Don't Turn That Dial!

Here are a few short excerpts from a long-form radio documentary I produced entitled Don't Turn That Dial: Perspectives on the Current State of Radio, and Why It Still Matters. It was originally aired on DePauw University radio station WGRE in May 2010.

The two excerpts discuss the importance of radio as a way for consumers to discover new music.

Excerpt 1: Interview with Jeff Hylton Simmons of Radio23




Excerpt 2: Interview with Jason Sigal of WFMU



Contact me if you would like to hear the entire documentary!

JCI Global Entrepreneurship Week Article

Another article for the Independent on Jersey City's Global Entrepreneurship Week and ArtFest.

Free Events, Inspiration and Art for Budding Business Owners at Global Entrepreneurship Week

Over the past year vacant storefronts in Jersey City have been filling with restaurants, art galleries and other small businesses. Ordinary people with big ideas have been fueling the local economy by adding jobs and increasing consumer business. This week, these and other entrepreneurs will flock to Jersey City to take part in the fourth annual Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW).
Rising Tide Capital, a Jersey City nonprofit specializing in mentoring local business owners, will host the weeklong celebration of entrepreneurship. The organization will throw a series of free events each day, starting with a kick-off today at City Hall and ending with a closing celebration that will include food, music and art.
“Global Entrepreneurship Week presents an opportunity for Rising Tide Capital to spend an entire week reaching out to a wider community of entrepreneurs and those interested in entrepreneurship,” says Rising Tide Capital CEO Alfa Demmellash.
The festival, created by the Kauffman Foundation in 2008, aims to celebrate and inspire small business owners across the world. Rising Tide Capital has hosted the event for the past three years in Jersey City. This year, the celebration will be run under the name “Start Something New Jersey.” Demmellash describes the name as “a call to action” for all New Jersey residents to become innovative entrepreneurs.
Some other changes to this year’s GEW include an expansion outside of Jersey City to Orange, Essex County, and a more streamlined schedule.
“The events are all focused on meeting the goal of inviting entrepreneurs to find local resources, connect to opportunities, and to discover their business dreams,” Demmellash says.
Events include seminars, networking opportunities, and a resource fair for small business owners and budding entrepreneurs in and around Jersey City. Speakers include entrepreneurs of all kinds, from local business owners to government policy makers. The kick-off’s featured speakers include Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Mayor Jerramiah Healy, among others.
Jersey City artists will also have a large role in GEW 2011. Nyugen Smith will be a featured panelist in the “Start Something Green” discussion scheduled for Tuesday at City Hall. Smith has made a name for himself in Jersey City as both an artist and entrepreneur.
“I do consider myself to be an entrepreneur,” Smith says. “Not in the traditional sense, but in a general sense. Prior to teaching art full-time, I was able to sustain myself through art by teaching privately, managing a gallery, and translating creativity in a variety of ways to earn a living, while remaining true to my principles and value as an artist.”

The week will end with ARTfest, a celebration of entrepreneurs and small-business owners focused in the arts. This closing event will feature local artists, musicians, poets, and vendors. It will take place at Art House Productions this Saturday.
“Every year we try to incorporate the arts into Global Entrepreneurship Week because we recognize that pursuing your art or turning your talent into a profitable business is very important in an economy that’s not offering too many jobs,” says Rising Tide Capital Program Associate Mary Sansait, event organizer of ARTfest. “It’s recognizing that the arts are alive in entrepreneurship and that you can make it a business.”
Another Jersey City artist showing her work Saturday is curator and photographer Nicole Koupiaris. Koupiaris just recently launched her website for her studio, Soul Shot Photography, and says she hopes to introduce the site to a larger audience at ARTfest.
“I’m really excited because it’s going to be the first art show I’ve done in Jersey City,” she says.
Other acts at Saturday’s event will include the HBO Def Jam poet Gemineye, underground emcees Silent Knight and Rugged N Raw, and spoken word artist Itsrealight.
Koupiaris, who went to last year’s ARTfest, says the event is a great way for Jersey City artists and musicians to connect with each other and the community as a whole.
“Everyone gets to know each other and make the connection that we all live in the same city,” says Koupiaris.
“By coming out to these kinds of events, community members can contribute to shaping not only their own economic future but that of the people and places around them,” adds Demmellash. “This week is an invitation to celebrate and participate in our own entrepreneurial culture here in Jersey City.”
Details:
For a full list of Global Entrepreneurship Week — Start Something NJ events go to startsomethingnj.risingtidecapital.org/events.html

ARTfest
Saturday, November 19, from 1 to 7 pm
Art House Productions
1 McWilliams Place, Jersey City

JCI Jack Parsons article

Here is an article I wrote for The Jersey City Independent in October:

After More than a Year, Jack Parsons Moonchild Reunites for a Show at Art House Productions

It’s an unusually warm and sunny October day in Jersey City. Members of a band slowly trickle in to a rehearsal space; it’s been a while since these old friends have all been in the same room together. The seven members chat and catch up before taking out their instruments. The drummer counts off: 3… 2… 1. No one misses a beat.

It’s been over a year since the original members of the Jersey City band Jack Parsons Moonchild have rehearsed together, but it seems like not a day has passed. Jack Parsons, whose members act more like a family than a band, are practicing for their first live show since May 2010. They’ll be performing their debut album in its entirety at Art House Productions this Friday, Oct. 21.

At any one time Jack Parsons Moonchild may have between four to eight band members, but the nucleus of the group consists of three musicians: lyricist Cris Nyne, guitarist Colin Comstock and singer Sarah Comstock. The band came to be in 2009 after Nyne had an extended stay with Colin Comstock.

“I’d known Cris through the Jersey City arts scene for a few years and was a huge fan of his work,” Colin says. “He was traveling for a bit and when he got back he ended up crashing at my place for a little while. One day I picked up my guitar, started playing a groove and he started putting words to it effortlessly.”

After a few weeks of nonstop writing, the pair asked fellow musician Sarah Comstock to join their collaboration.

It’s hard to exactly peg the sound of Jack Parsons Moonchild. Nyne, with his background in poetry, wrote and MC’d the hip-hop-tinged lyrics. Colin Comstock, who has a solid background in rock and soul, laid down the basic guitar grooves. And Sarah Comstock added her haunting and beautiful vocal harmonies to the mix. It took only a few months before they started frequenting Jersey City open mics and live music venues, building up a small, but dedicated fan base in the process.

“After about three shows, the feedback that we had and the following that we built up gave us the confidence to know that we were on the right path,” says Nyne.

Colin Comstock agrees. “The Jersey City arts scene is an incredibly vibrant and unique place, filled to the brim with characters,” he says. “We couldn’t have chosen a better city to be from. There has been a very mutual relationship with love and support between us and the folks in Jersey City.”

Encouraged to grow by the positive response to their Jersey City shows, Jack Parsons added a drummer and a bassist to the mix. Now they had all the trappings of a traditional rock ‘n roll group.

In early 2010, about a year after the first initial musical meeting between Colin Comstock and Nyne, Jack Parsons Moonchild released their self-titled debut album. The 11 tracks on the album were cut from about 30 songs the pair had written together. The debut included even more sonic layers beyond guitar, bass, and drums with instrumentation that included the saxophone, flute, and cello.

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever heard before,” says Sarah Comstock, the lead vocalist. “We have several other super talented band members now who have brought all kinds of other things. It makes for a very fun, experiential sound.”

Although Jack Parsons Moonchild was a relatively young band then, the amount of works created and general buzz surrounding their live shows was substantial. After only a handful of shows in Jersey City they were approached to open for some up-and-coming bands in New York City.

But some differences within the core of the band kept Jack Parsons’ rocket from going up any further, and the band played their last show in May 2010. During their break, the band reached an almost cult status within the Jersey City arts scene and many of their fans wondered if they would ever play together again. It seemed as though the short, prolific life of Jack Parsons Moonchild had ended.

But after Nyne took time off to travel and Colin and Sarah started a family, the pull of their once beloved music collective got the better of them. Nyne says there was a need for a break. “I feel like it’s only human for the transition. There just needed to be time for us to re-evaluate what we all wanted,” he explains. “Within a few months, we still felt strong about our music and we didn’t want that to die. “

Art House Productions will host the band’s first live show since the break. Art House’s artistic director, Jack Halpin, is a longtime friend of the band and will be helping them set up the show.

“I think they’re smart, original and daring,” says Halpin. “We’re excited and grateful that Jack Parsons Moonchild will be playing at Art House.” Not only is this the band’s first show in more than a year, it will also serve to raise funds for Art House’s largest fundraising event of the year, the Snow Ball.

So what will come of the band after the show? No one knows for sure, but if a recent rehearsal, full of influential musicians and artists, can serve as an indication of the band’s longevity, it seems like Jack Parsons Moonchild will have many more moon-children to come.

“That rehearsal blew my mind, how cohesive it was. It was so reassuring,” Nyne says with a look of amazement of his face. “This show is going to be magic.”


Jack Parsons Moonchild performs at Art House Productions this Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 pm. Tickets are $5; all proceeds benefit Art House Productions’ 2011 Snow Ball gala. Art House is located 1 McWilliams Place, Jersey City.

Jersey Artist Alicia Ruth Interview

Originally posted on the 660 Soup blog.


660-er Alicia Ruth is out in full force this summer with a collection of new art pieces to be showcased at Jersey City's White Star bar. The show opens tomorrow (Friday, July 15) at 8pm!


I wrangled the rogue artist and got to talk to her more about her work - listen to the interview here!:




Artist in natural habitat.