Today we’d like to introduce you to The Eternal Artist.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born on the south-side of Houston and lived near Reveille Park until we moved to Sharpstown when I was 3 years old. As I grew older, I found the fact that Houston had become the most international city in the U.S. to be quite relevant in my worldview. It was at this time I realized to myself one day that “I grew up in the most international neighborhood (Sharpstown), of the most international city in (what’s arguably one of) the most international countries in the world and graduated from the most international university in the U.S.” (UofH). These facts paired with the fact I grew up as the only white kid in my neighborhood, had hippie parents, and started learning Spanish at 12 years old – tells most everything about me. End of Story! ha.
So… here’s how I came to do what I do today. At 14 years old, I got a copy of Photoshop from my mom’s best friend (famed Houston art-car artist Bonnie Blue) and a drum-set the same year. Within a year I was making money playing shows with my band and selling designs to an indie clothing company from the Dallas area. From a young age, I knew my calling was to create art and music. With my upbringing via my beautifully artistic and musical mother, I was constantly surrounded by music and art my entire life. I have many memories of being in art studios and being around live instrument music throughout my childhood. All of these inputs and influences were all I knew my entire life along with no T.V. for all of my formative years, National Geographic magazines, and my mother handing me rolls of film to shoot at 5 years old. I love my mother immensely, because without her I would not be the artist and human being I am today.
My creative journey has to lead me down a path which includes the following art forms: photography (+ darkroom), graphic design, filmmaking, stenciling (street/other), painting, screen printing + other forms of printing, music (drums/percussion), and live-projections. I am one of the founders of the Urban Circus art collective (founded in 2012/based in Houston’s East End). Currently, I produce a radio show every Thursday night on 90.1FM KPFT from 10pm-11pm called “The Chair Show”. I am a professional media-marketer who works with artists, businesses, and brands to establish and/or update their brand’s identity in the digital world. Through my background in booking/promoting music and art Texas-wide, I help brands tap into an intimate side of creative culture through events and ad campaigns. Aside from the media-marketing I do to pay the bills, I make my own art in my free time and do artist management and development for a few artists here in the city whom I believe are among the next stars to come out of Houston. Creating a platform for expression is what I have committed my life to. In a day and age where civil liberties and free speech is becoming a thing of the past, ART and MUSIC will be the only voice the people will have left! It’s important to nurture an environment of creativity in our youth and society as a whole. The first thing to go from elementary to college when there are budget cuts, is the Art & Music programs. They consciously do this because Art & Music stimulates your right brain, and right brain thinking breeds creativity and innovation, innovation challenges the status quo. Innovation is the #1 threat to all the generational wealth that has run the U.S. for 100+ years. Right brain thinking is why there are 24-year-old billionaires in Silicon Valley. Challenge the status quo and believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see!
Has it been a smooth road?
There have been some incredible memories and accomplishments, but there has certainly been some bumps along the way as well. You will always be learning how to better yourself and your business for the rest of your life. Nothing good ever comes easy. The challenge for me has been being a visionary and getting other people to see and understand the true vision. There are more obstacles that I’ve encountered that you can imagine, but I’ve learned to problem solve in the middle of stressful moments. Throwing interdisciplinary art & music events over the years has given me very complicated and unique situations to deal with. I have definitely learned a lot and have pretty thick skin now because of it. It’s also enabled my vision with all things creative to be far clearer, focused, and direct.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Urban Circus story. Tell us more about the business.
Urban Circus is an interdisciplinary art collective, publishing company, underground media-source all in one. We produce an FM radio show and are rolling out our live-stream this fall. In short, we are a platform for expression. We assist artists in establishing their brands from the inception, all the way to nurturing their growth as an artist. We plug-in at every level with our clients and provide a platform that can facilitate their needs. As a publisher, we can publish music, film, books, etc. What sets us apart from others is that even though we’re Houston-based, we have members on all 3 coasts and think with an international mindset, not to mention that there’s literally nothing else like what we are so I would say we’re unique. Nothing we do is modeled off of anything else. It has all been created out of the necessity to make things happen in a city that has gaping holes that need to be filled in the creative sectors.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Technology will try to make AI do creative things to replace human creativity and innovation, but the truth is you can never replace it to be an exact replica. I think the realization of AI not being as good as human creativity will take years of products and b.s. to lead us back to more human creative space. In short, the media industry will get really strange (the sad state of the news + other factors).
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.urbancircus.co
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_eternal_artist
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/theeternalartist
- Other: www.youtube.com/urbancircustx
Image Credit:
@the_eternal_artist
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