Today we’d like to introduce you to Brent A. Nuffer
Hi Brent, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
First & foremost I’d like to thank everyone at Canvas Rebel for your interest in our work & featuring a bit of my story. I appreciate very much the work you do in helping to shine a light on the Artists, Musicians & Entrepreneurs here in Los Angeles. I’ve been fortunate enough to do a few of these stories and I’d like to use this distinct opportunity to speak on behalf of Electric Moon Foundation. I am a Musician/Songwriter/Artist first and I’ve always seen the Arts as a unique opportunity to use the platform as a way of healing inside, in hopes that the work can also positively impact others in their healing process, or simply inspire them to find their own voice inside themselves. Which leads this interview to my work at Electric Moon Foundation as Founder and Executive Director. Our work began in early 2022 and we earned our 501(c)3 status early in 2023. We work mostly with vulnerable youth here in Los Angeles and help bring the Gift of Music & the Arts to those youth that it may not otherwise reach, through our progressive and innovative Music & Art programs. Electric Moon Foundation has been able to bring our Music & Art Programs to some of the most philanthropic and influential organizations here in Los Angeles, by the likes of Alexandria House, The Midnight Mission, Homelight Family Living, Union Rescue Mission as well as mentoring and performing at area elementary schools, high schools and charter schools. We feel deeply honored to work with the youth at the above mentioned organizations that have done astounding work here in Los Angeles for much longer than we have. In some ways we feel as though we are the Little Brother or Little Sister to all of them and they’ve given us an opportunity to expand our work and we’ve learned so much from their leadership in the community. I’ve always seen activism and the Electric Moon Foundation as an extension to my work as an Artist, of which comes with a great responsibility in sharing the Gifts we’ve been given. Though honestly the true Gift is from the inspiring & amazing kids we get to know through the creative process and what it means to be an Artist and express themselves through the many creative mediums to explore. We’ve got very big plans for 2025 and look forward to discovering where they lead as our outreach grows. Necessity is certainly the mother of innovation and inspiration, and we find that Music & the Arts are needed now more than ever during these troubling times. We’d like to be a pioneer in helping to create that conversation for these youth for many years to come.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It certainly has not been a smooth road, nor do I believe that it should be. Through the struggle is where the magic is & where truth growth can truly be found. I personally find that a little grit and sweat, heartache and pain is where one gathers the compassion to one day lead in the sort of work we are deeply passionate about. In addition, many of our youth have come from very troubled backgrounds, homelessness, trauma and abandonment so all of this work comes with understanding, wisdom, knowledge, compassion and a great responsibility to try to guide them through the Arts. We put a lot of pressure upon ourselves to ensure we are bringing something unique, fun and inspiring to all of them to give them a light through what could be a dark time in their lives. Music & the Arts are proven to be a guiding light as they certainly have for myself during confusing times, then and to this day. The struggle and pressure found within this work can be heavy at times, though important to keep in mind the real struggles can be found in the hearts of the kids we work with and what they may be going through. When considering all of that our struggles seem small and inspire all of us to push on, to go forward through any storm. In life we find that sometimes the wind is at our backs and at times we are heading right into the hard wind. That’s a part of life, thats the way it goes, but whether within or without, each moment is vital to the journey. We find that part of what makes our programs here at Electric Moon Foundation unique is that we don’t just teach the notes, we teach what is in between the notes. In between the notes are the lessons we find in life. In many schools they don’t teach “how to live” lessons, plenty of math & science, important of course, yet there is more to life than those elements and sometimes what we organically find along the way are what impact us the most.
We’ve been impressed with Electric Moon Foundation, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As mentioned previously I am the Founder and Executive Director of Electric Moon Foundation. Found within that responsibility in a great deal of administration work behind the scenes, from helping to compose and guide our grant writing, preparing agenda’s and lesson plans for our programs, working with and training our music instructors, organizing our benefits, coordinating and curated the Artist line ups, working with the artists and venues, etc. etc. etc. The list is long and there is plenty to do and learn each and every day. Through even as we grow and no matter how big we get, I always want to be doing the work and present at as many EMF Music & Art Programs as I can. I am quite grateful for the opportunity to find myself immersed in Music & the Arts in some way at every turn, even if that requires some book keeping and accounting. It certainly did not happen over night, but through years of sacrifice, struggle and experience. Through all of that we find that our Electric Moon Foundation Music & Art programs provide something unique and innovative for our youth. In all that we do, we attempt to go one step further than those we find around us. One of the ways we are able to help support the Musicians & Artists in our community, in addition to adding them as Music Instructors, but we also present monthly benefit shows at some of the most influential and relevant venues here in Los Angeles. We call it The Electric Moon Revue for example and we select iconic Artists and invite local Songwriters to interpret the music through their own Artistic lens. We’ve Celebrated Paul McCartney, Prince, Nirvana, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead, Dolly Parton, Amy Winehouse, MoTown, David Bowie and countless others. We find this is a way to also help shine a light on the hard working Songwriters & Artists that we find in our community. In fact! We are grateful to Celebrate the Music of the 90’s on Saturday, May 3rd at Universal Bar in North Hollywood. We encourage your readers to join us for a beautiful and magical evening Celebrating the influential cultural movement that was the 90’s and witness some of Los Angeles’ finest Songwriters interpreting their favorite songs of the 90’s, in addition to supporting the next generation of Artists through Electric Moon Foundation.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
It seems incredibly generic and a worn out thing to say, though true, if you have a passion within your heart to do something, Go for it! May nothing ever stand in your way or allow others to say it cannot be done. Or let them say it can’t be done, and use that as the fire inside you to prove them wrong. As we tell the youth in our Electric Moon Foundation Music & Art Programs on day one : Work hard, be Kind to those around you, have fun and do the best you can. What more can you ask of anyone! I firmly believe that by learning those 4 basic “how to live” elements anything can be achieved. One must learn to just jump in and GO. Remember, all great things accomplished or created started from an absolutely blank page. It’s up to you to fill in the blanks and get those pages filled up. Then one day you’ll look back and find you have a book. So start today and I look forward to finding your book upon the shelve. electricmoonfoundation.org
Contact Info:
- Website: https://electricmoonfoundation.org
- Instagram: @electricmoon.foundation
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/electricmoon.org/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFWxfxX32c&t=3s
Image Credits
The Killers Management
Priscilla Bouillon
