Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew Love.
Drew, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It all started in Columbus, Ohio, at 7 when my mother signed me up for West African summer camp. Culture, colors, brown skin, as its own form of beauty, was important for me to see. I had an honest standard to live up to. I saw that black didn’t exist in just one form. I love Hip-Hop, DMX is one of my many spirit animals, but it was refreshing to know that I was able to express myself in different ways than being a rapper or an athlete in order to feel success.
Intra-cultural diversity is a real thing and should be celebrated. Because of that gift of perspective, I was able to see Capoeira in my late teens as something that was perfect for me. I saw how African it was by nature but it something created in the America’s, just like me. This happened at the same time that I was starting to find myself as a songwriter and a photographer. At that point, Columbus wasn’t doing it for me anymore. I had to move somewhere that had a real community of artist and capoeiristas. Insert many daydreams and a three month trip to Brazil during my senior year at “The” Ohio State University, the next thing you know the confirmation for my one-way ticket to LA popped into my Gmail inbox with enough force to stir up my fears like the snow in a snow globe.
I found my Capoeira home at Capoeira Batuque in Culver City. The Founder, Mestre Amen Santo, moved to LA from Salvador, BA Brazil as started a fire that lit the way for many others that came after with all of the street smarts and knowledge that he gained from his studies growing up in the birthplace of Capoeira, Samba and all things Afro-Brazilian, all the things that wanted to learn. This was the teacher I needed. From there I learned to drum, learned to sing from the heart, and I learned to lose my fear of performing because I was encouraged to perform capoeira in some amazing places.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth is definitely not how would describe… lol! I had to learn the hard way that no job opportunity is a bad one because there’s no money involved. I was so quick to tell people no on things because I was too focused on not starving. I went into survival mode the moment I landed, and that smacked away the opportunities that would lead to building a good name for myself faster than LeBron could slap away one of Curry’s drives to the bucket.
I’m so grateful to have made the closets of friends that I have now because there was a time that my car was packed with all my belonging. All I had was my camera, my capoeira cloths, and my laptop. It was a do or die, and they offer me their couches while I had one last shot to get my act together. If that didn’t work, I had $300 in savings that I would have used to drive myself back to Columbus.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m now a member of the band ILKA as a vocalist and percussionist. We’re completing our next EP which I’m really excited for because the other three members are geniuses, especially our lead singer Ilka Cortes, this was her dream now it’s our reality. We just killed the stage at The Hotel Cafe, so e have to get this project out because people are asking now.
I’m also one half of Cristo Love, which is a collaboration between myself and my good friend/songwriter Evan Cristo. We’ve got a single that we’re cooking up at the moment. Fingers crossed we’ll have it ready for late fall. Simply put, I’m an artist. I write music, and I shoot photos. Capoeira is something I love to do, and I will teach someday, but there is so much to complete as a Musician. We have stories to tell through our music.
I love being apart of ILKA and Cristo Love because we tell stories that people can relate to. Music from the band ILKA is written in both English and Spanish about everything in between love and pain. Cristo Love is about not being afraid of the insecurities around what it means to be a man with emotions. We’re trained to be robots growing up. There’s so much to deal with as a man of color, and people don’t talk about that sh**, and it bothers me to the core. Now the discussion around mental health has become a fashion, so Evan and I have decided to talk about all of these things our own way.
My first love, photography, keeps my life beautiful. People know that they can always come to me for that. I have an affinity for landscape and travel photos. My collection is being built at the moment, but once that’s complete, I will be ready for a show or two.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Definitely a big shout out to Keith Hill. He taught me everything I need to know about storytelling through a lens. Thank you to Mestres, Lucas Corvo and Amen Santo. They are my Capoeira leaders, and they opened the road that leads me to so many unique opportunities in Music and Performing Arts. Dana Maman and Kahlil Cummings, these are not only friends, but they are drum gods. Just sit next to them for 5 minutes I’m sure you’ll come away knowing something new about a drum.
Ilka Cortes, Evan Cristo, Kana Shimanuki, these are God’s gifts to music. If you spend 5 minutes next to them, you’ll come away knowing something new about yourself. I’m lucky to be working with all of them. I have to thank Linda Yudin and Luis Badaro; they are the creators of the Viver Brasil Dance co. That company puts the arts into so many communities that need it, and I’m lucky to be able to develop my drumming with them while giving back to the people who keep this world beautiful.
Shout out to Rachel Hernandez she works really hard to keep the Afro-Brazilian dance community on fire here in LA. She also appreciates the value of live music, so that opens up a seat for people like me who just love to play. Thank you to Vera Passos the dance Mestra who refuses to let me become complacent. Her lessons on the use of intuition have helped me grow in great strides as a performer. Thank you to Awo Fasegun for using his wisdom for nothing but good. The knowledge base this man has in his possession has helped me stay the course and to take a chance on my gifts.
Last but certainly never the least, I have to show my mom all the respect. I can go on for days about why she deserves my gratitude, but it’s what she said to me when I was in tears at the dining room table because I couldn’t figure out how to read like the rest of the 5th graders in my class that still rings loud in my head to this day. She held me and told me “I do not care about what the other’s are doing. As long as you give everything you do your absolute best, I will be proud of you.” I think she knew that I had not even come close to discovering what my best was. She knew that once I found that within myself I would be amazed. Wise, wise woman, that Tina from Ohio State… Google her. She’s pretty dope.
Pricing:
- Photography – $300 for 10 finalized photos (Negotiable based on request)
- Private Capoeira Lesson – $100 for 90mins (You can bring a friend)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drewlovelife.tumblr.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @drewlovelife @theband_ILKA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drewlovephotography/
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/drew-love-the-real-one/tracks
Image Credit:
Nate Hoffman, Marla Montgomery, David Chan, Ilka Cortes
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