Month: September 2016

THE 27TH ALL SOULS PROCESSION IN TUCSON NOVEMBER 4-6, 2016

I just love updating you from Tucson! I wish I could stay for the most authentically produced event I know of. It is truly transoframtional, life affirming and respectful to the traditions of the culture in this part of the world. I cannot recommend it enough, there is something for everyone who participates to feel empowered and at peace with the last stage of life.

The 27th All Souls Procession  Nov. 4-6 2016
Many Mouths One Stomach
presents 

The 27th Annual All Souls Procession Weekend November 4-6, 2016 Tucson, AZ Contact: Paul Weir 520-272-9041info@allsoulsprocession.org, http://www.allsoulsprocession.org

Join the pilgrimage to Tucson, AZ this November for the culmination of a quarter century of this most unique, annual public ceremony. Over 150,000 participants will converge on downtown Tucson for one of the peak spiritual events in the country, perhaps on the planet. This free, all-ages festival is an all-inclusive, living dedication to the memory of all those who have passed, both in the previous year and in years past. This year’s finale will involve the work of several hundred performers and volunteers at the end of a massive, human-powered procession. Celebrations and events of all kinds take over the Tucson cityscape to create this one of a kind event; the weekend is filled with activities both public and private to compliment this authentic, public ceremony. Highlights include:

The Procession of Little Angels: Join over 6000 children and their families in a dedication, workshop and parade event on Saturday November 8, 2 pm till dusk in Armory Park – http://allsoulsprocession.org/projects/little-angels

Night of the Living Fest 
Friday Saturday and Sunday 11 4, 5, 6  2016
The only ticketed event of the All Souls Weekend.
Friday – 6pm – 2am   Saturday- 5pm – 2am  Sunday 4pm – 2am
This years line up:   Big Freedia, The King Khan & BBQ Show, Reigning Sound, Shannon and the Clams, NOBUNNY, Seth Bogart, Mike Watt +&  many many more!
http://nightofthelivingfest.com
The Procession and Grand Finale: Sunday November 6, we gather at 4 pm and depart on the 2 mile route at 6 pm; full costumes, face and body paint, floats large and small, and musicians and performers of all kinds form a remarkable human flow through downtown Tucson. The procession culminates in a massive finale celebration with performances by Flam Chen ( http://flamchen.com ), SORNE ( http://sorne.com ) and many more events at the venues all over town.

Ancillary events at Mercado San Agustin, Hotel Congress, Tap and Bottle and much much more!!

VIDEO of the 2013 Finale Celebration featuring A Tribe Called Red, The Carpetbag Brigade, Nemcatacoa Teatro, Flam Chen and many more https://vimeo.com/82514219

Professional Photographer Media Pass inquires please contact Karel Moonen at media@manymouths.org

 

MEET ME IN TUCSON for IFEA

APAP 2016

Will you be in Tucson for IFEA this year? If you would like to set a 1:1 you can both, see my schedule and book it here

The International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) is a not-for-profit association for producers, suppliers and managers of festivals and events, which range from small county and municipal events to large-scale parades that can have attendances in the hundreds of thousands. It has members in about 38 countries on 5 continents.

The IFEA was founded in 1956, and adopted its current name in the 1980s. This conference is the 61st annual! It will be my first.  It will also be a home-coming of sorts, My career actually began in Tucson and with a festival! I am fortunate to have a link to fun interview taken in 2010.

Editor’s Note: SLIT contacted Roggie asking her to explain how she started RajiWorld booking agency. 

I started as a buyer at the University of Arizona in the late 80’s through SUAB where I led booking for Eat To The Beat (Red Hot Chile Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Billy Idol) and Spring Fling (Jellyfish, Redd Kross, Posies, Paladins booking at UA), some promoting at Counter Club and Club Congress (I brought the first El Vez  show to Tucson, as well as the Ringling Sisters).  I was also KAMP student Radio music director, and made a few trial national bookings for Green On Red and Giant Sand. I then headed the Spring Fling music committee in 1991.

At the time I was a Chemistry major, and going between the chemistry lab and my music office with a lab coat and a Motorola brick cell phone.  My friends thought I was nuts and referred to the whole thing as RajiWorld (even though my name is spelled Roggie)  So it stuck.

My first client was Rosie Flores.  I booked her to play at the U of A, a conference in PHX, and a club show in Tucson.  I worked the door at the club show and part-way through the night the bar owner collected the money so I wouldn’t have to hold it.  I trusted him.  He passed out in the office and never paid us. I withdrew all my savings and gave her what I could.  She later found out about it and asked if I would book her.  I soon added Duane Jarvis and Buddy Miller, who were direct referrals and that was how it started.  I am incredibly grateful.

In 1993 I moved to L.A. and began promoting music in earnest.  I had an opportunity in 1994 to relocate to Austin and work with Joe Ely in the studio, on the road with MCA and his musical called Chippy, which played at Lincoln Center and had a long run in Philly this year, which allowed me to go on the road and meet all the venues and local press which has been invaluable in the 16+ years since.  RajiWorld has been run between L.A. and Austin ever since.

In 1998, Bill Elm (of Friends of Dean Martin) and I married, and he put out many great records which enabled us to work in the field we loved, as we became parents in 1999.  I feel very blessed to have long working relationships with some of the bands I was first a fan of, like Danny & Chuck, Howe, The Fleshtones, Rosie Flores.  I often mention that I was in the right place at the right time with what came out of Tucson.

I started in fashion as a teen, modeling, designing, retail and wholesale.  I have a degree in Fashion Merchandising, and I love that world.  I went back to school to study Chemistry as a frustrated animal rights activist / makeup artist.  Chemistry led to a degree, although I do not use it (except in the kitchen).  I had a desire to mix up my 21 unit school day with a fun student activity (which is how I got to booking for UA and student radio.

I have recently come full circle by creating World Beauty, which reps fashion designers, hair and make-up artists and photographers and videographers for events like music festivals and awards shows.  My first client was SXSW 2010 Music Awards.

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MISIMPLICITY IS GRACE LONDON AND ZOE CZ

EP Release Party

Misimplicity is a collaboration between singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Grace London and bassist Zoe Cz, two 16 year old musicians hailing from Austin, Texas. Elements of alternative-folk, indie-rock, and 90’s emo fuse together on the duos first self-titled EP, a six song reflection on the difficulty of existing comfortably as expressed through Grace London’s uniquely poetic stream of consciousness writing style. The album is a testament to the enormity of introspective thought in all its strange loops, a dissection of the wishes and regrets we hold on to; feverishly communicated and beautifully performed.

Grace began her musical career by learning the classical guitar at age seven, going on to play an array of shows at coffee shops and small events before she’d reached middle school. For a short time she assumed the role of guitarist for Austin Music Award winning band Residual Kid before jumping back into her own music, recording her first album Rocketship Girl at 13 years old, a release that marked the inception of her continuing studio collaborations with Austin producer Brian Beattie.

By the release of her second album, the critically praised Brains Grace had made a dent in the Austin festival circuit, performing sets at Old Settlers, Austin City Limits, and SXSW, taking charge of vocals, guitar, kick drum and drum machine. Zoe’s musical trajectory was on a similar path; the classically trained upright bassist was avidly taking the stage with various bands, including local rockers Charlie Belle. The two musicians finally crossed paths while interning at Girl’s Rock Camp during the summer after Brains release. Zoe was looking for a band and Grace was looking to get on stage with a bassist; the two almost instantly decided to begin playing gigs together. Since then they’ve developed a strong collaborative dynamic as a duo, making another SXSW showcase appearance and playing tons of clubs through out Austin.

After the past year of performing together, Zoe and Grace decided it was time to become Misimplicity, a name inspired by the title of the new EP’s second track “Miss Simplicity.” The name alludes to a subtle sarcasm that’s weaved its way into Grace’s songwriting, a tonal distinction from her previous projects. Where Brains was often playful and self-deprecating Misimplicity aches with occasional tinges of nuanced humor. Grace’s frustration bites and writhes on tracks like “Little Girl,” a sludgy rock outburst that wears Brian Beattie’s presence as producer in its peculiar details, while the hypnotic melancholy of “Old Apartment” finds Grace recounting visual and emotional memories in a brood reminiscent of Red House Painters or American Football, driven by a sparse programmed drum loop and atmospheric guitar and bass. “Take me Down” is one of Grace’s most powerful lyrical moments, exhibiting a depth that defies the marginalized expectation with which young musicians are often unnecessarily held to. “I am just a little person and I’m learning as I go”; most bands of any age wouldn’t have the bravery to make such a simple, poignant statement. Misimplicity will be performing at the Cactus CafĂ© Friday September 23rd to celebrate the release of Misimplicity.

ONE NATION, UNDER WATER

mermaids_02

by Taylor Prewitt
Photographs by Sarah Teveldal

Personal style, no matter how personal, is something that must be put on. Each morning, we slip into the identities we’ve crafted to represent who we are to the rest of the world. Some of us slip on tails.

At a base level, we’re all playing dress up. Some of us just take it to another level. Like merpeople – a select cohort whose aesthetics envelop not just the mythical creature they emulate, but an entire mer-lifestyle that has grown online, internationally and here in Central Texas.

Mermaids_01

“I think [the] fantasy carries over from when I was a child,” says Jenna Cundy, a self-styled mermaid, and part of the local merpod helmed by Sirenalia, an Austin-based mermaid tail company. “Now you’re an adult and you can do whatever you want with your money and your time.”

In the realm of style, there are shoe people, there are bag people, there are, God help them, hat people. And then there are those who purchase a $2,000-plus, custom-made, fully functional and environmentally friendly, silicone mermaid tail.

Because there’s something about the mermaid – a perennial favorite of children everywhere and the summer season’s perpetual “It Girl” – that’s just plain appealing. After all, her mythos originated with sirens, the inconceivably alluring sea nymphs first mentioned in Homer’s “Odyssey” in 800 B.C.E. (and still she doesn’t look a day past 20 centuries old).

She also has great hair.

Sea Fair: Mermaid Dorothy Rose

Perhaps it’s the fantasy of transformation that keeps Sirenalia, founded almost five years ago by Austinites and partners Maria Russo and Jason Darling, in business. In addition to serving as live party decor and hosting mermaid retreats in Belize, and soon, San Marcos, Sirenalia also creates the custom silicone mermaid tails that allow people like Jenna to explore a whimsical side of their identities.

When considering the mermaid’s appeal, fantasy can’t entirely account for the communal power of mass media to fan the flames of adoration. Disney released “The Little Mermaid” in 1989, making it the idolized “Frozen” of an entire generation – a generation often characterized by its desire to individualize and amplify identity. And while Ariel pined for human legs, thousands of leg-having humans want nothing more than a mermaid tail – the perfect vehicle for both expression and escape. Luckily, Sirenalia isn’t staffed by sea witches with a taste for collateral (and a campy style all their own) – they’re fine with a check.

“We all want to believe in something and [adults] don’t get to, without seeming silly,” says Darling, who paints tails at Sirenalia’s Holly Street studio and acts as a mermaid handler at their events. “Right now identity is such a thing 
 people are really concerned about being their best identity.”

Mermaids Elona Rose, Lilly Russell, Maria Russo and their gill-ty pleasure.

For Sirenalia’s clients, mermaidism is a way to be their best selves. People who buy the tails and participate in the culture aren’t just fascinated by mermaids. They didn’t just watch “The Little Mermaid” as children. Instead, they emphatically tell Russo and Darling – and really anyone who asks – “I am a mermaid.” And so they are.

As far as self-expression goes, full mermaid regalia lets you bring it in a big way. In addition to sending in 27 different measurements, Sirenalia invites clients to use crayons (another childhood throwback) to shade in a form with the exact specificities and colors of the tail that best represents them – making the act of identifying as mermaid a kind of hybrid performance and multimedia art form. Both Russo and Darling consider themselves artists.

“You’re making their dreams come true, you want to make it right, exactly the way it was in their imagination,” says Russo.

Donning the tail (which slips on like a condom in a process that takes about five minutes), applying the makeup, wearing the hair accessories and putting on the iconic shell bra are also part of the identity process – a kind of caterpillar-to-butterfly, mere-mortal-to-mythical-creature transformation that explains the fascination with the mermaid metamorphosis.

Washed Ashore: Lilly Russell, Jessica Mendiola, Chelbi Peña and Maria Russo

“The way your body moves in water is very different,” explains Elona Rose, a Sirenalia mermaid and tail and bra designer who is attracted to the aesthetic nature of the gig. “You may be very awkward on land, but the idea that you could get in the water and your hair would flow like a ribbon and your tail will just gently undulate behind you 
 I guess that’s a very attractive concept to people.”

The community mermaidism offers is also part of the appeal. For those that see themselves as a merpeople, there’s a huge international network of others that feel the same.

“Fifteen years ago, if someone was like ‘I’m a mermaid,’ and they’re in a small town, people would be like, ‘OK, you’re the weird one in town,’” Darling explains over FaceTime from Belize, where he and Russo are planning next year’s retreat. “Now you can get on forums and there’s thousands and thousands of people who are like, ‘Oh yeah, me too, totally,’ and they can make friends and do mermaid stuff together.”

“They didn’t just watch The Little Mermaid as children.”

That communal aspect has been gratifying to Russo, who never imagined that creating a “badass mermaid tail to swim in” for herself would lead to a network of some of the closest friendships she’s had. But she’s glad it did.

“Just being a part of something fantastical [is] fun,” says Russo. “We have these amazing moments together where we’re like, ‘Oh my god, we’re like mermaids underwater swimming next to a shark in paradise right now 
 this is really our life right now.’ And we do it together.”