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Monthly Archives: December 2012

Shea Rose – BMA Award Winner!

31 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Music

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Tags

arts, award, BMA, entertainment, hip hop, music, musician, pop, R+B, rap, rap hip hop, shea rose, singer, soul

Shea Rose

Shea Rose

Boston Artist Shea Rose has been rocking it out since we last featured her in Mixture Magazine.  Shea just earned the 2012 BMA Pop/R&B Artist of the Year award, and has captured the music spotlight once again.  We spoke to Shea to find out more about winning this years award.

MIXTURE: Shea Rose! Tell us about the BMA Awards.

SHAE ROSE: It was an amazing surprise!  I was shocked…truly shocked! I did not think I would get it.  I really

wasn’t expecting it.  For Best Pop/R+B artist I was up against Bad Rabbits, Gentlemen Hall, Louie Bello and Karmin.  I thought it was going to be tough, the talent pool is so high!  This is a great push for the New Year and I am excited that people are loving my music.  I am just proud of my city right now!

MIXTURE: What are you currently working on now?

SHEA ROSE:  I am working on an 8 song EP with my band. coming out this spring….DTMA which stands for Dance This Mess Around… a song originally by the B52’s which ill be doing a cover of.  I love their music and I fell in love with this song when I saw their video.  The music will have a more punk gritty sound to it.

Shea Rose and Band
Shea Rose With her band members(From Left to Right) Carter Lee, Evan Digi and Maro Chon at the BMA Award Ceremony
Shea Roses’ music is an amazingly fresh approach to Rap, Hip-Hop and rock.  Her live performances are awesome!  See the links below for upcoming shows.

Shea Rose

www.shearose.com
www.youtube.com/shearose
www.facebook.com/shearose
www.twitter.com/shearose
www.shearose.bandcamp.com
www.myangelwearsafro.org

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Danny “SkyHigh” McClain – R+B Soul Singer

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Artist Profile, Interview, Music

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

artist, arts, danny mclain, earthwindandfire, funk, jazz, music, R+B, singer, songwriter, soul, vocalist

Danny "SkyHigh" McClain

Danny “SkyHigh” McClain

Danny Sky-high McClain is an R+B and soul singer with an amazingly beautiful voice.  He has an incredible repertoire and really takes R+B to another level! He can sing multiple genres and styles including hip hop, funk, soul and jazz.  Danny Was The 2008 Grand Champion of New England’s Emmy Award winning television show Community Auditions and has done recording / songwriting with the legendary Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire.

Mixture: Danny Tell us how you got into music?

Danny:  My mom and dad have always been into music.  They always had music playing in the house.  My mom would play Roberta Flack and my dad would play Barry White so it was around all the time.  Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, you name it there was always music non-stop.  It was like therapy for the home.  Eventually,I just got the knack of singing these songs.  I was very particular about the details when it came to music, really listening to the songs.  I started to really study it and I just had a knack for it.  I enjoyed taking apart songs and learning them.  I would also learn songs from TV shows and commercials.   Back then, TV shows had the greatest theme songs and I memorized them all.   I was connected to the music and I constantly asked myself what was it that gave me the goose bumps when I heard a piece of music.  It just fascinated me.

Mixture: What brought you into Berklee School of Music?

Danny: I was a junior in high school trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.  The thing about Boston is that the music scene here is not really flourishing. There is a lot of talent here but there is no real plug-in from outside.  I originally wanted to be a lawyer!   I thought, at the time, that I wasn’t going to do the music thing and I just wanted to make some money.   All of a sudden senior year came around and I found out there is an infamous school right here in Boston called Berklee College of Music.  When I applied, I got a full scholarship to the 5-week summer program and from there the staff thought I just might as well just enrol so I was like Boom! Start Me Up! That was all due to some great people over there like Curtis Warner and Linenette Giddeons and Rob Rose who all helped to get me in.

Danny SkyHigh McClain

Danny SkyHigh McClain

Mixture: Tell us about some of your accomplishments

Danny: I’ve shared the stage with people like Gloria Estefan,  Steven Tyler , Steve Vai, Jennifer Holliday and I have backed up a lot of other great singers.  The person I feel has really helped catapult my carer right now is Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire.  His son, Philip Bailey Jr. received my music from J-Tronius, whom I’ve worked with since 1999.   Phil played my music to his father who then asked to see what I could do… so they brought me out to LA!   I started writing for Earth Wind and Fire!  I’ve been doing that for three years now and the album is finished.  It will be released very soon and I have 4 songs on the album! I have  also been involved with the talent show Community Auditions, a  show from the 60’s which died out in the 80’s and has been revived about 5 years ago.  I won the 2008 Grand Champion Award and since then, they have been playing me on the station constantly.  People recognize me walking down the street!  They are still playing me on the station since 2008.   I think the greatest accomplishment I have done in my life is having my two little boys.   Once they were born I have had a ‘hella drive and I am able to do many things.   It’s one of those inspirational things that keep me going!

Mixture: What else do you do to stay creatively inspired?

Danny: My inspiration comes from solitude.   I enjoy being by myself and when I am alone I have the best ideas.  Don’t get me wrong; I do enjoy working with other people and collaborating, although my best stuff comes from when I am by myself.  Sometimes I like to do activities that are not music related.  When I am doing things that are unrelated to singing I frequently get spurts of inspiration.   I sometimes deal with writers block and I have to dig hard to get those great ideas.  When I switch it up I can open up to new inspiration.

Hear Danny on

Bandcamp http://dannyskyhighmcclain.bandcamp.com/track/what-you-wont-do-for-love

Soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/skyhigh-2

Follow Danny on Twitter  https://twitter.com/SkyHighMusicNow

Earth Wind and Fire song – Guiding light with Danny McClain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFuaeSLU4AU

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IRI5 – Artist For The Grammys

25 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Fine Arts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

artist, artwork, creative, creativity, grammy, inspiration, jerry garcia, jimi hendrix, music, recording academy, the clash, tom waits, van morrison

Ghost in the Machine- The Hendrix Experience

IRI5 (Erica Iris Simmons) is an artist based out of New Jersey who creates artwork using recycled material.  Her work is really amazing! It is simply inspiring to see non-traditional recycled materials used in such an ingenious way.   The incredible images in the series Ghost in the Machine are assembled using materials like recording tape, cassette tape, film and VHS tape.   IRI5 was selected by the Recording Academy as the official artist for the Grammys. The commission is really amazing and can be seen on the Grammy site www.grammy.comby-http://www.iri5.com/gallery/

IRI5

IRI5 Artwork Commissioned by the Recording Academy

IRI5 in her own words –  “I get my inspiration from reading books.   I love to go to the library and pour over books. I love math and science.   I enjoy digesting the ideas of the world, and getting good ideas takes a long time for me.  I work on it everyday.  I rehash old ideas frequently and it’s like your waiting for these golden moments.  It’s like fishing and waiting for that big catch!”

Quoted from her website “Most of my pieces become portraits of people associated with the item I’ve chosen. I don’t really add any paint or pigments… I usually just take things apart and re-arrange them in weird ways, cutting away pieces when necessary. The Ghost in the Machine series was inspired by some strange ideas. How at one level we are cellular beings and another we are a single “self.” The single cassette tape I thought of as representing the mind. The tape ribbon represents our thoughts, the data within. Taking that data – those bits of memory – and rearranging them to form what we see as a face is my way of finding a “ghost in the machine”.  I also liked the fact that when you look at a portrait like Jimi Hendrix out of a cassette tape, you can almost hear the music in your head – so your own “data” is responding to what you see.”

In 2009, her artwork inspired the music video for Grammy winner Bruno Mars’ song Just The Way You Are.

The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held Feb. 10, 2013

Ghost in the Machine: The Clash

Ghost in the Machine- Tom Waits

Ghost in the Machine- Van Morrison

Ghost in the Machine- Jerry Garcia

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Moe Pope and Rain

24 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Music

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

artist, hiphop, moe pope, music, rain, rap, singer

Moe Pope

Moe Pope

Indie Hip Hop Artists Moe Pope+Rain, recently won the Hip Hop Artist of the year award at the Boston Music Awards.  Moe has been recording and making music ever since he was a teenager and has come a long way since his days beat boxing in Harvard Square! we had a chance to speak to Moe about his recent award.

Mixture:  How did you transition into the music you are making now?

Moe:  I was first with a band called the Electric Company and I switched to a group called Project Move.  There was a different sound and a different dynamic of working with these other artists.   I developed my own unique sound out of these collaborations.  After Project Move,  I have been working with producer Rain.   Rain develops amazing original beats and, rather than working with samples, he makes it possible to have our own unique sound and vision.   It is a lot better for me to be able to work with someone to create original music with rather than work from samples.

Mixture:  What are you currently working on?

Moe:  We are coming out with a new album on Jan 22 called “Let The Right Ones In:” on Brick Records.

Mixture:  Moe what was it like winning the Hip Hop Artist of the Year Award?

Moe: I almost cried!  It is amazing to have the recognition from the city and the support from my peers.  I am so proud to have won that award.  It’s amazing that people are finally starting to get it.  Hip Hop can be whatever it is you want it to be, and whatever you want to take from it.   I am proud to have my own unique translation of what Hip Hop is… and it’s nice that people love it!

Moe Pope

Moe Pope In our 2009 edition of Mixture Magazine

Moe Pope and Rain have a CD release party on Jan 25th 2012 at the Brighton Music Hall in Allston MA check out the event info here—> Moe Pope CD release Party

Moe Pope and Rain Website —-> http://www.moepopemusic.com

Soundcloud —-> http://soundcloud.com/moe-pope

Twitter—-> https://twitter.com/moepope77

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Fashion to Fine Art – Lädy Millard

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Fine Arts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

artist, artwork, creative, creativity, designer, fashion

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Lady Millard was born in Jamaica West Indies in 1980. Born Diana Smith her artist name comes from her given name Diana after the Princess of Whales, and by her father Millard.

She studied art at various schools in New York City, including the The Art Students League NYC, The High School of Art & Design NYC & The Fashion Institute of Technology NYC.  Her career began as a fashion designer, and by age 16 Diana had already produced three fashion Shows.  Diana was hired by many fashion houses before the age of 21 including Roca Wear where she interviewed with the acclaimed designer Rachel Roy. She turned her attention to art work, in 2002.  The female form plays a major role in her Artwork.  She has stated famously, “ If I were a man I would date women, luckily I like being a woman”.  Her work has been published in Dopemag online, UK graffiti – Hudson Zuma, Hi – Fructose Online, IAMLDN magazine, Nylon, Guys Nylon, and Time Out New York City.

Mixture: How did you get into making art?

Lädy Millard: One year I decided to get out of the fashion industry because it is so painfully into making money over helping people I wanted to do what my heart desired. And I wanted to make money doing that I also wanted to help people. I decided that the best way to do both was to sell my artwork on the street.  I met Sheppard Fairey one day on the street and he said to me “Hey you are an artist too?”  It was very cool.  It was about 2005 and I wanted to make a difference in the world.  I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world. 

Millard head by Lädy Millard

Millard Head by Lädy Millard

Mixture: Tell us about your work?

Lädy Millard: My recent work has been on the streets of New York City- I usually draw women.  I have created some images that have been described by Sabrina Martinez – one of my fans – as “Silent Violence”.  I use that term now to name all the pieces that do not include the Millard Head Icon.  My father Millard; (Millard Head image left)  is also a big part of my work. He died when I was about 12 years old of Cancer and I use the image of his face to transcribe a new ideal for the black man in the arts.  I call this series of work Past Present Future.  His image has been seen in more than 20 countries around the world.  I take photographs of the image after it has been tagged over or stickered on by other artists.

Mixture: How do you get your inspiration?

Lädy Millard: I get my inspiration from the people that I meet, people that I want to be like.  I’m also inspired by work of some of the the greatest artist that have ever lived like Leonardo DaVinci.  He worked with a team of people.  I hope to be able to do that soon. 

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Mixture: What’s a typical creative session like for you?

Lädy Millard: So I work on 10 pieces at a time and I work on them simultaneously.   When I am working it usually goes into two or three days of working so I won’t sleep and it is real dangerous because I will stay awake for like four days at a time.  It’s sometimes so dangerous I end up in the hospital for lack of sleep

Mixture: Tell us some of the people you have worked with?

Lädy Millard: I work with artists overseas and I do collaborations with artists all over the world.  One of the artists I worked with is Kazu Livingston.  He is an artist from Asia and he is really an amazing!   We have been collaborating on and off for about 2 years.   I also collaborate with other street artists, for example when I do a piece and post it outdoors another artist will go over the piece. I come back days later and document the changes.

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Mixture: What about your work as a designer? 

As a Designer I had the opportunity to work with FUBU and Rocawear.  I have had a lot of great experiences in the fashion industry.  I wouldn’t change my life for anything.  It has been a kind of life people wish for and I have experienced it.

 

Mixture: Any new plans?

 Lädy Millard: I would like to set up a factory like Andy Warhol and do work that has a edgy feel.
The concept is to create an industry that could help people.  It was always my goal.  When I was young I wanted to help the underdog.  Now I feel like I am the underdog fighting for my way in.

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Artwork by Lädy Millard

Lädy Millards  work can be seen on these websites.—>  http://www.thedustyrebel.com/tagged/lady-millard

http://www.behance.net/millardboutique

Follow  Lädy Millard on twitter —> https://twitter.com/LadyMillardArt

Lädy Millards website —-> http://www.ladymillard.net

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Sarah Blacker – Folk/Pop Music

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Artist Profile, Music

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Tags

entertainment, folk, music, music therapy, musician, performer, pop, sarah blacker, singer

Sarah Blacker

Sarah Blacker

Sarah Blacker is an amazing inspiration in Folk/Pop Music!  In addition to her non-stop performing, club dates and “House Concerts” all over New England, she is also a part-time Music Therapist for children and adults with special needs.  Sarah recently opened shows for Grammy Award winning band America as well as the Wood Brothers (Chris Wood from the trio Medeski Martin and Wood) In addition to getting a lot of stage time, Sarah recently had one of her songs titled, ‘Smell of Caramel’ air on the hit television series “Jersey Shore“

Sarah is currently working on fundraising for the recording of a brand new EP called, “Little Things” for which she has many new original songs and re-released ‘full band’ versions of acoustic songs.  “I get my inspiration from my life experiences and the amazing breakthroughs I have experienced within my life.  Through songwriting I make sense of life events and hopefully am able to shed light on similar situations for the listener as well.” Sarah states.   Sarah has not let the cost of doing all this creative work stop her from her goals.  She self funds her projects and is now fundraising for her new album.  Amazingly, in such a short time she has already has reached 23% of her goal to get her project rolling.  When it comes to personal projects Sarah said “You just have to follow your dreams, now!”

Sarah Blacker

Sarah Blacker

See Sarah in a Berklee Music School Pulse Spotlight video on Music Therapy—-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_EGYQxV8eg

Her website can be seen here——> http://www.sarahblacker.com/

Follow Sarah on Twitter —–> https://twitter.com/sarahblacker

Sarah Blacker’s Pledge Music Fundraiser for her new EP ——> http://www.pledgemusic.com

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Jyshoun – Love Overdose

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Music, Uncategorized

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Tags

EP, Jyshoun, love overdose, music, singer

Mixture Magazine

2010 Cover with artist Jyshoun

We caught up with R+B Singer songwriter Jyshoun to find out what projects he has been working on.   Jyshoun just signed a new publishing deal with three time Grammy award winning producer LA Reid and is now working on his first solo EP entitled “Love Overdose“.   Jyshoun was influenced by having only released singles in his solo career and never took on a full EP project.

Jyshoun tells Mixture…  “It will be my first solo EP and I want to show everyone that I can do it.  My biggest influence is to take on my first EP project.  I take real life experiences and I put it in my music. I look at my secure and insecure side and write about it. I think about what I love about sex and write about it. There is a difference between myself and all the other male artist that are in my lane.  I am not made up, created or cleaned up.  I am official!   I want to be known for being myself and not being afraid to do so.”

Jyshoun has been collaborating with Magneto 7 who has produced for artists Eminem, 50 cent, & Jay-Z and he is also working with Dirk who has produced records for Day 26 and rapper The Game.

Get a sneak preview of his upcoming new EP —> https://soundcloud.com/jy-shoun/making-love

Follow Jyshoun on Twitter —> https://twitter.com/Jyshoun

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HandsomeBoy Clothing

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Artist Profile, Fashion

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

clothing, design, fashion, handsomeboy, marvelous mason

Marvelous Mason

Marvelous Mason

We sat down with Marvelous Mason, owner of HandsomeBoy Clothing to check out what’s new and see what he’s been up to.  The new showroom / office on Causway St. in Boston is graced with amazing samples of new designs, classic Ts, screen printing frames  and the unmistakable HandomeBoy logo on the wall.  It is exciting to see the enthusiasm from Mason as he greeted us with a big smile and talked candidly about his business.

Mixture: Tell us about some new projects you have been working on.

Mason: Basically I have been focusing on the Brand directly, trying to complete the branding process and keep the lifestyle going.  We have been doing some collaborations with accessory companies such as Case-Mate, an iPhone accessory maker, to continue the lifestyle of the brand.  We wanted to get into more lifestyle products, not just Tshirts.  We are looking at different products to keep the brand and the lifestyle alive.  I am also ‘trimming down the Fat’  and trying to focus on specific items and not having an overload of products.

Mixture: Tell us about the new showroom and this new part of your business.

Mason:  We are happy to be able to have people come in and actually see more of the concept of the brand.  It is better than meeting potential clients in a lounge or cafe…or someplace public to discuss business.  Here, I can keep it focused and not stray from the goals I have.  Once you are here you are focused on the purpose, the brand, and not distracted.  I can focus on what is supposed to happen.

DSC_7386Mixture: Have you been Star-Struck lately?

Mason: I went to the JayZ performance at the Barclay Center.  I won the tickets, which was amazing, and JayZ is one of my favorite artists.  I was connected to his music as a kid growing up and to be at the concert and actually see him come out on stage was phenomenal.  We had really good floor seats too which was amazing!

Mixture : What have you been doing to keep your inspiration up?

Mason: I have been researching things for my designs, I love vintage signs, furniture and things of that nature.  I continue to research vintage designs and see things that are are out there.  I keep creating as well.  I keep thinking of new ideas.  I constantly think of how I can expand on  HandsomeBoy and that has been my primary objective right now.

HandsomeBoy Clothing

HandomeBoy Clothing

HandsomeBoy  website—> http://www.handsomeboyclothing.com/

Follow Handsomeboy on Twitter—–> https://twitter.com/HandsomeBoyCLTH

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Fine Arts – Amy Ross

01 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by Jaymes Leavitt in Fine Arts, Inspiration

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Amy Ross, artist, arts, fine arts, illustration, interview, painting

Amy Ross

Painting by Amy Ross

In an art studio in the SOWA District of Boston, Amy Ross had her paintings spread out on a table.   There were bunches of cut up illustrations strewn out underneath them.   “Don’t worry about these… I’m working on some new ideas.”  she said.  The inspiration can be felt around her as she smiled and began to tell us about her artwork.

MM: How did you get involved with art?

AR: I have thought of myself as an artist since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I was in graduate school for religious studies that I began to take myself seriously as an artist.  I started out taking night classes at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, then at Massachusetts College of Art, and then after I got my theology degree, I enrolled in the Diploma program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston.  The rest, as they say, is history.

MM: What have been the most memorable moments in your art career to date?

AR: I had a lot of lucky moments early on, where I was in the right place at the right time, or I entered an art competition that was juried by a curator who saw my work and put it not just in the juried show, but also in other exhibitions.  Getting picked up by Allston Skirt Gallery in Boston changed my career, as did signing on with a gallery in New York a year ago.  I would also say that perhaps the biggest turning point for me was being invited to do a site-specific wall mural at MassArt for a group show revolving around Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights.  That project changed my life as an artist.  It introduced me to a whole new way of making and thinking about art.

MM:  Where do you find your inspiration for your art?

AR:  I am the mother of a very imaginative five year old, and I like to try to see the world through her eyes, which is a very magical place where surreal, otherworldly things can happen.  This is a fantastical place where people have the heads of animals, where sheep and goats can spring forth from magnolia buds, where birds and mushrooms intertwine their parts.  I’m also inspired by scientific discoveries and experiments that involve altering nature, such as Dolly the sheep, or the scientist who grew a human ear on the back of a mouse.  I have never been very scientifically inclined, but I think that the media coverage of cloning, genetic engineering, and so forth, caused these ideas to infiltrate my work almost inadvertently.

MM:  What are your plans for the future?

AR:  It’s been a while since I installed a mural, so I’d like to line up another one soon.  I also feel like I’ve hit a bit of a plateau in terms of the size of my drawings and paintings on paper, so I want to work much larger.  Right now I’m preparing for a few West Coast shows that open in the Spring, and then I have other shows in Los Angeles, New York, Richmond, and Boston farther down the line, Despite having a full exhibition schedule, I want to be able to slow down and make less work better.  I would like to not feel so frenetic all the time.

MM: Have you ever been in a show outside of this country?

AR: I have a bunch of leads right now for some international projects that are brewing, and I’ve shown in London at an art fair that my Boston dealers participated in.  I do have a lot of work in international collections, thanks largely to the explosion of online sales, as well as the art fairs that take place in Miami every December, which attract an international audience.

Amy Ross

Painting by Amy Ross

Amy Ross is represented by

Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, http://kopeikingallery.com/

Jen Bekman Gallery in NYC, http://jenbekman.com

Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA, http://stevenzevitasgallery.com

Amy Ross’s work can also be seen on these select websites…

www.amyross.com

http://www.thecalmgallery.com/artists/amy_ross

http://www.naturemorph.typepad.com/

Mixture Magazine Interview by Mark Donavan

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