In this episode, your host, Greg Howard Jr, talks with the author of the smash hit memoir Won't Be Silent: Don't Stop 'Til It Matters, Abe Gurko, and multi-hyphenate Bo Baskoro!
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ABOUT ABE GURKO:
When Abe Gurko packed his bags and moved from New York City to Hollywood, he wasn’t leaving a career in the fashion industry to chase the usual dream of becoming a movie star. “I wanted to be a mechanic to the machine called celebrity.” Over the next few years, he developed his skills as a behind-the-scenes creative working with arguably the coolest woman in Hollywood, Carrie Fisher. There, he acquired an intimate knowledge of the writing process and observed the inner workings of the entertainment industry. “I was like Alice careening through the Looking Glass, Mad Hatter and all.”
Before finishing his debut memoir, Abe spent decades producing countless high-profile events: premieres, fashion shows, and music videos; created New York Design Week and even races in Central Park. His fundraising activities helped raise money for AIDS, other charities, and the theatre. He is currently in production on two documentaries:
- Won’t Be Silent – The history of protest music, co-produced by Selena Gomez and Stacey Abrams for MAX.
- Wolf’s Song – The discovery of a long-lost piece of music written in a concentration camp by his uncle, composer/conductor Wolf Durmashkin, who was killed hours before the liberation.
Abe is living happily ever after in La La Land with his husband, Shlomi, and their Chihuahua, Alfie.
Connect with Abe Gurko: WontBeSilent.com / TikTok.com/@WontBeSilent / https://abewontbesilent.substack.com/ / https://linktr.ee/WontBeSilent
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ABOUT BO BASKORO:
Bo Baskoro is a prolific artist, actor, and mental health advocate from the Pacific Northwest. His music is known for its percussive ear candy, honest lyrics, and energizing production. The now LA-based artist exudes an heir of nostalgia, having created a unique sound that seamlessly captures who this Indonesian American is at the core.
The Portland native has always marched to the tune of his own drum. Inspired by the fictional horn-playing character Lanky Kong of Donkey Kong 64, Baskoro's creativity gravitated toward the trombone, which he continued to study and play throughout his earlier years.
During recovery from a tumor and labrum tear surgery, international brand Maxwell House® commissioned a mini-documentary of Bo's experience, and his artistic drive amidst his trials. Bo was flown to Los Angeles to meet producer Harvey Mason Jr. (Tori Kelly, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson) and have one of his singles ("High") produced for a Maxwell House® marketing campaign. Bo is now featured as one of the faces of MAX by Maxwell House®, appearing in ads all over YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, and other media platforms. His original songs have since amassed over 6 million streams on Spotify.
Throughout his musical + acting endeavors, Tourette's syndrome has played a large role in Bo's personal and artistic journey. It has been a part of him and continued to develop/change since he was 6 years old. "I’ve worked so hard to free myself from the world where the topic of mental health was taboo and finally explore my symptoms and navigate through them with a professional," he says. "There’s a power in knowing the diagnosis of all of the quirks that made me feel like I was a broken burden to the people around me, and finally hearing that these symptoms fell into the diagnosis of Tourette’s, General Anxiety, OCD and Depression helped me finally feel like I could take control of what was happening to me and finally learn how to manage it."
Connect with Bo Baskoro: https://linktr.ee/bobaskoro
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