Brain Arts Blog:
By LFOD Radio- Ep. 175 (Season VI Finale)
June 1, 2020
This Monday's Fam Share is LFOD (that's Live Free or Die) Radio. In last week's episode, Sam and A-Ball wrapped up the 6th season of their show and reflected on all 25 episodes.
Their discussion includes some musings on a post-COVID world and reflections on the development of LFOD radio. They also take a look back at their many interviews with musicians, producers, and other industry professionals and creators. This year had them on the road, featuring independents artists from all around Ne...
By Jannie Chang
May 30, 2020
Disclaimer: I fully recognize the privilege I hold right now being able to stay at home and remain relatively stress-free. I realize that this is not the case for many right now. In no way do I mean to speak for those who are in a different situation than I am right now.
Music is cool but have you heard about making stickers?
Little doodles and renditions of my favorite snacks are turned into stickers, thanks to a newfound passion for Adobe Illustrator and Redbubble. Although I do ...
By Stephen Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
May 29, 2020
Did you know that 67% of Bostonians haven’t changed their socks since the State of Emergency was delcared? It’s a fact. You are living passively in a sad epoch known (by me) as “pandemic-induced post fashion.” Still, many of us, eyes bleary, spend our nights, days, day-nights, whatever time it is, binge watching shows on Netflix and thinking “I could rock those pants. I could make those shoes…werk?” Apathy towards public presentation, driven in part by the idea that world will end soon so nothin...
By Karine Vann for Boston Compass #123
May 28, 2020
Sometimes, I write letters to corporations. In fact, that was the initial inspiration for this column! In general, I’d like to use this precious real estate talking about more than the fact that everything we buy is garbage, and also focus current issues that matter—much more on Covid-19 next month! But I’m still happy to sprinkle in some of these “love letters” to consumerism. For now, enjoy one angry letter I wrote a long time ago to a company, complaining that their product (which used to be ...
By Lexx Saint Leonard for Brain Arts Org
May 27, 2020
There was once a precocious teenage prince who strayed off of the trodden path. He chased a beautiful pheasant with his hunting hound, but to no avail. In the heat of the chase, he lost track of his surroundings and found himself completely lost. He followed his hound for a few hours, but never recovered the path. You see, it was still a very young hound who hadn’t yet grown out of his puppy fur. Underneath a towering pine tree, young Prince Simon wept. His hound looked puzzled into his eyes and...
By Zachary Fairbrother for Boston Compass (#123)
May 26, 2020
Anton Karas’ iconic zither music to the movie “The Third Man” happened by a twist of fate. While director Carol Reed and actor Orson Wells were drinking at a café in Vienna after a long day of shooting the film, they overheard Anton in the background playing for tips. Instantly, Reed knew that was the music he wanted in his film. Carol approached Anton after the show but he spoke no English and none of Reed’s party spoke German, so staff and patrons helped translate Reed’s offer. At first, Anton...
By Liz Smith for Brain Arts Org
May 25, 2020
This week's Fam Share is the ItsLitBoston podcast, winner of "Best Music Podcast" at the 2019 Boston Music Awards. Every Wednesday, Sam, Sho, and Mikey of ItsLitBoston are joined by up and coming Boston-based musicians to discuss all things hip-hop and beyond. This episode is a throwback to the start of 2020, which can feel like another lifetime these days. Sam, Sho, and Mikey were joined by Red Shaydez to discuss her s...
By Tory Quinn for Brain Arts Org
May 25, 2020
*This week I caught up with Tony Hamoui aka Hamstank, a Boston based music producer, engineer, and youth educator. With the onset of Covid-19, community centers closed their doors leaving many students without access to creative programming and resources. Hamstank saw the negative impact that this had on his students so he launched an Indiegogo campaign with a fundraising goal of $2000 to equip te...
By Dig Staff for DigBoston
May 24, 2020
The following article was originally posted on DigBoston. Check out their amazing work covering the resiliency of the Boston community in the face of the coronavirus crisis below and on their site:
Chris Faraone and Jason Pramas host weekly streaming program
On Friday, DigBoston’s top editors Chris Faraone and Jason Pramas launched the pilot episode of a new weekly streaming public affairs show: InDIGnation. The program will fea...
By Liz Smith for Brain Arts Org
May 23, 2020
Earlier this week I connected with Stephanie Lee and Ellen Shakespear, co-founders of Space Us. Space Us invites the Boston community to "imagine your idea here". Where exactly? Anywhere!
Anyone with an idea- such as an art project, event, or digital collaboration- is welcome to connect with Space Us. They aim to find the perfect location for any idea, utilizing vacant and underutilized spaces in the process. Keep reading to hear about how Stephanie and Ellen are adva...
By Stephen Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
May 22, 2020
“A lot of us were running on adrenaline, wanting to do something to support the community now.” This is how music producer and Union Sound founder Erik “Loman” Sarno describes the experience of collaborating on a new local arts initiative, titled Mission:Music. Loman founded the venture along with Flagg Street Studio and Bret Silverman of record label Dust Collectors. Their goal: connect local ...
By Dani Thomas for Boston Compass (#123)
May 21, 2020
Q: I’ve been talking to someone online that I’m really into from OkC. I haven’t had such a connection with someone before. Next step would normally be to meet, but that’s not possible during quarantine. I don’t want this to fizzle out but I can only text so much till I wanna meet to see if we have the same chemistry in person. What can I do?
A: This quarantine is definitely going to set the dating situation back, but there are ways to get creative. I do think with online dating we tend to sa...
By Amelia Hall for Brain Arts Org
May 20, 2020
As we all avoid one another, report from home, and muffle our mouths in makeshift coverings, things have hushed into a quiet. Yes, there are the newfound sounds in songs from separate windows showcasing neighbors coming together and scheduled bursts of noise to thank our healthcare workers. There are still the voices of roommates and dogs barking with increased satisfaction as their human pals are home for even more hours of the day. There are still the birds that whistle early, now more often g...
By Neil Horsky for Boston Compass (#123)
May 19, 2020
Neil Horsky is a community artist, educator, musician and writer based in Boston. Learn more about his amazing work at horskyprojects.com
Check out all the art and columns of May's Boston Compass at www.issuu.com/bostoncccompass
...
By Liz Smith for Brain Arts Org
May 18, 2020
Today’s Fam Share features a goliath in Boston hip hop scene,eXposedTV. As a media platform showcasing local musicians, eXpozedtv has a variety of projects including their magazine, podcast, and eXpozedtv TV show series. Creator and host Katiria Colón creates masterfully composed interviews/documentaries featuring local artist...
By Adam Tuttle for Brain Arts Organization
May 17, 2020
The past few months have been a scary and stressful time for everyone in so many different ways. Whether you are working on the front lines, remotely from home, lost your job, or were struggling to find employment in the first place we are all being met with new and challenging situations. I often explore our relationship to the unknown with my clients in therapy and how we are able to manage our ability to navigate the stress of leaving our comfort zone. This is not to say that our comfort zone...
By Sam Potrykus for Brain Arts Org
May 16, 2020
*Last Week local musicians Olivia W-B (RONG, Hairbrush, P.V.H.P., Other Joliah) and Raef (of Birthday Ass, JJ JHNSN, Tropos Ensemble) released a massive 3 vol. benefit compilation with 100% of the proceeds going to various Coronavirus relief mutual aid networks across Boston. Inspired by similar efforts in the music community THE BIG FLATTENING is a collection of work by current and former NEC students although it is not an NEC project - it is an entirel...
By Amanda Shea for Brain Arts Organization
May 15, 2020
In uncertain times, artists are finding new ways of releasing their content. Never short of innovation, Dutch Rebelle dropped a new track titled, “Stony” produced by Intl Show.
It’s no surprise with a career spanning over 10 years: Rebelle knows how to keep her audience engaged. Last week, Dutch commenced a call to action utilizing her social media platforms on Instagram and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Dutc...
By Melanie Bernier for Boston Compass (#123)
May 14, 2020
Hello my trashy babies! Inspired by the Bureau of Linguistical Reality, I’ve penned three new words to describe pandemic realness:
emergatory, noun. Origin: “emergency” and “purgatory.” In crisis, but all forward action is suspended in a purgatory-like state. “Seeing fossil fuels sicken my community, yet having no political recourse to fight it, I can only watch as the problem worsens. I feel stuck in a state of emergatory.”
raw jaw, verb. Origin: “raw dog.” The act of venturing into ...
By Stephen Lafume for Brain Arts Org
May 14, 2020
Brockton! artist Seefour dropped his latest music video "On God" last week. The video just starts on 100 with some great black & white BTS footage of the crowd going crazy at his Big Nite Live performance. Watching it definitely is going to make you wish you were there so maybe you should uhh, go to a seefour show, who knows ¯_(ツ)_/¯. And okay I wasn't there either TT-TT but then the video transitions to Seefour in his hometown of Brockton! (You gotta emphasize Brockton! they lit) in a nice a**...
By Gail Miglorie for Brain Arts Org
May 13, 2020
Distilled Disorder
We filed for unemployment under a vortex wind that isn’t controlled: disorganizing contained disorder. Now only the Six Red candles I bought online since our shop closed light my walls and I'm waiting for the power to go out and turn the wind cold forcing us into the 'safety' of our sterilized homes where we hibernate, but nothing about this is safe here. I've probably killed a handful of ants and centipedes by now, they're taking over the kitchen and the bathroom spider...
By Adrian Alvarez for Boston Compass (#123)
May 12, 2020
“Out of limitations, new forms emerge,” said Fauvist Georges Braques. Emerging from our current spate of limitations, the Shelter in Place Gallery from Eben Haines allows the isolated artists of Boston to exhibit large-scale at time when studio space is at a minimum. Originally conceived in 2019 as a personal project to work through the crummy weather that left his studio inaccessible, Eben revisited his 1:12 scale model of a loft studio space as COVID cl...
By Tahisha Charles for MiixtapeChiick
May 11, 2020
*Today's Fam Share is brought to you by a long time blogger and champion of the arts, Tahisha Charles of MiixTapeChiick. In addition to regularly contributing to the Boston Compass, Tahisha has cultivated an impressive blog with over 3,000 posts covering everything hip hop. Check out one of her MASS. Mondays. posts below where she highlights the best new releases from Mass...
By Seraah For Brain Arts Org
May 10, 2020
ONO has risen yet again! Their new body of art is called “Red Summer”, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. These creative juggernauts have been serving the people since the 1980s—decades later they still have the perspective and creative means to push the thresholds of thought through discordant soundscapes, evocative lyrics, and grooves that have the gift and persistence of inertia. In an interview with [Impose Ma...
By Chris Strunk For Brain Arts Org
May 9, 2020
id m theft able, also known as Scott Spear, is one of the most unique players in the current noise/experimental music scene. Hailing from rural Maine, his live sets are a mixture of sound poetry, harsh noise, manipulated household objects, cassette abuse, and performance art. What always fascinated me about id m theft able is his ability to coax interesting sounds out of the most unlikely of objects. I once saw id m play a set with nothing but two coffee mug...
By Liz Smith for Brain Arts Org
May 8, 2020
This week I checked in with Adam Tuttle, Bostonian, musician, and licensed mental health therapist. Back in January, Adam hosted a Heavy Mediation event at Dorchester Art Project and I was curious to learn more about this unique form of music therapy. During these tumultuous times, we could all benefit from new methods of de-stressing and I am so glad I got to hear from Adam and learn more about how he sharing his therapeutic work with the world .
First off, hi! How are you doing?
...
By Audrey Sutter for Boston Compass (#123)
May 7, 2020
Hello Compass readership! My name is Audrey Sutter, and last month I was a junior studying journalism at Boston University; now I’m writing this and all my assignments from my home in Austin, Texas. I’m the EIC of a magazine called The Beat and the host of two radio shows on WTBU. I’ve also been the Compass’ design intern since the beginning of December 2019.
I’ve gotten the unique opportunity to be a part of a massive period of growth for the Compass....
By Pauline Kaba for Brain Arts Org
May 6, 2020
Remaining optimistic and faithful during these times of high uncertainty and social unrest, can be extremely challenging and can sometimes feel foolish, and even unreasonable.
How does one remain hopeful, when everything around them screams devastation and major confusion?
I looked down at my body, my thighs we’re getting thicker and my stomach fatter, the isolation was getting to me, heavily. I hadn’t washed my hair or practiced effective, good self-care in what felt like a decade an...
By Dana Ferrante for Boston Compass (#123)
May 5, 2020
What’s in your pandemic pantry? In recent weeks, spin-offs of this question and cascades of answers have flooded social feeds and spurred many an ‘uplifting’ article in national news outlets. I don’t give a damn what’s in your pantry. I want to know, what’s in your community’s pantry? What are we doing to help one another stay safe and nourished in this crisis? We may be holed up in our own caves, but now is especially not the time to succumb to the egotistic eco-terrorism of a single-serving si...
By Liz Smith for Brain Arts Org
May 4, 2020
"We're Exhibiting The Culture's Stories."
This is TheMuseum TV's promise since 2014.
They fulfill this promise on their website and YouTube channel where they post performances and interviews from Boston based creatives, and keep you up to date with the latest news on music videos and events.
On TheMuseum TV’s website and [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC...
By INAKI ESTIVALIZ for DigBoston
May 2, 2020
The following article was originally posted on DigBoston. Check out their amazing work covering the resiliency of the Boston community in the face of the coronavirus crisis below and on their site:
TRANSLATION BY ADRIENNE EVANS
With her first 100 days in office coinciding with the COVID-19 crisis, Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia perseveres in the interest of most vulnerable, disconnected populations
Boston City Councilor-at-Large Jul...
By Emma Leavitt for Brain Arts Org
May 1, 2020
*In the growing category of “Things I Was Excited for That Got Cancelled by Corona”, the Dorchester Art Project Gallery programs are top tier. As Gallery Director, I curate with community and the Brain Arts Org mission first in mind. We had an awesome suite of shows lined up, and the thing I was looking forward to most was collaborating with some amazing curators, and seeing their vision come to life. In a non-Rona parallel universe, we would be opening the gallery this weekend for Bundok | Moun...
By Ben Mazer for Boston Compass (#122)
April 30, 2020
This piece originally appeared in Viscous Verses, a monthly poetry column in the Boston Compass Newspaper edited by Art & Letters Magazine
It rains. One steps up through the haze
of tan and violet to the maze
of memory--misty where one stands,
twisting, separating strands.
The hour's dim, and no one calls;
obligation mutely falls
through floors of mountains, origin:
anonymously you begin.
The blasted lantern of t...
By Liz Smith for Brain Arts Org
April 29, 2020
“Do you need content that inspires you? Stories you can relate to? Or talent that is simply too dope to describe? Welcome to Farenheight TV”
These opening lines perfectly capture the work of Farenheight TV, today’s BAO Fam Share.
Creator, host, producer, AND editor Farah Jeune creates live monthly episodes on the Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN) and describes the show as, “a community television variety show that celebrates people's greatness through narratives and artist...
By Matthew McGovern for Boston Compass (#122)
April 28, 2020
Runaway
I woke with the first light in an open field of rough and dead grass. This was late in the fall. I could feel in my legs and in the back of my mind that I had been running, at least that I was being searched for. There’s a predictable pattern when you are being chased. You gather your money, and buy a ticket headed far away. You would high tail it to Canada. You would go back home, where breakfast used to be served, when you weren't on the run. Or you would go to your s...
By Stephen Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
April 27, 2020
On Sunday, I was bird watching on Great Blue Hill, reminiscing on my days as a Boy Scout, and on my return to Nature. I was also reflecting on my unborn twins lying in my love Rebecca’s belly. They were due in early summer. But they came the next night, suddenly, on April 20th. 8:45pm: “I feel water running down my leg.” 9:00pm: “If you can walk, we can bring you to our ambulance outside.” 9:45pm: “In order to keep the babies safe, we are going to do an emergency c-section, and we ...
By Sam Potrykus for Brain Arts Org
April 26, 2020
Genres do little to capture the importance of our favorite musics. Obsessive music fans among us know this. However for the purposes of sharing the wealth we do well to cover the experimental noise, punk and rock on which this organization was founded in addition to the incredible spoken word and hip hop that protects and furthers our mission of highlighting undervalued artists. It's all DIY to me. Enter Shawnie Brando AKA Little Priest. Lifer.
Based on ...
By DLM for Boston Compass (#122)
April 25, 2020
This is my first official return to any Rad Apps articles. I’ve been keeping it fresh for sixteen 250-word mini-articles but given that my word limit, like tech, has changed, I’d like to take an opportunity to once again invite you to use the chat app: ‘Signal’ for all of your chat needs.
Last time, I was excited to tell you about Signal because it’s one of the very few end-to-end encrypted and open-source chat apps out there. As I’ve mentioned before, open-source means...
By Shira Laucharoen for DigBoston
April 24, 2020
The following article was originally posted on DigBoston. Check out their amazing work covering the resiliency of the Boston community in the face of the coronavirus crisis below and on their site:
“I’m concerned for the economic welfare and health of our artists, but I’m not afraid and not nervous about what creativity is actually taking place right now.”
Maiden Voyage was slated to take its first journey in May. The production, a play about an all-female ...
By Cassie Capewell for Boston Compass (#122)
April 23, 2020
Saint Lyor lets his dark side speak on his debut EP, If My Sins Could Talk. Lyor came on the scene to a strong reception thanks to early breakout track “Gossip” and the fraternity of his Brockton-based collective Van Buren Records. In this eleven-track debut, Lyor offers his confessions with big flex confidence.
“I wanted to embrace my vices in a celebratory way,” says...
By Grace Ward for Input/Output Magazine
April 22, 2020
In honor of the season finale of their podcast, In Conversation, today’s BAO Fam Share spotlights INPUT/OUTPUT Magazine. I/O aims to provide a platform for women and non-binary musicians, especially those whose music defies the label of a specific genre. As Founder and Editor in Chief Magdalena Abrego explains, ““Input” refers to the gender discrimination that women and non-binary artists exper...
By Sam Correa for Boston Compass (#122)
April 21, 2020
COLLAGE as a Visual Identity
Hi everyone! My name is Sam Correa. I'm a design coordinator at Brain-Arts.Org. I've been volunteering for BAO for over a year now and have helped Emma Leavitt, the creative director of the organization, develop the visual identity of Brain Arts. I'm no expert in design. In fact, the reason I decided to get involved was to hone my skills as a visual artist. Developing the brand of Brain Arts has been a great lesson in how simple design can be. Brain Arts as a who...
By Stephen Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
April 21, 2020
Brain Arts’ own Stephen Grigelevich reached out to Jonathan Nankof of ERASED! Tapes, a Boston-based record label, to chat about their COVID-19 benefit compilation album. Titled “Outline the Sun,” this 69-song (yes, 69 songs) compilation was released on Monday. Here’s what Jonathan had to say about the compilation, the wonderful organizations they are helping, and coping with the COVID-19 crisis:
The music is awesome, and often entrancing. And 69 son...
By Live Free Or Die Radio (Ep. 167)
April 20, 2020
Today's BAO FAM SHARE comes from Live Free or Die Radio- we are so excited to share their content with you! Check out their interview and mix with DJ Troy Frost below and more interviews with local creatives on their website.
DJ, educator, afrofuturist, and overall hip-hop head TROY Frost is our guest this week. There’s no way you could ever predict the direction this convo went. We were certainly caught off g...
By Cory for Boston Compass (#122)
April 19, 2020
Hi, It’s 9:13pm on 3/17/20. This week's been a tornado of anxiety, canned goods, safety texts, and antiseptic due to corona virus lock downs. I really hope you, reading this, are ok.
This is a monthly column about Boston-area protest art, the climate crisis, and the urgent need for systemic change. Many problems underlying our current emergency - underdeveloped social programs, wealth inequality, xenophobia, extreme capitalist greed - are also fueling worldwide ecological collapse. The skil...
By Stephen Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
April 18, 2020
My dad was a landscaper. I remember sitting on his lap as he operated the backhoe, and we'd shake as the yellow metal dinosaur did its thing. Even after we lost touch, memories of being a young kid in my sweatpants-with-holes-in-the-knees, shoveling fresh mulch into the faded company truck on the nursery lot still stick with me. With its ripe, earthy stench, and its moist, chewy feeling, these red clumps of wood sinew in my hands gave life. Later on as a Boy Scout, I spent a lot of time in the...
By Stephen Lafume for Brain Arts Org
April 18, 2020
AYOOOO! Boston based rap collective Most High Kingdom just dropped another banger, titled "The Virus''. The track, a breath of fresh air amongst the seemingly endless days of social distancing, attacks the root of the problem that is coronavirus. Us. Or more specifically our lack of awareness. The group's Instagram caption reads as follows: "S...
By Micaela Kimball for DigBoston
April 17, 2020
The following article was originally posted on DigBoston. Check out their amazing work covering the resiliency of the Boston community in the face of the coronavirus crisis below and on their site:
“Just having something outside of news, some connection—we’ve found people are really thirsty for it.”
It’s 1:30 pm on Sunday afternoon and Leslie Salmon Jones is setting up to teach her Afro Flow Yoga cla...
By Emma Leavitt for Brain Arts Org
April 15, 2020
"What does art look like if we cannot touch, be in physical space, or collaborate in person anymore? How can we be a mirror for the world and ourselves as artists?"
*I was scrolling through Facebook the other day when I caught a glimpse of local noise and performance artist Lani Asuncion picking up a megaphone, hoisting herself up a rock wall to stand upon a bridge in Franklin Park, and singing “Imagine” by John Lennon into the abyss. A couple folks walk by the screen with their...
By Naomi Westwater for Boston Compass (#122)
April 14, 2020
The Tarot Forecast is a look at the month ahead in a tarot spread. For April, I pulled The IV of Cups. Cups represent water and our emotions. The IV of Cups is a card of apathy and greed. You may be feeling very disconnected and discontent with your life right now. While that’s understandable, if your focus is on what you don’t have, you will always feel like you never have enough. Are you taking for granted the goodness in your life? Stop that. Check in with yourself. Greed is an emotion that i...
By Taylor Lena McTootle for Brain Arts Org
April 13, 2020
As the creator of the Black Cotton Club, a slam poet, and an educator, performance artist Dzidzor Azaglo is a pillar of the Boston art community. Brain Arts Organization was extremely excited to be asked to experience the exclusive debut of her EP entitled “Bush Woman,” quoted as "potently medicinal and textured project." The following is Taylor Lena McTootle’s review of the EP from the interactive virtual listening party held via Zoom on April 3rd.
Radical a...
By Lex Weaver for Boston Compass (#122)
April 12, 2020
While you may be cooped up in the crib for a bit, it doesn’t mean you can’t keep learning how to build your powerhouse—and the Arts Equity Summit has your back! This year’s summit will run for three days—virtually—from April 24-26th. Remaining true to its values, the summit gives emerging artists and cultural leaders of color the foundations and connections needed in order to achieve equitable means… while staying safe and healthy! In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this new web-based form...
By Stephen Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
April 11, 2020
Lately, I've been watching birds in the sky again. I’m not alone, I think, in appreciating the innocence I assume when gazing upward. From down here, the sky is a vast, exquisite realm of reality, and the birds are the most vivid pulses of the universe…
So, admittedly, I was already soaking in this sweet poetry of birdsong, and feeling particularly deferential to Mother Nature's wise ways, when I received an invitation from a dear environmentalist friend of mine to attend the online seminar *...
By Karine Vann for Boston Compass (#122)
April 10, 2020
If your email inbox looks anything like mine these last few days, you’re swimming in a whirlpool of corporate copy; eloquent, empty words letting me know about the precautions GEICO is taking to protect me from the coronavirus. But when Delta Airlines writes to say its CEO takes my safety very seriously, it’s hard to give a single F. How can you say you care about my safety when your industry both accelerates and profits from climate change, a longer term threat that will eradicate any semblance...
By Rob Duguay for DigBoston
April 9, 2020
Welcome to a new blog post series spotlighting content we love from other creators. First up Rob Duguay's article, "WHEN WILL THE SHOW GO ON? UNCERTAINTY FOR MUSIC VENUES AND EMPLOYEES" originally posted on DigBoston's site. Check it out:
“It’s a wild freeze frame when your job and your passion both stop dead in their tracks." On March 12, culture as we knew it basically stopped due to the coronavirus crisis.
Sports across the board got either cancelled or postponed, while theaters and...
By Tahisha Charles @miixtapechiick for Boston Compass
April 5, 2020
There aren’t too many R&B acts in Boston that can give you a nostalgic 90s feel.
However, 20-year-old KAE is here to restore the feeling. Inspired by acts like Brandy, Jasmine Sullivan, Babyface, Janet Jackson and more, it’s a no-brainer that the Somerville native’s influences helped shape the sound and theme of vulnerability on her debut EP, KAE Alayah.
Discovering her singing voice at the age of four, KAE recalls writing her first couple of songs in 6th grade. “I had a yellow, big noteb...
By Rent Strike MA for Brain Arts Org
April 2, 2020
Rent Strike MA and Allston Brighton Mutual Aid have put together this amazing resource list in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Check it out for info about keeping your rent, organizing resources for renters, housing resources, Mutual Aid groups & more.
You can follow Rent Strike MA on insta and twitter @rentstrikema. ...
By Angela Sawyer for Brain Arts Org
March 31, 2020
Tired of your upstairs neighbor practicing acoustic guitar? Watched everything on Netflix and it's only Wednesday? Even though you can't leave your house, you can attend a comedy show. Comedians across the country are stuck at home too, and they've started virtual versions of their local shows and workout sessions. Join their zoom meeting and you're at a show supporting local artists, and also likely seeing a few folks from far away! You're not required to talk at these if you don't want to, but...
By Saritha Ramakrishna for Brain Arts Org
March 30, 2020
Legislation you can Support
As of 4/9/20, here are pieces of state legislation you can call your representatives to support, and organize around. You can find your representatives here. Note that the list below does not cover Federal legislation or municipal law or orders. While the Federal government recently passed a stimulus bill, its provisions are inadequate to cover the financial burdens, health risks and housing insecurity that the...
By Liz Smith for Brain Arts Org
March 29, 2020
Last Updated: May 28th at 2:30pm First Things First
Official updates about Covid 19 and the city of Boston can be found here including multilingual content. We also recommend Dig Boston for ongoing coronavirus coverage as well as other BINJ reporting partners. If you need support with basic needs such as getting groceries, supplies or other support we recommend c...
By Steve Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
March 26, 2020
PART 1
2020 is not a throw away year, folx! If you are worth your weight in human reflection, in fact, 2020 is, and will continue to be, a time to suffer, heal, rage, come together, and celebrate…oh yes, and ORGANIZE. Many citizens are confused, and not just by the evolving science of COVID-19 infection control theory. We’re confused existentially and relationally; we don’t know where our fellow human beings, and for some of us, where we, ourselves, stand on the ethical principle of interde...
By Steve Grigelevich for Brain Arts Org
March 26, 2020
PART II
As I wrote in Part I of this series…basically, shit’s weird for everyone, including for the arts. Right now, many of us artists and creative types are going back to the drawing board, reorganizing ourselves, contemplating, grieving, experimenting, possibly scheming? Some have a hashed out plan for creating art, delivering it to their audiences, and getting funds. Some don’t. Many don’t. Most don’t. That’s because COVID-19 ripped the carpet from under our feet, leaving many artists...
By Nick Blauner for Boston Compass (#122)
March 25, 2020
On March 20, the city of Wuhan had forty-eight consecutive hours without a newly infected patient. The first case of corona virus in the city was documented in late December 2019. America’s preliminary patient was not documented until January 20, almost a full month after the cluster of outbreaks in Wuhan. It would be unwise to use Wuhan’s timeline as a way to chart where America stands in the current epidemic. By doing that, you would also be assuming the situation in Wuhan is over. In any ca...
By Ghost
December 18, 2019
Nevermind the 250 word limit, Here's PURE IMPACT! Recently, I had the chance to chat about band history, heroin addiction, recovery, and what is yet to come from Upstate NY D-beat Master, No Fucker. To start off, could you give us a brief history for those who may be unfamiliar? And what is the current No Fucker line-up?Johnny and I started the band in the fall of 2002. We were in a bland generic crust band that wasn’t meeting our expectations. We needed something more. We had a vision of an American noise dbeat band, something that other people told us was impossible...
By Claire Foley
December 1, 2019
On Thursday, the 17th of October, the local Dorchester organization DOT Not For Sale (DN4S) met in the cafeteria of the Vietnamese American Community Center for their monthly community dinner. At the beginning of the gathering, folks were asked to raise their hands in response to a series of questions. “How many people here are renters? Homeowners? How many are landlords?” Most people attending were renters, but there were several homeowners, and a lone landlord. “Who spends more than 30% of their monthly income on rent? More than 50%? Who is fighting for their home?” Hands were in the air for all three questions...