Cory Ransom – Motion Graphics Designer

Cory Ransom - Motion Graphics Designer

This week I spoke to motion graphics designer, video editor and photographer, Cory Ransom about his twenty years of experience working in the creative industry, capturing the emotion of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and improving the accessibility of photography.

Starting in Skateboarding

Cory describes himself as a “specialist generalist,” due to his varied experience in different disciplines. His mother was a secretary at an elementary school, and in the summers she would bring home the school’s video camera for Cory to experiment with. Taking advantage of a strong media arts program at his high school, he had inklings of pursuing filmmaking in university but instead decided to study computer science. However, Cory returned to filmmaking through his love of skateboarding and ultimately decided to drop out of university. Living in Toronto with some friends who were strong skateboarders, he said that you “either pick up a stills camera, or you pick a video camera,” and he chose the latter option to create content for his friends.

His big break into more stable work was a chance meeting with a stranger on the street, who saw his camera and then asked if he also edited videos in addition to filming. After a short chat, Cory was promptly asked if he was interested in an editing position, which yes, is the kind of situation that will open many feel-good Christmas movies this upcoming December. Cory successfully earned the position and began work as an editor in 1998, tasked with creating corporate videos on the first edition of Final Cut Pro. While not the most creatively challenging or diverse content, he says that working in corporate media provided a strong foundation for him to build upon later in his career. He describes the repetitive nature of his day-to-day work as “working up that muscle memory,” becoming more efficient in his workflow and adding layers to his skill set as an editor. When I asked him what has changed the most in his twenty years of experience, he did not hesitate to say the opportunities and tools that technology now provide. Let it be known to all new editors that the original Final Cut Pro may have some limitations in its core features.

Creating the Look of the Olympic Games

In 2007, Cory moved to Vancouver when his girlfriend, and now wife Laura, began to work for the 2010 Winter Olympic games. On her first day of work as a brand marketer, she was asked if she knew any video editors to join their team. Several rounds of interviews later, Cory joined as a video coordinator and editor. This was also his entry into motion graphics, a discipline that he defines as “moving elements of design from point A to point B in order to communicate something more than just the design itself”. Cory says that his background in video editing and the associated software was invaluable to learn motion graphics quickly, and he played many roles in this team ranging from camera operation to conducting interviews for documentary pieces. He admits that “with kids now I don’t think I have the energy to do that kind of intense work,” again, but cites this experience as one of the highlights of his career. His favourite memories include getting to be in the stands for the men’s gold medal hockey game, capturing the raw energy of stadiums full of fans, and being a part of a team that orchestrated the look of a truly global spectacle.

Following the games, Cory began tenures working for EA, The University of British Columbia, and Disney before eventually launching his own company. When I asked him what the biggest challenges were creating content for such wide demographics, he said that no matter the target audience, his role as a motion graphics designer is “trying to break really complex ideas down into really simple, digestible things”. For him, creating intuitive branding that is recognizable from the moment you see it trumps any elaborate technical work that may lose the core message of the brand.

Craft Beer Product Photography

Cory is in the third year of working for himself, saying that “I’m lucky enough that all my stuff comes from word of mouth,” or from his portfolio on Instagram. The latter is where I first saw his work, manifesting not through motion graphics or video, but rather as stylized product photography with local craft breweries. Cory’s entry into product photography began at the Olympics when he did some work showcasing the artwork adorning the faces of the medals. Now living in the Okanagan, he had a friend who connected him to some local wineries who also needed some shots for sale sheets and their website. From there, beer feels like a natural progression; Cory says that “I like to jump in and out of different styles,” and the seemingly limitless designs and branding behind craft beer keep him creatively engaged and always trying out new ideas. Sometimes he takes inspiration from the can itself and builds the scene around it, whereas other ideas can hibernate in his mind until he comes across the perfect can.

In addition to the polished photos themselves, one of Cory’s favourite aspects of this series is getting to know the local community of other beer photographers, marketers, and of course, drinkers. In response to the positive reception he has received, Cory began uploading behind-the-scenes footage of his shots to provide a platform to help other photographers shooting similar content. While he was working in a corporate setting, Cory says that there was an element of education and mentorship that he doesn’t get to engage with as much anymore, now that he works for himself. By breaking down how he sets up his shots, he hopes to show that “anyone can do this stuff,” and that photography is not as inaccessible as it may seem. While he doesn’t generate much revenue from this side project, this venture also feeds Cory’s thirst for creative exploration when he is unable to find clients willing to take more creative liberties with their product photography. Expanding on this struggle, he shares that “some of the shots take me two or three hours to do,” and there can be a disconnect between the time needed to achieve a strong end product and the funds that companies are willing to put into an ultimately disposable piece of online content. However, working for himself has allowed Cory to bounce between different projects with greater variety, working with different brands at a rate that “it’s hard to get bored”.

Despite his wide range of experience, and longevity in the field, Cory shares that “I don’t think I’ll ever know exactly 100% if I’m, you know, truly professional”. He attributes this to his undying desire to learn new skills, adopt new technologies as they present themselves, and an “insatiable need to feed that technical side of my brain”. This continues to drive him to reverse engineer content whether it is in motion graphics, videography, or photography, in an attempt to break it down into a simpler, digestible form. This similarly echoes the earlier definition of motion graphics that he provided me, which I think ties a very nice bow to the end of this article.

If you’re feeling thirsty, follow Cory on Instagram for his series of craft beer product photography, as well as behind-the-scenes breakdowns of his shots. There are some remarkable photos on his feed, some of my personal favourites feature cobwebs, giants, and an example of the limitless uses of good old poster paper.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Cory and the other creatives in this series.

And don’t forget to check out the last interview with comedian, Katie-Ellen Humphries.

-BF

Katie-Ellen Humphries – Comedian

Katie-Ellen Humphries-Comedian
Photo by Maggie MacPherson

This week I spoke with comedian, Katie-Ellen Humphries about her career in stand-up, her new podcast Horny Off Main, and her debut comedy album, Ladyfinger.

Finding Community in Comedy

Katie-Ellen grew up in Victoria and while she was interested in stand-up comedy from a young age, there were not many opportunities nearby for aspiring comics. However, she found a home at a variety show titled Atomic Vaudeville, a show where she got her first consistent stage time and “where I cut my teeth comedy-wise”. Katie-Ellen spoke very highly of the performers at Atomic Vaudeville and felt that “I kind of got a theatre education from them,” learning to play with tension, challenge the audience and take greater risks in her own work. While she enjoyed this camaraderie, she eventually felt that she needed to move to Vancouver to pursue stand-up, despite having only a limited amount of experience. She packed her things, hopped on a ferry and then, “proceeded to not even go to a single open mic for a year,” with her only performances coming once a month at Atomic Vaudeville. A bold strategy for sure. Katie-Ellen isn’t sure what exactly caused her cold feet, but attributes it to feeling intimidated to break into a new scene and the classic “Vancouver in your early 20s depression,” where you “lie on the floor with no furniture and stare at the ceiling”. That is one hell of a shared experience. If you haven’t counted the stucco ridges on your ceiling, have you really grown up in Vancouver?

Cut to today, Katie-Ellen has over a decade of experience as a stand-up comedian under her belt and a personal theory on what truly attracts comedians to comedy. On one hand, she has the “morning radio answer” that comedians do comedy because they love to make people laugh. While this is admittedly true, Katie-Ellen’s other observation is that a catalyst behind many comedians’ entry into comedy is rooted in some form of trauma. After all, “comedy requires self-reflection and connection,” and unique material can come from how each individual processes the difficulties in their lives. With trauma such a universal struggle, Katie-Ellen expands on this notion of connection by considering the broad range of individuals that comedy attracts. Comedy traverses many traditional social divisions including world-view, socio-economic levels, geography and many other factors. In addition to this, Katie-Ellen remarks that you have “your chronological age and then your comedy age,” noting that there are few settings in which a thirty-year-old could be a mentor for someone in their sixties. This all creates a wonderfully strange environment for comics to connect with individuals they would have never encountered if not for comedy. To put this into perspective, Katie-Ellen simply states that “I shouldn’t know anyone from Iowa,” but does as a result of the unique ecosystem that comedy creates.

The Lady Show & The Debaters

Katie-Ellen’s resumé is far too extensive to sum up in a short article, but here are a few stops along her amazing career. Firstly, I asked her about The Lady Show, a variety show she runs alongside Diana Bang, Morgan Brayton, and Fatima Dhowre. As every group needs a good origin story, Katie-Ellen met Morgan and Fatima on the set of Morgan’s show, Morgan Brayton and Other People. In between takes, the three of them discussed their career aspirations and a communal desire to create content on a more consistent basis. As they all enjoyed their short time working with one another, they resolved that if they ran a monthly show, “we’d have a space that we could all create together,” as well as a hard deadline to serve as some added motivation. In one of the first installments of The Lady Show, Diana was invited to perform as a guest performer and joined full-time soon after to complete the roster. Speaking on the fortuitous and organic nature of how the group came together, Katie-Ellen says that “if I sat down in a lab, like a comedy supervillain and tried to put together the most powerful group that I would want to work with, that’s who it would end up with”. The Lady Show has been named Pick of the Fringe at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, and has been featured in the JFL Northwest comedy festival, give them a follow to stay up to date on the folks “putting the JOY in feminist killjoy”.

In addition to The Lady Show, Katie-Ellen can also be found on CBC’s The Debaters, where she serves as a writer, producer and performer. I’m not going to explain what The Debaters is, if it were up to me it would be mandatory curriculum in high school. Katie-Ellen is currently in her fourth year working with the show in one way or another, and tells me she feels very grateful that her comedic style happened to fit so well with this format. Naturally optimistic, she says her disposition to find the bright side has served her well to come up with a compelling argument “even if I’m arguing something that’s kind of shitty”. She also adds that “I am not afraid to be really earnest and sincere,” and while this is something many comedians and lowly blog writers struggle with, it is another factor that makes her material unique and personal.

Horny OFF MAIN

One of the newest projects in Katie-Ellen’s career is the launch of her podcast, Horny OFF MAIN. In this podcast, Katie-Ellen and her cohost Amitai Marmorstein welcome guests to discuss the “feelings, behaviours and habits we’re not always encouraged to express,” using horny as a measure of desire that is not exclusively sexual. Katie-Ellen and Amitai had toyed with the idea of running a podcast in the past as a shared passion project, but it was not until COVID-19 forced us into isolation that they began getting it off the ground. Like many others, they found themselves missing the personal growth that comes with “putting yourself out there,” in regards to both their work and day-to-day social interactions. As life became much more insular, a podcast became a vehicle to facilitate this growth in a safe way, and also give them a chance to catch up with some of their favourite people. New episodes of Horny OFF MAIN come out every week, I just listened to an episode with Matty Vu, another really funny individual who was kind enough to have a chat with me here not too long ago.

Ladyfinger

Ladyfinger is Katie-Ellen’s debut comedy album and a culmination of over ten years of working as a stand-up comic. Beginning with the name, Katie-Ellen describes the title of her album as “glamourous, but it’s sweet. And it’s like a little bit queer,” deeming it a fitting representation of her current act. Mixing newer and older material, she spans topics including the enigma that is Say Yes to the Dress, the merits of three-foot-long hot dogs and the poetry of minor league baseball. On the latter point, Katie-Ellen says she “feels a real kinship with minor league baseball players,” due to the difficulties athletes and performers are faced with when trying to pursue their craft. Reflecting on her career, she sees similar ups and downs, struggles brought on by the global pandemic, and the long hours of unseen work they put in just to be ready for any opportunity. Katie-Ellen describes a point a few years ago as the lowest she had ever felt, and a time in which she found herself in a “downward spiral of doubt” questioning her career path. But much like the passion that fuels minor league players, she came to the realization that “I’d be doing this, even if nothing comes from it,” because she simply loves comedy. This clarity helped her see that all of the goals she made for herself in an attempt to define “success”, were just a means to facilitate the act of doing more comedy. Ladyfinger is the tangible product of all of the work Katie-Ellen has put into comedy, from starting out at Atomic Vaudeville, co-founding The Lady Show, making a name for herself at The Debaters, creating Horny OFF MAIN, and all of the highs and lows of the grind along the way. When I asked Katie-Ellen what having an album meant to her, she instead posed the question to herself from ten years ago. Katie-Ellen says that if you told this open-micer that one day she would have her very own comedy album, she “would not have been surprised because she was wildly arrogant. But she would be fucking thrilled” as well.

In closing, Katie-Ellen shared a story from before she ever stepped foot on a stage. She was nineteen, and at a bar with her brother and one of his friends. Over the course of this night, this friend confessed to her that he really wanted to try stand-up comedy, prompting Katie-Ellen to vocalize for the first time that she wanted to as well. Following this exchange of two people who (to be clear) had never done stand up, he replied, “Oh my gosh, you totally should. You can open for me”. Gross. Katie-Ellen says that when she heard this, “in my brain, I say bitch you can open for me,” again acknowledging that at this point neither of them has any experience. This moment has stuck with her and served as fuel for the extraordinary career I have tried to do justice to in a five-minute article. Katie-Ellen says that “the point of that story is that I am completely driven by spite,” but hey. Not to keep score, but I’ve never heard of this other guy’s album.

Ladyfinger is available worldwide on October 20th, make sure to listen in here. Katie-Ellen is hosting an in-person release event at the Kino Cafe at 8pm also on the 20th, as well as an online release event on Saturday, October 24th at 7pm. Both of these events will feature some of Katie-Ellen’s favourite artists and you can find details for them here. Listen to Horny Off Main, with new episodes released every week, follow The Lady Show and check out Katie-Ellen’s website for all of the information that I couldn’t fit into our chat.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Katie-Ellen and the other creatives in this series.

And don’t forget to check out last week’s interview with circus artist, Santé Fortunato.

-BF

Santé Fortunato – Circus Artist

Sante Fortunato - Circus Artist

This week I spoke to circus artist Santé Fortunato about earning a degree in hula hooping, travelling the world with Cirque du Soleil and her new show, Forev.

Circus College

Born in Coquitlam, and growing up in Montreal, Santé found the performing arts at a young age, competing in dance and rhythmic gymnastics as a child through her teenage years. Near the end of her high school studies, she saw an ad for a summer intensive course at the National Circus School, fortuitously located across the street from where she trained. She spent an amazing two-weeks there, and while she had applied to several traditional universities with the plan to become a French teacher, she decided to apply to the National Circus School’s college program as well. Santé was admitted into a one-year program, which was essentially an opportunity to train for a year and earn the opportunity to audition again for a spot in the full three-year program. Weighing her options, she decided to accept the one-year offer with the intention to train for a year, continue to work on her French and then begin studies at a traditional university. But after completing the one-year program, Santé was accepted into the full-time program at the National Circus School, as well as several traditional universities. She had a choice to make. Looking back on this difficult decision, Santé simply said that in the end, “I didn’t go to university and I went to circus college”. That is one of the top five sentences I’ve had the pleasure to write.

As someone who has (clearly) never been to circus college, I asked Santé what a day in a student’s life looked like. She said that from 8:30 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, she trained in a variety of different disciplines to gain a range of experiences and identify what acts to specialize in. In the evening she studied academic classes that would be relevant to her career, ranging from anatomy and philosophy to history. Coming into the program, Santé intended to specialize in contortion, but the administration wasn’t convinced that this was her ideal fit. Looking at her background in rhythmic gymnastics, they identified that while she did exhibit great flexibility, she also demonstrated superior skills with object manipulation. After trying a variety of aerial acts that were suggested to her, Santé instead proposed focussing on hula hoops as her main act. No one in the school’s history had ever majored as a hula hoop act, but due to her unique background and proficiency at it, she eventually graduated with a major in hula hoops, with aerials and contortion as secondary acts. Despite the unusual subject matter, her education was not entirely different than a traditional experience, as she said, “you naturally compare yourself a little bit [to others], even though you shouldn’t”. Except instead of people who raised their hands a lot in lectures, she was training with some of the top athletes, artists, and performers in the world.

Following her graduation from the program, Santé dove right into the industry, booking stints on cruise ships, variety shows and other international travelling shows. Speaking on the diverse crowds she performed for, she names South Africa as an especially fun audience. She says that folks there were great participants and “got up off their seats and started dancing when they really liked something,” onstage. Similarly, crowds in Italy were always very supportive and would cheer for multiple encores regardless of how the performance went. With stops in China, Germany, Brazil, and countless other countries, Santé has travelled extensively for work and has a sobering note about Vancouver that we sadly, all already knew. She says that in some of these larger cities, people have the opportunity to see more travelling shows, which in theory should result in more appreciative audiences. However, as a byproduct of increased availability, some folks “want to pretend they’ve seen a lot more,” than they truly have, and try to play it cool during a show. This illusion of being cultured is definitely not limited to Vancouver, but remains a reminder that its ok to be amazed by something; we aren’t too cool to stand up Vancouver.

Performing with Cirque du Soleil

For the last three years Santé was living out a longtime dream touring with Cirque du Soleil. She had actually auditioned for the group immediately upon graduating from college, but due to scheduling conflicts, and the extremely competitive nature of these positions, Santé had to wait for the right opportunity. This came with the arena tour of Corteo. As this was a relaunch of a pre-existing show, Santé was placed in an unusual position. On one hand, she was cast to be part of a group aerials act and began training on a pre-existing, polished routine. This is not to diminish the difficulty of this act, Santé was performing tricks in a chandelier suspended high above the ground; pre-existing does not equate to easy. But in addition to this group act, she was also cast in a solo hula hoop act that was a brand-new addition to the show. One of only two new acts to the show, it was added to replace a former act that was removed due to new height restrictions in the performance space. She describes the creation of this act as a series of “constant experimenting” between herself, the choreographer, and the director; a rare opportunity to create something new in an existing show. Lifts, elevation changes, set pieces and other performers were added to compliment her performance, which resulted in a product that was especially unique to her. In between training, performances, physiotherapy, travel, and much more, Santé describes this experience as extremely taxing but also the fulfillment of a lifetime dream saying, “we do it because we love it. You don’t become a circus artist because you want to be rich”. In this run, she also earned the title of being the first Canadian hula hoop performer to perform with Cirque du Soleil, an amazing accomplishment. But for Santé, this show was memorable for more reasons than individual accolades, as it was also the place where she met fellow performer and now husband, Alexandr.

Forev, an Original Show

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Corteo was suspended, and Santé and Alexandr were left with an unusual abundance of time on their hands. They decided to pursue a dream they had pushed to the side for a long time, and create their own show. They had always wanted to have a show that they could travel with as guest entertainers, and the sudden halt to the performing arts provided the perfect opportunity to write and rehearse such an act. Santé said that they had to get creative to fill a fifty-minute show with just the two of them, becoming inventive with their transitions within the narrative to give them necessary reprieves. Santé and Alexandr perform three full acts each in this show, a significant step-up from the traditional one or two acts a performer is generally tasked with. Titled Forev (a combination of their last names), this show takes audiences on a journey through the timeline of their entire relationship, including acts representing their first date, proposal, and wedding. They also weave other media components into the narrative, like the audio of a letter Alexandr wrote to Santé before he proposed, and candid footage from their time together on tour in Corteo. As safety precautions limit the size of public gatherings, a cast of two performers allows them to welcome in more guests, many of whom are starved for live performances and would agree that “you just can’t get that same energy from TV”. Their first show is sold out, but tickets for Sunday, October 18th at 4pm are available at the time of writing, check it out!

Looking back on her professional experience, Santé shares that staying disciplined in her diet, training, and recovery has been essential to maintaining such as busy schedule. Behind every single moment of every act is years of training and Santé says that this can easily be lost to the audience in the heat of a live performance. Despite the physical and mental challenges that this lifestyle provides, Santé says that “the richness that you get from travelling” is also one of the most rewarding aspects of her career. This richness extends far beyond simple sightseeing and includes learning new languages and having the opportunity to “understand and learn about the world” in a way that many people would love to have. Who doesn’t want to run away and join the circus?

At the time of writing, tickets are still available for Forev on Sunday, October 18th! For more information and to watch the trailer, follow Santé on Instagram. And if you needed any more convincing to go see Forev, Santé and Alexandr were recently in the running for the title of Canada’s most talented family. They were robbed if you ask me.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Santé and the other creatives in this series.

And don’t forget to check out last week’s interview with artist, Lay Hoon Ho

-BF

Lay Hoon Ho – Artist

Lay Hoon Ho - Artist

This week I spoke to artist Lay Hoon Ho (Arty Guava) about building giant kaleidoscopes, how to make art accessible to children and her recent inclusion in the Vancouver Mural Festival.

OtherHalf Studio : Big Ideas and Bigger Kaleidoscopes

Working professionally as a graphic designer, Lay Hoon is always around art but found the need to balance her corporate projects with her personal work. To satisfy this she decided to co-found an art collective four years ago with photographer Su May Cheah, titled OtherHalf Studio. The inspiration behind this collective was pulled from Lay Hoon’s own life. As a mother, she felt that traditional avenues of enjoying art were quite inaccessible for parents with young children. Quiet museums, static exhibits and no-touch policies are naturally adversarial to the common behaviour of most children and can induce an undue amount of stress on their parents. Lay Hoon decided to create immersive, interactive experiences designed to appeal to the whole family, while also allowing young children to gain an early appreciation for art. The first installation she created was a giant, ten-foot-long kaleidoscope for an art festival in Malaysia. Lay-Hoon is Peranakan, a term that encompasses individuals coming from a mixture of Chinese and Malaysian cultures. She wanted to incorporate this into her piece, so she used traditional patterns and motifs to adorn the exterior of the exhibit, and celebrate her cultural heritage. She admits that there was certainly some trial and error working on this project, but eventually, she was able to create an entirely new experience for families to enjoy.

Her next kaleidoscope was for the Asian Civilization Museum in Singapore. The museum had struggled with generating engagement from younger audiences and had challenged Lay Hoon to incorporate their existing exhibits into her own piece. She achieved this by using images of the artifacts in the visual projections of the kaleidoscope, creating an environment that she describes as most definitely, “Instagrammable” for the visitors. One of the philosophies behind OtherHalf Studio is to “transport people to a place where they can just enjoy art and relax”. Integrating additional music and video projections into this piece was another way for her to do so in this installation, reinforcing the truly immersive nature of her work. Lay Hoon says that the key to creating art that appeals to younger generations is to incorporate movement and sound to help distinguish her work from the pre-conceived notion of stuffy museum exhibits. These factors also help rewrite the traditional rules of what art can be, making them fresh and memorable for audiences regardless of their age.

ArtyGuava’s Debut at the Vancouver Mural Festival

Lay Hoon’s latest project began at the advent of COVID-19. She had moved to Vancouver two years ago, and the sudden restrictive lifestyle that came with quarantine amplified prior feelings of homesickness. To help get through this she decided to illustrate “sunshine, tropical fruit or [other] memories of home” to take her mind off the current situation and serve as a visual journal. (If you haven’t figured it out, guava is definitely her favourite fruit). This series is different than her usual work both in style and workflow. Working within a specific theme was a shift from her usual art, as she was more accustomed to working on individual pieces in watercolours or realism. As for the style, she decided to move away from realism, shifting to depicting feelings and emotions as opposed to focussing on realistic proportions and shading. Holistically, Lay Hoon decided that “I needed to draw something that will make me happy” when she began this series. It turned out that it made a lot of her followers happy as well, and she has continued to grow this theme through today.

As her Instagram following grew, Lay Hoon met fellow artist Carmen Chan, who had previously earned a selection at the Vancouver Mural Festival. With Carmen’s encouragement, Lay Hoon decided to apply to the festival this year and was selected to make her first appearance. While she was not familiar with translating her illustrations to such a large scale, her experience creating giant kaleidoscopes certainly helped her visualize this piece. Titled, “Dance With Me,” her mural depicts a group of women dancing together at an outdoor party, surrounded by colorful flora, fauna, and of course, fruit. Describing the essence of her mural, she says that despite our current circumstances “I wanted to show that one day we can celebrate together again,” and revel in the care-free company that we previously enjoyed. “Dance With Me” is currently on display in the River District Crossing alongside several other murals curated for this year’s Vancouver Mural Festival.

Despite her busy professional and personal schedules, Lay Hoon says that “when I’m doing art it’s not really work,” and often finds herself accidentally working late into the night. Looking back on her career so far, she said that even with such a varied portfolio, no particular project stood above the rest. To Lay Hoon, “every little project is precious,” but she also acknowledges that a key to maintaining her high level of production is to be able to look ahead to the next project as she is wrapping up another. For her, the most rewarding part of her work has been hearing the positive reception that visitors have experienced when interacting with her art. She shared one story in which she was working on the back of one of her kaleidoscopes as it was on display. Hidden from view, she was able to hear positive reactions to her work from visitors as they passed, which was especially nice since “they’re not trying to praise you or say nice things to your face”. Hearing the immediate and unfiltered positive reactions to her work affirmed all of the time and effort Lay Hoon put in while setting it up, and continues to be a driving source of motivation today.

To keep up with Lay Hoon’s work make sure to follow Arty Guava on Instagram, and check out her website to see her complete portfolio. “Dance With Me” is on display at the River District Crossing, so head there to see it in person, alongside new murals from other local and international artists. Finally, to bring a fresh piece of Arty Guava home with you, head to Lay Hoon’s Society6 page to browse work of all sizes, shapes and mediums. If you’re going to be staring at your wall all day anyway, you might as well be looking at something beautiful. Check it out!

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Lay Hoon and the other creatives in this series.

Don’t forget to check out last week’s interview with filmmaker, Godfrey Cheng.

-BF

Godfrey Cheng – Filmmaker

This week I spoke with filmmaker, Godfrey Cheng about the beautiful permanence of film, the experience of being fired while on tour, and his new documentary covering the horrors of the palm oil industry, In Your Palm.

Godfrey’s passion for filmmaking began in elementary school as he was an early adopter of a content calendar, producing videos every Monday to share with his class. Experimenting with vlogs, unboxing videos, and gaming videos, Godfrey says that this wide range of exploration came from a challenge he put on himself “to see what you can make out of nothing”. (The unofficial mantra of university students looking in their fridge). For one particular assignment, he was tasked with documenting something that was important to him. He chose to film a series of comedic shorts with his grandmother, and while trivial at the time, in hindsight, he says that just “having that in my hard drive is something very important to me”. The importance of documentation became a recurring source of motivation for Godfrey and naturally led him to explore documentaries as a means to do so.

Getting Fired Up On Tour

Godfrey continued to make videos through his post-secondary studies at The University of British Columbia and began growing his network of clients through working with various organizations on campus. He also started cold-calling artists and other performers to gain more experience, eventually earning an opportunity to tour with singer and producer, William Singe. With the potential for over a million Instagram followers to see his footage, this was a massive opportunity for Godfrey, and he describes feeling incredibly anxious leading up to his flight to join the North American tour. Unfortunately, from the onset of the tour, he struggled to gain his footing or establish a rhythm, collecting passable footage but not performing up to the level that he thought he was capable of. Complications continued, and after three months he was ultimately fired from the position and was asked to return home. Godfrey struggled to identify what led to this collapse, wondering whether he wasn’t ready for the job, if he took the wrong approach, and even if he had a future in this industry. To give his mind a break he took up a job at White Spot, a job that while not fulfilling, reignited his passion for filmmaking. This interim period motivated Godfrey to improve his current skill set, gain some more experience and be ready for when the next big opportunity crossed his path.

Wedding Filmmaking

Part of his reinvention was working in the wedding industry, which he describes as a great place to “lock onto the basics” of filmmaking. Working within a finite time frame with essential moments to capture, Godfrey explains that in order to succeed, a wedding filmmaker’s technical skillset must also be met with the physical requirements of event videography. Throughout a wedding “you’re constantly on your feet, you’re tired, your legs are burning,” but you have to deliver your best work on arguably the most important day of a couple’s life. However, not one to get lost in the grandeur, Godfrey adds that over the course of a wedding season “you do have moments where you cringe but you pretend everything is alright”. Save it for the honeymoon folks. Perhaps the most important wedding he worked on was his own sister’s wedding, which he said felt like the culmination of every wedding he had done before. Once his edit was finished, watching her “being super emotional about seeing my work,” was a big affirmation that he had made the right choice to continue in the industry. (This is in no way meant to slander White Spot, count me in for a Legendary combo any day). Godfrey eventually decided to leave the world of wedding filmmaking but says that the hands-on experience he gained was invaluable to his career, as well as providing much-needed funds to upgrade his gear.

In Your Palm and Documentary Filmmaking

Due to the increased quality in his work, “collectively I started getting a lot of gigs from friends of friends,” covering subjects and genres that consistently challenged him. One of these connections was documentarian Carter Kirilenko, who saw Godfrey’s work and consequently offered him a gig working on a new project. This film, now titled In Your Palm, covered the dangerous and damaging palm oil industry of Indonesia. Breaching topics including deforestation, poaching, human rights violations, and global ramifications, this was an incredibly complex subject to capture. Much of this film was shot on location in Indonesia, and prior to boarding his flight Godfrey’s perception of this shoot was filled with dreams of helicopter rides, beautiful remote locations and the National Geographic documentaries he grew up with. However, he says “the reality is, you get food poisoning. You sweat all day because it’s so fucking hot,” and that it was an incredibly gruelling three weeks of shooting on location. Simply breathing was an issue due to the poor air quality; the crew had to wear protective masks all day which compounded the already incredible levels of heat and humidity. Please try to complain about wearing masks in Vancouver. But despite these hardships, Godfrey says that the satisfaction of being able to execute on his vision was extremely fulfilling, and even vindicating of his former struggles as a filmmaker. Carter and Godfrey ended up gathering enough footage to make two documentaries; In Your Palm is currently in its festival run, with a second film covering the Mount Leuser National Park coming out at the end of the year.

As mentioned before, Godfrey’s passion for documentaries came from his belief that “the power of film can ultimately create an effect” on the world, and that this medium is one of the most effective and engaging ways to educate an audience. Reminiscing on a project that stood out to him, Godfrey recalls another short film he made with his grandmother in his third year of university. As she was entering her last few weeks of life, Godfrey captured conversations and thoughts she had on those she loved, taking on a much different tone than the comedic shorts he made with her in high school. This footage was invaluable to Godfrey’s relatives who were unable to travel to Vancouver at the time, as well as those who were not fluent in Chinese, his grandmother’s native language. Once again, Godfrey views the timeless permanence of film as a gift, saying that there is something truly special about having memories “you get to look back on whenever you want”.

In Your Palm is currently screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and will soon be available for streaming, with Leuser: The Last Place on Earth making its debut at the end of the year. For more on Godfrey, follow him on Instagram for updates on these projects, and much more to come.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Godfrey and the other creatives in this series.

Don’t forget to check out last week’s interview with artist, Aidan Shamray.

-BF

Aidan Shamray – Artist

Aidan Shamray - Artist

This week I speak to artist Aidan Shamray about defining the differences between singles and albums, the impact visuals can have on a song, and the release of his new single, “Blue”.

While he has been releasing music at a furious rate as of late, Aidan has been producing for over 4 years. Looking back on his first tracks, he says that while the arrangements were not his best, he can still relate to the excitement and passion he felt as a new artist. Starting out, he felt confident sharing the lyrics, arrangements and mixes he had created but was much more nervous regarding the music videos he produced to accompany them. For him, performing on camera was “the first time expressing myself in such a direct way,” and felt much more vulnerable than a purely aural experience. To complement his performances, Aidan integrates different visual elements and he says that it has been a great learning experience to become more comfortable with the tools he has at his disposal. There was initially a greater disparity between his music and filmmaking skillsets, but he feels that he has closed this gap through repetition and practice. He also doesn’t separate these two worlds, rather he considers the visual experience an extension of the music, letting the music influence visual aspects such as subject matter and colour palettes.

The Benefits of Releasing Singles Over Albums

Aidan’s recent releases have all been singles, and when I asked him whether he had considered combining them into an album, he expressed his indecision on what qualities define an album. He said that as someone who has released albums in the past, “I struggle with if an album necessarily needs to have a consistent sonic cohesion amongst it” to hold it together, or if it may contain songs with no apparent similarities between them. If the answer to the former question is yes, then he would not consider his recent singles as part of a bigger album due to the varying stylistic differences between them. Moreover, he has found that the labour cost is significantly higher to create an entire album than it is for a single. In a social environment in which attention spans are at an all-time low, Aidan feels that you need to have “really thought about how you’re going to sustain interest in it,” in order to justify the investment of time, funds, and marketing efforts to create an album. For him, singles “allow me to challenge myself and do different things every single time,” granting him the freedom to cross genres and styles in a way he wouldn’t necessarily have within a traditional album.

On September 25th, Aidan is releasing “Blue,” the next single in his discography. “Blue” is a ballad he has been tinkering with for a while; he had written it several months before, but struggled to find the complementary parts to build around the main guitar line. Taking some time away from this song proved fruitful to breathe new life into it, and he expressed that “I love how so much of music is recycling” old ideas into new ones. Aidan also says that “Blue” is a snapshot of the struggle to “make the right choice not only for myself but for people that enjoy what I do;” a balance that affects artists in any discipline. Aidan says that this internal back and forth can result in delayed release dates, or deter him from releasing more experimental work, but is still part of the creative process that ultimately helps appease both himself and his listeners.

The Workflow of a Solo Artist

When it comes to writing the lyrics to performing the arrangments, mixing the recordings and finally creating the accompanying visuals, Aidan has largely been the sole architect of his creative body of work. While he says he is certainly open to writing or producing for another artist, at this point he isn’t sure if he could work with another lyricist or musician on his own projects. He explains that “so much of what I come up with is just me mumbling and then figuring it out,” that it would be difficult to integrate another artist into his usual workflow. However, he adds that “I can definitely admire other people’s skills,” when dreaming up bigger projects or developing more complex visuals, and by no means has Aidan written himself off as completely a solo act.

Reflecting on the past four years, Aidan says that “I feel like I’m always creating,” regardless of whether he has been releasing music on a consistent basis. He has refined his workflow to the point where he can now release new music with regularity, something that used to feel much more insurmountable to do. Aidan tells me that when he was starting out, he would get hung up on the little details, overwork aspects that were already working and miss the big picture of the whole song. Using a drumline as an example, he realized that “it makes zero sense to try and save this snare when there are so many options” to explore and play with. This shift in his mindset has saved him great amounts of time when recording, added stability to his workflow and has brought a lot of the joy back into creating, now that “the content is there and the content is there consistently”.

My favourite artists are the ones who are cool without even trying and Aidan is no exception. He describes a time last winter when he would run out to his car at night and listen to his music to see how his songs would sound in a car; repeating this process for each of the nine songs on a past album. While tedious under normal circumstances, this was complicated by the -40 degrees Celsius winters of Brandon, Manitoba that necessitated “holding my phone so it doesn’t freeze” and turn off. Nowadays, Aidan is confident enough in his mixing abilities that such experiments are not necessary, but he cites this memory as just another example that “I will go to the end of the world for my art and to deliver the best product available”.

To support Aidan and prevent future ice escapades, give him a follow on Spotify to hear his backlog of work and on Instagram to see the visual companions to his tracks. He is releasing music on a monthly basis with “Blue” coming out on all streaming platforms on September 25th.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Aidan and the other creatives in this series.

Don’t forget to check out last week’s interview with actor and filmmaker, Jenny Lee-Gilmore.

-BF

Jenny Lee-Gilmore – Actor & Filmmaker

Jenny Lee-Gilmore - Actor & Filmmaker

This week I spoke with actor and filmmaker Jenny Lee-Gilmore about working with children, intersectionality and representation in film, and her short film Breakaway, soon to air on CBC Gem.

Acting, Producing, and Other Roles

Jenny’s start in filmmaking was not like it is in the movies. Growing up in a small town in England, she didn’t view the film industry as a viable career path. Her first exposure to it only came when she moved to Vancouver and was signed to an acting agency when she was fifteen years old. However, she had always enjoyed creative writing in school, so when she realized that she could pursue a living writing for films, she decided to apply to the Film Production program at The University of British Columbia. While there, she experimented with several different roles on set and credits the program for allowing her to “dabble and learn what you liked”. She found that she especially enjoyed producing, a position in which she continues to work. Jenny shared that while there are definitely technical aspects to this role, one of the biggest challenges she faces is being “a mediator of all the different departments and making sure everyone is feeling heard”. While acting as the liaison for so many independent bodies gives her a great deal of fulfillment, she also adds that to stay energized, she needs to balance the producing gigs she takes on with her own independent creative work as well.

Moving to her work in front of the camera, Jenny began acting when she was fifteen years old, but didn’t really find her footing until a couple years later. Much of this formative time was spent auditioning for commercials, a process in which “you never know what you’re gonna do until they ask you in the moment”. On one especially memorable audition, Jenny recalls walking into the casting room to see a casting assistant spraying Windex on a sheet of plexiglass. (To be clear, this was not a COVID precaution. Quite the opposite). Once a sufficient layer was applied, the assistant then wiped down the sheet, removing a series of lipstick marks from the glass. Jenny was then instructed to “shove your face on this plexiglass and try and make this kid laugh” who was sitting on the other side. I didn’t ask Jenny what product they were trying to sell, but I’m pretty sure it was either midcentury Dutch furniture, red cabbage or Volvos. Unfortunately, she did not book this role, but it doesn’t seem to have hampered her career much (to this point).

Working as both a filmmaker and as an actor has given Jenny perspective on both sides that have cumulatively made her better at her craft. As an actor, she says that “I learned so much more about acting from directing actors” than in any class she has taken. For example, she has learned to bring her own array of options for a performance instead of trying to view the character from simply what the director would want to see. In addition, participating in the casting process as a filmmaker has helped her brush off her own unsuccessful auditions where she simply may have not been the right fit for the role. Conversely, as a director and producer, she has learned to ensure that the actors are included in the decision-making process and also recognize the vulnerable state many actors have to go to when delivering a performance.

Working with Wild and Child Cast Members

One of the first rules taught to film students is to never work with children or animals, but as we move to Jenny’s current projects we will emphatically tick both boxes off the list. Beginning with arguably the more trainable actors (animals), Jenny just wrapped her tenure on a wildlife rescue program showcasing the Marine Mammal Rescue Center here in Vancouver. As an On-Set Coordinator, she explains that by nature of the subject matter “you can’t really plan; there’s no schedule for the day” as they wait for a rescue to happen. This unpredictability kept the job engaging, as did the many, many, seals that Jenny got to interact with. As an aside, the individual taking over the reins on this process is none other than Dide Su Bilgin, who you may remember from an earlier article.

Moving on to working with children, even though Jenny only graduated from university in 2019, she has already amassed a significant amount of experience with child actors. Most recently in her short film, Breakaway, she cast a young girl named Kailee Lowe as the lead. There were several debuts to note at Breakaway with Jenny directing the first short film that she had also written, and Kailee acting in her first professional gig. Jenny says that this general inexperience is one of her favourite parts about working with children, as “they tend not to have any sort of ego or awareness of themselves,” lending themselves to giving more realistic performances.

While casting this film, Jenny had extra pressure to find a good fit for the titular role as the story of Breakaway is centred on the story of her own mother. Jenny tells me that her mother faced many barriers in the 1970s as a young, Chinese woman who was interested in playing ice hockey. Gender, class, race and other factors intersected with one another and created a narrative that Jenny thought had parallels to her own experience as a biracial woman in the film industry. This story has also struck a chord with many other viewers, as Breakaway was selected for streaming in an upcoming film competition on CBC Gem this October.

Representation in Film

A common theme throughout all of Jenny’s personal projects is her stance that “it’s really important to make things that you want to watch or would have liked to have watched growing up”. Growing up in a small town, Jenny says that she never felt that the media she consumed was representative of her personal experiences or point of view. Therefore, she feels a responsibility to try and improve the levels of representation for other individuals in similar circumstances. This also manifests in her student short film More Than Just a 1/2, which documents her experience growing up biracial. One of the few Asians she saw on screen as a child was Sandra Oh, who she ultimately had the chance to work with soon after graduating from UBC. Jenny says that Sandra certainly lived up to expectations as she “ugly cried in her arms for about five minutes”. (Hopefully, it is clear who was doing the crying and who was doing the holding). Unfortunately, Jenny adds that “I blacked out and I don’t remember any of the advice she gave me,” which will sadly be forever known to only Sandra Oh, a true Canadian treasure.

In closing, while Jenny continues to pursue filmmaking on both sides of the camera, don’t be offended if she hasn’t seen your film. Living with narcolepsy, she says that the dark confines and comfortable chairs of a theatre don’t exactly create an environment in which her attention is maximized. For this reason, Film Studies was a notoriously difficult course for her, but she adds that on the bright side, “it’s a really big compliment if I stay awake in your feature film”. Who knows if she has made it to this point in the article.

For more on Jenny, stay up to date by following her on Instagram and Twitter. Also, make sure to check out Breakaway when it hits CBC Gem this fall.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Jenny and the other creatives in this series.

And don’t forget to check out last week’s interview with textile artist, Julie Newton.

-BF

Julie Newton – Textile Artist

Textile Artist - Julie Newton

This week I spoke to textile artist, Julie Newton about natural dyeing, what items in your closet you take for granted, and why Ally and AJ should be protected at all costs.

Julie’s fashion journey began in high school when she began embroidering and personalizing the clothes she already had. She explains that as a beginner embroidery was attractive because “it’s a very accessible art form; you just need thread and a needle” to get started. Inspired by embroidery from the 50s and 60s, she experimented with thrifted clothes and eventually decided to pursue the textile arts as a career. After a brief stint at The University of British Columbia, she decided to enrol at Polimoda, a fashion school based in Florence, Italy. She says that there was a vast divide between her education at these two institutions; at UBC she was accustomed to one or two hour lectures, whereas Polimoda demanded ten-hour days of hands-on learning to simulate life on the job. A particularly tough class was knitwear, a class in which “you either learned really quickly or you were behind from thirty minutes in the first class”. Despite being a four-year program, Julie decided to leave Polimoda after two years, citing that “I really felt that I wanted to give it my go” back in Vancouver.

Prior to her studies at Polimoda, Julie had started her own company, Hijulez, when she was eighteen years old. This was a continuation of her love of embroidery that she had developed in high school, but began to involve more intricate and expansive work following her post-secondary studies. Julie describes her style as comfortable clothing with unique patterns, bright colours and natural dyeing; the latter becoming an area of focus over the last year and a half.

Natural Dyeing

With her background in fashion history, Julie notes that for the most part, people simply did not have access to most colours until the advent of synthetic dyes. That is not to say that civilizations lived in beige and grey, but rather that natural dyes were a major source to bring life into one’s clothing. Julie says that Vancouver affords her nearly limitless opportunities to experiment as “every month, something changes in Vancouver and there is something available” to try. She describes this process as a bit of a science experiment, combining different ingredients, bonding agents and fabrics to try and get her desired effect. Some ingredients she has sampled this year include cherry blossoms, magnolias, cedar, berries, sumac, and mint sage, many of which even came from her home garden. Julie began growing her garden at the onset of quarantine, and she says that this process has helped her become more patient with herself, citing that the fast-paced schedule that she pushes to maintain is forcibly balanced by the fixed growth cycles of her garden. This has also helped her localize the means of production for her items as she is able to source, sew and sell her products within a much smaller range.

Fast Fashion

When I asked Julie about what item of clothing most people take for granted, she said that a simple collared shirt could actually take up to five hours of continuous labour to produce. This discrepancy between perceived and actual labour is one of the reasons Julie had found it difficult at times to compete with the fast fashion industry. She says that the prices we have been accustomed to are relative to exploitative practices that go into the making of the clothing, while consequently making local goods seem overpriced in comparison. Julie’s upcoming launch of an intimates line has been directly affected by this dichotomy as she is trying to balance pricing, labour, and quantity in an effort to combat this issue.

Another issue she has faced is larger companies taking designs she has created and used them in their own products without any attribution or credit. Julie says that in fashion “there’s always inspiration, but there’s definitely blatant knockoffs” as well, and that it can be very disheartening to see her work gain traction under another name. But as a smaller company, she tries to maintain a balance between making efforts to protect her intellectual property and overextending herself and risking burnout.

Aly & AJ and other Happy Accidents

Inherent to creative experimentation is failure, and Julie says that she is lucky to achieve her original vision in half of the projects she attempts. While her success rate has increased over the five years of Hijulez, failure continues to be a part of her creative process. However, she embraces the positive aspect of failure, contrary to the definition that was presented to her in fashion school. Instead of viewing a project negatively if it doesn’t turn out as intended, she says that her career has in many ways progressed due to “lots of happy accidents”. (This, of course, excludes mistakes she has made in respect to not getting enough sleep, such as “sewing the wrong arm on something five times because you’re too tired”).

For Julie, the best part about being a textile artist is when she is able to connect with someone who shares the same aesthetic and values that are represented in her products. This can range from folks browsing her clothing in her driveway, collaborating on product launches with her friends, all the way up to much bigger clientele. One of the stores Julie sells her clothing in is One of a Few in Gastown. She has worked with this company for several years now, having been discovered on Instagram early in her career due to her embroidery work. Two of the many (get it?) visitors to One of a Few are Aly & AJ, a pair who are a pretty big deal for anyone, but an even bigger deal if you are like me and grew up in the early 2000s. Attracted to Julie’s work, Aly & AJ reached out to her on Instagram and began a chat that eventually led to Julie designing their tour merch and drum kit.

To end this article, I thought it was important to mention that Julie’s passion for sewing is much more than skin-deep. She shared a story from when she was six years old and camping with her family. Upon her dad (who is an ER doctor) accidentally cutting a deep gash in his hand, she was tasked with suturing the wound so they could get to a hospital. After a passable suture job, she remembers thinking “great, let’s do this on fabric. Or anything else,” which if nothing else shows the drive and perseverance that has got her to where she is today.

For more on Julie and her work, check her out on her website and on Instagram.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Julie and the other creatives in this series.

And don’t forget to read about podcaster Jake Robins.

-BF

Jake Robins – Podcaster

This week I spoke with Jake Robins, the creator of the WeMartians podcast, a show dedicated to discussions of Mars, space and beyond. He spoke about his five years in podcasting, the “Make Space Better” initiative, and why we on Earth are fascinated with Mars.

Jake’s interest in space kickstarted alongside millions of other Canadians in 2013, when Chris Hadfield was commander of the International Space Station. You know, this guy. Jake says that he was enthralled by the videos Hadfield released, from tours of the station to lunchtime in space. As Jake’s interest in aerospace grew, he explains that “anyone who’s into rockets eventually will find themselves in this stupid video game called Kerbal Space Program,” a game centred around rocket building and space travel. Jake says this game was a great teacher to learn the science behind space travel, and that his love for space led him to recreate actual historic space missions within the game to share on Reddit. After a year of posting content for a passionate fanbase, he found himself wondering “how can I be part of the real space community?”, eventually deciding that podcasting was to be his next big adventure.

WeMartians; 5 Years of Podcasts

Jake released the first episode of WeMartians in early 2016 but shares that it took him several episodes to deliver a cohesive product, iron out the initial growing pains and most importantly land his first guest. Anytime I use “land” in this article I run the risk of bad space puns, but it’s something we’re going to collectively agree is ok. When he first started the podcast, Jake said it was difficult to book anyone on the show, as he was seeking interviews with some of the world’s top engineers, scientists and authorities on space whereas he “was just some kid with an $80 microphone I got at Best Buy”. He blasted out emails, built relationships through Twitter and eventually was able to have his first interview with Michael Coarezza, an Italian engineer specializing in thermal systems and working on the ExoMars spacecraft. An unexpected challenge Jake faced in this inaugural interview was not the conversation itself, but rather managing the poor sound quality that came as a result of recording live between Vancouver and Italy. Specifically, Jake explains that “he was not in a good room and I didn’t have the experience to recognize that,” so there was only so much he could do in post to salvage the audio. However, this interview showed Jake how sharing a conversation with a guest could be a great way to expand his own audience, gain credibility within the community and glean insight into many different avenues of aerospace. Another key guest Jake notes from his first few episodes is Tanya Harrison, a Canadian-American Martian planetary scientist, owner of a great Twitter account and someone whom he has continued to work with.

Over the course of over eighty episodes of WeMartians to date, optimizing audio quality is just one learning that Jake has improved upon since episode one. Before every interview he sends his guest a carefully curated guide to ensure good audio, covering everything from headphones to the acoustics of the rooms themselves. He has also learned to prepare better questions, structuring the interview around “guideposts” to smoothly direct the conversation and allow him to be opportunistic if an interesting tangent presents itself. Lastly, Jake says that he is still working on identifying when to stop an interview if he is unable to resolve any audio or connectivity issues on the fly. He says that this is “a really tough thing to do,” when considering his interviewees’ busy schedules and his own content calendar, but has saved him a lot of grief and time when it comes time to edit.

This year, Jake landed arguably one of the biggest guests of WeMartians, Jim Bridenstine, the Administrator of NASA. Coming from a history in politics and not science, Bridenstine had many critics when he was appointed in 2017, Jake included. However, despite this rocky start, Jake and others in the space community began to slowly gain an appreciation for Bridenstine on the back of several positive changes that Bridenstine had implemented. Between one another they even joked that they should start the “Jim Bridenstine Fan Club”. This fandom grew to the point where a listener of WeMartians gave Jake a hundred pins with a portrait of Bridenstine bearing the “Jim Bridenstine Fan Club” insignia on top. Pins in hand, Jake attended The International Astronautical Congress conference in Washington D.C., an event that he describes as “the biggest conference in the world for space,” full of international speakers and professionals. Jake began handing the pins out to friends and listeners at the conference, telling them that “your mission is to try and get this into Jim’s hands”. It took only forty-five minutes for a photo on Twitter to appear of Jim, accompanied with said pin. Riding the wave of this photo, Jake met Bridenstine’s communications deputy and was eventually able to arrange an hour and a half interview with Bridenstine. Jake describes this episode as “one of the best interviews we ever did,” a major milestone in his podcast, and this even resulted in a new, redesigned pin that is now available to welcome new members of the Jim Bridenstine Fan Club.

The Power of Podcasts

In an environment flooded with seemingly unlimited and complex varieties of content, podcasts almost feel like a throwback medium. For Jake, podcasts are special because conversations represent “the oldest form of communication,” before humans had photos, music, sculpture, or mildly passable blog posts. He also adds that the intimacy and accessibility of podcasts is a feature not always present in other content. Listeners can experience a personal conversation with the host, as well as indulge in any specific niche of interest that they could ever imagine.

One of Jake’s most recent projects was “Make Space Better,” a collaborative initiative prompted by the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. Along with his creative partner Anthony Colangelo, they looked inward at the barriers to racial justice and equity facing the aerospace community. Noting the underrepresentation of women and people of colour across geophysics, geology, engineering, and other disciplines of aerospace, Jake said that they wanted to focus on helping their local community, but struggled to identify what that meant for global podcasters. Together they decided to support two organizations, with the first being Black Girls Code, an organization providing training for young Black women in many disciplines directly relevant to aerospace. In addition, they chose the Banneker Institute, an organization providing ten-week programs to undergraduate students of colour before they embark on their Masters or Ph.D. studies. Jake and Anthony proposed a fundraiser to their listeners to support these causes, agreeing to match donations to a point in an effort to raise money and awareness for these two organizations. He says “I can’t really explain how it took off,” (my personal view of rockets), but with the help of their listeners and Youtuber Tim Dodd, the “Everyday Astronaut,” they collectively raised $35,000 in donations. An incredible amount. Jake says that this was an extremely humbling experience to receive that much support from his listeners and that “it’s very nice to know that after five years of really slowly curating an audience that they ended up being that cool”.

When Jake decided to make a podcast about Mars, he said that he selected the planet in part to fill a niche in the podcast world for devotees of our neighbour in the sky. From a scientific standpoint, he adds that four billion years ago, Earth and Mars were in similar states and that its important to remember that our vastly different current environments are rooted in a shared beginning. Jake also notes that Mars has become intertwined with human culture despite ironically being somewhere no human has ever been. Between War of the Worlds, Elon Musk and countless references in popular culture, humans have been having conversations about Mars for a long time. Jake has found a way to continue this tradition with WeMartians, (admittedly with a bit more scientific input), but with the same fascination and engagement that began a long time ago.

Jake releases new podcasts, blog posts and more every week so check out the WeMartians website to stay up to date on everything Mars. You can even pick up your own Jim Bridenstine fan package. WeMartians is on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android and good old RSS so you have no excuse not to give him a follow.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Jake and the other creatives in this series.

Click here if you missed last week’s post with comedian, Matty Vu.

-BF

Matty Vu – Comedian

This week I spoke to comedian, Matty Vu about his experience as a producer and co-host, diversity in comedy, and his recent feature on CBC’s “Next Wave of Comedy”.

Matty’s journey in stand-up began six years ago when he enrolled in a stand-up class with Instant Theatre, a school that you also may remember from our article with Nathan Hare. Prior to this, Matty was a frequent attendee at The Laugh Gallery, a longstanding show run by Graham Clark. As a result of the friendship with Graham that he had established as an audience member, Matty’s first sets upon graduating from Instant Theatre were on The Laugh Gallery; an unusually quick trajectory for a new comedian. But after a run of well-received performances, he parlayed these sets into appearances on more shows, quickly gaining experience as a performer and confidence in his material.

Bloodfeud and Yellow Fever

While taking stand-up classes at Instant Theatre, Matty was also offered the opportunity to supplement his performing chops and take some improv classes. There he met improviser Malcolm McLeod, and over the next few months, they began tinkering with the idea for a collaborative show featuring both stand-up comedy and improv. Having made friends in both genres of performance, Matty wanted to create a show in which they could come together and create a unique experience for the audience. Eventually, this materialized into Bloodfeud; a show that has now run for three years with the format of four stand-up comedians performing material that inspires long-form improv by a team of improvisers. The inspiration for the name came from the online banter between Matty and Malcolm in which they would sign each of their posts with #bloodfeud. As for the format of the show, Matty says that “we’ve basically stolen from every show” they enjoy to form Bloodfeud. Examples of this include implementing dual hosting duties that were present at Jokes Please, as well as ensuring a talent pool of mixed genders, races and backgrounds that Matty enjoyed at The Laugh Gallery.

In addition to Bloodfeud, Matty also serves as a co-host and co-producer of Yellow Fever, a show that was recently featured alongside Bloodfeud in the JFL Northwest comedy festival. He says that the goal of Yellow Fever was to provide a platform for newer, less-experienced Asian comics to showcase their material to a wider audience. When he was approached by JFL Northwest to be included in the festival, Matty says that alongside co-producers Tin Lorica and Ronald Dario, they recognized the opportunity to push the organizers of JFL to promote Yellow Fever as more than simply a diversity act, or a symbolic checkbox on the festival. After several discussions on what this would look like, they were able to negotiate a larger venue in the Biltmore Cabaret as well as a great headliner in Sheng Wang. Matty describes this year’s festival as an amazing experience for him as Yellow Fever opened on the first night of the festival and Bloodfeud was featured on the closing night. I had the pleasure of being on the first-ever installation of Yellow Fever, and would like to credit myself for being the absolute sole reason behind its success.

The Mechanics of Producing Comedy

Between Bloodfeud, Yellow Fever, and another show titled Craft and the Furious, Matty has had extensive experience as a producer and host. (In case you thought you were the only one with this idea, Craft and the Furious is a show in which Matty and other comedians join the audience in making crafts while watching movies from The Fast and The Furious franchise). He says that one of his key learnings as a producer is recognizing that “you have to do a lot of the work,” before you even get to perform. From marketing the event, booking performers and even stocking the bar for the audience, there is a lot of offstage work that goes into producing a successful show. To expand on booking talent, Matty explains that “you can’t just say yes to everybody or reject everybody” either, but he has placed an emphasis on representing voices from people of colour and female comics. When he began performing, he didn’t feel like he belonged or even enjoyed many of the rooms he was in, so improving this experience for other comedians and audiences has been a huge source of inspiration for how he curates talent on his own shows.

Moving to his hosting duties, Matty says that cultivating a good flow with his fellow hosts is often “the thing we worked the hardest on for the show”. For example, through the first editions of Bloodfeud, Matty and Malcolm tried an adversarial approach with one another, but they found that this did not always resonate well with audiences. Eventually, they realized that in the context of a show, “your audience is the guest in the host’s house,” and that it is the host’s responsibility to both earn the audience’s trust and set the following performers up for success. At times, this can mean dealing with unruly guests or as in one instance welcoming an entire bachelorette party who came to a very special edition of Bloodfeud. Aside from all twenty of them leaving five minutes before the show ended to catch their limos, Matty claims that they were a relatively good crowd due to a smattering of light warnings and jabs towards them to open the show. He explains that addressing a potentially rambunctious crowd from the very beginning can help diffuse any negative ideas, and even a simple “don’t be annoying” can help ensure a positive experience for everyone in the room.

The New Wave of Standup

Matty’s most recent accomplishment in comedy was being featured on CBC’s “New Wave of Standup” series that was filmed during the JFL Northwest festival and was recently released online. He was the opening performer when it came time to film, and though he admits he was nervous to go first, it was a relief to be finished as he saw the nerves from the other comics yet to go on. As a bonus for those of you who like Easter eggs, he also says that in some of the subsequent performances you can see him in the background “dancing, or doing something silly” with the other comedians. You have to love content with solid rewatch value. Matty says that this experience was extremely validating to not only be selected for this series but also to be given freedom by the producers to curate his set the way he wanted it to be. More holistically, he considers this one of the highlights of his stand-up career thus far, reflecting on some of the negative experiences he has had in comedy in contrast to “this fun night where you get to feel special doing stand up”.

Six years into comedy, Matty says that his comedic style has remained relatively unchanged since he began. He attributes this to the fact that since he was twenty-nine years old when he started, “I was a mostly formed human person” and therefore still has similar outlooks on life and comedy. In terms of his material itself, Matty noticed that “a lot of comics talk about things that make them mad, where I’m just like no, these are the things I love”. For myself, this positive world-view separates Matty’s sets from most others, and I think audiences who have seen him would share the same notion. Earning opportunities to perform on new shows and with new comedians continues to fuel Matty’s passion for comedy, but he recognizes that the current state of comedy still has room for improvement. He says that while it is great to see more Asian comics onstage, it’s important to continue supporting venues and shows that provide these opportunities, stating that simply “having that space will keep people to stick around and do more”.

In case you are wondering, Matty cites the “silly and terrible” Tokyo Drift as his favourite in the Fast and Furious canon. To keep up with him, look for @themattyvu on social media, and check out his set on CBC’s “The New Wave of Standup”.

Follow A Musing on Facebook and Instagram for more content on Matty and the other creatives in this series.

And don’t forget to check out last week’s article with aerialist, Marianne Rico.

-BF.