Mr Dreamz magazine SUSHI GANG (FGC Dynasty 2020)

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F G C

D Y N A S T Y

POSITIVE IMPACT

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S - I - N

S U M M E R

SUSHI GANG

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DALESHA & MANNY DANIEL MAZZONE

THE TEAM Editors in Chief Chris de Neptune Joha Brown

Contributors French Vouvou Winnie MC Joel Moran Nicolas Bernard Krislord Fofo Jacques Lenglet Nemanja Krstic

Photographers Lydell Birch Loesje Kessels @tat.viv @centralcaptain @raw_gabe

@agence.neptune1983

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CONTENT

06 ADDICTION feat Izzy Staden

10 THE VOICE feat Lucy Calcines

16 CREATE feat Daniel Mazzone

20 ART feat Louisa Bakh

24 FGC DYNASTY PT.1 feat Sushi Gang (Lil Rari,Jaypole$ & Breski)

32 VIBES feat the band Hollis

34 DANCE feat Tamara Kovalchuk

38 POSITIVE IMPACT feat Dalesha & Manny MR DREAMZ MAG

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COMING SOON w w w. a s t r o n a u t m i n d s e t . c o m

ADDICTION

IZZY STADEN Hey Izzy, can you tell us how long have you been in the music industry?

Hello! I have been playing music since I was 4 years old learning the saxophone, piano and how to sing then when I was 18 I took it seriously and got my degree in songwriting. I only started recently releasing my own music which has been really exciting and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.

@izzy_staden “I’m scared to confront people so I just write songs about them...”

Can you tell us more about your new single “Addiction”? Where did you find the inspiration to write the lyrics? I wrote this song about a very unique situation, I was in a psychiatric unit and met a Jehovas Witness who had some issues with addiction. The song is about how I was in love with him but he was too absorbed by his addiction to reciprocate the feelings. The song also touches on how I was struggling with an eating disorder at the time, which shares a lot of similarities with addiction and how it is unfair for me to judge him when I have similar issues. At the time I wrote this song I was really upset by the whole situation but now I see he was a lovely guy who was very unwell. I genuinely wish him all the best and hope he is doing okay.

We really love the music video! Amazing job!

Who is the team behind that visual? How did you meet Josh Cameron?

My ex boyfriend actually introduced me to Josh and now he is one of my closest friends! His company is called Feed Me Content and he is an

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incredible photographer who has created such unique imagery with my music videos. He is probably the easiest person on earth to get on with, which is so important when taking photos as you can feel very vulnerable but Josh makes me feel at ease and able to try new things. He is an absolute perfectionist and obsessed with symmetry (important for photography but I will never understand it!). He has a great eye for colour too which is important to me because I think of pop music as being colourful and over the top. He also works incredibly quickly he completed my music video in 24 hours?!

Let’s talk about your Youtube channel. You released several videos about Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. What is it? And How does Ehlers Danlos impact your routine?

Elhers Danklos Syndrome is a rare genetic connective tissue disorder, it essentially means you have faulty connective tissue in your body. This impacts everything, I dislocate things very easily, I get very tired, have digestive issues like acid reflux and I have chronic pain throughout my body. I also have a disorder called Mast Cell Activation Disorder which is often seen alongside EDS and this causes breathing problems, random rashes to appear and means I get kidney infections a lot. I try and keep my routine fairly calm and take breaks wherever I can, because I am incredibly hypermobile/double jointed I find it painful to stand for long periods of time because my knees don’t lock they just bend really far back! I take medication to help

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“I think the illness isn’t very well understood, I wanted other people to be able to hear about my experience”

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ADDICTION

“ I felt like I was going crazy because each doctor said I seemed fine when I knew I wasn’t, I knew I was unwell. I just needed someone to do a bit of digging to figure out what was happening.” with the asthma, rashes, acid reflux and kidney infections which is fairly effective. The chronic pain is really difficult to deal with but I just try and rest and get through it. I also have osteoporosis which means I have brittle bones so I can’t do too many extreme sports incase I break a hip. Sometimes my EDS is more difficult than others, right now it is very well managed but sometimes it can become all consuming and I can barely leave the house.

Were you anxious to do that? I mean... to share your own experience on Youtube?

What was the goal behind these videos?

I think the illness isn’t very well understood, I wanted other people to be able to hear about my experience and get some reassurance if they were experiencing the same thing. I didn’t understand the diagnostic criteria and most doctors don’t either as it is such a misunderstood problem. I saw over 10 doctors and only 1 of them knew what EDS really was, the others just said they had no idea and all my blood tests were fine so I shouldn’t worry and sent me on my way. I felt like I was going crazy because each doctor said I seemed fine when I knew I wasn’t, I knew I was unwell. I just needed someone to do a bit of digging to figure out what was happening. I’m not a unique case either, most people with this illness take years to get a diagnosis and I just wanted to offer some reassurance to people that even though it might be incredibly frustrating you can eventually find a doctor that listens and helps.

How has the feedback been? Do you plan to go further in order to help other people who live with the same syndrome?

It has been great, the EDS community is very kind and welcoming. Many people going through the

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diagnostic process have messaged me saying how grateful they are for my video which means so much to me. I want to create more videos around the subject however this illness is still new to me as I was only diagnosed at the beginning of this year! So I want to truly understand the ins and outs of the illness before I start making any recommendations or suggestions to others. I would also be keen to do some fundraising in the future or help at with some charity work around it. I’m very keen to be involved in getting awareness out there about how debilitating this condition can be.

How do you see your future and what are you planning for?

I am planning on releasing more music, hopefully once a month and then seeing where that takes me. I would like to grow my fan base, mostly because I love the messages I get from so many random people! It’s like I have a whole bunch of friends I never would have gotten to speak to otherwise. People are always so sweet to me and I love hearing about their days and some of them make me laugh so much or make smile with their kind words. Everyone always hypes up my dog too which I am all about! I also would like to write for some other artists and see how that goes, I really am in love with writing music and want to do that all day everyday so fingers crossed I can make that happen.

Follow Izzy on Instagram @Izzy_Staden

ADDICTION

“I would like to grow my fan base, mostly because I love the messages I get from so many random people!”

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THE VOICE

LUCY CALCINES

“My coach will.i.am has inspired me tremendously, he’s got a really strong work ethic and he’s extremely talented and creative.”

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THE VOICE

“I haven’t had an overnight success like Justin, but it has really helped me grow my fanbase and thanks to it The Voice UK scouted me to audition after watching my videos.”

L

ucy Calcines is a Cuban-Spanish artist, songwriter and producer. Coming from a family of artists, her passion for music developed at a very young age, when she started posting covers on her YouTube channel which now has over 270K views. Later on in 2019, Lucy released her debut single Ain’t Got Time reaching over 96k views, followed by her Latin Pop ballad Delete and her latest single Pa Ti where her Latin background started to be more present.

In 2020, Lucy Calcines became a contestant of the TV show The Voice UK, reaching over 11 MILLION views on her Blind Audition only, and becoming the most viewed contestant in the shortest period of time up to date in the history of The Voice UK. She is currently coached by the rapper, producer and member of The Black Eyed Peas will.i.am, and a Semi Finalist of the show.

YOUTUBE

It really has been the starting point for everything.

At first I started posting music related content, just covers. However, when I was on my last year of university I decided to focus my dissertation on my YouTube channel and how I could use it to build MR DREAMZ MAG

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a fanbase and my image as an artist. That’s when I started posting Youtuber related content such as vlogs, storytimes, makeup tutorials, etc.. so I it allowed me to build a closer relationship with my fans as well as my brand as an artist. And now my YouTube channel has a little bit of everything, and it really has been the foundation for my career!

THE BEGINNINGS

I started making YouTube videos when I was like around 12 years old, in 2010. I was motivated by 2 things, first of all I have always been a big fan of Justin Bieber, and I still am, and since Justin started his career and got discovered on YouTube I thought it would be a good idea for me to start my own channel and show the world what I could do!

Secondly, because I grew up in the Canary Islands where there are not many opportunities music wise, I decided to take a worldwide approach by posting videos and try to reach a wider audience. I haven’t had an overnight success like Justin, but it has really helped me grow my fanbase and thanks to it The Voice UK scouted me to audition after watching my videos. So I am super happy that I made the decision of starting YouTube when I was young.

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THE VOICE

“I will never forget the feeling of having 4 superstars approving of my talent.”

260k VIEWS

It really means a lot because I’ve been working really hard on my YouTube channel, I do all the filming, editing and everything that has to do with it myself and it takes a really long time. I’m still not as successful as I would like to be, but I am very grateful for my fans and subscribers, and to be honest I would’ve never imagined to achieve this popularity and it’s really rewarding to have an audience that appreciates the content I create and spend hours on. I’m gonna keep working hard to keep growing.

MENTOR

I would definitely say that my coach will.i.am has inspired me tremendously, he’s got a really strong work ethic and he’s extremely talented and creative. He’s not only an artist but a producer and just a creative in general, not only with music but also visuals, etc...He’s a very multidi-

mensional individual, and I’ve learned a lot from him, both performance wise and also about the music business. I really admire him and everything he has achieved in life, and I aspire to be like him one day.

He’s a dope artist so I try to absorb as much knowledge from him as I can.

BEST MEMORIES

Hopefully there will still be memories to be made once the show is resumes with the Semifinal and Final, but so far I would say just to be able to be around the team and the other contestants, because I’ve met amazing people on the show and definitely made some friends for life.

I would also say that getting a 4 chair turn was a highlight and I will never forget the feeling of having 4 superstars approving of my talent. I’ll keep every advice and nice words the coaches have told me in my memory as well.

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EVOLUTION

To be honest I’ve heard of Twitch but I’m not really sure what it is about, I would have to investigate more about it to decide if it would be a good fit for me and my fans. But at the moment I’m focused on growing my Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channel which are the apps where I interact with my fans the most. I do not dismiss the option of using Twitch in the future though.

FUTURE

I would love to be able to continue making music for the rest of my life. I am super focused and working really hard on my career in order to be a successful artist in the music industry in the future, I would love for my music to reach millions of people and be able to make a living from it.

Follow Lucy on Instagram @Lucy.Calcines

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CREATE

DANIEL “Anything you can imagine is real!” aniel Mazzone is a famed artist who became homeless at the age of 15 and has used that to help influence and turn him into the artist he is today.... with folks worldwide calling him the “new Andy Warhol”. Over the last few years his art pieces have gained global fame with some of the world’s top athletes, celebrities and business owners purchasing pieces.

Recently, Daniel has been working with both PETA and Scholas Occurrentes, which is supported by the Pope in Rome. Late last year, Daniel travelled to Rome to meet with the Pope and give him his ar work, one of the first artists to be recognized by the Pope ever. His art is unlike anyone else’s either; He cuts apart old newspaper clippings and materials to form them together to create a larger picture/message.

Hey Daniel, when did you begin pursuing art?

I started pursuing my art full time 10 years ago now. As soon as my first piece was sold, I put all my heart into it from day one. There was no looking back!

What is your opinion on the current state of the art world, and how do you feel about the role of the internet in artists careers?

I would say the art world is blowing up right now. The role of the internet has really changed the game. Now it’s much easier to get you work seen across the world with a click of a button.

Reviewing your works, I fell in love with several ones.

For example, the “Catalaya Cuba” artwork. Who is she? What inspired you to create this piece of art?

That piece was inspired by a trip to Cuba. The story in the picture lays out the history of Cuba before Communism and its current state.

You recently came with something very different and catchy. Your YUME Sculptures. I love them! Can you explain us the concept? The Yume sculptures are actually a child wearing bunny rabbit PJs. It represents the child that becomes the person they are meant to be.

“My ultimate dream would be to be in museums around the world.”

Please tell us about your technique. Your collages have a great number of elements in them. So many details!

My technique is quite complex. There’s lots of research into each piece. I tell a story through the art work. In order to tell the story I collect materials to depict my idea. Once I have all the materials I build the picture like a puzzle piece by piece.

No matter what anybody says or thinks. Even if it means wearing bunny rabbit PJs everyday.

Would you say you have a visual language? Colors, shapes or symbols that are unique to your work?

I would definitely say I have my own language of art. I truly believe that in order to stand out as an artist you have to have signature elements to your work.

What is one quote you like to live life by?

The one quote I live by is from Picasso: “Anything you can imagine is real!”

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I read you met the Pope in Rome! How is your work impacted by your faith, and do you find the reverse to be true? How does art impact your faith?

Art work doesn’t really inspire my faith at all. I keep these things separate in my life.

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CREATE

www.danielmazzoneart.com

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ART

Art. Design. Fashion. Haute Couture.

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ART

LOUISA BAKH

“

I really dream of organizing my personal exhibition in the Dubaï Mall”

HER NAME IS LOUISA BAKH

VIDEO LOVE

I’m from Azerbaijan and I’ve been living in UAE for 6 years. I’ve been painting since my childhood. I’m selftaught. Because we are Kubachins by nationality, art is in our blood. We have a very rich history!

It’s my dream to take away all my ideas for videos and shoot somewhere. I also dream of performing live, in the middle in the crowd. Some kind of film. I also dream of trying myself as a model, but my height, unfortunately, does not fit the standards.

HER STYLE

NO PRESSURE

I am a very versatile person. I have a very different technique from pencil, watercolors, acrylics, oils to pastels.

I really like mixed media and style, so I can’t name my style in any way, because each drawing is individual and drawn according to the mood.

I’ll not say that I have a cool business and a cool income. this is my hobby, my pleasure. I’m not looking for any clients. I can share about myself on Facebook, post my works on Instagram and clients find me on their own. This year, I chose to not take any orders and refused customers, because I wanted to create for myself.

Therefore, for me it is not a forced work, not a business, just pleasure. It’s all about passion and fun!

DEFINITION OF ART

Art as part of life. You know, if it’s not possible to draw during a couple of days, the breakdown starts from the lack of energy transfer of thoughts and feelings. it’s like tearing part of yourself. This is why i really need to create everyday.

FUTURE PLANS

I really dream of organizing my personal exhibition in the Dubaï Mall. This is a dream I have from my first day in Dubaï. I dream of working as a model and I also hope to enter a fashion designer and sew haute couture dresses. Yes, yes, you heard me right, I really like delicate manual work and unfortunately I rarely post such works.

I would also like to cooperate with brands. I am always ready for any creative implementations. Beyond art. I want to help as many needy and sick children as possible. I’ve always dreamt of creating my foundation and saving children’s lives.

BLACK OF RAIN DANCE

Wow, did you watch my video?! This idea lived in my head for many years (by the way, I still have many ideas for video, I look forward to the day when I can realize everything in real life). I really wanted to throw out all my emotions on paper at least once and get dirty from head to toe. After these shootings, I was euphoric for a couple of days from such a pleasure. It was very intense and we spent so much energy in this project. I personally put almost my whole soul to complete this. One of the goal was to show the subtlety of the emotions and feelings of each person.

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FGC

SUSHI GANG The Forever Getting Cash Dynasty presents

9-1-4 to the S-I-N BEGINNINGS

Lil Rari: JayPole$ would come to me for my opinion on his music and one day we talked about me rapping on a song he was working on and from there I have just kept going, that is really how I got started. Important for them to know that el presidente has their back. I always try to find time to mentor them.

JayPole$: I got my start in the industry back when I was in high school, in 9th grade to be exact. I always used to make beats with just a table & a pen and start rapping, I was usually just playing around but then everyone who was around me told me to hit the studio. The first time I hit the studio, I just started going crazy.

STORY

JayPole$: My name is Jaypole$, but everybody calls me Pole$. I’m 24 years old, I grew up in Runyon Heights Projects in Yonkers N.Y. My city is the lost borough in New York. Growing up in Yonkers was rough, I lived on Section 8 and lived off food stamps.

A lot of people have been fed with a silver spoon and don’t understand the real definition of poverty, but I feel I’m an example. My highlights so far are moving from Yonkers to Vegas and having the opportunity to be in the studio 24/7. I met Fame through church and once we started choppin’ it up, I found out that he skates! Ever since then we started kicking it, through-

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out the years we would play basketball and stuff, next thing you know we were always playing around freestyling, my son started saying some tuff shit and I knew we needed to hit the studio. He was on the second track I ever made & I was on his first studio hit ever!

I met Breski in middle school, we started kicking it in 8th grade, then I found out he was into Call of Duty! We started going crazy in GB (game battles). One day I showed him my music and ever since then he has always been supportive and down with me.

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DYNASTY

“I just feel that whatever you want to do in life, go for it, never let others dictate what you can or can’t do.

Be unique and use your creativity.”- Lil Rari

Lil Rari: I’m 23 years old and from Yonkers, NY. I love music and clothes. Before I was making music, I was very interested in the fashion industry and it is something I really enjoy. One of my favorite highlights so far has been having my first interview on Shade 45 with Lord Sear, just knowing that people were going to get to know me from the radio felt great.

I first met JayPole$ when I was 11 or 12 years old, we went to the same church and he’s been like my brother ever since. A few years later I met Breski in school, we ended up having a lot of mutual friends and over time we also formed a brotherhood.

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ARTIST NAME

JayPole$: I got my name by always being 10 toes down through everything & every situation I’ve ever been through, being safe at all times is a must. I want to show people that I’m not playing around & I’m here to stay.

Lil Rari: Honestly, my artist name comes from the love of my favorite car the Fer”RARI” and at the time, everyone was throwing “lil” in front of everything, so I just put the two together and I liked how it sounds, it really just rolls off the tongue.

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“Everyone at FGC has faith in me to do great things and I don’t plan on letting any of them down.”

Lil Rari WWW.FG C S T U DI O S. C O M @ LIVELIKESKI

C HAR L IE_ FAME

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@ R E AL JAYP O L ES

DYNASTY

“It’s all about taking risks and moving up. It’s about taking that extra step and that’s what we did”- Jaypole$ MENTORS

Lil Rari: It means the world to me to be a part of the FGC family. I am excited that I am finally getting my chance to share my talents with the world. I am looking forward to this opportunity, everyone at FGC has faith in me to do great things and I don’t plan on letting any of them down.

JayPole$: Growing up I was influenced by ASAP Rocky, ASAP Yams & Jay Z. As a teen growing up, they were all I listened to! I feel like they connected to me music wise with the things they will say.

Lil Rari: Travi$ Scott, Lil Yachty & XXXTentacion

SUSHI GANG

WORKFLOW

Lil Rari: I came up with the name Sushi Gang. I got it from a web series that I used to watch, but I changed the name up a little. It started as an inside joke, it means having raw sex, (because sushi is raw fish) but after time it just kinda stuck with us and we kept it going.

Lil Rari: I make my music based on how I’m feeling, where I’m at in life is often reflected in my music. I literally spend most of my day listening to beats and looking for new beats that I think are cool. Once I find a beat, I like to freestyle over it and think of melodies I can use for it. When I think of something I like, I jot it down and then pretty much I am able to write the rest of the song from there.

FUTURE PLANS

JayPole$: I’m focused up on my EP right now that’s dropping soon! And when I am in the studio I go crazy, I have so much unreleased music, I might just drop 2 mixtapes at once! I am locked in everyday with my brothers in the studio. I’m giving a shoutout to my brother Kev, he’s going crazy, he’s the engineer on all of my songs since I’ve moved to Vegas. Shout-out the gang, it’s time to go up!!

JayPole$: I choose my beats first, I go off the vibe of the beat. If it’s a trap type vibe I talk about trap stuff, if it’s a love type beat Ima talk about the ladies, feel me? But I also like to freestyle to see if I like the beat, if I can’t freestyle on it, I am most likely not going to use that beat.

FGC FAMILY

Lil Rari: I have just been recording like crazy, making a bunch of songs and working on a lot of videos. Once I get all of that complete, I am going to start making my first mixtape.

JayPole$: This is an opportunity I couldn’t miss! It’s all about taking risks and moving up. It’s about taking that extra step and that’s what we did, I’m saying “we” because we’re all a family. And it’s only up from here! This means a lot to me & it’s time to turn up!

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LEADER

BRESKI

LEGACY BUILDER . DECISION MAKER VOCATION

First thing before I start, I would like to say thank you for letting us be a part of this movement. As a DJ, I discovered the love for my craft after a few house parties I hosted during my high school years. People pay attention to who’s actually controlling the music in the room, because they know that if the DJ is playing the right music & not messing up the vibe, they will want that DJ at the next venue or event. As a kid I grew up listening to everything, I listened to Big L, Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Nas, Lil Wayne, anyone you can bring up after 1996 I was somewhat familiar with. Once I got to high school is when things changed, a whole new generation of artists/rappers came into play.

With me being Spanish & having family members that listen to Bachata, Dembow, Reggaetón, it helped me learn when to change the vibes at events/parties. Since my freshman year in high school I’ve been working on my progress as a DJ, I’m still not where I want to be.

MODELS

As of right now, DJ’s I look up to are DJ Chase B, DJ Static Selector, DJ Spinking, DJ Quincy, & DJ Drewski. I have so many producers, I can list a good 30 producers that are just different at what they do. Producers that I can say that I really rock with their work are Pierre Bourne, Oscar100, Gnealz, Jetsonmade, & Cash Cobain.

A lot of people would rather follow the lit crowd instead of building for their own city. We are not going to sit around and let our talent be wasted. We aren’t built like those other labels you’re familiar with.

STRATEGY

When it comes to an artist trying to get exposure, it’s about how you represent yourself, your team & craft. Don’t be an artist that just puts out work on SoundCloud, I’m not saying to stop using SoundCloud, but expand and get on all platforms. Startup merchandise for your fans so they can support you, even with just wearing one of your shirts.

Make sure you’re always promoting your work.

SKILLS

You have to be able to work 24/7. You need to be on top of what’s buzzing, where’s the crowd at, what’s pulling listeners. You have to be able to give constructive criticism, make sure you know about music not just who you’re managing. A good manager should also be able to give the artist help with flows, melody, etc. I’m able to tell you if an artist has potential in the music industry or if he/she is just another artist trying to build without guidance. Make sure you are always pushing your artist, there is no time to slack off.

SHOUT OUTS

FUTURE PLANS

As a manager, you always have to be ready for whatever comes your way. It’s about taking risks & making sure you’re investing into your artists, making sure they are on top of their game/craft. Even though I am the manager for SUSHI/FGC, we are family before anything. Our plan is to do what people couldn’t do for us while they sit back and watch us work for our dreams. We are building a legacy!

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I would like to thank Moka Blast, he has believed in our vision since the beginning. Moka is the reason we made the move to Vegas. None of this would have been possible without him, I appreciate him. I would like to shout out my Mom, my Dad, Nuni, CHD Chubz, Fame, Pole$, Lotto, Mellz, Kristal, Gaby, JP, John, the whole Sushi gang & the whole FGC family! Wish I could keep the list going! WE GOIN’ UP FAMILY!!!

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“There is no time to slack off”

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DR MZ

THE NEW ERA FOR A NEW GENERATION OF DREAMERZ

OLLE$ E$ JJAAYYPPO

VIBES

HOLLIS “The greatest feeling to us as artists is to watch our craft evolve and be proud of the entire process.”

Hello Holli, Hannah and Halla and welcome to you girls! :) How did you get started with playing and creating music all together?

We grew up in a family of musicians and singing in church as a family. That’s where we learned to sing and practiced harmonizing together. We started writing songs in 2008 when Holli went to college, Hannah was in 9th grade, and Halla was in 6th grade. Holli would come home on the weekends and share what she had been writing, and we would help edit her song and sing together for hours. Our age differences made it difficult to be a group until 2016 when we were all out of high school and living together in Florence, AL. That’s when we started recording and playing shows, and we released our first single in 2017.

Let’s talk a bit about the process. What is the role of each of you?

We always start our writing days with brunch with our producer Philip Towns. We talk about everything we are going through and have on our mind. Then we go to his studio and our songwriting begins. We usually start with a melodic idea and our producer builds a track based off of the melodies we are singing. Everyone in the room gives input on lyrics and forms the song. Holli usually has tons of lyrics written in her notes that she pulls out, Hannah always has a melody or countermelody to add in, and Halla is a great editor for our ideas and usually adds that “one line” that the song was missing. Halla is quick to let us know if our idea is trash. Haha Philip takes all of our ideas and helps give it structure. We can write a song and create a demo in about 4 hours. It’s such a fun and creative process. Our studio days are our favorite days!

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Who is the most creative? The most productive?

The laziest one lol?

It depends on the day! We are all really creative, productive, and lazy- all in different ways but often at the same time. Haha we feed off of each others’ moods and energy. If one of us is feeling creative and wanting to write a song or think of ideas for social media, we all usually join in. If one of us isn’t feeling it and just really tired and needing a day off, we all take the day off and go get coffee. If we are feeling productive, it’s usually because we planned to be productive together. We are all very much accountable to each other in that way. We have learned that HOLLIS doesn’t work unless we work together- which we learned the hard way. Haha Do you have any favorite places or times where you like to write? We did a writer’s retreat in the Smokey Mountains last fall that was really nice. We love to write at the beach or at our family lake house; anywhere that we can get alone and settle our mind. Hannah writes a lot in the car when she’s alone and will go for drives just to get song ideas.

Which musicians and songwriters have been the greatest influence?

We grew up listening to predominantly Christian artists like Amy Grant, Avalon, and Stacey Orico. They were our only form of “pop” music growing up, and we loved them. Mariah Carey Christmas was a staple in our house, and we practiced her runs more times than can be counted. We learned how to harmonize from an Avalon song we sang together and our parents, both musicians and singers, taught us the parts. We grew up just loving to sing together. As we got older, we listened to classics like Michael Jackson, The Carpenters, and

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VIBES

#HOLLISTHEBAND Dolly Parton. We loved country music in 2012, obsessing over Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood. Then when we were in college, we started diving head first into pop music and felt right at home. We love that it can be as deep or as light hearted as you want, as long as you have a catchy melody and the song is under 3 minutes. Haha We learn from every album we listen to, and lately that has been Lennon Stella, Charlie Puth, Drake, and Kacey Musgraves.

HUNG UP

now available on SPOTIFY

We fell in love with your single HUNG UP! Do you also plan to shoot a music video for it?

Thank you! We made a music visual that we released on our social media platforms (@hollistheband). Our youngest sister Hope (yes, we all have “H” names) shot it on an iPhone, and we edited it together. It was cool because we were at the beach during our release for Hung Up, so all the shots are of us on vacation, enjoying our time together and not getting hung up on any boys! Haha We thought it represented the idea of the song perfectly.

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From OUT OF BLOOD to HUNG UP, how has your music evolved?

What’s interesting about this evolution is that we are still working with the same producer Philip Towns since 2015. We have learned together in this process of creating our sound which we feel is really special. We are proud of what Out for Blood is because it signifies our start. We were still unsure then what HOLLIS was supposed to sound like, but we knew we wanted it to be something like that. Over the years, the many songs we have written, and the few we released, we learned to simplify our sound and really execute what we want the listener to hear and nothing more. We also use our vocals to build our tracks instead of using heavy instrumentation.

We feel that is our signature. The biggest difference in OFB and Hung Up is that we know who we are and what we want people to hear from our music.

The greatest feeling to us as artists is to watch our craft evolve and be proud of the entire process.

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Follow the sisters on Instagram @HollisThe Band

KULTURE DANCE

B E A U T I F U L M I N D x C R E AT I V E S O U L

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DANCE

Tamara Kovalchuk DANCE

CHOREOGRAPHY

TURNING POINT

CHEERLEADING

I always loved to dance, since I was a little girl. My mom used to dance growing up, so I think she inspired me a lot to do it and she always supported me. I used to dance all the time, in my house, in front of the tv, in a restaurant, at every birthday party or family event, so my parents decided to put me in dance classes when I was 7 years old.

Since then, I never stopped dancing.

I could say a lot of things, that it constitutes in the musicality, the projection of the movements, the stops, the change of speeds, the levels, the formations. But in the end, all that matters, at least to me, is what the choreography tells, what message is giving, what impact has, what makes you feel. Otherwise, it’s just an empty combo.

I was part of the international program for the MDC, and that lasted 3 years. But, I also felt that I was ready to move on to the new opportunities that were out there for my career. I was so lucky to do everything and more than what I ever dreamed with the team, 30 NFL games, one of them in the Wembley Stadium in London, military tours all over the world, calendar shoot trips, fashion shows, getting involved with the community, teaching dance classes among a lot of other beautiful opportunities, so when I left, I felt really gratified and thankful.

The real turning point in my career was when I got offered an opportunity to do a tour in Mexico as a back up dancer.

That decision made me leave my country and from there, magical things started to happen. A lot of learning, a lot of new possibilities and a lot of accomplishments that I never even dreamed that I would be capable to achieve. Working on theatre, TV, movies, commercials, music videos, concerts, tours! After living in Mexico City for a year and a half, I heard on the news that the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders were doing international auditions so I decided to go. I never imagined that that decision would change my life. At first, I was moving to Miami just for 9 months and it ended up being an adventure of 3 years with the team.

After finishing my contract with them, I decided to keep pursuing my dance career in the US. I’ve had the chance to work with artists, choreographers and directors that I really admire.

TIME MANAGEMENT

I believe balance is the hardest thing in life, but I try to do it by prioritizing the proyects that mean the most to me or that require more of my effort and time. Right now that we are living in this very special situation, I think it’s good to use the extra time to review our goals to take advantage to reinvent ourselves in order to keep growing and keep getting better. But always listening to ourselves, to what we need and what we feel. Because to find balance in our lives, we must first be in harmony with ourselves.

ART

To me, “Art” means love, freedom and honesty. Love, because when artists create it’s an act of love, for our own selves and for others, there’s no art without love. Freedom, because we don’t need anything to experience it, nobody can’t take it from us because it comes from within and it gives us the possibility to free us from our own thoughts, to free all those feelings that sometimes we can’t express.

Honesty, because I believe that Art can’t lie. I always say that when someone is being honest with their expression, it can’t never be wrong, because it’s simply true.

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Follow Tamara on Instagram @TamaraKovalchukk Photos credits @tat.viv @centralcaptain @raw_gabe

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KULTURE POSITIVE

“We want to make the world comfortable with blind people like us. We want our life as a couple, and as parents, to open minds and shatter every misconception held by the public.” www.daleshaslife.com

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IMPACT

DALESHA & MANNY What are the biggest misconceptions people have about blind people?

There are two big misconceptions that we’ve seen time and time again. The first is the assumption by the general public that a blind person always needs help. The best thing a person can do is ask if a blind person needs any assistance.

The second misconception is believing that a blind person can’t speak for themselves. When we go out to eat, many waitresses ask Manny what Dalesha would like to order when they see her white cane.

Dalesha and Manny aka Dalesha’s life - A legally blind couple who started a YouTube channel entitled “Dalesha’s Life” which shares the day-to-day life, achievements and sometimes struggles of being one of the America’s only legally blind interracial couples. They believe that opening up their life for everyone to see will help in beginning to change those misconceptions some have about blind people.

Hey Dalesha and Manny. First of all, tell us who you are, where you are from and how did you two meet?

Thanks for talking with us! Well let’s see, Dalesha was born in Belize and came to the US at 8 months old. I, Manny was born in southern Illinois to two parents who were born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We met at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in 2007. Two years later, we started dating and haven’t been apart since!

What, if any, do you feel are the positives to having a disability?

The largest positive of having a disability is, without a doubt, the ease with which we can see the world for what it is. Since society doesn’t consider us as “normal”, we have the ability to observe situations from an “outside the box” perspective.

“Since society doesn’t consider us as ‘normal’ we have the ability to observe situations from an ‘outside the box’ perspective.”

Why did you decide to start your own YouTube channel?

Dalesha decided to start our channel in 2016. She wanted not only to show our life as a blind couple, but also entertain as many people as possible with our day-to-day adventures and back and forth banter.

How do you balance deadlines and expectations from your subscribers when you’re not feeling too great?

Our motto is: “the viewer comes first”. We have dedicated our time to showing and sharing our life with our audience.

Our feelings come second, our job comes first.

Can you tell us a little about your disability and how it impacts your day-to-day life? We were both born legally blind and see about the same amount. Legal blindness is defined by the Social Security Administration as having 10% of the visual ability that a 20/20 person has - we have 5%.

Reading signs at a distance is pretty difficult for us. Identifying items on a store shelf while also staying 6 feet away from other shoppers is also challenging for us.

Do you face discrimination from people online who just want to be mean? How do you cope with this?

That’s an interesting question. We luckily haven’t experienced this yet. Comments born out of honest ignorance do occur at times though. We have chosen to answer every comment and every question as honestly and transparently as possible.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

Well, we can’t reveal too much right now, but there is one big thing that we can share today. We are seriously planning and discussing starting a family in the next year or two. The biggest thing that is standing in the way is the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. We are really excited to have our first child and sharing our journey as legally blind parents with our viewers.

What have you found to be the biggest challenges of creating a Youtube channel with your disability?

Good question! Well I think we’d both agree that editing our videos is the most difficult. Using the vision she has, in combination with an app called VoiceOver that auditorily reads what is on the screen, Dalesha has become quite proficient with the video editing process.

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