Women Doing Whatever They Want

December 05, 2019

When it comes to larger corporations being with the shits, Red Bull rises above the rest. And luckily for office, we got to experience this wave firsthand by attending the Red Bull Music Festival in both Atlanta and Chicago last week.

Gathering artists like Ari Lennox and Teyana Taylor in ATL to Tierra Whack and Jamila Woods in CHI, it was clear that Red Bull knew what it was doing. The concept behind this activation was pretty simple: give these top female artists total creative freedom to whatever the fuck they want. The result? A performance that is truly unique and marvelous, and a platform which allows the artist the ability to sincerely express themselves. Often electing to intertwine their forte into something a bit more experimental, each show had its own unique twist.

Interviews by Drew Ross
Photos by Mitchell Connell

Check out our interviews below with some of the artists.

Ari Lennox

By watching your audience tonight, I could tell they all really connected with everything you sang as if they wrote it or had experienced it themselves. Is this something that's intentional? Do you try and make your songs relatable to a specific audience?

I just write about whatever I’m going through. I’ve never really realized that it was so relatable. It just happens and it’s like, “oh great I’m not alone. Someone can identify with me and be happy with having their first apartment or dating someone that may not have as much money as you,” but it’s also like, “fuck that shit, who cares? I just like you for you.” You know?

Yeah, you’re incredibly relatable and anecdotal. Outside of songwriting, who are some of your other musical influences?

Minnie Riperton is definitely an influence, all ‘90s RnB, ‘70s Soul. I listen to a lot of beautiful music: Smokey Robinson, Teddy Pendergrass, The Whispers, etc. Real music.

You just released your debut album. Now that you’ve passed from a time where you were perhaps in a similar environment or relationship with your audience, how do you think your songwriting will change? What are you looking to write about now?

Damn, maybe on how I can’t find a fucking apartment because all them shits are too expensive ‘cause I moved to LA. Maybe write about my dog. It would only be about things I’m going through. Realistically, I know I should give him to a more stable person, but I can't let go of my baby. I could write a whole album about my dog. But I mean yeah, I guess that's all it would be, love, loss, being conflicted. I feel like not much would change, it'll always be about what I'm going through—a cross country drive, just going, myself in my car.

When I got into a position of power where I was controlling my own narrative, I took it and I ran with it. Gave me an inch and I went 30 miles and I ain't stop. I ain’t turning back.

Teyana Taylor

Your show tonight had so many layers and changes, what are some of the aesthetic inspirations for the show?

It’s crazy because it kind of transformed into a movement. This is the House of Petunia and for the show I really wanted to bring visuals that complemented the song feeling or vibe. As you can see, I had songs about every subject—things that people could relate to. Whether it was love, passion, hurt feelings, sexy, crying or going to church. I love to have a show where people can laugh with me, dance with me, sing with me and cry with me. I think it’s very important to be touchable—for everyone to know that you’re human and that we’re all in this together. And that I am genuine and appreciative, so I put my all into it. I always want to reach out to everybody because you never know what people are going through. So I kind of want to be the mood—any type of mood that anybody has going on now.

The ground you’re covering in all your ventures is really impressive, I wanted to know where all this motivation comes from?

I think motivation is how I want to put in work, and it shows that I will never get too comfortable. I will never stop my grind. I will always work. I look at my daughter and I look at my husband and say this is who I do it for. I look at my family and say this is who I do it for. I look at my team and my aunties and my manager and I look at them and say this is who I do it for. Like I said on stage, it takes a village. It ain’t just me saying, “I’m getting on this stage—there’s a whole production. There’s a whole team! All the way down to the people who sweep up the stage to make sure it’s clean! That shit matters and it’s very important and that’s why I like to thank everyone. That is my motivation, and these are the powers that we have.

What was it like directing “WTP” and all the other videos you’ve directed for others?

It’s crazy because I’ve had some downfalls in my career—some things that have hurt my feelings. So I've been in the position where I was really young and couldn’t control my own errors. And that inspired me to direct. Maybe there’s something that doesn’t look that bad to the naked eye, but to me, it could be better. I’ve always critiqued everything, including my own stuff, so it wasn’t like I was hating. I just always seen better for others, which is very rare. I genuinely love to create for others. I genuinely love to help others. I’ve wanted to direct since all the way back in 2011, but because of all the ups and downs I’ve been through with music, it was always like get the album out and everything got pushed to the side. When I got into a position of power where I was controlling my own narrative, I took it and I ran with it. Gave me an inch and I went 30 miles and I aint stop. I ain’t turning back. Ain’t nobody directed a video for me yet. I don’t remember the last time someone directed a video for me, including the songs that I’m featured on. And the fact that people hit me up is so dope. It’s almost like people want to get me on the song just to direct the video, but I appreciate that. Chance the Rapper tweeting about me, Wale tweeting about me and Snoop Dogg—all these other people call me by director name, Spike Tee. I just think it’s really dope to get that acknowledgment from my peers and from other artists. To see other women and men come up to me like, “yo Tee I need the visuals!” That excites me.

Jamila Woods

Tell me about your writing process

I think in general, I like to go as a collaging process. I just like to have a lot of stuff around me to spark ideas when I’m writing. Whether it’s like keeping a lot of notes around me or stuff that I saved on my phone or watching videos on Youtube. For this project, my writing process always had the prompt of who the song was named after and thinking about what my connection is with them. There’s this quote we say in poetry: “you don’t always have to enter into a poem through the front door.” So I have all these other songs about different people, but how can I enter into each specific one with a different perspective. As you’ve continually reached notoriety throughout your career as an artist and writer, you’ve still been actively involved in the Chicago youth art scene with YCA.

Tell me about your decision to focus on this and put emphasis on the Chicago youth.

I definitely acknowledge that being apart of youth art spaces in my last few years of high school and a few years during college was integral to my development as an artist. I remember seeing teachers, who I guess were my age now, and they were doing art and also teaching it to me, but they were young and they were people of color. And that was the first time I saw the model and I thought, “I can do something like that.” I just always wanted to return, so that's what I did when I graduated school. On top of that, it pushes me as an artist. It forces you to remember why you love what you’re doing and that you have to teach others why they should too. So as I was writing this project, I taught a long mentorship program in the summer, and I was bringing my ideas and I asked them to make their own legacy maps, people who have influenced them. Having them go through the process helped me see how I could reign in on my own. I think they have the best taste, young people of color especially. They are the makers of our culture, and I think it’s really important to stay connected.

Outside of the aforementioned artists and students what primarily influences your work?

That's a good question. I think it's almost like a mirror, I want to try and know myself more and create music that speaks to different parts of myself and helps me be seen. Even sometimes I’ll write a poem and come back to it a month later and be like, “Oh that's what I was talking about.” That's a wisdom that I didn't even realize at the time. That's what drives me to write, regardless of the topic—striving to know myself better.

Music

Taraneh’s Prayer to the World

COAT, archive fur, BIKINI by MOSCHINO, BOOTS by PRADA

When Taraneh was writing her first two albums, she was making music for people to listen to in their rooms. New Age Prayer, releasing on Kiss Me I'm Famous, is comprised of cross-genre references that Taraneh describes as an entirely new sound, that while ethereal and a little moody (perfect for listening to in a bedroom) is better in person. When the album drops, she, Scarlet Rae and Prints will grace the stage at Mercury Lounge so keep an eye out. ;)

The singles you've put out so far sound wildly different from your past projects. How would you describe this record?

Yeah for sure, it's super multi-genre exploring a lot of very new sounds for me in terms of genre and the way that things are presented. And it's really exciting because we've entered this era where genres are almost dead in a way. I don't know if it has to do with the way that we consume media, but that genres kind of blend in this interesting way that I've never really experienced before, at least in my lifetime, or as far as I know in the past. I feel like I'm seeing more artists who are more and more kind of liberated in terms of what they present in their music. And this record is very much that as well. I wanted to do grunge tracks. I wanted to do a tele-disco. I wanted to do industrial, lo-fi, whatever. It's a bit offbeat to have an album that is so all over the place, but there is this cohesive thread of the voice and the songwriting ultimately bringing everything together.

I've been hearing people say that — that genre is dying, but it feels like more and more people are just realizing that music is just sound, and so artists are more open to experiment to create sounds that evoke feeling rather than fitting into a specific genre.

Totally. And no shade to the artists that do stick to a genre, it's cool and valuable to find a niche but I feel like we've entered an era where it's gone steps beyond that, in which genre and subculture are just blending in such a new and interesting way. I feel like we're going to see more and more multi-genre projects.

Or maybe just no genre. Would you say that it's something you're doing intentionally or it just happens naturally?

Yeah, no genre, just something completely new. I'd say that's kind of my goal as an artist in a lot of ways. I don't think there's any point in doing something if you're not bringing anything new to the table, whether that be a new feeling that you invoke for an audience, or a sound. I'm not going to sit here and call myself a pioneer or anything, but I do think that the way that this record specifically crosses genres and almost circumvents them is something that is relatively new. Some people get it, some people don't at this point, but I don't know, I'm sure that will be something we see a lot more of.

How do you feel about some of the more energetic songs on the record, like "Artificial" with Evanora:Unlimited?

I feel like this record is the first time that I brought my singing voice above a certain place in terms of volume. My past work is very soft and intimate, which is the writing style that feels very comfortable to me. But with this one, I wanted to get louder and louder. There's something very powerful about singing soft songs, but there's obviously something equally as powerful about being able to yell and scream and so songs like "Artificial" are super exciting to me.

Which song was your favorite to make?

So everything is co-produced by me and my friend James Duncan. He did all of the drum programming, he did all of the synth patches, he had all the bass parts, and I did the guitar. The most fun I had writing was probably on "Superstar", just because for that song in particular, I wrote the bass line, and bass isn't really my instrument. I know how to play, obviously, but that day, James and I swapped instruments, so he did guitar, I did bass and that was a really fun experience, taking a different approach to songwriting.

When did you write "Superstar"?

"Superstar", we wrote, I think February of 2023. So a little over a year ago. The first song I wrote for the record was actually the title track, "New Age Prayer", but we recorded that one last. I wrote that in 2022 when I came back from the first tour I did in Europe with Evanora. I actually wrote it originally with Evanora and Ivy in mind as features for it, and they both wanted to hop on the track but the timing didn't end up working out. But it's super exciting to see everyone reflected in the features. So I played this show in January of 2023, and it was me, Evanora, Ivy Knight, and LUCY (Cooper B Handy), and that show honestly changed a lot for me. It was the first really big show I played where audience members were actually singing my songs.

Is that where the four of you met?

No, we didn't meet there, but that show almost represented an era for me. The features say a lot about what that specific event and coming together of sound really represented in my life and career.

This being your third full-fledged project, what made you choose the title New Age Prayer? Are you a religious or spiritual person?

I'm not religious, but I am spiritual, and honestly, the title just kind of came to me. I was having a really hard time thinking of a title for the album, but I wrote the album already knowing that I wanted this to be the album art, the one that we selected. It's an image that was on a poster in an apartment I moved into in Boston just hanging on the wall and it would never come off when I tried to take it down. The night before I moved to New York, the whole poster fell off the wall. I have it in my room now. So this was on my wall the entire time when I was writing this record.

Did you find out where the image is from?

I had no idea what the origin of the image was. The front of the poster says 'Death Community,' like some monastery having funeral processions, and the back says , "You will die here," which is very ominous, but I did a reverse image search, and it's from this publication called The Whole Earth Catalog. It was in circulation in the seventies, and it was the publication that inspired Steve Jobs to make Apple or something. It was his favorite publication. I knew that I wanted to use the image before I found all of that out, but I was like, Holy shit, that's so sick.

So I guess you're the next Steve Jobs? [Laughs]

Maybe? You heard it here, folks, I'm the next Steve Jobs. [Laughs] But back to the question. I'm definitely a very spiritual person. I was raised Muslim, and even though I don't follow any sort of institutitional religion, I am culturally Muslim so that's imagery that has presented itself again and again in my work. But one day, I was looking out that window [points] and I was like new age prayer, that's it, that's the title. Grant Lepping was the engineer, and Kris Esfandiar i, King Woman is the executive producer on the record and we were all in a group chat where I sent the title, and everyone was like, What? No, that's not it. I was like, No this is it, trust me guys. It just resonated.

HAT and TOP by DENIZ BLUEMENSTEIN, GLASSES by CELINE, BOOTS, talent’s own

Do you pray?

I do pray. For me, music is prayer in a lot of ways. I think music is magic and the words that we speak are prayers in and of themselves.

Like the opening track, "Ask and Receive”.

Totally. Our words hold immense weight and meaning. When I'm writing songs, it's not even an intentional thought process for me. It's more like I'm channeling a message. Not to sound totally offbeat, but lots of times I'll write something and it won't make sense to me until years later I'll listen back and be like, Oh my God, that is what it means for sure. You know what I mean? And this is the first record where I don't have very dark, depressing imagery in my lyricism, and that was a very intentional move on my part, just because I've spoken with so many friends who also make music, and the consensus is that what we put into our songs does really come true in a way. So the imagery in this record is very intentionally calling in what I want to experience.

Our words are so powerful. Even our thoughts and dreams.

Yeah, for sure. dreams are also such an important part of how I navigate my life. I honestly determine who I work with based on my dreams. If I say I'm going to work with someone and I have a bad dream about it, I just don’t do it. And it happened three times when I was choosing who to work with on the release of this project. If something is not meant to be, I'll just have a nightmare the night before. I'm supposed to sign the contract the next day, get this message and wake up like, Sorry, I’m not interested anymore.

I believe that, it’s how you align with what’s actually meant for you.

Totally and in my family lineage, we definitely have very intense and guiding, almost prophetic dreams. I was named based on a dream. My dad had a dream with the wife of Abraham which is why my middle name is Sara. It’s not common in Persian culture to have middle names. My dad wanted to name me Sarah but my mom was like, No, we're not going to name her daughter Sarah. They decided to make it the middle name.

Remind me what your first name means.

My name is "Taraneh" in Farsi. It means "melody".

So "Prophet" came out in January and you've released two singles and music videos for each. Talk to me about that process a little bit.

Yeah, "Prophet" came out in January. "My World" came out in February, and then "On Repeat" just dropped a few weeks ago. Prophet is also a song that I wrote later in the process of making this record. And it's just a very exciting, totally new sound for me personally. It's really fun to perform. It's very energetic in a way that a lot of my other songs haven't been, which is really exciting. I wanted to make music that people can dance to. That's another thing. When I was writing, like my last record, like A Fleeting Feeling, which I wrote before I ever played my first show, I wasn't writing with performance in mind. I was writing songs to listen to in your bedroom. That's what I was doing with it. But I started performing and I was like, I want songs that people can dance to.

Yeah, you can't play a downer in the middle of an amped up show unless people are expecting it. Everyone's going to think you're being weird.

For sure. I mean, if that's the show that you're signing up for, then definitely, but I feel like I always play with friends who make crazy, loud music that's really energetic. So I feel like it is kind of dope to be like, okay, you were just dancing to some crazy shit and now I'm going to play this really sad song. The music finds its audience for sure.

What do you feel threads the entire album together?

As multi-genre as the record is, each song has a sister track. That's kind of how I played it out in my mind. So "Prophet" and "Artificial" are like sister tracks to me. And then "Ask and Receive" and "Superstar", "Reckoning" and "Burn". That's definitely a thread that I wanted to continue throughout. Then "New Age Prayer" stands on its own as the title track. There's nothing that's really quite like that one.

Have you done that before?

No, never, but looking back, I'm really glad I did. Like "Ask and Receive" and "Superstar", James did the drum programming and it was just a long project file that continued so I was like, what if we wrote a second song with the same drums from the last track, but it's a completely different song?

Now that you mention it, I do see that, and love that intention behind the pairing. How would you compare this to your last two projects?

So I've put out two full albums; all of my albums are 13 songs, that will continue forever. But my last two records, the first one I wrote when I was 15, then I recorded it when I was 21. I did all the production, if you can even call it that. It was very lo-fi, and that was intentional. I was like, I just need to get these songs out. That was Grab Bag. And then A Fleeting Feeling was a little bit more advanced. James was my co-producer on that as well. And I had a full band for the recordings. But this is the first one that it’s really like, I'm doing this. The fact that I got to work with so many of my favorite musicians and my closest friends on this has been such a pleasure and privilege.

How does it feel to be increasing your output in terms of rollout this time around?

Like the videos, the photo shoots. That's new. That's all new. When I released A Fleeting Feeling, I was still working for USA Today as an investigative journalist. Wow. I never really thought of music as something that I would do. It was just something that I wanted to do and it gave me a lot of pleasure and joy to do, but I was never thinking like, oh, rollout video, press, whatever. And this is the first time that I'm doing that. It's fun. It's cool. It's definitely very different. There is power in not really trying to play the game. And not to say that I'm playing the game now, but I’m definitely being very intentional in what I’m doing.

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I was speaking to someone the other day who — not in music, in fashion — that has been fairly influential but still considers themself "uninvolved” in the industry. They said that there's a danger in feeling too involved. Is this what you mean by 'the game'?

That is interesting, well my biggest goal as an artist is to reach as many people as will resonate with my music as possible. That is the intention beyond the artistic intention of trying to generate an entirely new feeling in terms of how I'm presenting my music to the world. Playing the game is figuring out how to hack the algorithms or whatever. The single drops are never something that I thought I would do. And in the past I was very against that. I was like, I want to present an entire body of work that's super cohesive at one point, and who cares if no one listens to it? That's still kind of a principle that guides me. I do the work for the sake of the work, but this time... I want to be a musician. And I mean, I am a musician, but I want to really pursue that now at this point in my life.

Do you feel like you’ve gotten to a point where you can be selective?

I'm starting to get there. I'm really excited. I just got a booking agent which was a huge goal of mine. I’m working with these girls, Natasha and Andrea. Natasha's also Persian, which is really cool, and I'm just excited to have representation because it's just been me and my band who are all amazing. We’ve been doing all the bookings ourselves up until this point and I don't say yes to just anything. I say things to the things that really excite me, which is a huge privilege.

Does that feel like the next step, being able to say no?

Yeah it does feel like the next step for sure. Although, that's always been a principle of mine. A tenant is never supposed to say yes to anything that doesn't resonate with them. I've always said, If it's not hell, yes, it's no. It definitely has to resonate deep within me for me to say yes to it. But it is so exciting to just get booked for bigger shows and see more people streaming my music this time. Last year, I had a thousand listeners on Spotify.

I noticed that, your streams have gone up so much since last year.

Yeah, it’s really exciting. Not that streams are getting me money or anything at this point, but it is just really cool to see people in like small towns across America listening to my music.

Does it show you how old your listeners are?

Yeah, my listeners are mostly 16 to 30, which is so cool. I very much write music for my younger self, so when I see teenagers streaming my shit, it's so exciting. That's honestly my target audience. It's the kids.

That must be such a nice feeling, to know that somewhere you might be inspiring younger people exactly like you at that age. And it’s cool that this is your first time putting out singles before a full project, because those tend to become the most popular tracks on a record.

Yeah definitely, it means the world. And it's so funny because even on my last record, there are so many songs that I wrote that I love, and it's easy to forget them in the mass of a body of work. I feel like I'm very much someone who will consume an entire album. I'll listen to it from the first song to the last song, but that's not how a lot of people consume content. There's playlists. So this time around, and this goes beyond playing into the algorithm, it's fun to be able to show people which my favorites are, the ones I really want them to listen to.

I was surprised to not see Thoom or Comet as features on the record because I know you’re friends and have worked together before.

Thoom and Comet are two of my favorite artists. Comet and I actually did a song together, "Bunny" on her last EP which is really special. I feel like one of the treats of making music is definitely being able to collaborate with artists that you respect and that's something I want to continue doing so I’d love to see them on the next project.

You mentioned consulting an astrologist to align specific dates with your roll out. What was that like?

Yeah, so my friend Tamaryn, who is this iconic shoegaze legend as well, did all of the astrological elections for the record, which is something I'd never done before. That was super special. I would tell her which week I wanted to release something and I’d tell her my intention with each single then she’d pick a date and time for when I should drop everything. I would absolutely love to continue doing that. I do believe in astrology.

A lot of early Persian spirituality is based around astrology as well, so it's something that definitely resonates with me on a cultural level. Obviously, the work needs to speak for itself, but being able to go in and fine tune these specific things has been a real treat. And it makes sense, right? Putting out a record called New Age Prayer and then having all of this astrological work behind the rollout. If there are any musicians who believe in astrology and want to work with an astrologer, hit up Tamaryn for sure.

What do you hope the impact of this album will be?

I hope it reaches all the people who need to hear it at the perfect time. This is my prayer to the world at this moment and in this era of my life and the intention here is about channeling power — personal power more than anything as I face the world. I hope everyone who sings along is able to access that power within themselves as well.

Music

The Possession of Saint Sebastian: Evanora:Unlimited

March 27, 2024

Orion Ohana, the artist behind industrial-punk project, Evanora:Unlimited, may have gotten possessed. Or exorcized. We’re not really sure. It was a full moon the night they filmed the music video for their song, “No Country,” off their latest album, Perfect Answer. Randomly, they had come up with a scene for the video, offhandedly suggesting they get tied to a tree and beat with clubs. But after filming, there was a newfound heaviness that felt sinister. “I felt with everything inside of me that I had accidentally done something very wrong and dark,” says Orion. Upon returning to their apartment, hours are lost to their memory. They later found out about their erratic behavior, uncontrollable movements, and petrification at the sight of an evil eye pendant. After repeating, “I’m not okay…I’m not okay…” and hyperventilating, Orion eventually came back. They have no recollection of this. “I had unknowingly done some sort of dark ritual,” says Orion.

Coincidentally (or not), Orion found a religious painting that depicted exactly the scene they had shot in the woods — the same scene that seemed to have summoned whatever dark forces were at play during Orion’s lost hours. Researching, they discovered the story of martyr Saint Sebastian, who was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and then clubbed to death. The parallels are uncanny. From the unknowing yet scarily accurate recreation of Saint Sebastian’s death, to Saint Sebastian’s status as the patron saint of the archers for whom Orion is named — the coincidences are too strong to be anything but. We sat down with Orion to talk about their mythic ordeal and the music behind it all.

By Izzy Capulong
Photography by Karolina Gawrońska

office — Tell me about what happened in the woods. How’d you come across that house? What were you feeling when you first started filming? At what point do you remember the energy shifting?

Orion — The two primary scenes were shot in two different wooded locations — the one of me bloody and tied to a tree was shot in Berlin 2023 in the woods of Tegelersee, a few feet away from a famous tree known as Dicke Marie the oldest tree in Berlin (which unfortunately was too thick to tie me to). The other primary scene with the chainsaws, lake, and woodchopping was shot in Mendocino, California at my friend Angus’s (who shot the video) stepfather’s cabin which we used as a getaway in 2022 to work on projects. Both had very pure wholesome energy as usual. This might be just me and maybe from a 3rd person perspective it's different, but I take pride in knowing that, no matter how crazy or dark I make something, no matter the amount of horror, guns, blood, and gore, there is still some sort of wholesome undertone. That also felt true for this shoot. But I didn't feel any shift in energy until specifically finishing the shot of me tied to the tree, as we walked out of the dark woods to where we could call an Uber home.

What do you think happened to you? Possession? Accidental rituals?

What happened still remains a mystery to me. It felt like a form of possession or accidental invocation of some sort of force, but I can't fully comprehend or explain it. It was a moment of profound disorientation and loss of control. A little bit of half and half. I definitely think I did some sort of something, not a ritual but just something that put further power, belief, and whatnot into the work and its meanings to me. Possession is a little bit of a reach, but it’s really the only word I can use to describe the experience.

My path and my dreams hold a tragic end with a watery hell awaiting me, all for exchange of its fantasy. The dark Scarface-esque ending I'm writing for myself is pre-written.

You say martyrdom is a throughline for your work — can you talk about that?

Martyrdom has been important to me and my work because it represents sacrifice, suffering, and a willingness to endure pain or persecution for a greater belief or cause. Conscious or not, I feel that’s an important part of all human experience in different ways. It would be important to quickly explain the basic plot of Evanora:Unlimited to clarify this specifically in relation to the project.

“Evanora:Unlimited” is not a person, but an anomalous unknown power or energy. It’s the overall cinematic world and bigger picture. The current focal character in this world is my secondary project, Marjorie W.C Sinclair, who is an accentuated version of my true self and a shapeshifting amalgamation of my life and past lives. Marjorie is a sort of anti-hero Tony Montana or Tetsuo from Akira archetype character — some weak kid who has found or been taken over by some sort of energy or power. They’re on a lifelong self-destructive voyage in search of “understanding Evanora,” trying to gain control of it and find enlightenment and peace. They gracefully spiral in a slow-motion car crash toward a tragic fate and loss of all they love, as they quickly begin to lose control of this unknown force. The project and its plot are very much an analogy of my real-life beliefs, fears, delusions, and experiences — myself being the weak protagonist character, later to have a power inside them awaken changing everything. Just like Marjorie chasing Evanora, or Tetsuo chasing Akira, I myself will also spend the rest of my life on an endless journey for understanding and control of “Evanora.”

Evanora, simply put, is the fundamental power of belief and universal programming that all life possesses within. It lays dormant, but when activated and harnessed, it can be a nuclear reactor of energy to be directed. Yet, even when careful, this energy has the possibility to grow into something far beyond control. A personal and literal example of this “power awoken” could simply be the ability that I've gained via therapy through my projects — turning my fears, insecurities, pain, and mistakes into positivity and strengths. My projects have changed my life and bestowed me with all I could ask for and experiences I could have never imagined — even just simple things like love, self-love, confidence, happiness, freedom, etc.

However as I see the puzzle pieces of my life and story align and signs and symbols appear, I often have this strong sinking feeling of impending doom — that my path and my dreams hold a tragic end with a watery hell awaiting me in place of its fantasy. That the dark Scarface-esc ending story I'm writing for myself is pre-written & has never been in my control. As what I create grows beyond my control, It will engulf me in its inescapable growing nuclear flames just as it’s done to so many throughout history much stronger than myself. I’ve come to terms with it more but at times I still can get completely consumed by this feeling, with a strong premonition and every feeling in my gut telling me that I should quit while I'm ahead. However, the chance at life I've been blessed with is one in a billion, and I know that I have an opportunity beyond the art, a possibility to build something bigger than myself, to build a platform of genuine resources, connections, and wealth that I can spread to others to build further upon and share, creating a butterfly effect of change on larger scales; to give voice to others to tell stories and show visions of worlds unseen with beauty that brings me to tears — that I wish for the world to know but may never be. I think it would be an absolutely selfish waste of life and blessing for me to give up on this path just because the road ahead might be dark. It’s what I chose and I will endure anything that comes with it and if it takes dying and losing everything I love behind the dream, so be it, but hopefully not lol.

Before filming "No Country", what was the writing process? Walk me through the lyrics.

The writing process was just kind of spontaneous and unplanned as usual. I mostly start by writing things as poems with no instrumental — just a cadence in my head left to sit in my notes, sometimes for years. I’ll later separately create a production and the pieces will snap together and make perfect sense exactly when they are meant to.

Lyrics:

“Trust me, the candles won't burn very long”

A reminder warning that a flame, just like everything else, won't burn forever.

“Lusting for a life after tasting her”

Expressing desire to have a life after loss of the sweetness you grew accustomed to

“No country for old men let them die alone”

Could be taken different ways, but I think I initially wrote it in the sense of ‘when I'm no longer young and beautiful will you still love me?’ like Lana Del Rey

“A machine celebrating anything at all”

Pretty straightforward — the human machine senselessly celebrating at every chance they get.

“Plum trees, she can’t tell summer from the fall”

Apples and Oranges

“The sun bleeds, reflecting something very wrong”

Red flags all around

What I create grows beyond my control. It will engulf me in its inescapable growing nuclear flames, just as it’s done to so many.

Were you religious / spiritual before filming? Has that changed since then?

I don't think my views have really changed since the experience, but I’ve definitely always been both spiritual and religious – everything and nothing type beat, you feel me? You name it, I believe there’s some truth in it.

Prior to this, have you ever had any paranormal / unexplainable experiences?

Absolutely. I have had a lot of paranormal experiences and unexplainable ones. I mean, just waking up is unexplainable. But yeah the apartment I live in currently with my partner actually seems like a hotbed for this kind of shit. I feel like it would be insensitive to get into specifics, but a previous resident of our apartment died inside the house and it’s still completely full of his belongings. I don’t know if this has anything to do with it at all, but everyone who has spent time in our apartment has felt some spirit or energy is still in the house. There’s also a specific corner of the apartment that often has strange anomalies — that’s also specifically where I had my exorcist moment.

How are you coping now? Do you still feel that same unease or has it subsided?

Initially, I felt like the experience was negative. But after my research and with time passing I've come to feel that it actually was something positive and protective.

If you could communicate with whatever possessed you, what would you say?

“Im finna hit the store rite quick you want anything?” I don’t know, probably force it to listen to some music I’ve been working on or some dumb shit.