How would you describe what you do?
I'm an artist, music producer and sound curator, who also consults on soundtracking.
Why do you do it?
I love it, and it keeps choosing me back. May as well keep it pushing.
Who or what inspires you?
Prince, my fiancée, the people of Detroit, acts of resilience, esoteric shit, extraordinary human feats, travel, isolation, love.
What creative work got you excited when you were a teenager, and how does it align with what you're into now?
I think I've only ever been seriously drawn to a few creative things – mostly music and writing. I love a good arc, whether it's evolutionary or the exact opposite. Musical storytelling became addictive to me: songs turning into anthems and soundtracking people's lives. Looking back, I guess I was studying the kinds of songs I would eventually want to make myself, the ones I'm making now. As a teenager, I wanted to do something that would let me travel, meet gorgeous women, and potentially earn a big payday. As I matured, I realised I wanted to contribute to a larger artistic conversation, to create the kind of work that might uplift someone the way music uplifted me while I was growing up through harder times.
How would you describe your experience of working with Palace Skateboards?
Horrible! Hate these guys. Truly unbearable people.
What were your thoughts on Palace prior to working with them?
I didn't know much about them. My first connection was through Rory M via Will Bankhead, so when they came to town and I saw how down they were with techno and being in the scene, I thought, ‘Well! These guys have good energy'. Then, after a few brews, I figured out they skated, too, haha. So, to answer more directly, before I knew what Palace was really about, or why they were in Detroit in the first place, my thoughts were basically, ‘These guys are a good hang!'
What are you currently working on?
I'm in LA finishing the recording of my first album, hopefully out spring 2027. :)
Favourite restaurant?
That's a tough one. Off the top of my head, there's a Black-owned soul food restaurant in Azabu-Juban, Japan, called Soul Food House. I love it because it's such a little piece of home, and they do the food so well, you could easily think you were sitting at a table somewhere in the American South. Just a little respite amid the culture shock of Japan.
Anything you'd recommend?
If you get a chance to see Megalopolis, see that shit. That movie will go down as one of Francis Ford Coppola's best. Visit Michigan's Upper Peninsula sometime.
Tens of thousands of real human Wallpaper* print edition readers are out there: what is your message to them?
You get good at whatever you practise.
- Meet more of the Palace Creative Universe