For Episode 8, host Perry Serpa chats with visual artist, TB Ward. Proud Yorkshire lad and singer/songwriter/guitarist  of now-defunct UK indie band, Elevate, Ward has spent much of the past 2 decades engaging his passion to fill blank canvases with uniquely compelling images that tell stories. Says TB, "I feel the line tells the story.  I start with a notion of the natural landscape and then allow for any deviation; thoughts of man made structures, the visual impact this creates. I look for line, whether it is made in pencil, a scratch on a surface or a piece of manipulated wire." Ward spent 2014-2018 with his family in his old stomping grounds of Shrewsbury UK, just a spit from Wales and the stint inspired recent work, much of which had their start in more simple pleinair paintings and evolved into a more abstract version of these landscape works. Says the artist, "These newer pieces, I think, ask more questions; the serial number money codes stamped on top of the impression of a landscape represent the monetization of our natural world. It is a commentary on our placement of arbitrary value on the land around us, how our perception and treatment of the land as something to be bought and sold must surely change, and the way in which nationalism is being used to keep our eyes off the ball. And hopefully they are interesting to look at too." To put eyes on it all, visit tbward.com or check it out on climatecontrolprojects.com

For our Hottest On Record, we give you Haunted Continents, a solo project of notable NYC singer/songwriter James A.M. Downes, a member of Phila/NYC trioTEOA (The End Of America). For their track contribution, a stunner called "Safe On The Run," Downes teamed up with New Haven, CT based, Dumlords over a few responsible Zoom writing sessions to create a desert canyon indie rocker antihero ballad that plays like a dusty noir novel.  Says Downes, "When you hear it, you’ll agree, it would sound its best speeding through Death Valley in a Cadillac going 90 mph." Visit https://hauntedcontinents.com/

THE CREATIVE CLIMATE PODCAST -
EPISODE 7 - ARE YOU GEN-GREEN??

“Be willing to be led by people who are not you.”  --Elsa Mengistu

For this episode, Perry talks to Elsa Mengistu, the co-founder of Generation Green (Gen-Green)-- A youth led intergenerational community of Black environmentalists that addresses the intersectionality of Black social justice issues through an environmental justice lens.

Elsa discusses her own challenges and recent history, which involved a move from the impactful youth climate organization Zero Hour, where she worked as the organization’s Director of Operations and Logistics. Zero Hour, as you may remember, was one of the organizations that launched the impactful Youth Climate March in July of 2018. Elsa attends classes at Howard University, She has been honored by Grist Magazine one their Top 50 Fixers for 2019. 

For this Hottest On Record, we have Jim Santo- a man with a guitar and a plan who has been rambling through the NYC music scene for the past 4 decades, playing in bands that one would call power pop, post-punk, art rock, no wave and chamber pop. 

Santo, primarily guitarist extraordinaire, is also a composer. His latest design is an amazing textural and avant garde instrumental opus called The Siberian Traps/An Extinction Fable, just on his long standing Dive Records. 

The album, his first homespun production, finds influence in a number of post-rock & electronic artists -- Fennesz, Tim Hecker, GAS, Abul Mogard, Facs, Kelly Lee Owens, Cate LeBon, etc. As well as timbres and tones of the outside world. 

Says Jim, “At that time, I wasn't thinking about an album, let alone an instrumental concept album about human extinction! i had made some offhand remarks about making an album about the end of the world, and had registered a domain name for an imaginary band called The Siberian Traps**, but that was the extent of it.”

But as it did for many, the pandemic came along and changed everything. 

His neighborhood in Queens was the epicenter of the first terrifying explosion of COVID-19 in America. Most of the album was recorded in the early days of the lockdown, which is directly expressed in particular songs on the album, including his offered track, “Humanity.” 

For Episode 6, after sharing our feelings about Election Day and its aftermath, (don't expect Pod Save America) we have a great convo with singer/songwriter Rozzi. Originally from San Francisco, Rozzi has a big powerful distinctive voice that has moved folks like Maroon 5's Adam Levine to sing her praises and take her out on tour opening for the band. She's also recorded with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Pusha T.  among others, and has garnered a ton of positive coverage from the difficult music press. We talk with Rozzi about her new (and gorgeous) single, “Orange Skies” written about the wildfire crisis in her native California- also this episode's Hottest On Record- and we discuss the fact that Rozzi has a podcast of her own that she co-hosts with Scott Hoying of Pentatonix called Ugh! You’re So Good!  We turn the praise on her to see how she likes it. 

For Episode 5 - Why Is A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words? - Visual Art & Activism, our host, Perry Serpa  discusses anxiety on the eve of the 2020 General Election before a stimulating conversation with internationally acclaimed artist/activist twosome Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey. Heather and Dan fill Perry in about their current thing, a reactive UK based initiative called Culture Declares Emergency formed in 2019 as a response to the global climate and ecological emergency. The initiative has, since its inception, found support with a wide range of artists and organizations, including Akram Khan, Cornelia Parker, Antony Gormley, Brian Eno, Tate Galleries, Bristol Old Vic, Royal Court Theatre, Somerset House amongst 1000+ and an offshoot initiative, Music Declares Emergency, found 'declarers' in Billie Eilish, Radiohead, The 1975 and many others. 

Then, for Hottest On Record, singer/songwriter/guitarist, Joe Sumner contributes a brand new track, "Hope," recently used for a successful get out the vote Headcount campaign in the form of a singalong chorus video featuring Ben Folds, Patti Scialfa, The Fantastic Negrito, Juliana Hatfield, Gaby Moreno, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC's Morning Joe) and Sumner's famous dad (Sting). The "Hope The Vote" chorus video enjoyed concurrent debuts on the aforementioned Morning Joe and Rolling Stone. You get to hear the full track on the Creative Climate Podcast, which will kick off Sumner's forthcoming album, "Sunshine In The Night," due out next year. 

In case you're wondering, Serpa's co-host, Kirsten Spruch is out on assignment for this one, whoopin' it up in Austin, Texas and trying to flip the state before Biden gets to it. She rejoins for Episode 6. 

Perry (Serpa) and Kirsten (Spruch) interview the one and only, Aloe Blacc, artist and activist, well, "Artivist," a word he coined to harness the confluence of the two. "This is an exercise in selflessness- being an activist and an artist. I call it an "artivist." It's finding ways to use my art to promote humanity, compassion, community and togetherness," says Aloe during our engaging chat about his nearly two decade long career as a singer/songwriter, his kids and smartphones, and working to transcend the palpable landscape of chaos and confusion on our world stage. Creative response, indeed! Aloe talks with us on the wings of his first full album release in 7 years, a gem called "All Love Everything," courtesy of the BMG label. Perry and Kirsten then chew da fat about songsmithin',  droppin all kinds of science and then Kirsten (The Kirstenizer) is ordained as this episode's Hottest On Record, offering her brilliant new track, "Hunt Road," for our audience to put their arms around. A good one! 

Perry Serpa and Kirsten Spruch co-host Episode 3 of the Creative Climate, Tighten The Beltway, an hour long exploration of the climate discussion within U.S. political forum. Perry interviews Nathaniel Rich, author of Losing Earth, best selling chronicle of the beltway conversation from the seventies to present day, and John Rivera, energy expert/negotiator and veteran of the Federal Energy Administration and the Department of Energy in the 70s and 80s. Both guests shed ample light on the tug o'war around climate and give us some fresh insights as to where the conversation needs to go. Hottest On Record musical guest is critically acclaimed Austin-based singer/songwriter, Rod Melancon who offers us an acoustic version of "Corpus Christi Carwash," his tribute to the late, great Freddie Fender. 

Episode 2 of The Creative Climate Podcast puts due focus on the Black Lives Matter movement featuring Serpa's interview with civil rights activist, author and podcaster, DeRay McKesson. DeRay traverses the movement, of which he's been a prominent figure and discusses his journey from Ferguson to Minneapolis, his work with Campaign Zero and his Pod Save The People podcast. Par Neiburger's Audio Atlas pays tribute to Brooklyn with some deep cuts from the crate and some good chat with Amy Motzny, Watershed Manager of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. And, our Hottest On Record segment features a brand new track from Trans artist/activist, Blxck Cxsper, whose BKLYN-based label, Trans Trenderz, fosters black Trans artists, exclusively. Worth an ear or two! 

Creative Climate host Perry Serpa engages in an epic mind meld with author Antonino D’Ambrosio, responsible for the veritable bible of creative response, Let Fury Have The Hour (and its documentary compendium). D’Ambrosio name drops the printing press, futbol en Mexico and his buddy, artist Shepard Fairey. 

Musicians Ben Lee, Rebecca Hart, Eli Musser and David Mosey answer the quarantine edition of our One Questionnaire. Producer River Hooks gives us “Mountain,” a brand new track for our Hottest On Record segment. Par Neiburger joins for his Audio Atlas taking cues from his CCP Playlist, “West African Griots And Legends” before he reunites with Dakar-based pal, Hannah Armstrong, Senior Consulting Analyst at the International Crisis Group to talk climate in the Sahel region of Africa.