Stories are as old as the human race. Before we had the written word, we had oral traditions. And somehow the story, in all it's forms and delivery methods, has survived through all that time.

Writer, director, musician and producer Romeo Candido has a story worth listening to. As you can tell from his titles, the man has done some serious work over the years. He’s easily smashed the 10,000 hour rule in a number of fields so it goes without saying that he’s been around the block a few times and has some major insight on being a professional creative. 

But, you may ask, doesn't anyone savvy youtube creator wear so many hats these days? Well, yes and no. Romeo breaks down the distinction. He's also breaking the internet, exposing it to wonderful new, typically fringe artists, as Senior Producer at CBC Arts.

Most importantly, Romeo shares the key to connecting with any audience, at any time, in no matter what your discipline. In his words, it's "the one thing that all artists have ownership of, and the one thing that can make them unique"

But I'll let Romeo tell you what that is, along with his amazing story. You'll have to tune in to get all the juicy details...
 

ROMEO CANDIDO BIO

Romeo Candido is a writer, director,  musician and producer.  Current projects include His CSA nominated web musical Prison Dancer which was staged at the New York Musical Festival will be remounted this fall.  He is the senior producer for CBC Arts : Exhibitionists which is going into its 4th season this fall on CBC.  He is the series director of the half hour comedy Second Jen, season 2 dropping this fall on City TV and OMNI television.  He is a writer for the upcoming Netflix sci-fi series Another Life starring Katee Sackhoff which shoots in the fall of 2018.  And his modern Filipino electronic band DATU released their first album High Blood in 2017 on all music platforms. 

MUSIC FEATURED THIS EPISODE

DATU - Bones
Miss Saigon Original Cast, Rachelle Ann Go & Eva Noblezada - The Movie In My Mind (Live) from Miss Saigon
DATU - Gatekeeper
DATU - Overseen
DATU - Suns
Original Cast of Prison Dancer - On The Inside
DATU - World Gone Crazy (feat. HAN HAN)
 

What do you do if you you’ve got a great project but don’t know how to promote it? My guest this episode, Todd Simmons, aka Rod Skimmins can remember shows he’s been to since the age of 6, so maybe it’s no surprise he’s tapped into the essential keys to curating and promoting successful events.

Among his many events, Todd is currently producing and promoting Big Sound Vancouver; an evening of Motown classics performed live by a 26 PIECE golden era soul orchestra and ton of local very talented vocalists. 

In our interview, we explore Todd’s musical and performative past and pontificate on the early years of hip-hop. We discuss how, on multiple occasions, Todd grew event communities and how those communities sustained not just the parties he threw but himself as well. How playing the long game wins over short term gains and why attitude is just as important as authenticity. 

All that and the most important factor in making a memorable event… but you’ll have to listen to find out what that is. 

MUSIC FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE

4Us - Blue Room Noble Nobel’s So MF Remix

Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three - The Roof Is On Fire

nka.Otherstein - SuhSmoove - Black History Month Beattape

Del The Funky Homosapien - The Undisputed Champs ft Q-Tip & Pep Love

Batch Mox - Cone - Noble Nobel Remix

Sync Mode - H.D.I.

nka.Otherstein - OneGee - Black

Big Sound Vancouver feat. Dutch Robinson - Aint Too Proud To Beg

huaeme - THENA

This week on Mind to Make, I'm speaking with visual artist and film maker Oliver Husain. Oliver is the creator of MTM logo (yeah!) and his pieces involve image, sculpture, movement and textile. In this interview we discuss the importance of training to underscore your practice. We discuss Oliver’s early influences, his humbling and educational experiences connecting with artists in other cultures and how the spaces you create in and show your work in change the context in which you see that work. For Oliver, perspectives ultimately remain constant despite the inspiratory sources we encounter, but technology is a tool he uses to breath new life into his work. Lastly we discuss the importance of not defining what art means and why being sure and safe are perhaps the biggest obstacles to achieving your artistic goals.

Music throughout the podcast was taken from Oliver Husain's films - Green Dolphin and Isla Santa Maria 3D (Sound design/Music by Michelle Irving) which can be found along with the rest of Oliver's portfolio at http://www.husain.de/

If you're in Toronto between May 10th - June 16th, you can catch Oliver's latest show French Exit at the Susan Hobbs gallery

 

OLIVER HUSAIN BIO

Working at the intersection of moving image, performance, sculpture and installation, Oliver Husain has developed a captivating and curious art practice. Oliver Husain (1969, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto. He came to Canada in 2006 having completed a short-film trilogy set in Shanghai, Jakarta and Hyderabad. Husain studied fine art at the University of Baroda in India, and holds a BA and an MFA from HfG Offenbach, Germany. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held at Gallery TPW, Toronto; Western Front, Vancouver; Art Gallery of York University, Toronto; and Frankfurter Kunstverein, Germany (with DaGroup). His work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto (2016), Art Museum at the University of Toronto; Depth of Perception (2015), Oakville Galleries; Qual und Wahl (2013), Kunstverein Wolfsburg; Blowing on a Hairy Shoulder/Grief Hunters (2011), ICA Philadelphia; and Q (2005), Para Site, Hong Kong. His films have been screened at numerous international events, including Toronto International Film Festival; Experimenta Festival, Bangalore; Malaysian Video Awards, Kuala Lumpur; New Generations Independent Indian Film Festival, Frankfurt; and San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. A monograph on his work, Spoiler Alert, was published in 2012.

AIR DATE: APRIL 23th, 2018

On the 3rd episode of Mind To Make, I sit down with pretty and pun-y fashion designer and drag queen Buzz. I wanted to have Buzz on the show because since having been introduced to the world of drag, I’ve been astounded by the numerous disciplines it involves, from performance to design and how consistently creative the artists in that world have to be to compete. This is no different for Buzz. Buzz’s bio reads as follows…

Buzz is an emerging fashion thing who runs a label called ReBaie by Rebée. ReBaie was born in the mall (proverbially and otherwise), and currently converges at the fun n' funky intersection of tween-ness, me-ness and Venus. Buzz is on the bored of some stuff and never salts her driveway before she tastes it.

Though Buzz doesn’t spend as much time in that world these days, we discuss her secretive introduction to fashion and drag and the sometimes sticky relationship between familial expectations and the need to pursue art. 

We talk about how fashion changes your perceived role in society both internally and externally and what it means to put yourself into your art both literally and figuratively. We discuss breaking through societal norms and what it means to develop your brand means and how it can evolve over time. As you can discern from Buzz’s bio, the worlds of drag and fashion is are permeated by a strong sense of humour and self-deprecation and we talk about how that’s influenced Buzz’s work.

Finally, we talk about Buzz's perspective on being a millennial in the art world.