Interview with Jess

Interviews seem to be the latest shit, so I took the chance to question the amazing Jess, maintainer of this very blog, about her motivations, her dreams, and about the mind blowing bits of world culture she and her co-authors are presenting here.

Jess: Aw, that’s sweet but you’re exaggerating!

S: Perhaps, but let’s talk about you instead. You’ve been running Indie Cantina for just over a year now, with over two hundred posted articles. Do you have a day job or do you hunt for new awesomeness 24/7?

Jess: Has it really been that long already?

S: First post was on April 7th, 2012, I looked it up.

Jess: Wow. Anyway, it isn’t all mine of course. We’ve had plenty of contributors over time, some of which are well known as eclectic DJs and generally inspiring people.  I won’t give the full list because that would be boring, but Wiseblood Wisent was one of the first. And of course you’re the latest addition to the crew. Between this lot, we tend to find some good stuff.

S: Speaking of the crew, they are quite a savvy lot. How do you get them to work for the blog?

Jess: First of all it’s not supposed to be “work.” We all do it because it’s fun. And because there’s this big heap of incredibly good music and bits of culture out there that we just want to tell everyone about. So it’s more like a mission than work. We feel the world will be a better place if some of this stuff is spread as much as possible. If Indie Cantina can be part of that, we’re all happy.

S: There does seem to be a bit of staff turnover though.

Jess: Yeah you know, with those incredibly imaginative people, they often have many projects going on at the same time. For each of them, Indie Cantina is only one of them. As much as I would love to see them post more consistently, I respect that. It’s part of what makes them what they are. Arbiter elegantiarum, you know.

S: Wow that’s two difficult words.

Jess: I know right? Anyway, that’s why I work on having a substantial group of people. And I constantly nudge them to post, it’s the publisher part of me. We don’t sign up people in a contractual way, not even informally. In that way, the Indie Cantina is itself part of indie culture.

S: That’s a nice way to think of it. Is that a concept you had in mind from the beginning or did it just evolve over time because you like cannot herd cats?

Jess: No no, it was the concept. I wanted to create an ecosystem of contributors. It has worked nicely too, so I’m sticking to it.

S: What was your motivation to start the whole thing?

Jess: Selfishness.

S: Wha... really?

Jess: It totally was! You see, I saw all that amazing material and I thought, how much more must there be in the world. I wanted to find it, but it’s hard when you’re part of a different culture, when you don’t speak a lot of languages etc. We sometimes think everything in the world is in English but lots isn’t. And even what’s available on English speaking sites, there’s just so much of it. So by setting up Indie Cantina as it is, I increased my chances of seeing some stuff I would otherwise have missed. And if I can help others at the same time to get hold of the material, that’s just great, don’t you think. Plus for the artists, it’s another opportunity to reach a larger audience. It feels great to be part of that too.

S: So what are your plans for the future? How will Indie Cantina evolve?

Jess: Ah, so far it has mostly been about music. Not exclusively so, mind you, and it hasn’t been a constraint for the contributors. It just turned out that way. Perhaps because music is so accessible to everyone who hears it. You don’t even have to be able to make out the words to enjoy it -- but of course the words to the music are the poems of our time. However, we’ve started to expand the media covered by the Indie Cantina. You’re a poet yourself …

S: Arguably …

Jess: Oh don’t be modest! We’ve also covered the mindboggingly amazing animation movie Sita Sings the Blues lately, along with a feature talk about the making of. The movie has been around for a while but we hadn't featured it at the time and it's just too good to not show it here to those who might have missed its release. We will also cover visual arts, and perhaps more ephemeral genres as well. It’s a pity we can’t have touch, smell, and taste on the Indie Cantina. I would love an article about experimental cooking …

S: Wouldn’t we all. (laughter) Thank you for this interview, Jess.

Jess: My pleasure completely. (curtsies)

Note that this is a work of fiction. I never actually interviewed Jess, I just made up her answers. :)