[fromtheeleventh-blog]

An Interview and Playlist with Mallory Walker!

I first met Mallory when she was an orientation aide for my freshman dorm at William & Mary. She’ll be starting graduate school in Boston very soon after a year working, researching, and putting exhibits together at William & Mary’s Swem library. Below is my interview with Mallory, a link to a paper that she recommends, and her awesome playlist! 

PLAYLIST

Mallory’s Spotify

Name: Mallory Walker (some people call me melon, which is cool too)

How are you involved in your music community?

I don’t know how much I even have a music community! The internet might be my music community. Does that count? I get music recommendations from my friends when they tweet about a song or post a playlist on their Instagram stories. I tried and failed to be a part of musical circles in college.

What do you love about your music community?

I think what’s cool about sharing music this way is the way it’s free and lacks a lot of judgement that has kept me away from other music communities. It’s like Spotify’s recommendation algorithms but from people whose music taste you appreciate and trust.

How would you improve your music community?

Well - this isn’t about my community but music communities in general. But so many spaces are dominated by a very specific subculture. I’ve talked to you about this before, I think, at a house show. It’s very male, very white, very cis and very straight. And with this group, there’s a level of elitism in the whole thing - people who want to be gatekeepers of their music scene. It can be a hard space to enter into, which is why I never did during college.

What is your first artistic memory?

I have a really vivid memory of sneaking under my dining room table with some markers and coloring the shit out of the legs of the table. It was pretty abstract and my mom flipped but I remembering feeling pretty punk rock over the whole ordeal.

How has your sense of place, your home, etc. impacted the way you think about the arts, music, or justice work?

I think so much of my sense of place has made me lazy about the way I think about all three of these things. At William & Mary, being black and vaguely ‘alternative’ made me feel like I didn’t need to do much work in terms of art, music or activism. As long as I wasn’t listening to Taylor Swift and enjoyed movies filmed in black and white, I felt like I was doing enough. My existence - at a PWI, in a sorority,etc - felt like a form of resistance. Which now that I’ve got one foot in the ‘real world’ I know now is just simply not enough - I’m too privileged to say that just my existence is a form of resistance. I have the ability to do more - and get away with doing more. Same goes for music and art - there’s a lot more than what’s just outside the mainstream.

How have your unique experiences shaped your musical or artistic identity?

I grew up on Michael Jackson and Queen. My dad went to James Brown concert (by himself I should add) when he was in middle school. My mom saw Fleetwood Mac in their prime. I think more than anything else my parents shaped a lot of my musical identity.

What are your Summer 2018 plans?

FYI I’m defining my summer as the month I have between my current job and starting school again. But I have no idea - I’ll between cities, jobs, apartments, etc. Maybe I’ll live in my car and drive up and down the coast? Maybe I’ll coach surf through cities on my way up to the Northeast? Who freakin’ knows but it will be the first time I am without definitive plans for perhaps years so I am EXCITED.

I’m a faithful watcher of your instagram stories and have often admired your tinctures and other creations. Can you tell me more about what inspired you to start get into witchcraft? Particularly being a kitchen witch and maybe what that means to you?

Let me start by saying I was a really weird kid. I often pretended to live in fantasy worlds and would check out every magic related book out from my local library. I really truly wanted more than anything to possess some kind of magical power. At some point in college, I felt called to return to that belief in the magical and supernatural. I think what people don’t realize is that we all have the power to kind of ‘lean in’ to our more magical selves. I’m a big believer in manifesting one’s own will. Before I had heard back from the schools I was applying to for my master’s, I spent a lot of time talking about ‘when I moved to Boston’ and ‘once I’m a student at Simmons’. It wasn’t long before I got my acceptance letter from Simmons. That’s magic - a combination of my own will, magical thinking, and hard work - no crystals or spells needed.

More recently, I think my interest in magic has led to a fascination with natural medicine. And that’s where my thinking of myself as a kitchen witch comes in. People often fall victim to the trope that being a witch has to be a lot of ceremony and ritual. And though that’s true, there’s a lot of magic a person can do every day. Food is a really easy way to do that. Things like basil or rosemary and horseradish taste great but they also have both magical and medicinal properties.

Can you talk a little bit about your work with Swem Library and in particular your exhibits, relationship or thoughts on display and representation? What have you learned and how do you want to move forward in library studies or what would you like to see happen in the future?

So, because my job is literally a fellowship designed to attract marginalized folks (specifically racial minorities) to the library field, I think my entire experience has been colored by this. My first project I was assigned was the curation of an exhibit that focused on the experience of the Black community at William & Mary. And for most of the time I worked on this, I questioned whether or not I was allowing myself to become a token. I’m the only person of color in my department, and one of few people of color working for William & Mary Libraries. Was I asked to curate this exhibit solely because I’m Black? But also, would it be right for a white person or a non-black person of color to curate this exhibit? I don’t think this is an issue I deal with alone, of course. A recent study found that 71% of librarians are white and 87% of exempt senior staff  are white (I’m putting the link to this study below). This is a huge problem, for so many reasons. Think about public libraries; do their staff reflect the communities they’re serving? Probably not because libraries are one of the only places of learning not restricted by a ‘paywall’.

A lot of what I think about for my career, especially now as I’m preparing for grad school, is how to I remain visible, outspoken, and effective without falling into this trap where the marginalized do all the work. I was at a conference last year that was surprisingly male dominated and even more dominated by middle-aged white folks. All the female-identifying people of color flocked to each other and one of them said to me along the lines of ‘if they’re going to make you a token, use it to your advantage’. I think that is going to define a lot of my career.

LINK TO STUDY

How are you feeling about your big Boston move? Oh and also CONGRATULATIONS ON GRAD SCHOOL!!

Ahh thank you!!! I think I have finally come to terms with my move. I hate to say it but I think I’ve gotten used to living in Virginia and am actually sad to leave the south (words I NEVER thought I would say). But, I am a nerd and cannot wait to start going to classes again. And I love the Northeast and moving to Boston is one step closer to fulfilling my dream of being a barefooted farmer in Vermont.

How have the different places you’ve lived in or occupied shaped you, the way you approach music, the arts, the ways you find to be creative, your world outlook, etc.?

As far as music - living in Virginia has made me come to respect folk music and bluegrass. Which is...weird but wow do I love some banjo solos.

I also think I have always had equals parts of a creative and analytical mind. It’s something I struggle as far as identity because those two ways of thinking feel as though they are constantly at war with each other. But the work I do in the archive - sifting through old papers, curating exhibits, and essentially organizing history - has made both aspects of myself feel at home.

My job and career align too with my magical self. I’m really interested in ancestor worship (partially because it’s common in hoodoo) and I do think there is something to be said about working on collections from people long gone. It is its own kind of ancestor worship. You’re honoring the past, acknowledging that it must be remembered - the good and the bad. I think a lot about one particularly item: “List of slaves owned by the College, circa 1780”. I got to hold that piece of paper in my hand - it was electrifying.

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Songs from June 26-July 10

whoops it’s been a while. 

Here are some songs from the last two weeks that reflect some of the things I’ve been up to. I saw Priests at Logan Square Arts Festival, celebrated my 22nd birthday with some good pals and good cake, watched Jaws on the Fourth, and drove to Michigan with my ma to visit my grandparents and of course the beach.

I also started reading Jessica Hopper’s collection of criticism and it is SO GOOD. I highly recommend. In her introduction she writes about listening to Van Morrison’s T.B. Sheets and the relationship music people have with listening alone and dancing alone and sitting alone. I included that song and a few others from my week.

The Stevie and Fleetwood additions come from the songs my mom and I listened to on our drive. Her early oughts Prius is only equipped with a radio and CD player so we stopped at Target and Meijer to pick up some CDs but neither were very well stocked so we ended up with an Elton John greatest hits album, a Stevie Nicks greatest hits album, and Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled (which I also listened to on my birthday with my friends in their apartment). And then Delta Dawn is one of my favorite songs and also happens to be on the jukebox at my grandparents’ cottage.  

<3 Gabi

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Meet Alijah Webb

A few weeks ago I messaged my dear friend Alijah about completing a virtual interview and curating a playlist for this blog. I think the first time I officially met Alijah was sometime in the fall of 2016, I walked into our college’s DIY venue tasked with turning on Twin Peaks for the weekly viewing I organized but instead I was crying inconsolably. I like to think my second impression (which I can’t now recall) was better since we’re friends now. Alijah and I especially got to know one another better sitting at each other’s radio shows and so I was curious about where she got her musical start and how she relates to her various communities. Read her interview below to learn more about Alijah, zines, music, and Roanoke. Listen to her awesome playlist here. 

What is your first musical memory?

Alijah Webb: My first musical memory is from elementary school. Ever since I was little I had always been heavily involved in the church community through my mother’s side of the family which meant I was a member of the children’s choir. I remember I got my first solo when I was in the first grade or so. They let me sing “This Little Light of Mine” by myself. I think that was the moment my ego grew three sizes.

How are you involved in your music community?

AW: I am only tangentially involved in my music community since moving to Williamsburg, VA. In high school, my friends and I would spend our friday nights “gallery hopping” downtown and then we would go to shows at The Bazaar. The Bazaar was a record and vintage shop with a venue in the basement. It featured a lot of local bands as well as some smaller touring ones. The basement had an old tv with a nintendo 64, some stringy lights, and records everywhere. Tea was sold for $1 and there was always a bin with free miscellaneous items from the shop. I was always too afraid to talk to anyone, so I would just stand next to whatever friend I was with while they were smoking outside in between sets.

What do you love about your music community?

AW: I love how authentic the Roanoke music scene is. Nobody is really trying to get famous, they are just doing what they love because they love it. One the most important experiences I’ve had with music thus far is my involvement with the Southwest Virginia Punk History project. During my senior year of high school there was a semester-long archival project that finished with a gallery opening. Three groups of students were involved: the Punk and Politics class, the Curation class, and Zine club. This project was so important to me because I was sifting through original cassettes, show posters, zines, and other relics from the buzzing punk scene of Southern Virginia. This project gave me a new outlook on my community as well as my feelings toward music. It was so inspiring to see that so many people were shaped by this community, and how so many people had grown and learned from their experience. All that to say, I love the authenticity of my music community and how it disproves the notion that southern people are not politically involved and that southwest Virginia is boring.

How would you improve your music community?

AW: I think that it is important to me is the knowledge that music is not something that belongs to the privileged. Music is not “good” because some WASP said it is. :’) The music community I identify with is deeply rooted in perseverance and not a bunch of white boys trying to make their parents mad……. Lol

What is your first artistic memory? 

AW: (gallery hopping in high school hehe). 

We would leave school, get dinner, and walk into random galleries. We would look pensively at the art for three minutes, make our way around the room, and eventually end up at the table with free cheese, crackers, and grapes. The cheese cubes were always our endgame.

How are you involved in your arts community?

AW: I always make the joke that I peaked in high school, but I think that there is some truth to that joke. During my senior year of high school I created a zine called “Phosphene Zine,” dedicated to young female artists in the Roanoke Valley. I was just so frustrated with the lack of representation of female youth. As a seventeen year old, I did the only thing I could think of: I made a zine. I had been reaching out to other Roanoke teenagers via Facebook and finally all of a sudden it came together. I asked all of the participants a central question about the romanticization of sadness and how that relates to female intelligence. This is still one of my favorite projects, two years later. 

How would you improve your arts community?

AW: I want to become a curator specifically because I have an interest in marginalized communities. I hope to bring more attention to diversity in Roanoke’s professional art scene. As it stands now, the Roanoke arts community is mostly represented by artists who are either old, white, or male (or a combination of the three). The arts scene does not accurately represent the talent within the community.

Favorite song?

AW: Shake it Off - Mariah Carey -- this song never EVER fails to get me in a good mood. My first CD player was a pink and white Barbie 2-in-1 CD player and karaoke machine. Along with it my mother gifted me with two of her very own CDs: India Arie’s “Acoustic Soul” and Mariah Carey’s “Emancipation of Mimi.” I think these CDs shaped how I see the world and myself. My favorite song from Acoustic Soul was “Brown Skin” which really made me appreciate myself as a black woman, learning to love my brown skin was not always easy but my mother was passionate about making sure that I knew that I was beautiful and worthy of love. My brown skin and curly hair was and is not only acceptable but beautiful. Mariah Carey just taught me to be a bougie bitch and to always go after what I want. (Or maybe that was my Leo mother)

How has your sense of place, your home, etc. impacted the way you think about the arts, music, or justice work?

AW: My sense of home impacts the way I think about everything. Being in college surrounded by a lot of people who either hate where they grew up and also hate where I grew up forced me to defend Roanoke and southwest Virginia. Through defending it, I developed a deep appreciation for it that I never had before. I realized that the giant neon star on top of a mountain means a lot to me and I am grateful for the thoughtful mentors I had throughout my life. The way I think about art and music is a direct result of the fact that I had incredibly loving parents who were willing to cultivate all of my artistic interests. From ballet, to piano, to going to college for Art History. Growing up, my father was a DJ and used to make beats in our living room, so I always had an appreciation for music. 

Something that I think about a lot is something my dad said to me when I was very young: 

“Every time you listen to a song you can hear something different if you listen.” That really stuck with me, and I find myself stopping and focusing to listen to a song.

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

June 19: Tuesday Reflections on Last Week

Here is the playlist from the last nine days. 

The last nine days have been relatively full save for the hours of stillness brought by Chicago’s stifling 90 degree days, made worse of course by a fog of humidity, and made a little bit better again by Lake Michigan’s breezes. I wrote in my phone on the train one night that it felt like Chicago was filled with doom. The city has a knack for feeling like a ghost town during certain parts of the day or night with its long boulevards, stretches of flickering neon and brick Midwestern buildings. But most of the time it doesn’t feel like this, especially when you make it past the stretches and into the venue, the bar, or the cafe. 

And so I’m finally brought to this playlist. Two nights in particular this week were very good. On Wednesday I met up with some pals for dinner and then we went on a temporarily ill-fated search for a bar with a patio (we thankfully finally found one). The next night my friend took me to see Buck Meek (who also makes up part of Big Thief) who recently signed to the label she works for, Keeled Scales. We saw them and Sam Evian at Schubas. Post-show we headed to 7/11 for some sparkling water and then each got on our separate trains home. When I finally made it back to my bedroom I opened my Topo Chico again and it sprayed my entire room and myself with bubbling water- it was very refreshing and not at all annoying. Anyway, this playlist is pretty chill and starts out with the two artists I saw last week. Then I’ve got some songs I listened to on my train rides home. I also included Mor Thiam on there because I listened to his albums for several hours yesterday and because Senegal beat Poland today and I’ll hopefully be celebrating with Yassa and likely a dinner time rewatch of the match. 

<3 Gabi

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Bandcamp Roundup: June 11, 2018

I’ve had this blog for a little over a week and I’m already missing my personal deadlines. This post should have been done yesterday, but instead here I am, today, on a Monday chewing on a piece of salted caramel filled chocolate threatening to unhinge my jaw. I don’t have much of an excuse for my delay either, all I did this weekend was watch The Staircase and go to Printer’s Row Lit Fest in Chicago’s South Loop. I bought The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper (you can read a Q&A from Paper with her here) and Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis which you can get from Haymarket Books here. And so with all that said, here is a selection of five songs I found on Bandcamp this week with links below. 

Chelsea-Bonjay, Lush Life-Toronto

This song is astonishingly good, honestly the whole album is. Good for listening to at full volume. Another standout is the song Ingenue. 

Hit My Head-The Love-Birds,In the Lover’s Corner -San Francisco

Not Your Prey-Squirrel Flower, Contact Sports -Boston

Wow holy hell this is so good. Good for bopping to in your bedroom. 

Apple-Dear Eloise, Uncontrollable, Ice Age Stories- Beijing

Super cool shoegaze and DIY band coming out of Beijing. 

Need a Lil Love-Luna Li, Opal Angel-Toronto

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Happy Birthday Prince

I don’t have a playlist for today. I first listened to Prince when we lived in Minneapolis at the encouragement of my mom who introduced me to him. She spent the late 80s in the Twin Cities as a college student and like many Minnesota dwellers loved the purple-clad monarch. I think I first saw Purple Rain around ten years old but had been listening to songs from the album for a while before. My mom had made me a number of mix CDs to carry around with me since I had gotten a portable CD player as a gift. I was so excited when I got that CD player on Christmas morning I ended up secluding myself in a corner of my grandparent’s house, plugged my headphones in, and listened to the two CDs I had at the time: Alicia Keys’s Unplugged album and Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway over and over well into the night. 

I carried it around with me everywhere but my excitement soon faded to embarrassment because the other kids in the suburban elementary school I commuted to from out of district all had iPod nanos and I had a cumbersome blue circle bigger than my hand that hummed and skipped. Despite my CD player shame I longed to increase my music collection and asked my mom for help. She burned several mix CDs for me one night- they featured Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & Marvin Gay’s duet album (one of my childhood favorites), songs by U2 (one of her favorite bands), and then most memorably songs from Purple Rain. I fell asleep to Prince singing his songs night after night. We were both reluctant cast members in operatic family dramas and survivors of the biting cold that can only come from a place host to ten thousand lakes. And so today I am wishing a happy birthday to my very first musical ally, Prince. I hope you are resting easy. 

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Songs for the Journey Home

Press play here. 

probably best listened to in the evening. 

I rode home to Evanston in my Uber passing by LA Fitness and the Cozy Corner all lit up through the car windows- these are the monuments that indicate that my journey from Logan Square to the suburbs has begun. My head is clearish on this night- Golden Nugget’s blurry glow and Diversey Bowl’s neon fury comfort me in knowing that I’m on my way home.

The journey this past week came after I went out with some friends on Sunday night, we sat in a bar patio with a fire pit that my clothes still smell like, I stopped drinking at an appropriate time, I waltzed into a 24 hour health food store with my friend, ate spicy tofu in their parking lot at midnight, made it home passing by all of my fluorescent landmarks, then by a rowdy Lake Michigan, and finally to bed where I slept until past 11am. 

I hope you enjoy these songs for the journey home from a night out. 

<3 

Gabi

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Everyone is Listening to Jonathan Richman and Mitski Part II: Another Mini Playlist Round-up from Some More Recent Grads

Incidentally neither Caroline nor Sabrina have Jonathan Richman or Mitski in their playlists so the title is misleading. I hope you enjoy anyway. 

The third recent grad I asked was my dear friend Caroline. Caroline loves chickens and also gave some lovely advice for feeling productive while engaging in the seemingly endless job search... Her playlist was altered slightly on Spotify since Chance’s mixtapes aren’t on the streaming service- I subbed Long Time for Wanna be Cool.

This is her mini playlist

The last bit of post-grad advice and mini playlist comes from Sabrina, the best singer to have ever graced the brick pathways of William & Mary. She wants you to know that you aren’t alone in the void and that conversations and social media can sometimes be deceiving.

This is her playlist

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Everyone is Listening to Jonathan Richman and Mitski PART I: A mini playlist round-up from some recent grads

I asked some of my friends and recent grads for the songs that have been keeping them company since the end of college and beginning of summer. They were also kind enough to provide some sage advice on how to survive the post-grad summer. And as the title suggests...everyone is listening to Jonathan Richman and Mitski. 

First up is Colin (founder of William & Mary’s one and only Art House Film Club) who recommends trying to learn a new language. You can catch Colin living in Richmond starting in August- expanding his Blu-Ray collection and becoming a well-rounded librarian through William & Mary. 

This is his mini playlist.

Next we have a playlist from Alex (I told you everyone was listening to Jonathan Richman and Mitski). Alex advises leaning in to the post-grad slump (or at least finding solidarity with other grads). Alex is an 8-time trivia champion having competed all over the world-so I’d definitely take her advice if I were you. 

Here is her mini playlist 

I hope you enjoy Colin and Alex’s playlists! I’ll have two more from some other post-grad friends tomorrow/

<3

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

Music does not live and die on Spotify: Bandcamp favorites for June 3, 2018

I have a really hard time branching out. In the past year I have been almost completely reliant on the Spotify algorithm to recommend me new music and even then I find myself skipping through my Discover Weekly at an alarming rate. I’ve been listening to the same playlist for nearly 2 weeks and I can tell those songs are already starting to bore me. Usually this would mean struggling through my Discover Weekly or the Release Radar playlist and hoping something becomes of interest. I would then likely give up, make a new playlist, copy and paste half the songs from the old one, and use Spotify’s suggested songs to fill in the rest. In an effort to not drown in the void of the algorithm, I thought I might try my hand at searching through Bandcamp for some new music. Thanks to Kayla for all the recommendations!

Many of these artists are part of some really great independent labels so if you can afford it and you like what you hear consider buying from these bands on their bandcamps. I’ll try to do a post like this at least once a week.  

2000 Boy- Lawn, Forged Artifacts

Fuzzy-Slumbers, Sports Day Records

Post Office Girl-Mini Dresses, Joy Void

Locket-Crumb, Citrus City Records

(Citrus City is a Virginia favorite of mine, I’ve never seen Crumb live but have been lucky enough to see Yung Pocket$ & Alfred who are also on CC at the Meridian in Williamsburg and Strange Matter in Richmond)

Night Terror, A Giant Dog

(got to see them live in Austin for a show my friend, Elise, booked- they were incredible)

<3 Gabi 

[fromtheeleventh-blog]

June 1: Post-Grad

Press play here. 

Last week I sat in my parents’ living room one night with a stack of 25 graduation announcements in front of me and 75 photos of my beaming face in a cap and gown outside of the Wren Building in Williamsburg, VA. 

My mom and I got into an argument about how appropriate it was to include a photo of me spraying champagne in the announcements- I thought it was fun, mom did not, and both of us ignored the fact that I had graduated over a week ago and and we didn’t even have a list of addresses or names to send these to. As far as I know all the envelopes are still sitting in their box unaddressed and unsent and likely lost in the dozens of other boxes in their apartment.

My two and a half weeks of post-graduate life have been a test in mundanity, failed expectations, extreme frustration, reconnecting with old friends, a long commute to a part time job, learning to live in a new home, discouragement, and rekindling a love (or at least a tolerance) for the town I grew up in. Sometime between Christmas and graduation my parents moved out of the home I had known for eight years- the longest I have lived anywhere- to a place a few blocks away.  The entire apartment is still filled with taped up unopened boxes piled high to form labyrinthine pathways from room to room. I’ve left our family’s cardboard hedge maze nearly every day by closing my bedroom door and hibernating or escaping the building altogether to make my eyes red by scrolling through indeed.com at the local cafe.

 I know that I’m not the only recent grad experiencing this, my friends and I talk about the job search all the time, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles with feelings of inadequacy and ennui. However, while I feel like I’m occupying an exhausting void of suburban liminality, I’m also reminded of the privileges I do have- a degree in the humanities, supportive friends, a place to live, a part-time job, antidepressants, and so much more. At least there’s new Mistki on the way.

The beginning of this blog begins in this phase of transition known as “post-grad” as a desire to reclaim the satisfaction of my now defunct college radio show. Today’s playlist includes songs on theme with my two and a half weeks in the real world. I hope you enjoy and good luck to all of you.

<3

Gabi