Jamaica Plain’s Wake Up the Earth Festival has filled the Stonybrook MBTA station’s Southwest Corridor every year since 1979 While the festival always takes plac for Spontane starts mu Meetings February Spontane Street meetings volunteer heater dis but, by M a commu
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During March and April, Spontaneous’s regular Friday night open potlucks turn into an open-house workshop for the festival Zafiro Patiño, organization cofounder and wearer of many hats, leads the charge for food, fun, and festival
“It’s like healing–,” she says in a coat closet, away from the chaos of one of these Friday night workshops, “ – All the people art making, working with their hands We are wanting in so many ways, and this gives us the opportunity to get together and to be happy ” She added that the momentum leading up to the festival is her favorite part of WUTE
Organizing the WUTE is a monumental task, requiring months of careful cooperation with the city government
The kickoff for the festival is a parade down Centre Street – a major artery through the center of JP – and, more recently, a parade from Egleston Square
in celebrating a successful oots movement to stop the opment of a highway, the festival iving tradition of the power of tive organizing and how such s often radiate outward into the er community
ke my holiday,” laughed Paula, “I plan anything else on that day ” ore i f i h hi f and wake
TRASH IS TRAGIC: SOURCES
AI slop is the biggest pile of garbage I have seen all year
Firstly, it is an enormous waste of physical resources: fresh water, electricity, and the fuel to transport both Secondly, it is a waste of individual people's mental and emotional energy Consulting a search engine takes me several times longer than it did two years ago I have to put on waders, slog through several pages of slurry, and then strain the results through the fine mesh bag of my tired mind to figure out what was written by a real person and what was "penned" by an algorithm wearing a human dialect like a saggy flesh suit
They're getting better at their disguises, so it can be hard to tell until you get up close That brings up a third form of waste: time The worthwhile source on a search engine might be three pages in The recipe is at the very bottom of the article I don't want to hear your suspiciously-formulaic hildh d i f i f h
One day last winter I stuffed some pillows under my bedsheets squeezed a hat onto one of them, grabbed a black baseball cap, and snuck out of my apartment I landed at Dunks, where I contacted a few of my sources and learned some very interesting things:
MAKE AND MEND
At Make & Mend, Somerville’s secondhand art and crafts supplies shop, art is for everyone
The shop takes in a vast range of donated, used art supplies and resells them at an affordable price removing a layer of pressure and financial burden from artmaking This increases the accessibility of trying a new artistic medium or learning a new creative skill and dramatically decreases waste in the creative process
Make & Mend’s very existence is a rejection of traditional capitalist and consumerist culture, encouraging the longest possible life to materials at the lowest possible price
Established in 2017 Make & Mend has taken multiple shapes over the years The business started out in the form of pop-ups at local markets, in between owner and founder Emily Tirella’s other jobs The Somerville artist eventually opened Make & Mend as a small store in Bow Market but the COVID-19 pandemic brought its own hift A th h ed entirely online, ain focus After a quarters, including backyard garage, into its current Hawkins Street in
ons, a communityen core to Make & demic, the online ee mask-making nal effort to build Make & Mend s sts and profits are community rather g it like h f
“Just having a capitalist venture is not fulfilling enough for me, ” Tirella explained
“It needs to actually be something that’s helping people and making people’s lives better and making the community safer Each one of those things goes hand in hand, and I wouldn't be doing one without the other ”
Make & Mend’s “Fill-a-Bag” events are another staple of the shop Periodically, the basement is opened up for patrons to fill a bag for a low single price with as many “leftover” art supplies they can fit These items may not be as high-quality as what is found upstairs in the main store but they are still great inspiration for new creative projects Instead of simply throwing away what they cannot use, as is a common practice for thrift stores, these events encourage that everything even scraps of fabric have the opportunity for a second life
“I hope [Make & Mend] inspires people to just get creative and more involved in their community and thinking about other people ” Tirella said
MASSACHUSETTS MINUTE
The 80s and 90s are what some would consider to be the golden age for music in Boston You had Guru Edo G, The Almighty RSO, New Edition, and, eventually, Bell Biv DeVoe, which consisted of former New Edition members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe
Globally known for their party anthem “Poison,” Bell Biv DeVoe are one of the pioneering acts behind new jack swing – a genre that emerged in the late 80s and combined the vocal style of R&B with the energy and sonic structure of hip-hop music Still heard in house parties across the Greater Boston area and beyond, the impact of Bell Biv DeVoe persists in the region to this day This is especially accurate of ET and ct “Bell Biv “love letter
Barclay, too, has been a quiet staple in Boston’s music scene for years A recording artist songwriter and record producer, Barclay’s career as an artist has been marked by many accolades, including millions of views across his social media pages, critical acclaim from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Pitchfork, and having his music featured across exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston On their own, ET and Barclay are prominent artists in Boston’s music scene Together, they’re an indestructible force
Furnished with seven total tracks, “Bell Biv Barclay” decadently blends ET’s limitless, unrestrained flow and lyricism with Barclay’s sample-heavy, nostalgic style of production Chopping sonic clips from the heyday of new jack swing and combining them with a contemporary style of hip-hop that today’s fans will recognize, the project is an innovative selection of music that rises above a lot of what we ’ re hearing on streaming platforms right now What makes the project special is that it’s not an attempt to be trendy It stems from a personal connection to new jack swing, a desire to bring together two of Massachusetts’s best and a love of the city of Boston
JUSTIN SCHAEFERS
Spotify and TikTok have bulldozed the typical indie music path to success Hazy algorithms drive careers not radio DJs But Boston-based artist Justin Schaefers, who fronts the band Winkler, thinks the basics still stand: people want to hear a good song
A staple of Boston’s DIY scene, Winkler mixes 60s sound and bedroom pop, with glimmers of new wave and folk country They played their first show in 2019 in a tiny basement apartment in Allston “I was looking at the dishwasher while I was playing,” Schaefers said, half-laughing, from his own dimly-lit Boston apartment “It was awesome ” Roomier venues have followed, along with hundreds of thousands of Spotify listens
In February Schaefers released his first solo EP, “Modest Hits,” inspired by low-fi bands like The Zombies Recorded entirely on the iPhone’s Garage Band app, the project was “sort of like an experiment,” he said I spoke with Schaefers over Zoom a few days before “Modest Hits” release to discuss his experience as an upand-coming artist in the age of social media and streaming
How do you approach social media? Social media’s so hard, because you kinda have to do it Feels cringey though It never feels not-cringey I've been using it a lot to promote I've had to take a break because why am I so stressed about making a six second video with a clip of a song? The lip syncing ones feel like I'm making a cartoon of myself But I try not to take it for granted that the internet's full of a lot of people who like music
How do you find new audiences? I think live music has not lost its importance at all A band that I've seen live is 100 times more impactful than a video I see of a band If we play in Philly and ten people came the first time, those ten people are going to bring more people [Social media] has done a lot of good for a lot of people though It's a weird time that we ' re going through in my entire world It definitely seems like it's a weird time in music
“The production choices on this album are curated as a love letter to the city that birthed me and the music of that time,” Barclay said in a statement While the music is of a high caliber, and is certainly some of the best we ’ ve heard from both respective artists, it’s the sentiment behind “Bel Biv DeVoe” that makes this project truly special The entirety of the project is well worthy of attention, but personal
These days, a band can suddenly seem like they're everywhere. Like Geese Do you feel a pressure to go viral? It comes up, but you try not to let it Geese are so good that it makes sense But there's a cool mystique around them What we ' re told when we ' re promoting music is: show them who you are, talk about the meaning behind this song There's something really alluring about like, oh, he in it But if you us, nobody sees
I feel like you used to be able to be a working musician, beyond being a touring artist making 1000s every night I played a show over the weekend, and I was like, oh, it'd be fun to go out after the show but we all have to schlep this gear back to some apartment I don't think that Aerosmith had to do that
You guys do everything yourself then? Pretty much There's a kind of freedom in it If you make your own posters, then there's no one breathing down your neck telling you how a poster has to look One of my favorite musicians is Jonathan Richman Bostonian He just packs up his guitar into an SUV and drives off He chooses to have all of that control It's cool to see it's not only a hindrance, but you can embrace the beauty in that too
We've discussed the discouraging things about being a musician right now But is there anything currently giving you hope about music? I just
4/3 Homefried Valentines, Emily Grogan Band, Louder than Milk End the week with some rock and roll! @ The Square Root Cafe 8pm-11pm 21+ $10
4/5 Jazz Sunday: The Ludophonics / Video Game Music Jam @ The Square Root Cafe 7pm-9:30pm 21+ $10
4/6 Voicehandler, Abdul Sherzai, Hypnagouge, Ollie Becker @ Washington Street Arts Center 8pm All Ages FREE
4/6 Human Mascot, Merry Brigade, Slo-anne, Ice Lemonade & The Apple Snaps @ O'Briens Pub 8pm 21+ $12 55
4/7 Bugslam, Saliba, Modern Ego, Superpink @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm 18+ $12
4/9 In The Round: Cece Benz, Rowan Grace, Jane Kristiansen, Maeve Zamuner Nashville style writers round with 4 up and coming female singer-songwriters @ Lilypad 7:45pm-9:45pm All Ages $15 dos, $10 adv
4/11 Duo Duo Duo Trio Duo and trio jazz improvisations curated by series director Brian Friedland @ Newcastle Saranac Community Studio 4pm5:30pm All Ages FREE
4/11 Plant Fight, K.O. Queen, Nice Guys & Thought Partner @ Tourist Trap 8pm All Ages $10
4/12 Jazz Sunday: Sam Gilman's Funky Hammond Organ Trio feat Jared Sims @ The Square Root Cafe 7pm9:30pm 21+ $10
4/15 PIECES Vol. VII
Rap/R&B/pop show featuring Chow, Rochelle Blue, Swooli, MonaVeli, and LAVAGXRL @ Zuzu 9pm 21+ FREE
4/9 Good Will Hunting
Screening @ The Square Root Cafe 8pm-11pm 21+ $7 adv, $10 dos
4/23-4/28 Independent Film
Festival Boston Annual film festival with films, guests, and parties @ Brattle Theatre, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Somerville Theatre All Ages
visual art
4/19 Jazz Sunday: Nicholas Brust Quartet / Dominique Eade & John Lockwood Duo @ The Square Root Cafe 7pm9:30pm 21+ $10
4/21 Hotline TNT Benefit Show For LUCE Hotline Rock, synth-funk, alt rock and more @ First Parish Church Cambridge 7pm $15
4/26 Music For Peace: A Sonic Vision Quest An evening of jazz for reflection, movement, and community @ St James Parish Hall 3pm-5pm All Ages Donation
4/27 Fish and the Folk Five, Woodfern, Shotgun Waltz, Pat Fant @ Midway Cafe 8pm 21+ $10
4/3 Yes & Everything Open Mic Variety Show @ The Rockwell 9pm 21+ $20
4/4, 4/9 Protest! Relief Printmaking Workshop Education about prints as a medium for resistance
Participants will carve a simple linoleum block and print its image using the historic etching press No experience required @ Boston Public Library (BPL) 1pm-4pm, 5:30pm-7:30pm All Ages FREE
4/9, 4/23 Flow State:
Sketchbook Sessions Lowstakes, go-at-your-own-pace sketchbook art session hosted by Victoria “Thirteenvic” DelValle @ East Boston Branch of the Boston Public Library (BPL) 5pm-7pm All Ages FREE
4/11, 4/25 Art-making Workshops ñ Press reunion and collagraph printmaking @ Maverick Landing Community Services 2pm-6pm All Ages FREE
literary art performance
4/10 Nebula Night Comedy and music show with audience participation presented by The Nova Comedy Collective @ Arts at the Armory 8pm All Ages $10
4/17-4/18 Intersections V5 Dance, music, and narrative hi hli h i BIPOC d d
4/9 Pancakes And Booze show with live music, free pancakes, and 60+ local ar @ MIXX 360 Nightlife 7pm 11pm 21+ $15 ADV $20 D OF
4/11 58 A M (After Mart Conversation on the Holy Week Uprising and the Fai Housing Act following Rev King’s assassination @ Wal Jazz Cafe 1pm-2:30pm All Ages $18
4/11 Ancestors Of Chinatown: A Day For Remembering And Dreaming Remembering and honoring Boston Chinatown’s early immigrants in a storytelling panel @ PAO Arts Center 2pm5pm All Ages FREE
4/12 Trans Mini Mart Shop prints, home goods, stained glass, and more from 10+ local trans artists @ New Leaf Espresso 12pm-5pm All Ages FREE
4/16 Dotstories LGBTQ+
Storytelling Public speaking series with Boston environment and public health changemaker Sharon Lee @ Just Book-ish 6pm-8pm All Ages FREE
4/19 Air Out Your Laundry
Community art, games, music, food, and collective creativity for Caribbean Bostonians @ Loesch Family Park 1pm-4pm All Ages FREE
4/11 Ki Olive Tr America author A crafts @ 12pm A
4/12 M
4/30 Ujima Cafe Social and office hour with Ujima's publication team @ Just Bookish 5pm All Ages FREE
5/2 Wake Up The Earth Festival Annual community arts and music festival @ Spontaneous Celebrations All Ages FREE
advocacy
4/9 Sounds of a Socialist Future An evening of music and poetry with Joe Tache, Claudia de la Cruz, and more @ Crystal Ballroom 6pm-9pm All Ages $20
4/24 Creative Space DNA: Adaptive Reuse of Municipal Buildings Join the Mass Cultural Council in preserving, developing, and advocating for a healthier creative space ecosystem across Massachusetts @ Zoom 12pm1pm All Ages FREE
opportunity
omerville Art open for Art d Holiday Art deadline to on large-scale osals for the at Boston The deadline 4:59pm nces Grant n $2,500 or MA festivals, rmances, and ities that e 28
sTRESS mANAGEMENT BY allison moore
wALKING BY eLLA sCHEUERELL
tHE ORIGIN OF THE 8 CAT by eight stone tHE sTRANGE lUNK & dONGO BY wELCOME hersey
“BUSINESS AS USUAL IS KIDNAPPING”
LUCE Week of Action Protests
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) has weaponized Massachusetts courts against local immigrant communities At least 405 neighbors many of whom come from over policed and over-surveilled communities have been violently taken from courthouses by ICE without due process
The LUCE Immigrant Justice Network held a week of action in late March to demand that our legislators and judiciary end all collaboration with ICE Across Boston, Chelsea, Brockton, New Bedford, Waltham, and Lynn, crowds gathered to share the stories of neighbors disappeared by ICE and disrupt business as usual “because to them kidnapping is business as usual, and we don’t accept that,” said an organizer
LUCE is an immigrant-led, grassroots organization built to empower Massachusetts residents They pursue justice and equity through local organizing, information sharing, and mutual aid
“Our state government has a responsibility to do everything in its power to stop its courts from being used as staging grounds for targeting and handing over our community members to federal immigration officers,” the organization said in a statement
LUCE called the state’s public institutions deportation traps for a federally mandated campaign of terror against immigrants and persons ICE suspects to be immigrants ICE’s racial profiling tactics were legally authorized by a September Supreme Court decision, Noem v Vasquez Perdomo allowing agents to use a suspect's location, occupation language and perceived race or ethnicity as cause for investigation
LUCE East Boston Hub volunteer Brenda Quintana said that the immigrant community has been in dire straits this past year
“If a community member has even just one family member that's detained, that's such a drain on an entire family unit of needing to raise literally tens of thousands of dollars to be able to provide emergency services That often impacts people s housing security, ability to pay utilities, and for food ”
Quintana said that elected officials need to offer more than just broad statements about where ICE can operate She stated that there needs to be clear protocols and policies in place that address how state and city officials share information with the federal government
Additionally, Quintana said that the resources the city and state have been able to offer communities under siege by ICE have been outpaced by the rising costs of just about everything
“ With immigration costs, things that used to be free or only cost a couple hundred dollars are increasingly more and more expensive ” she said “Legal costs are skyrocketing, and even just being able to follow a regular immigration proceedings process is becoming more and more costly ”
ICE apprehension has proven fatal Dorchester resident Emmanuel Damas was arrested in September and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, according to court records His family claims the cause was a slap on the back of Damas’s son ’ s head following a misunderstanding Damas paid bail, but was shortly thereafter apprehended by ICE
Damas would die in ICE custody on March 2, following what his family alleges was an untreated toothache that cascaded into a more serious condition
There is no justice without due process ICE has proven time and again that the goal of their operations is not apprehending dangerous criminals, but terrorizing black and brown communities The best way people can get ahead of ICE action is to stay connected with community organizing groups like LUCE, Quintana said The organization is seeking volunteers for its campaigns throughout the year, including an upcoming May Day march on May 1
They are also currently circulating a petition to remove ICE from Massachusetts courts and to free Juan David, the Springfield resident who was apprehended in December
JACOB DOWNEY
MEET THE ARTIST
Gabriel Joy Reid (they/she) is a cartoonist, animator, and educator originally from Kansas City, Kansas She graduated from Northeastern University with a B A in Film and Animation and from Boston University with an M F A in Visual Narrative
From superheroes to social justice, sci-fi to slice-of-life, she strives to bring joy, knowledge, and hope to anyone who reads her work Her illustration and film work have been featured at the Massachusetts Independent Comic Expo (MICE), The Boston Comics in Color Festival, The Schomburg Center Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, and the Boston International Kids Film Festival
Under her independent publishing company, Sunflower Workshop, Joy mainly creates stories for children and middle-grade audiences especially stories that explore Black, trans, and queer experiences
Her first comic strip, “ THE ADVENTURES OF AARON AND BEATRICE,” premiered in 2023’s issue 161, as part of the Boston Comics in Color spotlight series The comic is a series of slice-of-life episodes inspired by growing up with her sister and fellow artist, Sasha Louise Reid The original character on the front of issue 190 is Stella Nova, a high-energy, video game-playing, space-loving girl from the interstellar future who is also inspired by Sasha!
Joy s next project is a sequel to her award-winning webcomic, “SUPER DAWG AND THE PET CREW ” an all ages superhero adventure
The comic is available to read on WEBTOON Canvas and at gabrieljoyreid com/superdawg Joy also releases several mini-comics throughout the year and can be found at many comic cons and art festivals throughout the Greater Boston area Joy is also the Outreach Coordinator for the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, a nonprofit that fosters community and promotes engagement with the art of comics The foundation hosts several events throughout the year including MICE Boston Comics in Color Festival, Calmer Con, and many other events across New England
Joy wants to thank you for picking up this issue of Boston Compass and supporting the arts in Boston! You can find Joy online at www gabrieljoyreid com and on Instagram @gabrieljoyyy
NOTES FROM THE CREW
Kelsey Deemer is New!
Hiya! Are you enjoying the April BCN so far?
My favorites this month are “ Wake Up The Community” for the inside BTS scoop on WUTE and “Sweet Tooth” because I too feel like a defrosting frog on my way to Felipe’s I wanted to take a smidge of a page to introduce myself: my name is Kelsey and I am delighted to meet you as the production manager of the Boston Compass! I grew up in Indianapolis where I learned to crack jokes like my grandparents and run fast like the racecars I graduated from the University of Vermont where I studied biochemistry and more notably, wrote, edited and humbly served the Water Tower, the campus ’ s alternative newsmag I’ve been researching, running, and dancing at house shows in Boston ever since and I am delighted to support another community focused, artsy, humorously spirited publication
Thank you Sam, Emma, and Marco for graciously teaching me how to drive this thing and trusting me with your hot rod Thank YOU for reading, supporting local artists and learning a little about your neighbors I can’t wait to bring you many more monthly doses of Boston music arts, and happenings!
See ya later!
P S Never hesitate to reach out if you have a comic to share, a cause to promote, or something to say! If you ’ re in Boston and you have an idea, I want to hear it KELSEY DEEMER
