills well. She andher brother, Marc Pilon, opened abusiness called Fancy Paint Jobs,in which she does faux finishes,murals and paintings on recycledglass.

Looking at Pilon’s paint-ings, you can tell that she is espe-cially inspired by nature.“Everything can be beautiful ifyou look at it with the righteyes.” Her process of painting isdifferent from that of many artistsbecause she does everything inreverse order. When painting onglass, she begins with the linesthat will be in the foreground ofher image. She says that it is al-ways interesting to see the finalresult because with layering paintas she does, the look of the end

piece can be unexpected. Pilon’spaintings feature trees, butter-flies, landscapes, eyes and manyearthy patterns and textures.Some pieces look like granite ormarble and show her faux-finish-ing skills emerging through theart.

During the show, Pilonwarmly chatted with guests abouther process and let them browsethrough her selection of paint-ings. Pilon shares, “My RAW ex-perience was fabulous; I havenever had that much fun sellingart! Everyone involved wasgreat to work with and I amhappy to have my name associ-ated with such a wonderful, sup-portive arts organization.” Connect with Pilon on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/fan-cypaintjobs

Rebecca LemkeRebecca Lemke is in love

with painting. It gives her “asense of peace and creative fluid-ity.” Her work is abstract and shelikes to experiment with colorand texture. Lemke explains,“It’s most fun if I can get messywith it and throw new ideasaround. I never really have anexact outcome planned; I workwith each painting until I feellike it’s complete. I like paintingwith several different layers;sometimes I mix watercolor andacrylics together. I’ve fallen inlove with watercolors in the pastyear. I’m in a fun place with myart and I get a lot of joy out ofmaking art. I foresee many new

paintings in my future and I betthey’ll all be different from oneanother, my projects tend to takeoff in all these different direc-tions.”

The work Lemke broughtto the show was full of textureand emotion. Some of her paint-ings were full of sweeping andsmooth lines, while others weregritty with harsh brush strokes orcracking paint. She uses anearthy palette, sometimes high-lighted with striking reds or deepblues. You can tell that eachpiece is an experience in itself, amoment or feeling captured oncanvas.

Lemke sat next to her artduring the show and quietly ob-served guests looking at the workin which she was showing pub-licly for the first time. She re-counts her experiences withRAW. “When I first checked outRAW: Madison I was immedi-ately inspired and intrigued. I feltlike this was an opportunity that Ishould jump on. I enjoy thegamut of work that’s featured. Ipersonally enjoy that there is avariety of beautiful dark art fea-tured at the show.”

She continues, “The fash-ion shows and music accentuatethe experience; it’s kind of a wildtime with all the different thingsgoing on at the show. RAW issupportive; it’s been a great op-portunity for me to work withthis group. I heard a lot of com-

pliments about the show and thatthe energy of the show was up-lifting and creative; it’s awesometo have been a part of it. I en-joyed seeing my friends and fam-ily being inspired at the show.RAW is very supportive of peoplewho are branching out with theirart. Connecting to new peoplewho were inspired by my workreally touched me. It was a greatnight.”

You can find Rebecca’swork here:www.rebeccalemke.weebly.com

Soyoung L. KimSoyoung Kim is a story

collector. In her words, “I havebeen collecting stories ever sinceI can remember. With the stories Icollect, I transform them intonew stories, either through my artor through my writing.” Born inSeoul, South Korea, and raised inNairobi, Kenya, Kim has plentyof stories to call upon when cre-ating her art. She currently livesin Madison with her husband andthree children and spends her freetime either writing or making art.

Kim’s art is full of lifeand layers. She works with a lotof little pieces to create a big pic-ture, either in collage, papermache or mixed media paintingsprimarily using watercolor. Someof her work is dreamlike; onepiece calls on the imagery of peo-ple walking on a path to the

moon with eyeball stars blinkingin a vibrant cobalt sky. Anotherpiece shows a grove of trees thathave arms and hands in place oftheir leaves. One of the high-lights of her work represented atthe RAW show was an installa-tion called “100 Cups of Tea.”

Kim explains, “The in-stallation came about through adesire to recycle my stacks ofmanuscripts. The tea cups andsaucers are made from paper anda simple paste made from flourand water. I wanted to makesomething beautiful out of some-thing that would be thrown out -hopefully this inspires others totake what could be seen as trashand transform it into somethingelse.”

After the big night, Kimhad grateful thoughts on thewhole experience. “For me,showing my work at RAW wasanother great part of my goal toinhabit public spaces with my art.When I set out to show my in-stallation, I looked specifically atstorefronts and spaces that arenot normally set aside for art. Sothe RAW night was another greatevent for that and I appreciatedthis. And of course I appreciatedmeeting other artists.”

Check out more of Kim’swork and her blog here:http://madebyslk.squarespace.com/


Lance BerkaLance Berka has been

dreaming of being a full-timeartist since he was little and he ismost certainly on track. He grewup in the “ever-growing tourismcommunity of Wisconsin Dells,and with early influences of self-expression,” Berka soon becamea “traditional artist.” Followingthe path to make his passion a ca-reer, he moved to Madison to gethis Associate’s Degree inGraphic Design from MadisonArea Technical College. His tal-ent and education landed him ajob as designer in the marketingdepartment of one of the area’spremier resorts.

Over the last few years,Berka has reconnected with histraditional art background. Heuses mainly screen-printing andacrylic paint, commonly creatingimages of highly detailed birdswith abstract drips, swirls andpaint streaks.

Berka finds his art to be aplace of rest: “It’s very medita-tive for me. I love to sit downand work and shut my brain offexcept for the only part that Ineed to paint and be creative. Itmakes me very grounded and is agreat stress relief.”

I asked him about the re-curring theme of birds in hispaintings and he gladly shared, “Iam by no means a bird watcherbut do learn some cool factsabout them when I paint and do

some minor research on a partic-ular bird I am painting. For yearsI remember being outside onbreak at work and thinking abouthow free they were and how theyhad no worries or bills to worryabout. They were free to roam thesky and land at their leisure. Thebirds really first started as a sub-ject matter to paint just for thesake of painting and it later kindadawned on me the way I viewedthem.”

This was Berka’s secondtime showcasing with RAW andhe has attended half a dozenshows as well. Berka indicates,“My experience with RAW:Madison has been great. I lovethat it gives you a chance to getso many eyeballs on your work. Ialso like the fact that you meetnew like-minded people, whichdoesn’t always happen for mesince I live in a small town. Alsopeople who come to RAW to seea band or fashion show will hap-pen across your work and itmight be a happy surprise forthem.”

See more of Berka’s workplus some pretty cool time-lapsevideos of him painting here:www.lanceberka.com

Garrett BrunkerGarrett Brunker has been

an artist since he was five yearsold. He has always loved car-toons and comics, so at a youngage he declared that he would bea “drawer of cartoons” when hegrew up. Since then, he has notlooked back. Recently, Brunkergraduated from the University ofEau Claire and is ready to con-tinue his quest to become an il-lustrator and fine artist.

Brunker is most inspiredby the interactions he has withpeople in his life so it only makessense that most of his work is fig-ure heavy. Brunker creates char-acters with strong facial featuresand deep shadows that accentuatethe unusual shapes he creates.

Using mostly black lines withpops of strong color, he fillsareas of his art with detailed pat-terns, lines and swirls. The resultof these techniques is that theviewers are drawn to each work,wanting to look closer and seefurther into the meaning behindthem.

This is the second timethat Brunker has shown withRAW. He discusses his new ven-tures by stating, “My RAW expe-rience was different than the firsttime I presented my work forRAW. It’s been a learning exer-cise both times. Each time I havelearned something new. Whetherit’s how to hang, light, or pricemy work, this is knowledge thatI’ve gained and I will bring itback to the next show. One of themain points I try to get a acrosswith my art is exploration andgrowth with the material that Iuse. Most of the images that I amcreating at the moment are with abrush and ink. When I have thebrush in my hand I try and makedifferent and interesting marksevery time. This is what keepsme interested and coming backfor more.”

You can see more ofBrunker’s work here:www.flickr.com/photos/46902400@N02

Aaron BrunkerAaron Brunker is an in-

spired artist. Pulling from life,

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music, movies and other forms ofart, he notes, “My work isstrongly influenced by my lifeexperiences. I work in many dif-ferent mediums. I find that work-ing in different mediums helpskeep my mind open and free tofind new techniques to help outmy artistic process.” After gradu-ating from the University of EauClaire with a degree in illustra-tion, Brunker returned to Madi-son to follow his desire to makeart and be part of the Madison artworld.

Brunker’s work is full offigures and faces that test con-ventional proportion. Each char-acter produced by hisimagination has extremes ofsome kind: a long nose, a circleof sharp teeth, a single bulgingeye, or a long, textured tongue.Brunker uses hatching in a lot ofhis illustrations to communicateboth texture and shadow. Thedark, fast strokes and light, curv-ing lines allow each piece to tella different story.

For RAW shows, Brunkerusually plays an integral part ofthe night as a production assis-tant, but this time he was able todisplay his own work. Other thanthe joy of his creations beingviewed, he says his favorite thing“would have to be seeing greatart. Whether it’s a gallery, con-cert, or theater, I love seeingartists do what they love.”

View many of Brunker’s

creations here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/69851965@N07/ and connect withhim here:www.facebook.com/Aaron-BrunkerIllustration.

Arden EckhartArden Eckhart is a tal-

ented sketch artist with a lot ofambition and great ideas. He isalso a “paid storyboard artist,having done work for musicianssuch as Sun Voyage, KarenWheelock, and Joey Broyles.”

Life experiences have fu-eled the stories he creates, mak-ing each character in hisdrawings have a personality andback-story. Primarily workingwith colored pencil and some-times digital media, Eckhartplays with shadow and texture in-side simplified, cartoon-esqueshapes. Eckhart’s drawings tellstories from his past and currentlife, and also from his extremelyactive imagination, mixing play-fulness with a dose of darkhumor.

This RAW show was thefirst time Eckhart has shared hiswork publicly since he showed itat the county fair when he wasyounger. Needless to say, he wasexcited about the night. He set hisdrawings up in a three-fold dis-play and also had a binder full ofhis work. With the noise andcraziness of the show, sometimesit can be difficult to fully explain

your work, so Eckhart admits, “Iwish more people had takenmore of an interest in my workand wanted to stop and talk aboutit, whereas most gave it a glanceand walked by.”

The night was a learningexperience for him. He looks tothe future, acknowledging that heis open to learning and growing.“It’s clear that I need my ownwebsite and a business card to gowith it. Most of all I want to clar-ify to people, that I will drawthem anything they want if theytell me. I want to provide a serv-ice with my drawing ability.”

Eckhart is also gratefulfor the attention his work did re-ceive, saying, “It makes all thedifference that I left that nightknowing I made a few people in-terested and saw them smiling.”You can sometimes find Eck-hart’s work gracing the pages ofProject Famous Magazine, as acontributing artist. Keep an eyeout for his future creativity; thisguy dreams big!

With RAW spreadingfrom California to cities acrossthe country and over the world,an environment is created for allkinds of artists to showcase theirwork together. This inspires col-laboration and pushes each artistto a new level. RAW online high-lights, “We welcome all genresof art including independent film,fashion, music, visual art, per-forming art, hairstylists, makeupartists and more. We encouragethe creative success of the manyvisionaries and storytellers of ourgeneration.”

Doesn’t that make youwant to be a part of the RAWmovement? Check outhttp://www.rawartists.org/ tofind more information and tosign up as a RAW artist forRAW’s Encompass on October17th!


ILLUSTRATIONSPHOTOGRAPHYGRAPHICSI PG MONTHLY SUBMISS IONS FROM LOCAL ART ISTS

Photography by PAUL CHRISTIANSON


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Documents

Project Famous Issue 8 - Kay Laurent