Blog
Art RADIO
New episodes drop Mondays at 8:00AM.
Available without a subscription or account creation on Anchor FM.
Also available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Radio Public, Breaker, and Pocket Casts.
Episode 3 Kwe
Episode audio and synced transcript are available via Descript here.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Hello and welcome to Art RADIO. Art RADIO is a podcast hosted by the Siskiyou County Arts Council located in Northern California on the land of the Achomawi, Karuk, Klamath, Konomihu, Modoc, Okwanuchu, Pit River, Northern Wintu, Shasta, Winnemem Wintu tribes. We offer recognition and respect to these tribes, and all others, as we connect on native land.
With Art RADIO, we aim to uplift the creative voices of the county through this podcast medium. With the geographical landscape being a large challenge of connecting with each other, the podcast radio waves will be the connecting thread. Our priority at the Siskiyou County Arts Council is to cultivate strong and creative communities in Siskiyou County because we believe the arts are a societal cornerstone that celebrates diverse cultures and a shared history.
To keep up with grant opportunities, or our projects such as the art cart, subscribe to our newsletter by visiting our website siskiyouarts.org. S I S K I Y O U A R T S . O R G. Thanks again for listening to Art RADIO; have a creative day!
Today on Art RADIO we have poet and musician Kwe. He’s located in Weed, California. Now, before we start, let us sit together please and let’s meditate and ground ourselves. So, wherever you are sitting listening to this, please slow down and take a pause. Stop whatever you’re doing, breathe. Turn your attention inward. Notice your body sensations. Get curious and interested in what’s going on in your body. Like your head; is it comfortable? Your neck, shoulders, torso, hips, legs, and feet? Make sure they’re planted comfortably. Notice any emotions you may have. Do you feel anxious? Do you feel at peace? Make room for images in your mind to pop up. Listen in to your thoughts, invite any adjustments and let’s have then 10 seconds of silence and I’ll count and bring you back in. Here we go.
3, 2, 1. All right. Thank you. Hello Kwe, how are you today?
Kwe: Hi, Bridgétt. I’m great, thank you for having me.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, thanks for spending some time with us today. It’s really great to talk to you.
Kwe: Yes, it’s good to see you again. It’s been a, it’s been a long time with all this isolation.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I know this is good enough for me to see you, at least in this capacity. It’s really great. So, let’s start off by asking you how your day was today? What did you do?
Kwe: My day today was, was great. It was transformative full of transformative energies. I got a little bit of work done in the morning was able to shift my attention to some, some creative works that’s been in the works for a long time and come into completion. So that’s some music, a music album, and then working on that in the afternoon and then looking forward to this interview with, with you just bringing back memories about the context in which we met and then those experiences. And so it’s just been a pretty transformative day, just trying to, yeah, just feeling the, the shift in terms of the texture of my life and having more creativity and more calm peace on my daily. Yeah, that’s how I feel today.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Awesome. Thank you for sharing that. What kind of music do you make?
Kwe: Well, I started in, you know, hip hop as many… many young black males growing up in the nineties, but always had a love for poetry. And so I also did a lot of spoken word collaborations and over time that evolved into more of a devotional… devotional roots sound. Yeah, that’s, that’s what this current album is, is devotional roots music. It’s called The Bright Side.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Thank you, we’ll get back to that a little later. If you could tell us right now, where you actually live or where you have lived in Siskiyou County?
Kwe: Yeah, so I at first came to Shasta first discovered Shasta in 2008 and try to make a move up here back in 2012. That wasn’t quite the time and was able to move into Mount Shasta city actually in 2018 where I was living until this past April, where I recently just moved to Weed, just a few miles next door.
So, it’s still in the, still at the base of the mountain. Which is the main reason that really that I’m here is I think is really the mountain that drew me the experience of living at the base of the mountain and then spend some time camping. And so even though I’m in Weed, I spend a lot of time in Shasta still.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It’s a great place and I was telling our audio guy, Aaron, that everywhere you go, the mountain looks different. Like every city the perspective of it is just… it’s like meeting the mountain again for the first time.
Kwe: Absolutely. I actually, on, on that note recently, I had even a new a discovery, even a newer face of the mountain when I, some friends of mine came up for the weekend from the Bay Area and we got to go to the Pluto Caves.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Oh Yea!
Kwe: And coming out of there and looking at the mountains from that side, I was like, oh wow! I’d never seen this perspective of it. So, yeah, totally concur on that.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: How does it look from that, Pluto Caves? I haven’t been there yet.
Kwe: I feel like you see more of the, the two mounds, the distinction of the two mounds, more clearly. And yeah, as opposed to the face that you typically see from Shasta, but…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Right.
Kwe: Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I love talking about the mountain.
Kwe: She is, she is full of magnetism. Definitely.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yes, all that… it’s a good time to ask you this question; if the mountain was a person, how would you describe her? Since you described her as a her.
Kwe: Yes. Definitely, a her because… and that’s… that’s a great question, actually, because when I first came up here, I just felt like… I still think of Shasta as a mother, right? Like, the mother energy. Because it was my first time coming up here and I spent some years just kind of camping around and and it was my first time, anywhere in the world where anywhere I would stop, was good enough. I could spend the night there. You know, it was just as long as I just felt like taken care of and, and, and secure and, and just, you know, I never felt like that anywhere else. So yeah, definitely a mama.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’s sweet. What are your favorite places to visit in Siskiyou County?
Kwe: Aside from the mountain, you mean?
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Aside from the mountain yes, aside from mama mountain.
Kwe: I, I really enjoy the lake especially in the…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Lake Siskiyou?
Kwe: Lake Siskiyou Castle Lake Heart Lake; even made a, made a try a few years back, I believe it’s called Little Bear Lake up in the Trinity Alps. I’m not quite sure the name…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yes.
Kwe: But yeah, that was really special. That was a really special place. Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah. There’s so many, there’s so many little places, right?
Kwe: Oh, absolutely. I feel like I’ve been, I’ve been coming here for over 10 years and have just scratched the… barely scratched the surface in terms of exploration. And someone recently I met was just rattling off all the names of all these lakes that were around. I was like, wow. Okay. I never heard of some of these names. So yeah, definitely a lot of exploration to do.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It requires exploration, right? Because when you go, I was going to, where was I going? To Castle Lake. And I decided to take one of the off roads that is kind of like unmarked and I found another lake, and I was just so excited because it was really beautiful and a little bit more secluded. Because, you know, with a lot of tourists coming in and they start to become really inundated with people. And so sometimes you want a quiet place and I just happened to find one and I was really excited about that.
Kwe: Yeah, those are, those are pretty special around here.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Mm hm, it is.
Kwe: There’s one river spot down Old Stage Road in the area by Cantara Loop that I really enjoy, also. Doesn’t get as crowded, visited.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Right, because you can’t really look up places. Like there’s like different websites, of course, that list off places, but you don’t really know until you get there or what are the good spots.
Kwe: Yeah, and, and especially for me, at least, the experience for a lot of these spots where, you know, just through locals, just kind of spending time and showing me those, those gems.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: What do you think you… Siskiyou has to offer that you can’t experience anywhere else?
Kwe: Just the pristine, the abundance of just pristine nature, I think is a, you know, a real wealth of the county. And the wellness that, that brings on so many levels, right? For, for being able to live closer and be more in rhythm with nature, it does… it does a lot.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It does. Whenever you visit somewhere outside of Siskiyou County, and then you come back to Siskiyou County, on that drive what does it feel like to you?
Kwe: Oh, yeah, that’s right. There’s a, there’s a definite point if, you know, cause I typically come from the south from like the Bay Area and so there’s a definite point passing Redding, yeah. I think everybody feels it where there’s like a, you know, a tangible shift. You know, in, in the whole energy around and, and this lightness of being comes in and this joy and, and then levity. Yeah. It’s just like exhilaration; exhilarating the rest of the drive. And then when you get to see the mountain it’s just even more like, oh, okay, here we go. Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: And it doesn’t get old seeing the mountain, right?
Kwe: Seeing the mountain or…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: The whole Drive, the whole experience….
Exactly or driving up here because, because in terms of that, it’s always unique.
Kwe: Right? There’s always some unique twist at the arrival that makes it like no other.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: And the sun changes everything.
Kwe: Yeah. The clouds around the mountain. Right. Marking a lot of things like the first time that I, that I came to Shasta was in 2008. And I was invited up here actually for music. The first thing that we did when we got here was to go to the sweat lodge and it was raining that day. So when we got in, that was all grey, didn’t get to see the mountain and the next day, same thing and went to the sweat lodge. Raining when we went in and then when we came out, it’s like clear skies, the sun shining, a blue bird, like, in the trees. And I was like, oh, whoa, what just happened? And this was at the, at the sweat lodge that used to be at the Stewart Springs and then coming down that road, down Stewart Springs road, and then taking that turn and just seeing the mountain for the first time with like a rainbow over it. And I right then and there, I was like, I have to live here. So, yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It truly lives up to its name where heaven meets earth. All right. Well, thank you for sharing that. Well, I’ll go onto the next question. So how has the art scene for you right now in Siskiyou County and where do you feel that you fit in as an artist?
Kwe: Well right now, I think given the circumstances since last February, I don’t really feel much connected to the art scene because I’ve been pretty much in, you know, sheltering and in isolation.
And I’ve been also, as I mentioned at the beginning, it’s, it’s given me a lot of time to actually further some of my own, some of my own projects that I hadn’t had the time to complete. And so it kind of gave me a chance to go more inward more, get more clear with where I’m at and where as, you know, how I, yeah, just in terms of like what I want, what I want and what I need to express irrespective of what’s happening on the musical art scene. No, sorry, I don’t have a much more informed answer in terms of that.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: No, that’s good.
Kwe: But in terms of where I fit in, I think, I think you know, with this project Music is Healing, the place where… which really got incubated here in Shasta and got a lot of its character and, and definition from just Siskiyou County and then the art scene out here. And then, and… and where I fit in was, is in terms of, of poetry, sound healing, community festivals, music, musical education, for children, and for families, and just really exploring. And, and, and it fleshing out this notion that music is more than entertainment, right? That music is a healing force, right? It’s a healing power, has healing powers and on so many levels that we are starting to rediscover or understand better.
And so I think that’s where I’ll always kind of fit in irrespective of like the genre of music that I might be into at the time, you know? As I said, I started in hip hop and going into roots reggae, and now it’s more devotional. So, my needs are going to evolve as, as, as I change as an individual. But, but I think in terms of like the goal and the mission it’s, it’s more in terms of that, like music is healing.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Thank you. I definitely felt by going to your… your music demonstration with my son that you really emphasize that music was a way of connecting. It’s another form of language. And since my son really couldn’t talk too much at that time, it was really fun to share some movements with him; he liked the clapping and the kind of like the beats.
So, that was really great so, thank you for that.
Kwe: Oh, thanks.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Where is your favorite spot in the county to experience art? And this can be before the pandemic, pre-pandemic.
Kwe: Well, actually, since you brought up the the workshop, actually that happens to be one of my, and that’s one of the reasons that I approached them to host it there, like POPS Cultural Center for the Arts.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, Victor.
Kwe: Victor and Allison. Yeah, no, that would probably be the space that I would say that I, you know, I, I enjoy. I think they, they do some creative, some creative works. When I first came, the first show that I had in Shasta was at a venue called The Stage Door in 2009, but that shut down years ago. And I remember that had a very community vibe to it as well. And so, and also I re… Discovered recently the Jefferson Center for the Arts. I think they do some cool, some cool things there. Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: They do. Awesome. So tell me a little bit about your art in particular; is there… like what kind of music… you said you’re working on more devotional right now; is that very personal for you?
Kwe: Yes. Yes.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: And how will you decide when you do a performance, what you will play, will you play the more devotional, which is more personal, or the other types of music?
Kwe: I think in terms of, you know, performance versus production, again, going back to communication and… and… and making connections, right? Like I, that’s more how I think of performance. So a performance for… the selections for a performance will very much be impacted by the audience, the context and, you know, the time and place where this will take place. And then also, obviously, some of the, some of the things happening. At the time that some of my songs or poems might, might speak to so it’s, it’s, you know, try to customize and tell a story that, that the audience can, can connect to.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Right. Do you have any particular songs that we could plug here?
Kwe: You mean songs that are, that are released?
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That are accessible to someone, yeah.
Kwe: Yeah. Actually during the, during the pandemic, we released a couple of singles on the Music is Healing YouTube channel.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Okay.
Kwe: One for a song called “Amen Ra” and another song called “Resist,” both produced by Circadian Riddims, which is a production collective based out in Boston. Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: OK.
Kwe: So those, those two tracks where some early releases from the album just to let the people know that the album is forthcoming and then also to, to… again, speaking back to the events at the time, you know, the single release came, the single “Resist” came out right after the George Floyd situation happened.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: OK.
Kwe: In many ways, for me in, in putting that video out at that time was really prompted by those events and what was happening around the world at the time. And again, trying to express that message of resilience in the face of these trials, right? And, and that, you know, it’s very easy for the, for the pendulum to swing one way, but, but we have to believe in, and actually transform, not just believe in, but we actually actually like, it’s an act of resistance, right? To, to change; it’s not a passive act. And so, yeah, I think those, those two songs are out.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: This was your action?
Kwe: Yes, that was my action, as well as, you know, some, some, some, some poems at the time that was circulated and, and, and not performed at the time but will be performed actually this weekend at an artwork up and up in Oregon. Ashland.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’ll be beautiful experience. Can you tell us where that will be?
Kwe: Yeah, that will be at the railroad park. I think it starts on ah Friday.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Oh Yeah.
Kwe: Yeah. And they going to have a artwork. This is from the, the song Amivi Sangha, From a Brethren. The brother Mmmingpha up there, who’s organizing it and they have an art exhibit at the Art & Soul Gallery in downtown Ashland, featuring several artists, local artists. And again, speaking back on this theme of what’s been happening socially in terms of like the violence and the brutality and the murders and the art exhibit is kind of a collaboration between artists who express a message around that then coalesce community response to bring about some changes some effective changes by working with the the mayor’s office. And, and so they have some other things that are going on, but I’m just going to support and and be part of the presentation.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It’s really important to express how you feel, especially as a black man and especially in this county. I think this is a highly dom… white dominated in the arts sort of type of area. And so I feel like even just talking to you is bringing me some, like, really calm feelings to know that, you know because I am Mexican, you know, I’m brown, that I’m not alone. So thank you for sharing your talent with the world.
Kwe: Give thanks.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Do you have a message of hope or encouragement to offer the fellow artists of Siskiyou County?
Kwe: A message of hope…?
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Or encouragement, or just a statement on, on the arts in general, or just kind of like more of a call to action type of thing, or just maybe something that someone can… an idea, a concept or an idea someone can meditate over.
Kwe: Yeah. I think the in terms of the, the message that I, I have for really, for the world, right is beginning here in Siskiyou County and Mount Shasta and through the Music is Healing project is, is the unity through music. This is the festival that we began organizing back in 2016. But that got interrupted with the pandemic and other things, but the, the purpose of that festival and the, the, the message behind that festival is really that to encourage… you know, artists we’re in, in many ways I think, and I don’t believe I’m the only one, but I think of artists as many ways, like on the frontline of whatever is happening culturally and socially, in terms of…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yes.
Kwe: Speaking and expressing and communicating messages, and coalescing actions, around around certain things. Clearly there are other mediums to, to affect that to take the action, but that’s the way in which I think of the arts. Right? And so the unity, unity through music is, is the core message in terms of what I believe the purpose of the arts is at this very core, right? To remind us what it means to be a human being because human beings make art, express art and it’s not a question of your color, your gender, your age, or any of these social and cultural concepts. And yeah, so I, I feel that…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I guess that relates a little bit to the question is being an artist, a lifestyle or hobby? I feel like you answered it by saying, being an artist is a human.
Kwe: Yes. Yes.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Being a human, right?
Kwe: I was born in, in, you know probably should, should have said that at first, but I was born and…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: No worries.
Kwe: raised in west Africa, I was born in Cameroon. My mother is from Ghana and there’s a saying back home in many places that goes something to the effect of: ‘If you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing,’ right? Meaning that this, this artistic impulse is a natural thing and, and it shouldn’t, it shouldn’t be something that is, is made, you know, only for a certain select few or, or yeah. So that’s, that’s what…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It’s definitely a way of way of life, right?
Kwe: Absolutely. Absolutely. And yeah, you know, we can go on and on about that, but I just stick to the questions.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, absolutely. I am glad that you said that it’s really important for people to expand their views on what art is and what art can be. Because art is more for me, personally, art is more of a feeling and it’s like the way I feel with something. It can come through the different senses. It can come through my eyes and come through my ears, my body, you know it’s just a different, it, it varies depending on the, depending on who I am, honestly. I mean how I feel on every day and how I evolve, so; it’s ever-changing.
Kwe: Yes. Yes, exactly. You know, at its highest form, I think art is an experience, right? In terms of those or all of what you mentioned. Yeah, we can commodify it and have it as a product. We can break it down and analyze it as a, as a process. But really at the end of the day it’s meant to be experience, right? And enacted…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yes.
Kwe: …as a lifestyle, right? Just participation. It’s a participatory thing.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It really is.
Kwe: Yeah, so I think, you know, with, with that background and, and understanding, which is the result of just my upbring and some of the influences over, over my life around these questions is what brings me to notions like music is healing and unity through music and, and words, sound life, and, and just creating contexts for people to experience that participatory aspect of, of the arts because one, one particular incident that I remember when I lived in Chicago was going to a music show to see great art jazz musician, Roscoe Mitchell, performing a solo. And I remember listening and closing my eyes at one point, it sounded like four people playing saxophone. And I was like, ‘wow.’ You know, I just barely move barely stayed, stayed in my chair. And I looked around the room and everyone was just spectating. Just kind of like looking at him. Hmm, that’s interesting. And that’s why I was like, this is not meant to be experienced like this, like we need to…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Your spirit was lifting up and everyone’s just like, ‘right.’
Kwe: You know? And so I think, you know, there’s some, there’s some aspects about our, our technological society that, that’s taken away, some, some of these aspects of some of these experiential aspects of art, right? In terms of really what it, what it is, right? Because once it gets too commodified then becomes like just consumption. Then it’s not really appreciated and seen on that level, which I think is part…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Because then you start valuing it, versus on its monetary value, versus how you feel about it and its impact.
Kwe: Yeah. So if anything, I would say in terms of your question about the call to the artists would be around that, right? Not to devalue the arts, right? To hold it up.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Exactly. Well, thank you. Well, this is just like one of the last questions. What is another artist or group of artists you would like to give a shout out here to?
Kwe: Oh, so many are there, I mean, I already mentioned Victor and the Allison. Hm. Also should probably give a, not sure, but I also want to give a big shout out to Arkitek Gilead Balm Sounds and, uh, OK.
That’s another local DJ sound system and artist that have been, you know, known for a very long time crucial on the scene.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Right. Perfect. And is there anything else you’d like to say here that you feel called to say at this moment ?
Kwe: No just thank you really for, for inviting me in to be a part of this podcast, I think is a wonderful idea to get this conversation started, or, you know, keep this conversation going
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, of course.
Kwe: And I’m happy to be part of it. Please shout out to all the creators and change makers out there. Keep doing your thing, making your moves much love to my family and my parents and blessings in the name of the Lord. Bless.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Beautiful. Thank you much gratitude to you. So where can everyone find you online?
Kwe: Oh as far as that, the website for the project is…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah.
Kwe: musicishealing.us, and
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: OK.
Kwe: From there you can get connected to, or, you know, my own artists pays some of the other artists in the collective and then all of that.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Okay. And is that it? Is that the only one?
Kwe: Yeah, that’s the only one I’m going to put out there right now, because you know, I think it’s more of the hub. So if anybody goes there, they can share.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Sure, yeah.
Kwe: They can connect to anything, musicishealing.us. Musicishealing.us.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Thank you for making Siskiyou County and even more beautiful place to live in and happy creating.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Art RADIO. Be sure to check out our Facebook page Siskiyou County Arts Council to see this month’s upcoming Art RADIO guests. We create a Facebook event page for each episode and each guest to make it easy to remember. Every episode drops on Mondays at 8:00 AM through various platforms, such as Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
Arts education is an essential ingredient for creating a social arena where ideas and feelings can be communicated with and without words, healthy human development, increasing self-esteem and self-awareness, developing creative, critical thinking, social, emotional, and observation skills. So we therefore invite you to join with us in playing an instrumental role in fostering the arts.
Siskiyou County Arts Council is a 5 0 1 C3 social profit organization. Tax deductible donations will support local arts education, creative social change, and community participation in social and cultural events. To donate, simply click the green donate button on our website, Siskiyou Arts dot org. S I S K I Y O U A R T S .org. Happy creating. And thank you for listening to Art RADIO.
Editing and production help is thanks to Aaron Levine. You can find him on Instagram at Acovado underscore toast. That’s the v and c of avocado switched around and then underscore toast. You can also find him on Twitter at Kabuto justice. You can also email him, jaaronlevine@gmail.com.
Big thanks to David Blink for creating our beautiful theme music. He is the current music instructor at College of the Siskiyous. You can find him on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/davidblink. You can even go to his YouTube at youtube.com/c/davidblink. Also, if you just type them in in Google, great links come up. Enjoy!
