All Entries in the "Artist-Profile" Category
Interview: Erica Sutherlin
Tonight, July 18th, Tampa Bay is in for a performance treat. Local actress, playright, poet and director Erica Sutherlin is presenting her one-woman showcase “Manifesting Soul” at the Historic Royal Theater in Midtown St. Petersburg.
The debut showcase and album is a compilation of life inspired material reflecting the experiences, observations and call to self awareness Erica has perceived in her life and the lives of others. Produced by Erica C. Sutherlin and co- produced by Cranstan Cumberbatch, Josh Matthews and the Pinellas County Cultural Affairs, this showcase is a journey through ear caressing melodies and contemplative lyrics searching for love, truth, enlightenment, and goodness in this world of chaos and confusion. Erica’s poetic flow and delivery is un-paralleled, her energy is raw and awe striking to the likeness of a controlled explosion.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Erica on her work. Here is that interview:
1. You’re an actress, playwright, poet and director. Of all of these facets of entertainment, what’s your favorite part to play and why?
Once i would have said performance, but as i grow, i realize that i’m not just one particular part of art…i am all, they create and are a part of me. you don’t have to choose just one, even though everyone wants you to choose one. it’s not that I’m a jack of all trades and a master of none, my degree is in performance. the majority of my work is in performance but we grow and evolve, right? i see the world differently now, i want to experience it differently and put my touch on it. so, i am all of those disciplines, equally.
2. You’ve played notable characters in a number of performances, including Shakespeare’s Macbeth. What’s your most memorable character and why?
I would have to say the character i’m playing now, Mrs. Muller (the black mother) in doubt. most people know this play because it was commission for a screenplay and won numerous awards, especially the mother. however, it was a stage play first, which also won numerous awards. this particular character is so complex, yet human. at first, you want to hate her, but you realize the passion she has for her son. she’s so multi-leveled, deep even, but aren’t we all?
3. How would you describe your poetry and it’s message? Do you stick with a set theme or have you grown and changed as a poet over the years?
Life in rhythm. my poetry/songs are intended to enlighten, they should be a reflection of tangibility, something you can take with you, on the inside. regardless of your gender, you should be able to understand or relate to the message (which is hope, self love/preservation, spiritual enlightenment, awareness of the world around you, the love of others or another). i have grown as a writer, my themes are continual and fluid. i write about what is present within me or around me during that moment/time. i do not enjoy writing hate poems, so i try to approach the piece/subject from a different angle.
4. You’re directing both Amen Corner and Fame in the coming year. What do you hope to bring to a well known production like Fame?
The Amen Corner is on hold but Fame…i really would like to have fun with it. i am the musical theater performance teacher for pinellas county center for the arts and i thought it would be fun to produce a show that’s very dance heavy and fun. most people feel like the script isn’t strong, however, i believe if my students can take something not as complex as Sweeney Todd or Rent and blow it out of the box…then i would feel that they are ready for more challenging material. besides, everybody our age or older remembers Fame, the movie..though its different.
5. Since moving to St. Petersburg, what have you seen change in the local entertainment industry? Are there good things coming from others putting on plays and performing poetry? If so, who?
Since moving here I’ve had to adjust quite a bit, the scene is smaller, the circles are tightly woven and being an out-of-towner isn’t necessarily the best thing. however, slowly i’m breaking circles and creating a space for me and my art. there’s tons of good things coming from other artist across the board (visual and performance). in the performance world, Aleshea Harris is gearing up for her one-woman show, Lavaland production is doing some cool things, Amazncran Creative Works is lining up some interesting shows for this upcoming year. there’s great work/art coming out of the american stage, studio 620, free fall theater, local artists are making a move! as Aleshea and i like to proclaim, “we preparing for the takeover”! Venus Jones, Life, Poetic Collage are doing great things in the Tampa Bay area. I could go on on, cause that’s just a slice of performance and we haven’t even touched music, visual or dance.
6. Manifesting Soul, your debut album, is a collection of your reflections on life. Who is your target audience and how do you hope it will be received?
I would love to say everyone is my target audience because that’s what my heart and god desire. my art is not designed to tear anyone down, rather to open them up to themselves, discover something new or unexplored within the universe and self. it’s meant to cause you to fall in love over and over again, even if it’s with yourself or others because we are spiritual beings on earth having a human experience. i pray that it will be well received and understood.
7. When you’re doing a poetry presentation, how would you describe your delivery? Do you have a certain tone or presentation that you use throughout your performances?
My delivery is different…i cannot describe it…a friend of mine describes me as a “controlled explosion”. it is my background in performance that gives me an edge. my approach is to pull you into this world i am creating and follow me on this journey.
8. Who are your influences in each of your disciplines?
God. god told me to watch everybody, everything and learn. life is my influence, but if i have to name them, here are a few…spike lee (filmmaking)-i dig his willingness to be different, edgy and opinionated. bill grivna (directing stage)-he taught me to see the world of the play, paint its emotions on stage. thomasina clarke, alfred woodard and whoopi goldberg (acting)-they taught me that being different is beautiful, being a woman is powerful and words are nothing without breath. langston hughes, amiri baraka, emily dickenson, nikki giovanni, sonia sanchez (writing)-taught me that breath is nothing without words to give it sound.
9. Where do you see yourself and your performances in a year? 5 years? 10 years?
My goals are to receive my MFA in filmmaking in the next couple of years, use my production company to produce works that compliment my mission and vision, possibly teach at the college level.
10. Are there any other poets or performers that you enjoy working with in the bay area? If so, who and what have you worked on with them?
I’ve had the honor to work with numerous bay area artists on a number of different art mediums and i would work with them again in a heart beat. i am looking forward to working with other local artists.
Erica’s show tonight will be a fun experience, and at only $15 is a real bargain. I encourage everyone to check out her production of Manifesting Soul tonight at the Royal Theatre in Midtown St. Pete.
Interview with Jay Cridlin and his 50/50 Concert Series
Jay Cridlin is a local music reporter/reviewer with a quest that is equal parts sonic assault and hapless wandering. Jay has made it his goal to see 50 bands in 50 different venues around Tampa Bay this summer. Some bands he knows, some he doesn’t, but it will be a fresh look at a wide variety of entertainment.
Jay took a moment to answer some questions I sent his way.
1. The 50/50 club is such a great idea, seeing 50 bands in 50 venues over a summer. What made you decide to do this?
Thanks! Well, I hate to kick things off with a long answer, but let’s go back a couple of months. Each March, tbt* publishes a massive local music guide that’s full of great material about the Tampa Bay scene, including snapshot profiles of something like 150 local artists. This is the third year we’ve done it, which means we’ve got well over 400 profiles of Tampa Bay artists somewhere in our files — and we’ve barely scratched the surface of the local scene. But oddly enough, all this material never really had a consistent online presence. So we decided to launch the Soundcheck blog as a way to build on the momentum of the local music guide, and step up our local music coverage throughout the year. I’m tbt*’s features and entertainment editor, so I became the guy in charge of this blog.
One problem: I don’t go to a ton of concerts. I love live music, and I’m somewhat knowledgeable about the Tampa Bay scene, because we cover it each week in tbt*. But I really don’t get out as much as I should. I basically needed a crash course in local music. So I came up with this project as a way to get me out of the office and check out some of these venues and artists that I otherwise would never see in person. I mean, honestly, how could I even pretend to cover the Tampa music scene if I never attended a death metal show at the Brass Mug?
On a bigger-picture level, I think our readers really do want more music coverage. Traditionally, tbt* and the St. Pete Times only review the biggest concerts coming to town — which is fine and all, but there are a ton of awesome shows (especially those catering to younger fans) that pass by almost unnoticed. Flight of the Conchords is a good example — before Soundcheck, we probably wouldn’t have covered that show. But it was attended by 2,600 people, and the review sparked a huge, passionate discussion among commenters on the blog. I think that shows there’s an audience for nontraditional scene reports and concert reviews. So in addition to my 50-50 Club series, we’ve already posted a handful of other reviews from tbt* and St. Pete Times staff writers and contributors.
And finally: 50 is a nice, fat, round number. So that’s a plus.
2. Are there any bands you’re definitely looking forward to seeing?
This, of course, was another benefit of this idea: I could write about concerts that I was already planning to attend this summer, like Flight of the Conchords, Animal Collective and Coldplay. But I’m also looking forward to checking out some local artists that I’ve followed from afar. For example, I’ve never actually seen the veteran punk band Car Bomb Driver live, even though I know the singer, Dave Reeder. I’m hoping to catch them next month. In the end, I imagine the 50 shows will be more or less evenly split between local and national acts.
3. Are there any bands you’ve never heard of in the list?
So far, I’ve got about 20 shows either written or planned, and they do include a few artists that I’ve never heard of. I really want a diverse list of performers and venues. For example, tonight (Tuesday) I’m going to a show by the Helios Jazz Orchestra, a 22-piece big band that’s performing inside a library in St. Pete. Never heard of them before this project. Looking ahead, much of my schedule is still up in the air. A lot of clubs don’t have many dates listed yet for June or July, so I’m waiting to see who they book before I commit to a particular show. And I’m all ears for suggestions from readers, too.
4. When does this dance with musical destiny begin and end?
Technically, the first 50-50 Club show was Flight of the Conchords at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center on April 6 (although I’ve already seen a few other concerts so far this year). I’m hoping to end the series with Coldplay at the Ford Amphitheatre on Aug. 9. To get there, I’ll have to average 2-3 concerts per week. We’ll see how long that pace holds up.
5. Are you going +1 with anyone or is it just you, solo, taking on this task?
It depends on the show. My wife came to Flight of the Conchords, and we’re going to Fleetwood Mac this week. She might come with me to a few other shows this summer (and, in the interest of full journalistic disclosure, she’ll be paying her own way). A photographer might come with me to some shows. And I might meet up with a friend or one of our other music writers. Who knows? It’s pretty free-flowing at this point. If anyone sees me at a show, come say hi.
6. Are you going to be chronicling/reviewing/writing about each show? taking pictures?
Yes, I’m planning to write about each show and venue. I do like the word “chronicling”; I think that’s probably a more accurate description of what I’m doing than “reviewing.” And I’m trying to take pictures, too. So far, they’ve turned out okay, but I’m definitely not a professional photographer — I usually get one good photo out of every 30 I take. Thankfully, I have help in that department: Luis Santana, tbt*’s party photographer, will probably come to a few of these shows (he took some great shots at Lady Gaga), and Leigh Armstrong, who is the other staff writer contributing to the Soundcheck blog, can both write and take pictures. He’s written some great reviews, and taken some great photos, at shows like Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer and the WMNF Cure tribute show at Skipper’s Smokehouse.
7. Is there any bands you are dreading seeing?
Oh, probably. But I don’t have one off the top of my head. More than any one artist, I’m probably dreading those nights (especially on the weekends) when I’ve been working a long week, and I’d frankly rather get some rest than stay out all night at yet another concert. And writing about these shows does involve some actual work — you have to take notes and photos and stuff, and afterward, I usually end up staying up late to write the blog post — so it’s not like I’m just out singing along, boozing it up, having a great time with everyone else in the crowd. But hey, that comes with the gig. In the end, it’s all worth it.
8. What’s your favorite venue from the 50/50 list?
That’ll be one of the best things about this project — I’ll get to see a lot of shows at venues I’ve never been to. There are some local venues here I already like, and some I’m not super crazy about. But it’ll be a lot easier to compare them all after I see them in such relatively rapid succession. So far, I was impressed with the Ritz Ybor, which I think is a venue that could really fill a void in the Hillsborough music scene.
9. Do you have any pre-show ritual you’ll be doing for any of these shows?
Check the batteries in my camera. And do some research on the band and the venue, so I’m not coming in completely blind. Also, if it’s a band that I might want to interview at some point during the night, I might touch base with them beforehand, just to let them know I’ll be looking for them.
10. When you’re all done with this quest, what do you hope to gain? lose? realize? come to terms with?
Well, I hope I don’t lose my hearing. From a journalistic standpoint, I hope this series will expand tbt*’s coverage of and visibility within the Tampa music scene. I want to meet more people and experience more of Tampa Bay firsthand; doing so, I think, will help us do an even better job covering local entertainment and things to do in Tampa. And on a personal level, I just think this is a crazy quest that’ll make a fun story someday, and I’ll get to see a lot of sweet concerts in the process. I’m fortunate that I get paid to do this sort of thing for a living. Who knows? I might do another 50 concerts this fall.