[Q] So what's your overall vision for yourself? Even if it doesn't include pursuing this as a career, what is the "end goal" for your dreams in life?
[TREVIN.] Where I see myself or vision in the future is kinda interesting to most. Before Photography I was a huge LoL gamer. Gaming was all I mainly did in HS. Once I started seeing eSports on the rise and people taking eSports pictures I was hooked. My parents got me the D3300, which is a beast starting camera for products and landscapes.
[Q] What's up man! Glad we're finally getting to do this. It's been a crazy year already! Getting to watch you craft your image has been amazing man. Tell our fans first who you are, and how'd you stumble across UG?
[DEMETRIUS.] What’s up family! I'm happy to be doing this. Thank you for the opportunity, I really appreciate it. So, my name is Demetrius Graves, I am a Las Vegas based freelance photographer. I came across UG about two years ago. The first artist I came across working with UG was Tessi.
[Q] There's so many creatives in this space wanting to make a name for themselves, how are you not only setting yourself apart but also what steps would you recommend to other young creatives looking to follow in your footsteps?
[A] I think the biggest way to set yourself apart is to stay true to who you are while also not being afraid to adapt and change some things. Along with that, never compare your progress to others, we all started somewhere and now we're where we are but that took time; Patience is everything.
[Q] You seem to be such a free-spirit; I have to ask what gives you your confidence to be yourself?
Well I think expression is both terrifying and liberating, especially doing it publicly. To be honest, there’s always a voice in the back of my head that warns me against being confident in who I am…
“So who is the infamous Martin Moore I’ve seen for some time now?” -remington
“I’ve always been two things, a Creator and an Entertainer. Whether it was doing Magic professionally when I was a kid, Music when I was an early adult, or making YouTube Vlogs, Documentaries and Photography today, creating is in my blood…”
[Q] I've known you for some time now, but don't think I've ever really asked; What's your purpose and passion behind your creafy?
Honestly, I think my purpose and passion behind photography is my love for people. I love meeting new people and seeing the good in people. Getting a genuine smile, getting a genuine reaction is so much better to me than a posed look...
Interview with artist C. Pitt ( @cpittofficial )
[Q] What's your overall vision for yourself?
[A] Help as many people as I can.
[Q]As an artist who do you listen to or follow for inspiration/influence? Any local artist/musicians on your radar?
[A] I'm not really influenced by rappers. not anymore at least. It's bigger than music especially if i feel like i don't click with your views or you as a person. A lot of rappers let me down in regards to that. Authenticity and genuineness is rare especially in the entertainment business.
[Q] How did you come about developing your own sound? Are you satisfied or still crafting your own tone?
[A] Practice and determination. I don't think i'll ever be satisfied and i'm sure i'll always be crafting my sound.
(I'm big into mixtapes myself but have grown to be very fond of a great thought out album. Mixtapes have essentially become albums -- due to people like Drake and Future. Which do you prefer?
[A] Good music is good music no matter how's its packaged or presented. I don't have a preference.
[Q] Can you describe your writing and recording style? You don't have to give away any secrets but, describe what get's you in your zone and the process.
[A] Not being around shit energy. I can pretty much create if I'm in a good mood or tame environment. I don't always write. I don't like to think too much when I record, strictly feel.
[Q] Where do you see the future of underground music in terms of sound and direction?
With soundcloud being iffy for the future of exposure of underground artist, where do you think artist will go to find more exposure? With not too many "free" music platforms out there, especially for up and coming artist that make a great deal of their beginning tracks sampled off major songs.
[A] The internet is the internet. With or without soundcloud, artists will be able to find exposure. Nobody has made it exactly the same way. No right or wrong formula.
[1] What inspired you to start pursuing your dreams?
Still got a long way to go to achieve them but my biggest inspiration comes from the few people that support me almost everyday and make me feel as though I have more people supporting me than I actually do. I get told very often by people even close to me that my aspirations are not realistic enough and I just take that on the chin and keep bettering myself to be able to achieve what I want to achieve. A massive thing that keeps me going is that I have been doing this for a year and even those I used to fanboy and looked to (still do) for inspiration are now looking at what I’m doing and being impressed sometimes. Im young, and not rushing anything I’m taking my time to to better myself and learn as much as possible.
[2] What was the very first step or action you took to get started?
A lot of what I’m going to say here is cliche but there is no first step into anything than to just dive into the deep end. Whether its football, or art the best way to learn is to DO. Thats exactly what I did when I started photography, I asked my mom to buy me a camera and I started taking pictures. Very bad one’s at that but I learned and improved.
[3] Where do you see yourself at this point in your journey? Are you heavily focused or finding yourself distracted by the "social noise" of society?
To be honest Im not sure where I am but i know I’m very far from where I started and that only makes me super excited for the future. I find myself to be very influenced no both negative and positive aspects of “social” noise. I learn a lot from external things but at the same time I struggle sometimes at being able to think independently of what society things which I think is a problem more often than not in certain people.
[4] What are some of the current challenges you are facing? Or that you see people like yourself facing?
Where do I start? First one that comes to mind is the issue of people, regardless of who they are, thinking there opinions on what I do or what I should do are more than just exactly that, especially friends and certain others that try to impose their morals or ideals to try shape the way I should live my life, and my future. Initially it was something I really did let poison my mind thinking that I had to please them which is something I’ve done my entire life. When it gets to affect the things you eventually want to do it gets very discouraging, so I think just being able to independently support yourself is a trait i really wish I had begun working on earlier in my life. So stop letting people get you down lmao.
[5] Any advice to someone that wants to follow in your footsteps?
Take opportunities you have soon as you have them. I have taken a lot of the chances I’ve gotten to do things for granted and it sucked when I realised i couldn’t get those chances back. On the bright side if it weren’t for those mistakes I wouldn’t have learned about things on the more creative side of things, so it was a good trade off fortunately but yeah. In short, be mindful of the chances you do and do not take. Take every opportunity you have to learn and be better at whatever it is you are passionate about. If someone were to want to follow exactly in my footsteps, do not get distracted or hyped up by social media. Sometimes you are received well others times not, just be consistent with what you are doing regardless. Be open to doing work for free because believe it or not sometimes those are the best opportunities to have.
[6] Describe the "creative scene" in your community or city? Do you feel as if their are more problems with people working together or has your community been very open to working together?
There really isn’t much of a creative scene that i am very involved with here in Vienna Austria due to the language barrier. I am very independent so i usually work alone and communicate with artists in the US over social media. The few artists I have met here are extremely open to working with together.
[7] What's your overall vision for yourself?
The world is changing so whatever vision i could think of right now, could probably be very different in the next 10 years. I just hope I continue to improve in every aspect of myself as a creative and a person regardless of what I’m doing, and I just hope I’m doing something that I love.
[8] Obviously the photography market has become saturated. What do you think is the future of the "photographer”?
I think this is just another social “phase” like who whole Soundcloud rapper phase. Those that are truly dedicated to the craft will still be here just like the small rappers that are still grinding to this day. Whether or not I have the growth spurt by the time this online phase is done I will still be doing the exact same thing Ive been doing since I got my camera. Photography is just another trend that will die and left in the hands of purists again eventually. I don’t believe anything will happen to photography as a craft itself. Rappers are still rapping, athletes are still training, and artists are still drawing and painting. Crafts are forever and aren’t dictated by their its presence on a social media platform.
[9] One quote to live by?
“Peace, Love and Positivity”, anyone that knows anything abut me knows Logic has been extremely important to how i’ve grown and developed in character. Even though I have never met the guy personally i have always felt although he is the only person that I can really turn to especially in the past 7 years.
Im going to give a second because anyone that knows me personally knows I was going to give that one.
“Don’t worry about your bank account, worry about how many people will show up to your funeral” - Gary Vaynerchuk. So be a good fucking person, being an ass thats always mad at shit and negative aint the wave, be tolerant and patient, it will take you further thank you think. Personally I don’t care what you do, what skills you have how successful you are at all or where you stand in life, if you can’t get past the basics in being able to communicate or allowing people easily communicate with you you will turn a lot of people off and you never know how important those people can be at later stage.
looking back, it’s crazy to see where we are now. a part of me is like “of course you’ve made it this far, it’s in your blood to not give up”. but there have been times when i’ve wanted to just close up shop and be “normal.” then here comes the part of me that can’t settle for a normal life. what is that anyway? normal? if you hang around normal people long enough you’ll never be special.