On DJing In the Live Music Capitol of the World: 2019 Resident Artist DJ Shani
In May of 1998, DJ Shani created & produced a Deep House radio show coined “The Groove Temple®” on WLUW-88.7FM that filled a void for the most prominent, yet canceled house music radio station, WBMX. She has a humble, personal & realistic outlook about the DJ craft.
Shani Hebert is a DJ in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, she talks about her journey from Chicago to Austin, the historical roots of house music, and how she supports the creative community as a tax preparer.
This interview has been condensed from a conversation with #BBATX committee member Tess Cagle.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Heavily influenced by the soul, funk & jazz scenes of Chicago’s south side, DJ Shani has always been enveloped by music. Throughout her childhood, her family taught her the roots of her sound (Zydeco, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Funk, Soul), while the radio (Energy 88.7fm, B96, WGCI) taught her the future of her sound. After a few years in the rave scene, first as a patron then as a promoter, she noticed that the energy was inviting, but it was missing something. While she was a junior at Loyola University - Chicago, she set in motion what would be her biggest contribution to the House music scene to date.
In May of 1998, DJ Shani created & produced a Deep House radio show coined “The Groove Temple®” on WLUW-88.7FM that filled a void for the most prominent, yet canceled house music radio station, WBMX. She has a humble, personal & realistic outlook about the DJ craft.
Cagle: Tell us about your background. When did you become a DJ? How did you get to where you are now?
DJ Shani: I went to my first warehouse party the night of my 17th birthday and I was hooked! I’d never seen so many interesting looking people, grooving to the most interesting music I’d never heard before. I ended up throwing parties with three crews as a senior in high school. I realized something was missing. It was missing soul. When I started college at Loyola University Chicago, I signed up for the college radio station, WLUW 88.7FM. They called me back and I presented a proposal stating that I knew so and so and had been to this club and that club. In reality, I only knew three DJs and one club. I didn’t realize that I was manifesting at the ripe age of 20 and ended up playing at many clubs and knowing professionally and personally every DJ I mentioned. The Groove Temple aired May 14, 1999. I was the executive producer, host, sound engineer, marketing contact; I was everything!
In the fall of 1999, I started working at the world famous, Gramaphone Records in Chicago. In 2004, I moved to Paris to study French and temporarily gave my show to fellow trustworthy DJs. While there, I went to La Sorbonne Paris IV, worked at a bar in Bastille and DJ’d with Les Nubians’ DJ, DJ Wamba. I returned to the States and started producing, hosting, and DJing my show again and even wrote a song with Glenn Underground. I’d come back with so much new and different music and a new outlook on what house music and deep house could be. It was great! I then moved to Southern California for about three years, then moved to Austin.
In my travels I always kept The Groove Temple running, as an executive producer. Now, I’ve returned to my roots of not only being the executive producer, but also the host. The Groove Temple airs on Soundwave Radio 92.3FM (London) Tuesday nights 10p-midnight. Since moving to Austin, I wanted to bring pieces of my musical experiences to my new home. I brought Chicago house legend Ron Trent to Austin for the first time with an amazing crew. I also produce an annual Black History Month event. The fourth was this past February featuring I Wanna Be Her, myself and the headliner, Blue Nefertiti (Les Nubians). I also play every Friday at Halcyon for “Freedom Fridays” which is an exploration in Black Music where I play everything from Reggae, to Soul to Disco and, of course, deep house.
Cagle: Since you're not originally from Texas, what was the transition like from Chicago to Austin? Were there any growing pains or discrepancies between the two music industries?
DJ Shani: It took a few years for me to remember that I wasn’t on vacation after moving here. Austin weather is amazing, even in the winter. In terms of the difference between Austin and Chicago’s music industries, it is still a bit of a shock that Austin isn’t further along than I thought it would have been. The Live Music Capitol of the World, I learned, only spoke to bands. It was disheartening that DJs weren’t even considered musicians partly because we don’t have to lug our drum kits to our shows. But we do have to lug our DJ equipment to our shows sometimes, must know the mechanics of each song, and figure out how to curate a musical experience from the thousands of songs we own.
I noticed that DJs here are sometimes considered human jukeboxes. Of course, it depends on where you play and who you play for, but it’s a bit of a shock to hire someone to want to hear the same music you’ve always heard, can sing along to, etc. Another growing pain is to accept the fact that people don’t know about deep house. Most people that I mention the word to equate it to EDM. EDM is more geared towards a younger crowd; not many vocals, melodies or harmonies. To make it simple, it’s more techno (Detroit) based and not house (Chicago) based. Please understand I’m not snubbing EDM. I used to freak out for Happy Hardcore and Acid House is still one of my all-time favorites.
It’s still amazing to me that people also didn’t know that house music comes from the Black community, more specifically the Black Gay community. Now the younger generation has an idea of where it came from with “Pose” and “Paris is Burning”, but in Austin when I first arrived, house music seemed very whitewashed and uninformed. I’m glad to say that things are changing for the better because people are a lot more openminded in Austin and they are willing to listen to things they haven’t heard of before. Any music industry in any city can be a bit intense, but my experience here has been that people are more open.
Cagle: You are also an accountant. How do your two career trajectories complement one another?
DJ Shani: I’m not an accountant, but a tax preparer. I worked for H&R Block for seven years first as a tax professional, then a bilingual co-instructor, then an instructor, then a manager. I never liked to blend my DJ life with my corporate life, until I realized that my colleagues had no idea what questions to ask the creative clients that came into their offices. Because the self-employed usually don’t have W-2s or ‘normal’ jobs, only some wouldn’t think to question a client’s receipts for four packs of guitar strings because she went on tour. The other offices referred their clients to wherever I was, and I started to have a following. I realized that I had a niche market and wanted to try doing it on my own, so I started Hebert Tax Consulting, LLC.
HTC is a tax preparation firm that specialized in the creative individual, freelancer, LLC & S-Corps. I was trained in doing taxes for people that were employees, sold/bought stock, had rental properties, etc. but my specialty has always been the independent contractor, the self-employed and people that need multiple years done. Taxes are like one humongous Sudoku board to me and I freakin’ love puzzles! I’ve have presented free tax workshops at the Carver, Dub Academy and Brew & Brew. I’ll be having more free tax workshops this summer.
Cagle: What advice would you give to a new DJ wanting to carve out a space for themselves in the local music industry?
DJ Shani: My advice to anyone that wants to be a DJ here in town is to first work on their craft. Whatever you use (turntables, controllers, CDJs), practice at least weekly. Don’t give up! Your favorite DJ sounded terrible at some point in their DJ careers—never forget that. Record your sets and listen to them. With practicing, you’ll be able to understand what your style is. I’ve been doing this for 21 years and just in the last four to six years have I truly felt like I’ve found my sound. After you think you have an idea, do your research on what Austin digs. Go to the places that play what you’d like to perform at the venues that perform it. Key tip—don’t immediately go to the manager and ask for a night. Pull back and observe. You’ll probably see things that you’d do differently or things that you’d never thought of that you want to do. Remember your reputation is key and don’t appear distraught.
Cagle: Do you remember the first piece of music that really affected you?
DJ Shani: The first record that completely touched me is called “I Fight For What I Believe” by Ron Trent featuring Sonti.
Cagle: What's your dream gig? Dream collaborator?
DJ Shani: My dream collaboration is to DJ for the Special/Paralympics. Six years ago, I was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. After my diagnosis, I learned that people viewed me and spoke to me as if I was an enigma. At the core, the mobility-impaired are just like abled bodies: We still like to laugh, see a great film, have a delicious meal and make love. I’d like to be the ‘face’ of the disabled (in a media setting) that shows the world that we may not be able to run, but we can definitely make you boogie!
My dream gig is at least one per continent, except Antarctica—I really don’t like cold weather.
Cagle: What one thing you think anyone should know about you to really understand "who you are?"
DJ Shani: There’s always more than meets the eye with me.
Cagle: What are some mini or monumental objects or opportunities that you consider a key part of who you are today — i.e.: what films, books, artists, places, etc., have been most influential in shaping you?
DJ Shani: The 4 Agreements, Varadero, Cuba, and my grandmother’s recipes.
About #bbatx's The Residency: We annually work with 10 to 15, Texas-based women-identifying and nonbinary visual and musical artists to produce site-specific work, commissions and exhibitions throughout our programming and events. Through these residencies, we invite the public to learn more about their process, approach and sustainability of their practice. Click here to meet this year's artists.
Meet Her Hands: Maribel Falcón
"I do things that I’m inspired by. Doing things that I enjoy helps me nurture my creativity. I also focus a lot on taking care of myself... that also makes me be a better, more creative person.” —Maribel Falcon
Meet Her Hands is a collaborative exhibition series, produced by #bbatx and the Elisabet Ney Museum every summer, featuring three Texan women artists. This season, we're proud to host photographer Karen Navarro, artist Maribel Falcón and artist duo Big Chicken & Baby Bird. Each artist will showcase work within the Elisabet Ney's collection for two weeks, and throughout the summer we'll explore sculptor Elisabet Ney's legacy, while writing a new history of women in the arts.
The second exhibition in Meet Her Hands, by artist Maribel Falcón, opened on June 27. Thank you to our collaborators at the Elisabet Ney Museum, our drink sponsors Austin Cocktails, our volunteers and partners for making this show possible.
Photo by Jinni J.
MEET THE ARTIST BEHIND "Memoria”
Maribel Falcón is an Tejana creatrix based in Austin, TX. She works with analog and digital collage as a medium, and her art focuses on political messages and indigenous-based spiritual practices. She is co-founder of Colectiva Cósmica,an art collective of mujeres who make art, teach workshops, and publish zines. Her work has been featured in Remezcla and Bitch Magazine.
"I do things that I’m inspired by. Doing things that I enjoy helps me nurture my creativity. I also focus a lot on taking care of myself... that also makes me be a better, more creative person. I also think is important to work with a deadline. I believe that having a goal in mind can help you push through and get me close to my completing my work. That’s why having this opening was so helpful.” — Maribel Falcón
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Hosted within the guest artist space at the Elisabet Ney Museum, Memoria by Maribel Falcón is a collection of collages in various sizes depicting ethereal imagery, revolutionist women and water. Maribel Falcón is an Tejana creatrix based in Austin, TX. She works with analog and digital collage as a medium, and her art focuses on political messages and indigenous-based spiritual practices. She is co-founder of Colectiva Cósmica,an art collective of mujeres who make art, teach workshops, and publish zines. Her work has been featured in Remezcla and Bitch Magazine.
Here are a few notes from BBATX Committee Member Cara Cate and Maribel Falcón’s opening reception artist talk.
On creating art:
I did not grow up around art. I did not go to school to study art, in fact my degree is in sociology but I had always been very hungry for art and the scene in Austin really inspired me to become an artist. Now that I look back, women in my family were all artists I just did not know. My aunts, grandmother used to work a lot with fabrics and textiles but since that was, I guess normal and always part of my home, I never saw them as artists. I remember I used to play with their fabric paints but It was not until later in college where I realized I would spend a lot of time decorating my notebooks and finding the right images that I thought would fit the thematic of my classes. I never thought of myself of being an artist, so that’s why I choose collage and analog as a medium because it is so accessible to anybody. I always find myself at thrift stores buying paper, old pieces of advertisements, and any kind of paper (I have recycled beautiful paper from trash cans!). I think of paper as a respected medium because opposed to digital, paper is harder to trace but also is special to keep. I mean, a lot of people keep paper because it’s beautiful and that’s what I like about it.I also like working on zines, they’re great for exchanging information and is a form of publication that is not regulated. I love it, I don’t have to worry about rights and the traditional conventions of publishing houses.
On starting a collage:
A lot of times is just phrases, concepts, or just themes (a lot of them political charged!) but for sure it takes a lot of time to visualize and conceptualize my thoughts into a new work.
On what inspires her:
The Mexic-Arte Museum is a great place that everyone in Austin should go see...I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand to see how many of you have not been there yet, but really, you need to go see it! I also enjoy visiting my friend’s galleries, and so many other things in the city...I do not know. I like watching outdoor films in Austin, I really enjoy visual arts.
On managing work and creativity
I do believe that the era of working for someone else and building an empire for anyone other than you is over! Nonetheless, I chose to have a job for a paycheck because it allows me to be freely creative and not to worry about making art to sell. I wouldn’t want to rely on my creativity or ability to produce art, especially in a scale where I would have to count on it to live. When I’m not doing art I work at a library and I really love it there!
How she named the show
To be honest “Memoria” was the name of my great-grandmother and I wanted to dedicate my first art show to her. So, that’s how I came up with the name!
Photo by Jinni J
WANT TO ATTEND A MEET HER HANDS EXHIBITION?
You can view Maribel Falcón’s Memoria through July 10, 2019 at the Elisabet Ney Museum during museum hours. Our next exhibition in the series featuring works by duo-collective Big Chicken & Baby Bird, will open on July 11 from 6:30 to 9 PM. Click here for details.
On Identity In Austin: An Interview With Photographer Dahlia Dandashi
Born in Houston to a Lebanese and Syrian family, Dahlia is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Dubai.
Local organization Brown State of Mind is fully committed to creating space in Austin for people of color, by people of color. In the second installment of its award winning Brown State University, Brown State of Mind is bringing together local artists, business owners, scientists and activists to provide accessible education to the Austin community. In partnership with Brown State of Mind, we are highlighting two of their members to explore the themes of culture and diversity, and dig deep into their creative process and personal motivations.
For our first conversation, I sat down with Dahlia Dandashi, instructor of Brown State University’s class Poetry in the Middle East. Born in Houston to a Lebanese and Syrian family, Dahlia is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Dubai.
Interviewed by #bbatx Committee Member Vittoria Criss.
Pictured: Dahlia Dandashi Photo taken by Jesus Acosta.
Criss: In Austin it seems like there’s a lot of people of color who feel isolated from the rest of the city. But there’s also lots of small pockets of people who are out there trying to create a community for us.
Dahlia Dandashi: There’s a lot of amazing communities in Austin that are doing this. #BBATX is great, Brown State of Mind, In Bold Company—these are essential. It’s amazing that these things are coming to light and they’re happening now. And honestly our generation is really woke. It sounds stupid but we really are!
I ended up quitting my job and almost moved to New York, and I thought well should I move back to Austin? I have a community there, and I have friends. Or should I try something else and build a community elsewhere? A big part of it was because I definitely identify as American, I’m happy I live here.
But at the same time, I’m really Arab. My parents immigrated here and they stuck to their values. They would speak Arabic at home, we grew up Muslim, my parents fast. So now that I’m getting older, in my personal writing I talk a lot about identity, and navigating it, and being confused. Because it was always “we want you to be American, but not too American. You still have to be Arab.” When I lived in Dubai, I never really thought about it. Then I came here, and that’s when I started to question my identity. If I don’t move back to the Middle East, I at least want to help people in my community. These spaces were built for a reason—there was a need for it. Austin is shifting, though. I feel instead of becoming a more diverse city, it’s becoming more homogenized.
Criss: Part of the reason I stayed in Austin was that I hoped it would become more diverse with time. It’s definitely moving in the opposite direction.
Dandashi: Yes, and I will say that your experience is different than mine because I’m white passing. But then I have conversations with people and they find out where I’m from. I’ve been told “people that are from where you’re from are oppressive.” There’s a lot to unpack, and people assume things. I’m all about having conversation, but a lot of times I feel either they’re really ignorant, or they’re not asking the right questions, or they don’t believe what I’m saying. I love Austin, and I feel that you can be part of a community here, since it’s well connected. But what does diversity feel like? When you go talk to someone at a bar or a restaurant, what is your experience? Are you meeting someone that is different than you?
Criss: Even within those of us that identify as “brown” we all have a lot of similar experiences, but we’re also from so many different backgrounds. What has your experience been like as someone who identifies as brown, and how has it influenced your work?
Dandashi: Brown is such an encompassing word, it’s also a word that’s packed with a lot of things. Physically, I don’t look brown, and I’m aware of that. When I go back to the places where my parents are from, people look at me differently. When I speak Arabic, people say, “You’re not from here, you dress differently, you talk differently.” It’s so weird because I always found myself wondering where do I fit in?
I’m not 100% American. I have a lot of American values, but I grew up culturally Arab. Since I moved back to the States, I’ve always struggled with my identity. As I’ve gotten older, the identity crisis has ebbed and flowed. It’s always going to be a challenge for me. It’s getting better for me to navigate now, and I think a big part of that for me was writing. I was feeling all these things and it was all pent up inside, so I started writing a lot the last few years. Last year I wrote a zine and just put it on the internet. It was all about identity and womanhood and understanding yourself as an individual. I’ve written a lot about things that remind me of home and my culture. And recently, with photography, I’ve tried to start collaborating more with artists of color or Arabs who are creatives. Because really in our culture Arabs don’t do art. You’re either a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer. I took the LSAT and didn’t go to law school and that was a big disappointment for my parents. It’s starting to get better now.
Social media is crazy, too. I just did a project with a guy that I never met—he’s Jordanian and lives in Tunisia. I took photos and he did Arabic calligraphy with the photos. I’m trying to do more of that. We’re putting our brains together and making art that matters.
Criss: Do you think your parents are becoming more open to what you do as a creative?
Dandashi: My parents are becoming better listeners, especially my Mom. They don’t really get it which is fine; I’m not going to force them to understand why I want to be a person that has a creative career. But it is getting better. The things that I do now are quite new. Social media wasn’t really a thing until recently. Photography has been around for ages, but it’s more accessible now. If you do it properly it’s something you can make your life’s passion if you want to. So it’s explaining to my parents that these are careers that people actually have. I appreciate my parents’ sacrifices, and living here has also given me different perspectives that make me who I am.
Criss: I think it’s easy to forget that our parents are kind of experiencing the same thing we are. They’re also in two different cultures, and we’re learning together.
Dandashi: It’s a process that doesn’t really end! I think the idea of putting yourself in a box is a horrible thing. Break the box and just stand! Observe, take notes, and take chances as well. Being a child of an immigrant is being able to say that you can not just accept everyone, but be able to connect with them on some level.
Criss: You do so many different types of creative work, but there is definitely a uniting theme in all of it. Where did that come from?
Dandashi: I always wrote a lot and did photography since I was young. As I got older, I started to know myself more. My style keeps refining itself. But the cool thing about style is that style can change. Tomorrow I can do something else. I think a lot of it has to do with color. Part of it is that my mom always wore a lot of crazy colors. She would wear matching orange suits with fake flowers on her chest, or sequins, just crazy shit I remember as a kid. So I think that’s part of it unconsciously. And part of it was growing up in Dubai on the beach—I loved being outside, I love water and swimming and sun. That attributes to life for me. It’s something that’s so prevalent in my work that happened on accident.
Criss: How did you become interested in poetry, and what made you want to teach about Middle Eastern poetry?
Dandashi: I’ve been writing since I was probably in elementary school. I had endless amounts of diaries. So writing has always been a big part of my life. I found that poetry was a way that I could express my identity and talk about struggles I was having after I moved back here when I was 18. I grew up reading a lot of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, and poetry like Rumi and Nizar Qabbani. Also the Arabic language is very poetic. A lot of Arabic songs will last 10 minutes where the singers are belting their heart out. It’s a very lyrical language. Even the way it’s written—Arabic calligraphy I find is very beautiful. The reason I was writing was because I was trying to figure out how to talk about my feelings and experiences. I was really obsessed with confessional poetry, so my stuff was very confessional, too.
Jason from Brown State of Mind asked me to teach a class, and he had already picked the poets. He picked Hafez and Rumi, and Nizar and Kahlil Gibran. Rumi and Hafez are Persian writers. Nizar and Kahlil Gibran are pretty famous in the Arab poetry world. I already knew a lot, but this has been a really big growth process. I thought it would be a fun experiment for myself to learn about these poets that I read from a lot, but also to share the experience with people that I don’t know. The funny thing is, Rumi is the most read poet in America, but he was born in Afghanistan. There’s a reason why Middle Eastern poetry is so unique, how did these people have such a big influence on this side of the world? Let’s talk about it.
Want to keep up with Dahlia Dandashi? Follow her on Instagram or browse her portfolio.
Curious about Brown State of Mind? Keep up with their community events and learn more about the organization here.
On Taking Care of Yourself: Thoughts From the #BBATX Community
At our last community meet-up in Austin, Texas, we explored themes of synergy. We asked those who attended to contribute their answers toward the question: “How do you take care of yourself as you navigate opportunity, success and failures?”
At our last community meet-up in Austin, Texas, we explored themes of synergy. We asked those who attended to contribute their answers toward the question:
“How do you take care of yourself as you navigate opportunity, success and failures?”
And we heard from a spectrum of people about their own self care practices — from listening to their body to being very thoughtful about the people they surround themselves with. We've collected some of those answers below.
WHAT THE COMMUNITY HAS TO SAY:
want to attend a #BBATX meet-up?
Our next community meet-up is on August 14 at Native Hostels Austin. Learn more about how to join us here.
Meet Her Hands: Karen Navarro
"In my work I explore themes related to personal and social identity and, femininity as a cultural construct. It expresses self-referential questions that connect in a much larger scale to these ideas of construction of identity, societal expectations and the understanding of the being. The work prompt a discourse about our subconscious will to comply with the contemporary societies' canons when these are in fact misleading.” — Karen Navarro
Meet Her Hands is a collaborative exhibition series, produced by #bbatx and the Elisabet Ney Museum every summer, featuring three Texan women artists. This season, we're proud to host photographer Karen Navarro, artist Maribel Falcon and artist duo Big Chicken & Baby Bird. Each artist will showcase work within the Elisabet Ney's collection for two weeks, and throughout the summer we'll explore sculptor Elisabet Ney's legacy, while writing a new history of women in the arts.
The first exhibition in Meet Her Hands, Belonging in Modern Times by artist Karen Navarro, opened on June 13. Thank you to our collaborators at the Elisabet Ney Museum, our drink sponsors Austin Cocktails, our volunteers and partners for making this show possible.
Photo by Jinni J.
MEET THE ARTIST BEHIND EXHIBIT ONE, "EL PERTENECER EN TIEMPOS MODERNOS (Belonging in Modern Times)”
"In my work I explore themes related to personal and social identity and, femininity as a cultural construct. It expresses self-referential questions that connect in a much larger scale to these ideas of construction of identity, societal expectations and the understanding of the being. The work prompt a discourse about our subconscious will to comply with the contemporary societies' canons when these are in fact misleading.” — Karen Navarro
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Hosted within the guest artist space at the Elisabet Ney Museum, Belonging in Modern Times by Karen Navarro is a study of self-portraiture, social media and belonging. Here are a few notes from BBATX Committee Member Kaia Adams and Karen Navarro’s opening reception artist talk:
On what led her to the work she does today
“I would say that I grew up surrounded by an artistic environment, my grandmother was a dressmaker and my grandfather, who I didn't get the chance to meet, liked to draw. I remember spending my childhood days with my grandmother in her atelier. And, I think that was what led me to study fashion design. While I was in my final year of college in 2014, my husband, who was not my husband at that time, got transferred to Houston. And, after a few trips back and forth to The States I decided to stay with him and eventually we got married.
For various reasons, I decided not to pursue fashion design any further. Instead, I decided to enroll in a certificate program at the Houston Center for Photography. I was very fortunate that everything came organically. I found a passion for photography and a medium that allows me to express myself in a way where I can create my own worlds with no restrictions, norms or rules to follow. Nonetheless, I found myself wanting to experiment more- to create work that is made with my hands- which is the work I am making today. I feel that my journey in experimentation haven't ended yet. In the future I would like to experiment with sculpture.”
On rebuilding oneself in a society that imposes many expectations, roles, and identities
“I have approached this journey of rebuilding myself by focusing in myself. For me it's a journey of acceptance and self-love, of recognizing and understanding yourself. Accepting that we are just humans, and that we all makes mistakes. That is why self-kindness is also very important. I had to challenge myself to believe that I was worth enough and that I was capable of doing whatever I want regardless what other people may think. I know it’s hard but life is short. So why don’t try to overturn all these wrong ideas about how we should live, how we should act, etc?
Besides all that, I also try to be very grateful for every little thing. I take time to look at the sky and appreciate nature. Life can get hectic, but it's important to be present.”
On tapping into her creativity
“Usually, how I do approach a new piece it's very different from one to another. It could start with a color that I saw on the streets or lighting and shadow that inspired a mood. It could be a self-referential question, a philosophical idea, or something in what I believe in and I want to share. Photography for me is about creating conversations, making relevant a topic that may be only relevant for me. It's about inviting people to question along with me. My work doesn't offer answers because I don't believe in absolute truths. And, in the in-between of this dichotomy of not believing in absolute truths and having an opinion at the same time is where I position myself every time I approach I new body of work. Inviting you, seducing you through a highly stylized image to reflect on topics that challenge our social notions that some may want to avoid.”
On advice for aspiring artists within our #BBATX community
“I would say, work hard and work smart. Do your thing, follow your guts. Don't worry about the trends, just be you. Because when the work is genuine it gets through and everything will come organically. BELIEVE IN YOU! Be patient, be perseverant, in the art world, as in many others, everything takes time. Always try to be the best you.”
Photo by Jinni J
WANT TO ATTEND A MEET HER HANDS EXHIBITION?
You can view Karen Navarro’s Belonging in Modern Times through June 25, 2019 at the Elisabet Ney Museum during museum hours. Our next exhibition in the series, Memoria by Maribel Falcón, will open on June 27 from 6:30 to 9 PM. Click here for details.
How To Network Like A Human Being
We deserve to meet people without feeling the pressure to perform.
This summer, we’re exploring flow. How can we practice personal and professional patience with the things we’re working on? How can we honor our ebbs and flows?
So today, we’re talking networking. We know we need community to survive—especially if we’re trying to launch a business, do good within our communities or build a professional network of support. But networking can feel awkward and uncomfortable. And for those of us who are introverted? Downright scary.
We deserve to meet people without feeling the pressure to perform. So, we asked our friends at Bumble Bizz for their best, introvert-friendly networking tips. How can we approach meeting new people in a way that feels more manageable? Keep reading for answers.
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Jessika Roth for a collaboration between Bumble Bizz and #BBATX. Bumble Bizz is one of #BBATX’s supporting partners in 2019.
If the mere thought of interacting with a group of people is exhausting, it’s no surprise that getting fired up about networking feels like a challenge. Putting yourself in the spotlight among dozens of strangers? You might be asking, “Why would I?”
Well, for a few good reasons.
No matter your Myers-Briggs personality type, Carl Jung, the psychiatrist who popularized the terms introversion and extroversion, says we’re all a blend of the two. How you’re specifically wired determines how you respond to social stimulation as well as what recharging looks like for you. If you’re more introverted than extroverted, you shouldn’t avoid networking at all costs. Instead, you’ll benefit from methodically planning for the amount of stimulation you can handle and how to best unwind afterwards.
In fact, as an introvert, your unique strengths already make you a strongly-equipped networker. Former Google executive Karen Wickre covered this topic in depth with her book Taking the Work Out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count. Wickre explains that introverts are great listeners and observers, as well as being inherently curious about others. This gives them the advantage of making a few meaningful connections rather than trying to shake every hand in the room.
So trust us when we say the benefits of networking extend well beyond multiplying your professional connections. Growing your circle means setting yourself up for the inevitable next steps: changing jobs, moving up in your career, or perhaps even relocating to a new city or state. The more people you meet outside your immediate circle, the easier it will be to find new opportunities when you’re ready for them.
Here are a few tips for becoming more comfortable in social situations that are geared toward networking and meeting new people:
1.) Know your intention.
What are you looking for at this point in your career? Are you looking for a new role, a new company, a new industry, experts in your field, a mentor, or a mentee? Knowing what you’re looking for and why will help narrow your search for networking opportunities and will help shape your conversations.
2.) Discover relevant groups.
Since not all networking events are created equally, it will be much easier to connect with attendees if you have more in common than your city, industry, or job title. What else are you interested in? Local art, food, wine? Events that incorporate more than one interest will give you much more to discuss — and look forward to.
3.) Know your mental and physical needs.
Set yourself up for success by seeking out scenarios that make you feel most comfortable. Identify your best time of day to socialize (morning vs. evening events), your ideal setting (indoor vs. outdoor, e.g.), and even the type of event where you feel your best (fancy at a bar vs. casual in the park).
4.) Attend events solo.
You won’t have a safety net to depend on when attending events alone, which is precisely the reason it’s important to go solo. If your plan is to meet new people, a wing -man or -woman will distract you from taking the initiative of talking to those around you.
5.) Make one to three new connections.
Give yourself the mission of making three new professional connections, and your time frame is instantly set—once you’ve collected all three, or whatever number you choose, it’s time to split. Knowing this from the start will guide your interactions and help you find small wins along the way.
6.) Take breaks between conversations.
Just because the goal is meeting people doesn’t mean you have to interact the entire time. Take steps away from the crowd as needed to find some mental space. Who knows, you may even bump into fellow introverts (or your next connection) while taking a breath at the snack table.
7. ) Celebrate your victory.
Congratulate yourself on showing up and pursuing the intention that propelled you there. In the end, it doesn’t matter how many people you meet, but having the confidence to put yourself out there is a win on its own. Celebrate by unwinding in your favorite way—reading in the tub, anyone?
Ready to meet new people? Download the Bumble Bizz app to meet online connections in your professional community, or explore #BBATX’s upcoming meet-ups and events to mingle in-person (we highly recommend our WORK conference!).
On Big Synergy: A Series of Portraits by Bailey Dieckman
At our meet-up in May 2019, local photographer and artist Bailey Dieckman hand-crafted a photobooth demonstrating the ebbs and flows of synergy.
Our quarterly meets (held in February, May, August and November) are a space for people to meet the crew behind #bossbabesATX and members of our community. At our meet-up in May 2019, local photographer and artist Bailey Dieckman hand-crafted a photobooth demonstrating the ebbs and flows of synergy.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Bailey Dieckman is a multimedia artist living in Austin, Texas. As someone who often feels like she’s waiting for her next adventure, she frequently draws inspirations for her artworks through everyday experiences and works towards creating joy and humor in otherwise mundane routines. She’s also interested in the use of color and creating works and installations of diverse mediums that allow the viewer to interact with these new forms of color. You can email here about collaborations and commissions at dieckman.bailey@gmail.com.
Want to attend the next meet-up?
You can attend our next meet-up on August 14, 2019. Click here for details.
On Finding Flow: Three Reminders For Personal And Professional Patience
This summer, our programs will amplify women and nonbinary creatives, business owners and leaders who are exploring ways to find flow within their work, projects, causes and collaborations. As you move through our events for the next three months and hear their stories, we encourage you to keep the following three reminders in mind.
A flow state, also known as “being in the zone,” is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement and enjoyment.
In life and in business, we face ebbs and flows. It’s natural and normal to go through stages of decline and regrowth, as technology, the market, or our own vision changes. But sometimes this growth can be frustrating. We feel rushed and too slow—not enough, yet too much . So, how can we exercise patience with ourselves as we grow? How can we better honor our natural rhythms for learning and change? How can we find focus and enjoyment in the present?
This summer, our programs will amplify women and nonbinary creatives, business owners and leaders who are exploring ways to find flow within their work, projects, causes and collaborations. As you move through our events for the next three months and hear their stories, we encourage you to keep the following three reminders in mind.
This post has been written by #BBATX Founding Executive and Creative Director, Jane Hervey.
reminder no. 1: give yourself space and time to think.
The world moves fast these days. So, when we’re feeling creatively spun out or overcharged, it can be difficult to center our attention in one direction. It can feel like we don’t have the time, nor the privilege, to determine our next moves, solve the problems we’re facing, or celebrate our successes.
You deserve to pause, slow down and catch up with your thoughts and your desires. Create space and time to find your flow state. Whether you build it into your morning routine, set aside two hours to “think” on your Google calendar or block off a weekend for alone time, you’ve got every right to sit in the present.
Image designed by Jane Hervey
reminder no. 2: it’s ok to say no.
Your attention is a resource. Your attention can transform, heal and create worlds, relationships, new businesses, people, places and things. It’s OK to be mindful of how you spend it.
It’s OK to opt out. It’s OK to experience FOMO. It’s OK to focus on you, your community, your family, your projects and the things that you care about.
Image designed by Jane Hervey
reminder no. 3: don’t hate on your ebb. don’t hate on your flow.
Sometimes, sustained focus on the things we want to achieve is rough. It can warp our sense of fulfillment and leave us feeling frustrated or upset when we don’t immediately achieve the results that we want.
Remember—busy is not better. Constant productivity is not sustainable. Part of finding your flow is respecting the moments when your excitement, passion or focus ebbs. Let yourself recharge without judgment and shame.
Image designed by Jane Hervey
curious about our programs and this theme?
On Making Time For Yourself: 2019 Resident Artist DJ CASS&RA
Cassandra Shankman (a.k.a DJ CASS&RA) is a DJ in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, she talks about finding balance in a busy schedule, making time for mental health care and carving out her own space in the music industry.
Cassandra Shankman (a.k.a DJ CASS&RA) is a DJ in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, she talks about finding balance in a busy schedule, making time for mental health care and carving out her own space in the music industry.
This interview has been condensed from a conversation with #BBATX board member and committee member Jen Rachid.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Cassandra Shankman is a composer and DJ (CASS&RA) recognized for her work with film, apps, musicals, and music therapy technology. As a pianist, she’s played with musicians such as jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon at Lincoln Center to DEVO’s frontman Mark Mothersbaugh. As a DJ, she creates the perfect sets for movement for clients like Soul Cycle and Wanderlust Yoga to Bumble and Lyft. Cassie’s also the world’s leading composer for Biomedical Music™ – music integrated with biomedical devices for rehabilitation. As a proponent for music education, she is a co-founder for the music theory web app Picardy Learning, and serves on the Grammy Education sub-committee. She is a graduate from The University of Texas with a degree in music composition and a secondary focus in film studies.
First off, damn—you are very busy! I'm always curious about the highly effective entrepreneur and how they do it all! Tell us a little bit about your morning and night routine.
CASS&RA: Well, I wish I had a steadier routine, but it honestly varies from day to day depending on gigs and deadlines. Sometimes I’ll sleep in until 10 a.m. and stay up until 4 a.m. I am still learning how to be effective and productive to the best of my ability, so I’m constantly changing my routine. But right now my dream routine that I’m trying to implement includes waking up early and doing a workout class in the morning—yoga at wanderlust, boxing at knockout, spinning at SoulCycle, and training with Gustavo Padron—and eating a healthy breakfast (or meet a friend for breakfast) and walking my dog. Then, getting to work on emails, general admin work, strategic planning, sets for gigs, and some music composition projects. I also teach piano and composition lessons on some days, so I’ll end my day doing that and then unwind reading, watching a Netflix show, playing piano, or talking with family and friends. I do say I am constantly working a little too much, I generally spend a lot of time marketing (social media-ing), so I’m trying to have a better routine about that.
It seems like you're successfully carving out your own space. What advice do you have for someone going into the DJ world?
CASS&RA: It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with what you have. Don’t wait for a gig to be handed to you, you have to work hard and it will be a grind, but it’s a fun grind that pays off for sure. I said yes to so many things—music and non-music opportunities—so I highly recommend not being one-track-minded with being just a DJ. You have to be open to so many kinds of music opportunities and gigs that may not be what you initially think will “pay off” but in the long run, it will.
Also, it’s okay to have many jobs. I not only DJ, but also teach, work on Picardy, write music, and so many other wild avenues. It’s all about who you know as well. Even though it’s really easy to meet people online today. It makes a difference getting out and doing it in real life.
Do you remember the first piece of music that really affected you?
CASS&RA: I listened to a lot of classical and jazz and film music growing up, so I actually was pretty affected by a lot of music—I don’t think I can remember or pick just one! But I will say in high school I had to transcribe Bill Evans’ solo for “waltz for Debby” and that completely transformed how I interacted with music.
What is your dream DJ gig? Is there anyone or any event you're dying to DJ?
CASS&RA: I’m dying to do more international gigs, I also love DJing weddings and conferences, and I’d absolutely love to play outside of Texas some festivals. And I’d love to work with LP Giobbi!
A dream gig would be to be a music supervisor or work on set as a music director. I recently worked on a TV show as an on-screen live music consultant, where I had to work with the props department, music department, directors, and actors to teach the actors how to look like they were really playing their instruments. I deconstructed the song that they were going to be performing on camera and told the props department what sound and music gear to get, then set it all up, and rehearsed teaching the actors how to perform the song. It was the coolest thing to watch unfold on screen in front of the camera. So much energy and I’d love to do that again! It blends my passion for music, film, and teaching all in one.
One piece of business advice to wisen us up?
CASS&RA: Focus on your mental health. Things can get really tough running your own business and you can definitely get burnt out. So make sure to focus on your health and mental health. Take vacations; take breaks. It inspires, refreshes, and makes your relationships with yourself and others and your work so much better. I need to take this advice more too!
Anything else you want to share about upcoming events or projects?
CASS&RA: I am super excited to be part of this residency and really excited to be DJing for wanderlust’s summer sunset series, and for a wedding in Baja Mexico soon. And so much more —I love what I do!
I believe in music education and Picardy has been a company that I’ve gotten to help co-found to provide music theory and musicianship skills to everyone through a web application. I’ve learned so much about running a business and collaborating with others; it’s been amazing and I’ve gotten to experience so many incredible events and meet brilliant music educators, theorists, and musicians from all over the world.
WHAT DJ CASS&RA HAS BEEN LISTENING TO RECENTLY:
Go-to jam right now?
Right now I’m in Spain, so I’m listening to a lot of flamenco guitar music, but I’d say truly anything disco—and definitely Beyoncé’s “Before I Let Go” is just always on repeat. Anything Anderson paak. Tune-yards. Jacob banks. Kimbra.
Underrated song/musician?
Such a hard question!! I think my friends in this group Emme; they build such beautiful vocals over gorgeous harmonies and I’m obsessed!
Discover anyone new or old recently that you're excited about?
India.Arie
Song for a breakup?
“Set Down Your Glass” by Snow Patrol
Song for a workout?
“The Future” by Motez
Song for Shopping?
Anything Bomba Estero
Song for making-love?
Anything D’Angelo
Song for making dinner?
I love listening to KUTX, I’m always surprised by by what new music and artists I hear on that station.
Song for cleaning the house?
I don’t listen to music cleaning, its very meditative for me, so I listen to the sounds I’m making!
Song the reader of this should listen to after?
“Motiv8” by J Cole
About #bbatx's The Residency: We annually work with 10 to 15, Texas-based women-identifying and nonbinary visual and musical artists to produce site-specific work, commissions and exhibitions throughout our programming and events. Through these residencies, we invite the public to learn more about their process, approach and sustainability of their practice. Click here to meet this year's artists.
On Finding Community And Comfort In Collaboration: 2019 Resident Artists Big Chicken and Baby Bird
Nat Bradford and Tsz Kam (a.k.a Big Chicken and Baby Bird) are a two-person collective and artists in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview with #BBATX committee member Jen Rachid, they discuss how and why they became collaborators, as well as the inspiration behind their art.
Nat Bradford and Tsz Kam (a.k.a Big Chicken and Baby Bird) are a two-person collective and artists in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview with #BBATX committee member Jen Rachid, they discuss how and why they became collaborators, as well as the inspiration behind their art.
This interview has been condensed from a conversation with #BBATX committee member Jen Rachid.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Nat Bradford and Tsz Kam are a two-person collective, pair of birds, and dynamic duo currently living, working, and dying in Austin, TX. Their work centers around the experience of shifting between girlhood and womanhood within the ambiguity of gender. Their work stages fantastical scenes of domestic comfort in which objects and figures become characters with inevitable roles to play in seduction and repulsion. They have been collaborating since 2015. Both studied at and received their BFA from The University of Texas at Austin (the Lamborghini of public schools).
Tell us about your backgrounds:
Tsz Kam: I was born in Hong Kong. My grandfather who came from a wealthy family had all his family money taken away by the communists. He escaped to Hong Kong, which was a British colony at the time. He was always strongly anti-communist China and wanted me to have an American education. I moved to Houston for high school when I was 13, stayed with my relatives and got into UT Austin. I’ve been more or less on my own ever since. I never went back. I am almost 26 now, so I have spent half my life in Hong Kong and half my life in Texas. I got into UT as an engineering major, but I switched out on the first day. My grandfather passed away right before my high school graduation and I knew he would have wanted me to go to college to pursue a field I am passionate about. I had no knowledge about the art world or galleries at the time. I had a very typical public school art education. As I progressed through the undergraduate art program, I learned more and more and I knew it was something I want to do for the rest of my life.
Nat Bradford: I’ve always lived in Texas, I grew up running around in the junkyard my dad ran when I was a kid. I saw my family working with their hands often; dad working on cars, mom made a shit ton of crafts with me, my grandmother has been running a business doing plants for office buildings, and my mother helps with that. I spent the past five years working with plants and realized I’m the third generation in my family doing that sort of work. I had the weird queer-teen-growing-up-in-Texas-suburbs experience. I’m not really visibly queer now but my experiences attached to that aspect of myself still influence how I live. I think Tsz and I share that and are able to express it in our work together.
How did y’all meet? Was it a match-made-in-heaven right away?
Kam: We both attended the undergraduate art program at UT Austin. I was a junior when I met Nat. We had painting together and I quickly found out how talented Nat is as an artist. I also really admire her work ethic. We weren’t making collaborative work at the time; we wouldn’t start that til two years later. I would say it’s more of a gradual process of coming together. My hobby in college was to bother other people when they worked on their art late at night at the studio. The UT art building was still open 24/7 back then and people would stay really late, or even sleep in the building. We were both doing that a lot.
Bradford: We are both smokers so we also hung out at the picnic table while smoking outside in between and during class. That’s how we became familiar with each other at the beginning.
Kam: I remembered purposefully seeking her out, because there’s something about Nat that was very attractive to me.
How did y’all start working together? Do y’all fill in each other’s gaps?
Kam: We applied for the Co-Lab Summerskool the year right after I graduated. We made some collaborative sculptures and installations.
Bradford: I was still at UT when we worked on that project, I had only participated in a few shows at the time and the prospect of a collaborative show was exciting. A lot of the work we made for that show was sculpture, so that was the beginning of Tsz and I getting into that realm. I didn’t super enjoy making sculptural pieces on my own but collaborating with Tsz brought actual enjoyment to the process. Tsz is good at making sure I don’t get in over my head logistically, but gets me out of my head when it comes to building concepts and making art. We took a break for a bit after that show, I was still finishing school but the others working on that show graduated.
Kam: The year that followed was tough for me. I didn’t like anything I was making. I felt embarrassed and I was having a hard time finding a full time job at the time due to my circumstance. I didn’t stop making but it took me a while to say, “forget the rules, just draw what I’ve always wanted to draw.” That’s when I came up with the macaroni themed paintings. I started having critique circles at my house and I invited Nat. We started hanging out and making work while hanging out, we still weren’t really collaborating at the time, but we talked about it. When Andrea Hyland invited me to be part of ArtBash in 2017, I asked to have Nat be in the show with me. That’s when we first started to experiment with more serious collaboration. I think being here without my parents since I was 13 has always given me a little bit of a co-dependent tendency. Being an artist seems like a one man show sometimes, and I figured why not do it with another person, so I can have someone to share my joy with.
Bradford: Yeah, and a lot of our new works deal with the idea of co-dependency so I feel that too. Growing up queer led to a lot of isolating myself when I was younger but holding on really hard to friendships that felt safe, I still live that way on some level and collaboration with Tsz is one of those comfortable spaces. Actually making the work doesn’t necessarily feel safe, I’m scared as hell when we start on something new, but it’s an exciting sort of shared fear I guess. Its nice to have another person there to stare at a blank canvas with.
What are some books, music, podcasts, people etc. that inspire your work?
Bradford: We listen to horror podcasts constantly while we work. I don’t know if we derive any inspiration from that regarding the work we make, but it’s become part of our collaborative ritual. I’ve been looking into alchemy and imagery in that for a bit, interested in the characters that have been given to the components of reactions. I think our work has some of those ideas in it too, we create a lot of characters that develop in the paintings narratively.
Kam: I think it’s ironic that we listen to so many horror themed podcasts while we work because our work space and relationship have so much love and care in them. I think in some ways, it’s because we feel safe with each other that we can face the fear of confronting these really difficult themes in our work concerning our gender and queer identities.
What is the story behind your collaborative artist name?
Bradford: Tsz started calling me a baby bird in college because they’d startle me often. Tsz always wore a purple velvet cape and was bold as fuck. When we did our first collaborative works together they made a huge embroidery piece that had the face of a chicken on it and that was settled. We have our respective titles but trade off being Baby or Big when we work. You’re the Big Chicken of whichever element in a piece you’re working on; I’ll be working on part of a painting and ask Tsz for verbal input as I go, “Is this yellow, yellow enough?” And Tsz will be doing the same from the other end of the painting.
Kam: The embroidery piece that gave us the idea for BIG CHICKEN was of a pawn shop sign. It’s a very common neon sign in the streets of Hong Kong. I made the whole sign look like a stylized chicken because the word “chicken” is slang for a prostitute in Cantonese. Big Chicken and Baby Bird is sort of a play on the big daddy / little girl trope.
What is the general mood of your art?
Bradford: When I’m working on something with Tsz I think we build more humor into it off of each other, the paintings are horny but don’t take their horniness too seriously. I think our collaborative work has more emotion built into it than my personal work, there’s a dialogue between us and that human interaction is important to the work.
Kam: I think our work is a bit moody. It’s a sort of gloomy humor.
THE DOOR BY THE GARDEN, 2018
For people that are looking for a creative collaborator what would your advice be for finding and maintaining that relationship?
Kam: I remembered making the effort to actually pursue Nat. I don’t think it’s because she’s particularly standoffish. I think most people are a bit shy when it comes to making new commitments. I communicated very clearly to her it is something I really want to commit to with her and I showed up and spoke with my actions.
Bradford: Yeah I’m shy, I had to convince myself someone liked what I do enough to want to work with me, especially when I really admired the work Tsz was making. But I think we both saw potential in what we could offer each other. And we both keep weird hours that other people aren’t happy to work in. We’ve always both been down to put in a full day-job-work-day and then meet up after, late, and then work on art even later. Weekends and free time are for art making; we both get our satisfaction from working too much. You really have to find someone with similar expectations and work ethic, that’s just as important as our work’s visual synchronicity.
Kam: Mutual respect and open communication are definitely very important for maintaining the relationship. I really admire Nat’s skills and talent, she’s better at certain things than I am, and I think we both take advantage of the other’s stronger suits. Every time we brainstorm for a project, I don’t really worry about getting my way or anything. I believe in her judgements when it comes to certain things that I am not as good at and I know she does the same for me. I just know that whatever we make will end up being great because we worked on it together. I am not a collaborative relationship guru, so I can only speak about my own experience.
What do you think people need to hear right now?
Kam: Don’t be afraid to talk to other people.
Bradford: You might just make a friend!
Tsz and Nat’s Current Hobbies include:
Kam: Transformers, fabulous, gay, gender-defying robots in disguise. I read a lot of Transformers fanfictions. They inspire me.
Bradford: Watching wrestling and watering my plants. I’m a tattoo apprentice right now, which isn’t a hobby but has me doing a lot of research in that realm in my free time.
Any projects or ventures you want to share ?
Kam: I have a solo show coming up in June in El Paso at the Galeria Cinco Puntos. The theme is fantasy and escape. Aside from my personal works, Nat and I are also collaborating on a series of chimera themed paintings right now, which will be shown for the first time at the Elizabeth Ney Museum here in Austin on July 11th.
Bradford: I’m currently running my Etsy shop (GNATandRAT.etsy.com) to keep food in me and a roof over me. I mostly sell pins and little paintings, I try to offer the kind of affordable art objects I seek out myself.
WANT TO SEE WORK BY #BBATX RESIDENT ARTISTS BIG CHICKEN AND BABY BIRD IN-PERSON?
The opening reception and artist talk for Big Chicken and Baby Bird's exhibition will be held on July 11 at the Elisabet Ney Museum. The exhibition opens at 6:30 PM with complimentary refreshments by Austin Cocktails, followed by a tour of the museum at 7:00 PM and an artist talk at 7:30 PM. The exhibition itself will be open through July 22. Click here to learn more.