Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Powell.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chris. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My mind has always been a drifter so it took me quite a long time to settle on pursuing music. I grew up playing piano and organ but never took it very seriously. After college, I drifted with my feet, teaching English in South Korea for a couple of years and wandering around other odd jobs. I found myself in Los Angeles in 2012 and met so many great people that I haven’t left. I met Jim Murray through a friend one night, we went to see The Godfather at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater for $0.25. We quickly became friends, him showing me weird films and me showing him weird music.
We started DJing together and then decided to form New Work City Records, a platform to elevate underrepresented voices, giving them a space to create and express themselves freely. We call it The People’s Avant-Garde. I’ve also been making Experimental Storytelling music under the name acadjmia, both releasing original music and serving as the Resident Storyteller at Ma3azef Radio. My first 2 EPs as acadjmia were both featured on Bandcamp’s Best Electronic Music of the Month lists (Sep. ’19, April ’20). I’ve scored a few short films and am looking to expand further into film, as well as continue to expand the record label. My next big undertaking will be a re-telling of Peter and the Wolf, a story I used to listen to a lot as I fell asleep.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It never feels smooth in the moment, but my progression has been rather logical when looking back on it, I think. The best example of this is COVID-related: I was scheduled to have my first live performance on March 12 at The Last Bookstore for downtown’s monthly Art Walk, which was right as things were locking down, and we had to cancel the show the day of. Naturally, I was bummed for a while, but gathered my spirits together and turned the music that was going to be performed at that event into an EP (A Choreography of Interference), which ended up being featured on Bandcamp’s Best Electronic Music of April list.
It was a good lesson in the potential benefits of re-directing energy and helped me understand that “success” will always have a great deal of context around it and is not simply A Thing To Achieve. There are also definitely obstacles surrounding the choice to make experimental music, but as listener tastes become more niche this is something that could be turned into a strength in the future. We live in an age of information overload and it can feel as an artist as though there’s an insurmountable amount of music to compete with, and to an extent there is, but at the end of the day art is a competition against the self.
New Work City Records – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our record label New Work City Records functions more with the mindset of a collective rather than a business. We are about as diverse as a group of 6 people can be, all hailing from the US or the Philippines. We specialize in experimental club music but have output in all forms of experimental music. This is best showcased by our label’s monthly residency at Noods Radio called The People’s Avant-Garde, as well as our latest release by Teya Logos and Lvers, Conjoined 2. We also have a very diverse array of talent on the label, from visual artist and producer Alice Lunafel to producer and poet Rachel Lilim, and are soon going to be expanding into other mediums of expression. A focus on story and doing something larger than music is a big part of what brought all of us together, and we’re excited to see where we can take this.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
“Success” for an artist usually comes down to something simple to articulate but difficult to manifest: space and freedom to create. I often think about a David Lynch quote: “if you want to paint for 1 hour, set aside 4 hours.” Creating art requires a large amount of “infrastructure” in order to keep your mind worry-free and able to focus on the task at hand. Art is an emotional necessity, but emotions aren’t properly valued in the free market, so doing something that doesn’t provide immediate tangible “value” to society is a daily struggle. That being said, it is immensely joyful to discover new fans and connect on something that you created. As someone who studied and worked in politics and organizing for a long time, I also would like to use whatever music success I can muster into energy that can bring about political change. I certainly still want to make music that I believe stands on its own, but more and more I view the music I make as a tool for something larger.
Pricing:
- Free to stream, but would love your support 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: https://acadjmia.bandcamp.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acadjmia/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/acadjmia
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/newworkcitymusic
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