Seven Ply Mag, Local Skateboarders Dropping a New Zine with a Bang

When a hiatus is taken on something, a lot of people think to themselves, “Well is it over?” “What happened?” “Did they just quit?” When an organization, musician, celebrity, influencer takes a break from producing content, we as the consumers always assume the worst. 

Like right now, we have no idea if Kendrick Lamar or Frank Ocean are ever going to release new music because we haven’t heard from them for about half a decade now. 

However, where we consumers fault is we often fail to look at the creators of the content as regular human beings. We put them on a pedestal, but these curators are just like you and me. They’re just you’re average collection of atoms trying to find their joy and purpose until their time here on this Earth comes to a close.

On March 9th, the company Seven Ply Mag hosted a release event with four live bands. Bands included were the Will Shamberger Band, poorsport., Flawless Victory, and Blind Fortune, which fortunately I got to see an entire set where the cops didn’t get called like for a previous Our Town Reno story. 

The event hosted a release of Seven Ply Mag’s third issue of their skateboarding magazine which features Skateboard photography, abstract art pieces, and an interview. 

There are three main people who run the magazine. The first is Nick Felton who takes a lot of the photos for the zine and helps out with editing and production. The second is Jordan Carlson, who is the editor in chief. Last, but certainly not least, is Alan Chou who is the creative director and co-editor in chief. 

Chou recently joined the group after the second issue, so this is their first release all together. It’s safe to say that they were impressed with the turnout.  “It’s just crazy,” Felton said. “I think we’re just stoked right now on the turnout and how everything turned out.”

“Crazy that this many people came out on a Wednesday Night,” Chou added.

“[It’s] pretty solid,” Carlson said. “It definitely shows the support for local bands and for local projects. The support from the community, no matter what day of the week it is they still came out here which is pretty sick.”

Seven Ply had a pretty long hiatus that lasted almost two years. The crew had a lot of personal turmoil and family issues that needed to be dealt with before even thinking of starting another issue. The crew values making unique and “hand-made” work and that’s simply not something that can just be rushed overnight. The gang waited until the smoke settled in their personal life so they could really dedicate their vision and their craft to stepping up their game from the second issue. 

“Every few months we would go and look at it and be like what the f*** are we doing,” Chou said. “[We’d] change it up, we would all look it with three different eyes and at different times, and didn’t know what we were doing. Then we all three got together and we finally we’re like ‘oh I agree on the layout and like pictures and like what’s in and what’s out.’ So, it was sick when us three finally got all of our eyes on it together.”

“The hardest part is there’s a lot of preparation when getting ready to put on a show, not to mention doing the show itself,” Carlson said. “Which Nick did an amazing job setting things up and finding a venue and communicating with the bands and having to take photos whenever necessary. We sometimes would meet for six hours in the evening just to be able to get to a consensus just on what shirts we want to buy, you know those days do add up. It does take a long time to try and get everything produced for it.”

“It was quite the process to get this one done just with everything that was going on,” Felton said. “Like for the first two issues it was just me and Jordan, but then Alan came in during the second premiere and he was like, ‘Yo, let me help out in any way that I can’. Then he became the third part of Seven Ply, which helped tremendously and I felt like that was a big part of getting this issue going too. He was there making sure we were doing stuff. He was making sure me and Jordan weren’t like bickering because it’s easy to think, ‘well my idea is better’ and it’s good to have that third person help bring this project together.”

“To keep it short and sweet we are just really stoked to put this out because we put a lot of hard work into it and we’re stoked so hard to see the outcome. Hopefully, it’s a big success, so we can keep doing this thing,” Felton said.

They plan on releasing more magazines and hosting more events throughout the rest of the year and keeping their foot on the pedal. Colton Templeton also played a huge role in bringing the magazine together, and the guys are very appreciative of him. 

“If it wasn’t for all of us putting in the equal amount of effort then it wouldn’t have happened,” Felton said. “That was a big part of this one was all of us coming together to do what we needed to do and saying what we need to say even if it wasn’t easy.”

This was the first Seven Ply event that included live bands. The last event took place a Mira Loma Skatepark on Go Skate Day, and the crew thought adding in live bands would bring a stronger sense of community. 

“We just wanted it to be a full-blown local event, you know bring the local bands, we’re kind of helping them out, putting this on and they’re kind of helping us bringing their crowd,” Felton said. “We just want to keep Reno tight-knit, it doesn’t just go for skateboarding. We’re all like very into the music scene, whether the genre you know it’s cool we’re kind of genre-mashing with the lineup.”

“Everyone in Reno is all about supporting local, so it’s amazing that we have one of the sickest scenes, music, art, skateboarding, whatever else,” Chou said. “We have the sickest scene out there for sure.

Frank Ayala did a lot of the art for this issue and the Seven Ply crew gave him a huge shoutout for the work he put in. 

While you can’t currently purchase anything to support Seven Ply if you didn’t go to the event, they are working on getting a website up and running and are working on building a stronger social media presence. If you want to stay tuned to see when their next event is going to happen or when the website goes live, make sure to follow them on their Instagram @sevenplymag.

“We’re just hoping to make it apparent that we’re here to stay, we’re not going anywhere,” Felton said. “We were gone for a while, but like Alan said in the intro of the mag, ‘We’re back baby!’ and we’re gonna keep that vibe going for the rest of the year.”

Our Town Reno reporting by Jaden Urban

88STRAIT, a Rising Star, Balancing High School, Music, Mental Health and a Fast Food Job

High School is a strange time for everybody. It’s our first true test of our identity and our first set of challenges where we start to figure out what it is we wish for our life and our journey we have to take to get there. We go through our first loves, first heartbreaks, grow out of our childhood friendships, make new discoveries, and make memories that we will tell to our kids and grandkids for the next few decades.

High School gives us structure and routine which we learn to work in our daily lives. Homework and classwork shows us the importance of work ethic. While it doesn’t tell our whole story, it is a very notable chapter in our book of life. 

Quentin Strait, who goes by his stage name, 88STRAIT,  has been making a lot of waves recently here in the local Reno scene. The name 88STRAIT came from the significance of 88 being an angel number that supports joy, happiness, wealth and blessings.

He is a senior at Reno High School and has faced many challenges throughout his seventeen years on this Earth. He currently works long hours at Cane’s while maintaining a 2.9 GPA, and trying to find anytime he can to focus on music. Wednesdays are his only true day off. 

“I’m really just a kid making music,” he said during a recent interview. “I’ve been doing this for five years now. I’m a singer, songwriter, producer, and audio engineer. I kind of produce all my own stuff. I really enjoy making music.”

“Most of the time when I’m recording songs, I’ll do it just because I’m feeling really sad,” 88 said. “That was originally why I started making music because I was sad. I needed an outlet and it just turned into something crazy. A lot of my songs are sad so I just kind of record my thoughts into that.” Photo by Ashton Hlade with permission to use.

After stretches of intense sadness that led to musical creation but also started to seem abnormal, 88 felt something wasn’t right. 

“Yeah, I go through a lot of mental health issues,” 88 said. “I’ve been going to therapy for like nine months now. Nine months ago is when I really started to open up to people about it, I’ve been suffering for at least four to five years. I’ve disregarded it or just didn’t see it fully and how bad it was affecting me until last spring when I was overworking myself. I was working like 45 hours a week with school. And just throwing a girlfriend in the mix... I pretty much had a week-long mental breakdown. Deep personalization and deep realization, it was just that constantly. Constant panic attacks and like crying at random times. It was getting so bad and I was having breakdowns at school constantly.”

One day he had a breakdown in class and rushed to the bathroom. When he got back to the classroom the teacher asked if he was ok, but 88 started breaking down crying to him. The teacher suggested that he should talk to a counselor. 88 said recent therapy sessions have helped, but his mental health is still pretty bad. He sees slight improvement which he is grateful for.

“I’m starting to see improvements even if it’s only at certain times,” 88 said. “Certain times are worse than others. Music has been definitely helping me a lot. Without it, I don’t even think I’d be right now honestly.”

88 just dropped off a new EP and one of the songs on it is called, “I Know You’re Bad For Me”. He says he has been sitting on the song for a while and was waiting for the right time to release it.  On Feb. 25th, 88 released a five song EP titled, “Text Me When You Hear This”.  Photo of EP cover by Ashton Hlade with permission to use.

88STRAIT performed for the first time in December at the Holland Project. He had been trying to get booked there for a while, and was ecstatic when he finally got a booking there. A lot of nerves and stress started to arise as the show date was coming up. It was his first performance so of course the butterflies in his stomach felt like they were going to rip through his stomach tissue. However, once he got a couple songs in, he started to feel really comfortable on stage and his nerves disappeared. He loved the way people who had never heard his music were really vibing with it. After the show, he said the adrenaline rush was crazy. He loved interacting with the crowd after the show with people who hadn’t heard his music before and listening to how they thought of the show.

88 creates very complex sonic structures that you don’t hear emulated very often. The production on his songs are very experimental and almost hypnotic. You would think the process would be very challenging for him, but it actually comes very authentically

“Honestly it just comes very naturally to me,” 88 said. “I definitely put a lot of thought into my music, and the vibe and energy of it. For the most part, I don’t want to say I don’t think about it too much, but it just comes very naturally to me. When I’m creating something I try to envision it with other genres. I really incorporate a lot of different genres into my music.”

He includes genres such as edm, hyperpop, emo-rap, trap, dubstep, drum and bass, etc. Whatever comes to his mind. He shared with me that he recently made a emo-rap, hyperpop and drill song. He showed it to one of his friends and they said it was unlike anything they had ever heard before. 

“This EP is completely inspired by my sadness and what I have to go through on a daily basis and you know my past realtionships,” 88 said of his published work released last month. “It’s completely self-produced and I was in some pretty dark places when I wrote all these songs. The fifth track specifically it’s called ‘Lifes a GIft’ and I wrote that in November and I was at a point in my life where it felt like nothing good could happen and everything that could happen, happened in the worst way possible and I was getting so tired of it. I didn’t really know how to cope with it other than just making a song about it… The title of it, ‘Life’s a Gift’ is pretty ironic because at this time it didn’t feel like life was a gift it felt like life was just a burden and just a hell, just a prison. It’s some of my best work, definitely check it out because those songs are going to make you feel things you probably haven’t felt before.”

88 currently has over 11k monthly listeners on Spotify and doesn’t have any plans on stopping soon. His main goal is to make a living off music and then it’s only up from there for him. He can’t wait to perform again. His current goal once he graduates is to take a full gap year and focus all his attention on really blowing up in musical terms.

Our Town Reno Music reporting by Jaden Urban

After Years in the Making, Kidvika and LeQ Bring their “West Yet”

West Coast Hip-Hop has shaped an entire generation and is an important chapter in the history of music.

With acts such as N.W.A, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, E-40, Mac Dre, and many more, the West Coast sound is very distinct with its use of funk samples and hard-hitting drums and synths. It is also what inspired David Jarrett, who goes by his rapper name Kidvika, and Reed Lequerica, who goes by his producer name LeQ, with the creation of their new album, “The West Yet”.

Kidvika and LeQ are Reno Hip-Hop artists who have been collaborating with one another for four years. Kidvika got his stage name from his middle name, Kawika, and LeQ got his producer name from shortening his last name. They met over Instagram and an immediate chemistry and friendship was formed. They had never met each other even though they went to the same high school. 

The dynamic duo started working together endlessly and have continued that connection over the years, and now it’s as strong and tight as a fitted t-shirt on a bodybuilder. 

“I think people will be surprised,” Kidvika said. “I always wanted to be diverse. I’ve always wanted to be different. Getting into West Coast [music] was foreign to me.”

“Finally, for four years now we have been talking about dropping a project,” LeQ said. “We’ve come a long way from where we started and how we sounded. It’s just crazy. The first album I produced, I wanted to make sure it was complete.” 

In September 2021 is when the new album was identified as something the two wanted to tackle together. From that drive, the album’s only single, “Find That” was born. It was the very first song made for the eight-track album. There were many different versions of the song made until Kidvika finally found his new sound and new direction with the delivery of his voice.

“After Find That that’s when we were like yeah we’re putting together something here,” LeQ said. 

“We locked in for like a month straight, every weekend,” Kidvika said. “I changed my voice for the first time, I used to be higher pitched,” Kidvika said. “I started to use my regular voice.” Kidvika and LeQ have made many songs together and even dropped a three-song EP in 2020 titled Push Me. However, they knew that was only the beginning.

“Compared to what we have now, that’s not it,” LeQ said. 

In April 2021, the artists spent time in L.A. and worked at Saticoy and Omar’s Room which have housed some of Hip-Hop’s biggest musicians. The atmosphere of being in the sunny skies and the land of opportunity is what drove LeQ and Kidvika to step their game up.  

They gave high praise to Blxst for the inspiration of this album. Both of them loved his music and his sound. LeQ really found a love for the production that Blxst made since he’s both a rapper and producer. 

Kidvika mixed and mastered the entire album. He revised the mixes multiple times on each song on the album.

“Mixing this … was hard,” Kidvika said. “It was hard for me because we were working on the time limit, but at the same time, I’ve never mixed this well before. I wanted this to sound perfect, perfect.

The intro song Bring It Up was the one that Kidvika felt the best about recording. LeQ and Kidvika were on Facetime while LeQ was making the beat and everything just flowed so naturally. It was the second song made for the album. To counter, the hardest song for Kidvika to make was, “Baby” the final song recorded for the album. It took him over a month to finetune and get the first verse to sound exactly how he wanted it. The album was finally finished recording Jan 22. 

At a recent Holland Project performance in Reno.

After planning out months in advance of how they wanted to promote and market the album, it’s finally here. The guys are very excited about the reception the album is going to receive.

“For me it’s to showcase, one, how good we’ve gotten,” Kidvika said. “It’s a whole new sound, and it doesn’t sound bad… I want people to respond well with every song, but honestly, I just want to people at least like one song. I want someone to relate to one of the songs off the album to where they will download it and put it on their playlist.”

“A lot of people here in Reno don’t make that West Coast sound,” LeQ said. “We want to touch as many ears as we can.”  The album is available here, and is accessible on all platforms.

Our Town Reno Music Reporting by Jaden Urban

Meh, From a Forced Marriage to Becoming a Local Henna Hand Artist

Meh’s Origin Stories

Behind the Facebook and Instagram page called Reno Henna there is Meh, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi woman who came to Reno in 1997 as a young child.

“I like to consider myself as a Bangladeshi American,” she says. “I was born in Bangladesh, but was raised in America, in Reno. So I think I'm a little more American than Bangladeshi, I'm not sure.”

Born to a strict Bangladeshi Muslim household, her parents often did not allow her to go outside and play.

‘When I asked them for Henna cones, they would buy it for me, that's something I can do in my room or inside, just practice…when I wanted to play with my friends and they wanted to go outside, I would tell them, ‘Hey, I'll do some Henna and you stay inside we'll do this together.’ And I got them to stay and we would play inside and I would do their henna. And so that way I started practicing and I would just do it on myself all the time just to spend time,” she explained on how restrictions led to creativity. 

She explains her name and says it s Al-Mehbuba which translates to ‘‘the beloved’’ in Arabic. “But when we immigrated to America, I had to have a first and last name, so it was split into Al, first name and Mehbuba, last name. Same goes for my brothers, Al Mehadi (the peace) and Al Mehtab (the moon). Imagine receiving a phone call in our household where they ask for Al, but all three of our names are Al and the callers can't pronounce any of our last names and they would have to go through the first three letters to finally find out who they're calling about,” Meh laughed. 

“I had it flipped to [my] first name Mehbuba, from [my] last name Al in school because I hate being called Al. My older brother did the same. That's where Meh comes from. I didn't want to be called Al in school and Mehbuba was too difficult to say for everyone, so my 6th grade teacher stopped at Meh and said she couldn't pronounce anymore and would call me Meh (May). I love my name, the meaning behind it and everything about it and I wish more people would take the time to understand it and pronounce it. But I also understand how difficult it can be and have accepted my nickname that was forced on me to accommodate Americans at such a young age. I made sure to name my children small syllable names so it can be pronounced and not shortened. Some still have difficulty with it but no nicknames so far with them,” she said of some of the challenges of multiculturalism.

Initially Looking for Extra Income

For those who are not familiar with it, Henna is a plant-based dye created from the Henna tree, scientifically known as Lawsonia inermis. It contains a natural coloring pigment which is often used for temporary body art, hair color, and to dye skin, fingernails or even fabric. Though it was widely used in Ancient Egypt it became most popular in South Asia. It is also known as “Mehndi” in some countries. A person’s body temperature along with the atmospheric humidity often helps in darkening the color and some south Asian bridal traditions have superstitious beliefs attached to it. The color is further darkened by the use of sugar concentrated water or clove oil to make it more long lasting on the arms and legs especially for wedding purposes.

Meh started her side business as a Henna artist about four years ago.

“I had a part-time job and was looking for some extra income…that was when Reno was becoming a bigger city with a lot of festivals. There's just a lot of events that go on in downtown, especially during the summer. And so I figured that maybe I can start doing it professionally to make that extra income and be a part of the community,” she said.

Since then she has put up her stalls at various events, including rodeos and cook-offs. She also takes part in birthday parties and shows up in her attire which consists of colorful traditional lehenga, beautiful dresses from south Asia or sarees. She says it is the “cutest thing” when little children or girls walk past her and exclaim, ‘Is she a princess’ when they see her. 

Meh describes Henna to be a “poor person's business because in India and Bangladesh and the Middle East and Africa, we have Henna plants in our backyard and it's free, we just make a paste out of it.” However, for her own wedding when she was looking for Henna artists, as part of the tradition for the bride to be applying it on her big day, she found it to be very expensive. 

“It's actually extortion, charging $500 for an arm…so I wanted to go against that and make it affordable,” she says. "“I don't want it to become a rich person's business. I want it to be affordable to anyone who wants it. So if they want a simple flower, if a child wants it, I'm not gonna charge more than five dollars for that. So what if I can't live off of it. It's more of a fulfilling part-time job that I do, but it's also for others to be able to afford it and experience it. This is  something that comes from my culture as well. I can't hear the words from a mom saying I don't have money.If I hear a mom say that, I say, just come on over. It's fine.”

Covid definitely hit her small word-of-mouth in person business because she was initially unable to touch someone’s hand or draw on their palms but Meh says that unlike other winters she has had quite a few clients this season. 

Not Afraid to Innovate

Meh does not specifically stick to motifs like flowers or leaves as per traditional Henna designs but has also engaged in experimenting with the art. She often goes into drawing skulls, skeletons and spiders during Halloween or just other designs like corsets and dreamcatchers. In traditional Bangladeshi or Indian weddings she has to mostly cater to the demands of the client while adhering to cultural aspects and hiding the name of the groom in the design drawn on the bride’s hand. However, she shares that her American clients are often as “happy” with a simple drawing of a heart. 

“Americans are just so grateful...they sit right in front of me and they're like, ‘oh, is this okay? Like, is this gonna offend anyone?’ You don't have to do the designs that you normally do. They're very cautious and they're very respectful of our culture and what we've brought in. And I really appreciate that, but it's not something that one should fear whatsoever. Like Henna in the end is art. And whether you're doing it for your wedding or whether you just want a Disney princess for your daughter, I think that it should be appreciated and that a five year old, if that's all she wants, then let her have that happiness, no matter if she's American or Indian or not,” she said.

Apart from being a Henna artist Meh is also a mother of an 11-year-old daughter Arisha, and a one-year-old son Ayaan. She is currently pursuing general studies at TMCC and is a mentor in literacy programs with AmeriCorps. She dreams of having a career in the medical field eventually, she told me, while preparing a plate of nachos for her family.

Meh was married off at the very young age of fifteen, forcefully by her father, through an arranged marriage where she says she dealt with marital abuse. She gave birth to her daughter from her first husband when she was 19. Though she met her current husband Emerson at the age of 17, she was only able to settle with him in 2018, five years after she ended ties with her first husband.

Emerson Avecedo is a law enforcement officer who is African American, Native American and also Hispanic.

“My one-year-old is actually African American, he's Hispanic, he's Native American and he's Asian. So, I get to check all those boxes for him,” Meh says. “I've lived a lot in these last 30 years.” Meh said she would write a book someday and share her journey with many other women like her who might have been  forced to be in a difficult marriage, as an inspiration to recover and find new wings.

Our Town Reno reporting by Kingkini Sengupta

Upcoming Benefit Concert Inspires to Help Those Struggling in the Community

One of the more recent support groups to establish itself in northern Nevada, Family Soup Mutual Aid (FSMA) will be hosting the “Our Streets Benefit Concert” on March 9th at Dead Ringer Analog Bar on E 4th street. Tickets are $10 for four live bands, two DJs, an online local art auction, and access to two food trucks, Reno Pink Taco Truck and Hey Hey’s Fried Chicken. Doors will open at 7 p.m.

The organization also meets every Tuesday at 5 pm at the Believe Plaza downtown to deliver hot food, winter gear, hygiene packs, and other donations to those in need. All proceeds from the Dead Ringer event will funnel into those kinds of supplies and needs. Ever since they started a few months ago they haven’t missed a Tuesday.

“It’s a bummer that us as organizers and activists in this area who are genuinely working-class people, who have had to struggle with poverty especially now in Reno with the changes over the past couple of years and the aggressive gentrification of this city, it’s f*** up that we have to do this,” Anagapesis said. “The people who are doing what we are doing, the other organizers, activists, and advocates … are doing it at a financial deficit and a labor deficit. Everybody’s exhausted. We are a very new mutual aid organization and we are already straight up tapped bro, but we’re doing it. We’re already going to be tired, might as well do something good with our exhaustion and our rage.”

Part of her anger stems from the hostile architecture, often benches you can’s lie down on, or boulders to prevent people from gathering in public spaces, she keeps seeing around Reno, which she calls “antihuman.”

“Let’s make ourselves present and bring the people back where they should be,” Russell said. “There’s a lot of connection and a lot of community behind it… We are always trying to get money from other people, that’s why we’re doing this show so we can start putting in more funds into this so we can boost this up.”

“It’s our wealth, we are all working-class people that are redistributing the things we worked really hard for, to give it back to the community where it should be,” Anagapesis said. “It should be in the hands of the working-class people, in the hands of those that are the lifeblood of this city, not the elites. The elites aren’t doing shit for us, they are quite literally backtracking all progress these activists and advocates have been doing.”

During a snowstorm this winter, they were able to raise $2,000 in less than 48 hours to acquire tarps and clothes for those whose shelters were getting destroyed.  In regard to how the donations are dispersed, it is first-come, first-serve. Now you would think this would cause some issues, but Russell and Anagapesis assured me that the houseless community is quite strong and look out for one another. They even grab some for their friends that can’t risk losing their spot or leaving their belongings, as life on the streets is full of precarious situations.

The mutual aid group prides itself on being a leaderless organization that gives everyone a say. It’s either all hands in or all hands out. There are about 15 of them in a group message where they plot and plan their next venture.

“Every week we have been growing it’s so impressive,” Russell said. “Each week there’s a new face. Every week is bigger, every week is a new milestone. You don’t even realize you’re going to hit that milestone until it’s directly in front of you.”

This will be their first time hosting a benefit concert. Some of the bands on the billing that have participated in benefit concerts have helped them ease into this uncharted territory. The Truckee Meadows John Brown Gun Club will be present for security.

I was able to sit down with at least one member from each of the bands that are performing at the show.

Pussy Velour is a local rock and roll group that started in October. With zero hesitation they decided to join the Dead Ringer event once they heard the word benefit. 

“We want to bring rock and roll to masses,” Wolfgang Hendrix, the lead singer of Pussy Velour said. “Music’s meant for everybody and everyone should enjoy it. We want as many people to get to the show so we can make an actual impact and really help out those in need.”

The band also expresses their frustration with how the houseless population has been treated. 

“The resources in our town for the houseless population here is horrible,” Bobby Enzenberger, bassist for the band said. “It’s embarrassing. Any little thing we can do, this is very easy for us to do, but I’ve heard we’ve been able to bring a lot of support to them [Family Soup Mutual Aid]. It feels good.”

“Mutual aid is one of the most important things you can do for your community,” Clair Monteith, guitarist for the band said. “It’s very easy for us to step up, so we’re going to. I wish our council felt the same way.”

“Step up or step off really,” Wolfgang adds.

Kevin Montoya, aka Felipendejo, a punk experimental one-man band, loops drums and does guitar, vocals, and keys live. He wants to get other people to express themselves in any way possible, even if it’s not through music.

Kevin Montoya (above) has done benefit concerts before and thinks this one will have a great turnout.

“I hope they keep doing what they’re doing to get stuff for the less fortunate, get some clothes and get some donations and spread the love,” Montoya said.

Evan Lantto from Cruel Ultimatum describes his first band as, “Dorky, hardcore, middle-aged crisis nonsense I suppose.” 

While this is his first band, everyone else has a bunch of experience and has been in countless bands. Simply, Lantto’s only goal is to have fun. 

“I was a houseless person, and tend to be from time to time and any time you get to make music and it helps somebody out it’s a good thing,” Lantto said. “It’s excellent… Benefits are something I’m familiar with and enjoy.”

Evan Lantto from Cruel Ultimatum (left) and Skylar Lash from Action Bastard (right) who let other musicians know about the benefit as well.

Lantto has done some benefit concerts in the past and has worked with fundraising when he used to work in the gaming industry. He even once hosted a show for one of his friend's mom that was dying of cancer. He’s very excited about the turnout of this next concert.

“I want to put on the gnarliest show, all bands involved can, and also want to help people out,” Lantto said. “Houseless individuals have been particularly targeted and neglected especially during quarantine and with the deconstruction of their tent cities. I want to put on entertainment for as many people as possible and I want to help as many people as possible and help them get to the basic human rights that they deserve.”

Lantto believes FSMA is a great organization and knows they are doing great things for the community.

“I think this organization is excellent. I think Nicole and everybody involved is spectacular. I think the show is not something to be missed. Anybody that can show up should, it’s for an excellent cause and it’s worthwhile.”

Skylar Lash, a member of Action Bastard says his band plays “a lot of stupid music for the people of Reno” and describes the music as “a bunch of people blowing duck calls into buckets of water.” 

In all actuality, it’s an afrobeat band that incorporates noise music into it. Lash has played for over 20 years. Music has always played a pivotal role in his life.

“The ability to let my mind stop freaking out on itself all the time and get that sense of catharsis of I’m no longer needing to think about the trials and tribulations I have in my life or the people that rely on me or the people I think rely on me,” Lash said. “When I play music I let go of all of that and I become the conduit for it, it’s not even really me making the music anymore it just comes through me.”

He used to be worried about how his music could sell, but now he says he no longer cares and can truly just express himself to the fullest. 

Lash had zero hesitation to join along for the ride as well as he wants to help in any way that he can. He says he has a good relationship and trust with the people who are working for Family Soup Mutual Aid. The big thing he hopes to accomplish with the show is to inspire.

“I hope that regardless if the concert goes off well or not, [if] the meaning of intention is noticed by others in the community and maybe other venues who put all these kind of shows on, maybe [the ones that] hamstring artists that they book to play and take advantage of them,” he said. “What we’re doing is a benefit for people who have only been taken advantage of and I would like this to be a beautiful stepping stone in having the live music and performance art community, that is so alive and well in Reno even though they've been hamstrung by what has happened over the past few years, to take notice that it is worthwhile and maybe you don’t make money hand over fist like you'd expect when you book an artist. But you allow them to bring people out of the woodwork and support people who probably can’t even afford to pay for a ticket to go to some of our shows.”

“This is not something we are doing for profit because we profit off it every day, so why can’t we give a day here or there to give back,” Lash concluded. “No one is really doing it and if anything, more than anything I hope that this show opens some other business owners' and venue owners' eyes to seeing how impactful this can be.”

Our Town Reno reporting by Jaden Urban

From High School Friends to Successful Local Reno Band: Charity Kiss is Only Getting Started

For each Charity Kiss member, there is a musical progression, through instruments and influences. Before he picked up a microphone or guitar Patrick Hansen learned the Ukulele when he was 15 to impress girls. 

“I realized how easy it was to get girls when you play an instrument,” Hansen says half-jokingly. “I started singing and enjoyed it more and more. Then I learned guitar because I wanted to learn a real instrument. It’s hard to play Ukulele in front of a giant crowd… Ever since then I’ve playing and singing trying to write songs.”

Noah Linker expressed how much music has impacted his life and how it created the person who he is today.

“Basically, I’ve been pretty into music my entire life,” Linker said. “I was introduced to the Beatles at a very young age. It was very dangerous because I just fell in love to the music and everything before I even knew anything about what it was. Ever since then I just wanted to be a musician. So around age nine I got my first guitar and just been playing and playing ever since then. Played in a few other bands in high school. But now I’ve ended up here writing with Charity Kiss, writing with myself and yeah, the journey has just begun.” 

Wyatt Ziegler, who is filling in for the bassist while Hendriks is in Canada is still fairly new to the music scene. “I actually started doing music stuff fairly recently, probably when I was 18, I’m 21 now so it’s been about three years,” Ziegler said. “I grew up loving music I never really played anything specifically, but when I went up to college I was in the search for something more. So I picked up a guitar started learning how to record and here we are.”

Nate Drum became a product of his biggest musical influences.

“A big part of the reason I started playing drums is because my last name is Drum,” Drum said. “I thought it would be funny. Also, growing up I listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin and watching John Bonham, Neil Peart, all those guys, Tommy Lee. Anytime I was watching a video of the bands playing I was obsessed with watching the drummers and so I’ve always been kind of attracted to that.” 

Sitting the band down together for an interview was quite the experience. As soon as I greeted them I got this strong sense of humility and felt a very welcoming and joyful presence. There was no ego or looking bored at the time wondering when they could get in-and-out of the interview as soon as possible.  

Watching the members interact with one another you could tell that they had a cohesion like a brotherhood. Witty jokes and backhanded remarks fly by, but they really add character to who the band is. 

What peaked my interest about the band was I remembered most of the members because I went to high school with them at Spanish Springs High School. At the time their name was Color T.V. and it was only comprised of Drum, Hendriks, and Hansen. They performed one time during one of our pep rallies and the crowd was going crazy and they sounded really good. I had never gone and checked them out as I was really only listening to rap music at the time. Their band was the talk of the entire school. 

In regard to how Color T.V. started, Hansen claims there wasn’t much serious intent behind it initially.

“We were just like, ‘Hey it’s fun to jam’ and then we wanted to play our own songs so we started making our own songs,” Hansen said. “From there the dream started growing and people actually liked us more than we thought and we were like oh this weird.”

After high school Hansen went on a mission trip to Panama and the band stopped making music. When Hansen returned, it was time to put the needle back down.

“When I got back from Panama we decided that we wanted to make a go of it again and be more serious with this next venture we’re trying,” Hansen said. “We decided on a new name and bringing in a new member with Noah, would kind of set the tone for what we wanted to do. Like we were no longer the old local band that was fun to go see in the backyard. We are Charity Kiss, a real band that we’re trying to do real things with.”

The birth of the name came from when Hendriks, Hansen, and Drum were up in a cabin. They had been trying to figure out a new name. They found a book called “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. In the book there was a sentence that said “the kiss of charity”. Drum had initially offered that as the name for the new band, but shifted the words around to Charity Kiss. Hansen and Hendriks loved it. 

While the band has been able to form a good following here in Reno, the band’s ultimate goal is to relocate to Los Angeles.

“We’ve established a lot here in Reno and we love it here,” Ziegler said. “But the scene is pretty small and we want to get to a place where we can reach more people. But home base will always be Reno, we love Reno here too. We just think there might something more we can hit in LA.”

“We didn’t realize there was all these different scenes in all these cities across the country,” Linker said. “Being in Reno forever, it’s up and down for a while.”

Another reason why the band wants to relocate in L.A. is to have a house where they can all lock in and focus on music together all the time. Other goals for the collective is to engage more on social media, try and reach more people, and make more music. 

“We just try to chase the passion of music,” Hansen said. “The goal is to always be writing something new. Not have every song sound, not to bash on Green Day, but you know every song is the same and you’re like ‘Oh they have a system down.’”

The band also wants to release a bunch of songs that they have performed, but people can’t listen to it through their streaming provider of choice. When it comes to releasing music, it can be very challenging for them because they have to account for five different perspectives and opinions on how the song should sound. It also makes it hard with Hendriks out of the country right now.

On Feb 14 they released, “Polka Dot Girl” which is a two-song pack also including the song, “What I Like About You”. Polka Dot Girl was one of the first songs the band made and they have performed it for over a year. You can check out “Polka Dot Girl” and their other music here: linktr.ee/CharityKiss

Our Town Reno Music Reporting by Jaden Urban

My First Experience at a Punk Show with Blind Fortune Headlining in a Garage

Intrigued and Willing

Going to my first punk rock show in a garage was an experience unlike anything I have ever gone through. As a music connoisseur, I’ve seen at least over a hundred different artists live. From genres such as Hip-Hop, R&B, Alternative, EDM, and Pop. However I had never been to an aggressive rock, punk, or garage rock type show.

The band, Blind Fortune, had been on my radar for a long time as I heard and knew of them through friends of friends. I had been really intrigued by their style and music for some time and looked for the opportunity to go to one of the shows and sit down with the band to pick their brains. 

I had seen that they had a billing lined up and knew some of my friends that were going to the show. I decided that this was the right time to give myself this experience to try something new out. 

Let’s Get Some Movement

As soon as the show starts, with everyone standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the tightly packed garage, it’s an experience unlike any other before. At this point I’m standing two feet away from the lead singer for the first band, Crossing Point. There’s a lot of vibrant colors and personalities in the garage, with each band having their names spray painted on wooden boards hanging on top of the garage door. 

The first lead vocalist dedicates the song to his brother who sadly took his own life. The vocalist cathartically sings his heart out before saying, “Let’s get some movement.” At the time I had no idea what that meant before I watched the mosh pit open right in front of my eyes and people starting moshing together.

I know mosh pits get a bad reputation as some say it’s just an excuse to beat up on each other, and from my experiences, sometimes that is definitely the case. In this sense, it had a different feeling to it. As I watched everyone in the pit push, throw elbows and punch each other while the blaring rock music was playing with every drum beat equating to my heartbeat, I got a sense of free-spiritedness. The people in-and-out of the mosh pit seemed so alive and in the moment, a strong sense of youthfulness and the idea that we are here for a good time not a long time. Rebelling against the system and society’s expectations of what we can and can’t do. No one was trying to pretend to be someone they’re not. Everyone was fully expressing themselves to the absolute fullest. 

As the show goes on, the culture shock starts to fade and I start to really get into the music. Mind you, I have heard punk music, but only on a handful of occasions. As for each time the amp shrieks I start anticipating the next song that’s about to be played. The atmosphere of us all standing in a little house garage with a staircase, right behind us that is just as packed with the side door barely being able to close sounds crazy, but it actually heightens the show as you feel more of a closeness and connection with everyone in  the crowd and with the bands. 

A Sober, Straight Edge Event Interrupted

The bands that played were Crossing Point, blanket., Mira Loma, Ego Trip, and headlining, Blind Fortune. While I came specifically to see Blind Fortune, the other bands definitely didn’t disappoint. Each band brought their own style and performance style to the show, it didn’t feel as if I watched the same bands over and over again. The band, blanket, had only practiced together four times with this being their first show. 

After each band played there was a 15 minute intermission where everyone would go stand in the backyard while the bands would set up their stage for performance. It was a straight edge event so there was no alcohol or drugs allowed at the house. Everyone was sober the entire time. 

After all the other bands, Blind Fortune looks to close out what had been a pretty good night. The anticipation builds as they have built a great reputation for their live shows. As the performance begins everyone is very involved and into the music. They did a cover of a song that I didn’t know, but it seemed that everyone in the garage knew it word for word. Once they were playing their third song, red and blue lights started appearing from the top of the garage window.

The lights turned on as someone said, “We gotta shut down, they said if we don’t leave we have to start writing tickets.” 

Everyone starts piling out of the garage while I stick around and wait to steal some of the band’s time for an interview.

This photo of the event sparked lots of comments on our Instagram, related to COVID and other community comments.

Meeting Blind Fortune

Briefly before the interview starts I sit and formally meet everyone and immediately you get the sense that these guys had all been friends for some time as they were laughing and joking at each other. 

The band is made up of five members. Cooper Conway, 19, who plays bass and has been playing for 8 years. He’s been in a couple bands before this, but this one he’s really excited about.

The next is Blake Boswell, 23. His friends call him “Bozy.” He is the lead singer and started just in May of last year.  “It’s all new to me. [It’s] super sick, I love it,” Bozy said. 

Tyler Nelson is the drummer for the band. He has been a drummer for five to six years. He was born and raised in Reno, and grew up with the other band members.

Manning Gray, who plays guitar, likes to skate, hang out with his friends, write songs, and play shows.

Conner Bannistor, 20, another guitarist who has been playing for four years also grew up in Reno.

“[I’m] super stoked on Blind Fortune,” Bannistor said. “This new project is crazy, it’s cool seeing everything come together. Every song becoming more solid in what we want our sound to be.”

Even though the show that night was cut short. The band expressed how well the night turned out for the other bands. It was three of the four opening bands’ performing for the first. The band also expressed how much live shows meant to them. 

“We all love the support and giving back support,” Bozy said. “It's super sick to see people all come together as one. There’s no outcast, there's nobody that feels alone and that’s one thing we really aspire for because we’ve been those outcasts, those guys getting kicked out… We are stoked for the future, it’s always gonna be a blind fortune, everything that comes with. Gotta love it.”

The DIY Scene

Conway’s favorite part about performing is the crowd, standing on top of amps, and watching his friends jam out. Bozy loves singing along with the crowd as he says, “Everyone here kills it. Can’t wait for the next one.” Nelson likes the intimacy of the shows and Gray doubles down on that and talks about how good the DIY scene here in Reno is. The DIY scene means that the shows are usually set up without any sort of venue or promoters and are thrown at people’s house. 

“Definitely more stoked on the DIY scene and playing more shows just because the DIY scene in it of itself is more intimate you know there’s so much love and so much support,” Bannistor said. “All of our support comes from each other, so it’s sick to see it evolve. It’s sick when new people come into the scene and like Manning was saying when there’s a spot where we can actually put on a show ourselves, it’s nuts you know. Seeing all your friends beat the crap out of each other with a smile on their face right in front of your face.”

Before Blind Fortune there was a band named Anapathic, but it didn’t last. Nelson, Conway and Bannistor were in the band. After it didn’t work out they started something new. That’s when they came up with the name.

“For the name, we just threw around names until it felt right,” Nelson said. “Every day we play a show it finds its meaning. People come to shows and that in it of itself is a blind fortune. You don’t know what you’re walking into. Most of us grew up together. [We] started music in our ways and then just put it all together.”

“Blind Fortune stuck out because it felt so much more better, you know what I mean,” Bannistor said. “It’s a blind fortune in it of itself. One band broke up so a new one could form.”

Better than 9 to 5

When talking about goals for the band, Bozy talked about how since they are all skaters, they’re on the road constantly and that’s where he is happiest. 

“That’s always felt like home,” he said. “For me, my goal, our goal, if we can just be on the road all the time and seeing all the love out there. [Seeing] new places, pretty places, you know there’s always somewhere to go. I love it. I just want to be on the road.”

Conway’s end goal is focused on doing something music related no matter what it is.

“I’ve wanted to be a musician since I was a child,” Conway said. “I’ve always, I don’t know, I’ve felt that’s always been something I am good at. You know I can work, I can go to a 9-5, but at the end of the day I know I am good at music. I fully realized that during COVID and I know I can do this, so my end goal is to just find a career whether it be a roadie, sound engineering, or in a badass band.”

Nelson and Gray expressed how the artistry of creating music matters to them and they hope it reaches listeners as well. 

“Starting this music and thinking about an end goal is kinda tricky,” Nelson said. “You know the goal has always been evolving. First it was write a song and then play a show and now it’s come to like set up a tour and go through with it. For an end goal you know I just want to, you know, the fulfillment to play every show. That fulfillment in being a musician is what I crave. I think dancing around the world and sharing our sound, getting other people to dance to it is my end goal, however that happens.”

“My end goal in music and with Blind Fortune is, you know when you see a band cover a song of a band that’s no longer together and everyone gets so excited that the band is playing that cover, and everyone’s singing the words so excited because that song means so much to them,” Gray said. “It means so much to them, makes them feel something because it reminds them maybe of a time in their life and it takes them back and makes them relive those feelings and like reflect on them. So, maybe my goal would be for my music to have the kind of effect on people where if someone else played my song it would have that much joy to them as if we were playing it and for it to mean something.”

Music has always been therapeutic to a lot of people and it holds a lot of emotional weight for a lot of people. 

“There’s no other feeling like writing a song with your best friends and being like good, ‘Holy crap that sounded so good’ that stoke is like the ultimate stoke, it’s the best stoke I’ve ever felt, it's the hardest stoke i’ve ever felt,” Bannistor said. “Music’s always meant a lot to me, meant a lot to all of us. I’ve felt so alone sometimes you know the only thing that I can relate to was a song. It helps me navigate my emotions. Like what Manning was saying being able to do that for other people is also like the end goal. Making something for people to relate to when they can’t relate to anything else.”

The band is planning on doing more shows and tours throughout the year and look to get more involved in clothing. Follow them on their Instagram @blind.fortune for more updates on new shows, merch, and music. Check out their latest ep here: linktr.ee/Blindfortune

Our Town Reno Music Reporting by Jaden Urban

J Gip Turning Towards Rap to Save His Life and Tell "Psych Ward Stories"

Anxiety, Football and Thousands of Listens on Soundcloud

Entering Peg’s Glorified Ham n Eggs is a welcoming feeling, with the aroma of coffee and bacon that fills the atmosphere and the service that helps enlighten the time we spend there. One of those working there, as part of several jobs he holds, with a and larger than life bright personality, is Jordan Gipson, also a talented musician, but with a dark, difficult past.

“Summer 2019, two weeks after my birthday, my birthday is July 23,” Gipson said, “I went to Vegas and I came back from a trip. I was working at Peg’s and that’s when everything really hit me.”

Rewind a few years before, and it seems everything externally was fine, from sports to a new path in music.

Gipson was a football player during his time at Damonte Ranch High School and would go on to play college at the University of La Verne. Football was his biggest passion at the time until one day his roommate asked him if he wanted to get on a song with him. Gipson was a little skeptical as he had just rapped for fun and freestyled, but figured he might as well give it a try. 

Once the song they made was released, it ended up getting 14 thousand views on Soundcloud. 

“The more I got into music, the less football became my passion,” Gipson said. “I decided to quit football and move back to Reno and just started doing music.”  After some time of creating and crafting his own sound, like a drug, Gipson became an addict that couldn’t get enough of the doses of serotonin that music would give him.

“It’s like scoring a touchdown when you make a good song or are performing on stage,” Gipson said. “It’s that ultimate feeling that gives you satisfaction.”

Making music gave him an outlet to express himself creatively and therapeutically. Gipson was going through a battle that he didn’t know would wash over him and nearly drown his life and mind over the coming years. During his senior year of high school, Gipson had been dealing with depression and anxiety throughout the entire year. 

“I’d have anxiety attacks in class. There would be times I couldn’t get out of bed. There was times like that, but it was nothing compared to what I have now,” said Gipson.

A screengrab from some of his recent Instagram activity @jordan_javon

The Night is Always Darkest before Dawn

After just coming back from Vegas after his 2019 birthday and walking into work, Gipson felt good, but something was off. Something in his mind wasn’t all there. Now we all have come into work with a foggy or a light-headed mind, but something about this was strange. 

As Gipson is working these random, horrific thoughts keep coming in-and-out of his head. The thoughts are out of control, but Gipson didn’t understand why they were happening. He was hoping it was just a bad day. Throughout the day he couldn’t eat and would throw up everything that he tried to put down. He was very confused and scared at what was happening to him. 

When Gipson got home he was praying that he could just sleep it off and that everything would be better. However, when we awoke from what felt like a nightmare the day before, it was slowly coming to be his new harsh reality that he was going to face as the thoughts still remained in his head day after day. 

After a few days, things got worse as Gipson felt like his mind was transferring to another dimension. To the point where you can’t describe or show it to anybody who hasn’t seen this other world. This world creates terrible thoughts and illusions about our current reality. Gipson was thinking everyone could see this world and hear what was going on in his head. He thought everyone despised him and looked down on him, so much so that he thought they wanted him to take his life.

The pressure was weighing down on Gipson and was making him crumble like a rock that degrades to sand. At this point, he says he didn’t want to live life anymore.

Gipson grabbed his microphone cord as he thought it could represent a symbol for him and tied a noose around his neck in his closet. Before he decides to go through with it, he calls his best friend, Trever Schryer, to tell him he loves him and how much he has meant to him. A final goodbye to his lifelong childhood buddy.

As Gipson awaits his final seconds, he puts the cord around his neck, hopeless that life has anymore to offer and makes the final descent into ridding himself of all the pain and suffering. Gipson hangs there in the closet watching slowly as everything turns black. Watching as the happy and upbeat person that he was, fade away into an abyss.

Before he could see his final seconds one of his best friends, Ryan Riggle picks him up and intercepts his voyage to the afterlife as Riggle screams for his girlfriend to grab a knife to cut Gipson down. Riggle cuts Gipson down and throws him on the bed.

The Hospital Experience

Gipson is rushed to the hospital. He hasn’t slept for three days. He has had no food and no water. At this point his mind is still living in this other dimension, the dimension is known as psychosis. Psychosis is where people lose connection with reality and have hallucinations and delusions about everything.

Gipson lays there on the bed as his family is sitting next to him. They’re begging him to hold on for him and his family. They want him to think about the good times.

“While I’m thinking they’re saying think about the good times, in my mind, I’m thinking they want me to die,” Gipson said. “So, I’m like this is my mission right now.”

They made Gipson stay the night and as he was in the psychiatric unit, he found a pen. Without hesitation he started stabbing himself in the neck, about six or seven times until someone tackled him. As Gipson’s hands are covered in blood and there’s blood everywhere a bunch of workers grab him and put him in a bed. Gipson felt his life was fading away on that hospital bed, but the workers just put him to sleep where he was unconscious for three days. 

When he finally woke up, he still felt very psychotic to the point that when they were letting him walk around, Gipson tried to jump out of a window. Ultimately, he couldn’t break the glass as the glass acted as a backboard keeping him inbounds in the game of life. 

After a couple of days, the terror of this harsh reality still enveloped Gipson’s head, but his aunt was trying to help guide him out of it. His aunt offered a healthy perspective to Gipson because she also suffers from mental illness disorders. He says she helped him come out of his psychosis.

Once Gipson was feeling a little better he stayed in a little room at Saint Mary’s where there were four people watching him at all times whether he was showering, eating or sleeping. After a few days, when the hospital thought Gipson was doing better they released him and he went home. But when he thought this might’ve been the end of a scary movie, the opening credits hadn’t even started yet. 

The Rough Road that Follows After

“The next year was torture of intrusive thoughts, pain and suffering and depression,” Gipson said. “Not being able to leave [my] bed. Going job-to-job because I didn’t want to work because I was too scared to go outside. Hurting my family members because I’m in pain and a pain to deal with. And then it all caught up with me again.” 

Gipson had become addicted to a prescription drug called Ativan, which is kind of like Xanax. One day he decided to take 12 of them and wash them down with five Truly Hard Seltzers. He then drove to his friends house down the street and they could tell something was off. Gipson left the house after only being there for about five minutes. He has no memory of driving to and from his friend’s house. It wasn’t until he started texting his girlfriend at the time, Haley Beyer that someone noticed he wasn’t okay. Gipson was speaking gibberish and wasn’t making any sense, she got worried and headed straight over to his house.  

“I thought I was gonna die that day just because I took so many pills,” Gipson said. “I thought mixing it with the alcohol that I would just pass out.”

Gipson was rushed back again to the hospital for a night before being transferred to Reno Behavioral Healthcare Hospital.

After a week in that hospital, Gipson was released and returned home.

“I spent a week in a psych ward,” Gipson said. “I’m still doing pretty bad, but my friends, they want to move into a house. I’m living in my mom’s house at the time. My friends were like, ‘Jordan come move into this house with us. It’s gonna be good, it’ll get you better’... That house really helped me a lot just moving in with my friends.” 

“I got on the right medications. I found the right psychiatrist who truly knew what I was going through because a lot of psychiatrists, a lot of them were confused with what I was going through and thought I was a little crazy. When I found the right psychiatrist they told me that many people go through what I go through, I was very relieved. They put me on the right medications, so I think that was the first step.” 

The Journey Back

Gipson moved into the house in South Reno with some of his friends and ended up getting a job at MYNT dispensary where he packages marijuana. He said that the job helped improve his social skills. Ultimately, it was his relationship with his girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend, and mom that really helped.

“I just wanna shout out to my ex-girlfriend Haley,” Gipson said. “She was there every step of the way. Out of anybody, I appreciate her and my mom the most.”

After the suffering that Gipson endured over the course of the past two years, things started to trend upwards. He started going out more and expanding his social circle and he was on the right medication. Although he still struggles with his mental health, some days are better than others. He has no plan on ending his life as he has so much to live for and accomplish. 

Recently, Gipson, who goes by his rapper name, J Gip has been making and releasing a ton of music solo and with a group of his friends in a group called, Shift the Wave. Shift the Wave recently had a concert at Holland Project in December and are currently releasing a new song every Wednesday for the coming months. (Find their music here: linktr.ee/shiftthewave)

At the concert, Gipson got to perform his song, “Psych Ward Stories” for the first time. The song details his mental health struggles and tells the story of the time when he was at the psych ward. 

“It was very humbling,” Gipson said. “I have performed a lot, but I have never felt a type of emotion like when performing. I was holding back tears. I know people were listening to the story. My friends knew what I went through and I had my friends in their feels. Just sharing my story to so many people, it was hard for me to hold back the tears and emotions, but I’m so happy I did and I know I'm going to perform that song again to get my story out.” (The song is available on Apple Music and Spotify)

At the end of the day, Gipson loves creating music and expressing himself artistically. It is one of his best ways to cope with his mental health.

“The music man,” Gipson said. “I just kept making music throughout all of it…It just lets me get my emotions out and tell my story you know. So, I don’t have to hold it in and hold these thoughts in all the time. The music makes me express myself and makes me feel less crazy knowing I can put art into this or something back into the world. Maybe one day people will listen to down the road when I’m long gone and they’ll still feel like and be like ‘wow, like this really resonates with me’. I don’t think I would be here without the music.”

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours in English, Spanish. Learn more here.

Call 800-273-8255 for any urgent situation.

Reporting by Jaden Urban who is also a member of Shift the Wave

Entering the World of Our Local Spoken Word Collective

An Initiation at UNR

The first time I ever witnessed a spoken word poetry performance in person was in 2017, in one of my English classes at the University of Nevada, Reno. Under the harsh lights of a university classroom, a female student had come in to invite us to join Wolf Speaks UNR, a spoken word poetry club.

The poem she performed was from the point of view of Black mothers and their experiences in the United States. Her words gripped my heart, and tears welled up in my eyes. Each spoken word performance that I’ve seen since has touched me in the same way.

I didn’t know it then, but Wolf Speaks was associated with a larger organization called Spoken Views Collective. The next time I saw a performance would be at one of their events in November 2021.

The show was called Insomnia. It headlined the winner of Season 15 America’s Got Talent, Brandon Leake. Leake hosted a one man spoken word play with local poets as opening acts. These poets included SaMoura Horsley, a founding member of Wolf Speaks UNR; Jessie James Ziegler, an active member of the Spoken Views Collective, and Sana Sana, a local artist.

Each performer had their own topics that they spoke on. It ranged from growing up in the ever changing landscape of Northern Nevada to the experiences of people of color.

When a powerful line reached the audience, they would respond with snapping fingers or hums of appreciation. In the silent moments when a poet would pause, I could hear the sniffling of those moved to tears.

“I think it is healing,” Iain Watson, the founder and director of the Spoken Views Collective said in regards to spoken word. “When people share, I think it really opens up the idea that you’re not alone.”

Watson believes that sharing the vulnerabilities of your heart through poetry creates connections between the performer and their audience. 

“Sometimes you get into those dark spaces [in your mind] and … you find the shame in yourself. … But when people talk about those things, you’re like ‘Geez, I went through the same exact thing, and that person’s talking about it,” Iain Watson, the founder and director of the Spoken Views Collective, said.

The very beginnings of the collective

The collective wasn’t even a thought in his mind when Watson, and his co-founder Tony Walker started planning an event called Spoken Views in 2006.

“We were like hip hop artists- mainly rapping, but we also had a deep love for spoken word poetry,” Watson said. Inspired by Def Poetry Jam, and noticing the missing poetry scene in Reno, they started planning.

The event was held at Se7en Tea House and Bar on the commercial floor of Arlington Towers in 2007. The business has since closed, but Watson still remembers it fondly.

“They kind of offered us to do an open-mic there, or like a little performance,” Watson recalled. The event featured a mixture of poetry and music that he and his friends performed.

The event went well. Watson and a group of friends involved in poetry started building the collective from there.

“We were just kind of feeling the community out,” Watson said. They went into other venues to perform, and eventually decided to start hosting open-mics in different venues.

After hosting a few open-mics, the collective found a permanent home at The Holland Project.

“I almost want to say [we ended up at The Holland] eight to nine years ago because again, Facebook reminds me of this stuff,” Watson laughed.

There was a time when Watson was doing everything for the collective. He was in charge of promoting, opening the doors, and closing down venues.

“Unfortunately, the other founder hasn’t been involved in the collective for quite a while,” Watson said. He defined it as a falling out, but was hesitant to go into details. “I was doing every single thing for a few years,” Watson explained. “Until some people in the collective started stepping up.”

Watson has come to realize that his aspirations are bigger than he can manage. As an elementary school teacher, and caretaker to his father, he is learning to take a step back.

“I really came to a realization that I can’t rely on the poets to do other jobs, you know; because ultimately they’re doing what they’re doing with our collective because they love poetry,” Watson elaborated.

A Revolving Door of Poets and New Ideas

Watson wants to print a quarterly zine for the collective, and he’s inspired by bigger poetry communities in Los Angeles. “The collective is, you know, it’s really weird,” Watson said. “It’s a very big revolving door.”

While Watson wants the collective to grow, there comes a point when powerful poets in the collective leave, or some only stay involved for a year. “I believe it kind of- in a way- hurts us a little bit,” Watson said. He believes that those poets could make a big impact in the community, if the collective could get them into more venues.

Despite this, Watson is happy to see members who have been there from the beginning and newer members that want to be more involved. The Spoken Views Collective is currently attempting to reach out to high school students. In the past, they’ve worked with students who went on to create Wolf Speaks at the university.

“I really love to see that … people grow and then kind of create their own little facet, you know; but still under the Spoken Views umbrella,” Watson said.

One of Watson’s goals for the youth program is to send students to one of the biggest poetry slam youth competitions: Brave New Voices. They were able to send six students to one of their competitions in Washington D.C. in 2016.

“We finally got Reno on the map to do that,” Watson said. It was a huge undertaking for the collective and required hard work and an enormous amount of fundraising. “I think it really opens up avenues for students,” Watson said. Many students that the collective has worked with continue to write and perform poetry.

Including Horsley, Ming Li Wu went to Washington D.C. in 2016. Wu has performed at a TEDx event in Reno and had their poetry featured by the Harvard Ethnic Studies Coalition.

“They find their voice and they find the people that are [like-minded]. It creates like a family, you know,” Watson said. “I always call this, a family; the collective, a family.”

Our Town Reno reporting by Lynn Lazaro

James Carden, A Comedian on the Rebound With Warnings about Fentanyl

For James Carden, 35, his dark comedy sets in Reno have repeatedly been linked to heroin. Talking about heroin is part of his routine, and using was part of his “coping mechanism” until very recently.  Now he’s resolute in turning the corner, and being serious about warning others and the community of disturbing trends, including more and more deadly fentanyl blended into the highly addictive drug. 

Carden started using heroin as a teenager.  “I would just kind of, you know, go through life, like kind of coasting, like I would have some accomplishments and then relapse and like hit rock bottom again.”

He had gotten clean for a while, but as he started to get success in his comedy career out west from his previous base in Montana, he got really nervous and relapsed.  

In Reno, where he moved several years ago, he used to coordinate and host open mic nights, including at the Dead Ringer Analog Bar where he also bartended.

“I’ve just been pretty much all around here,” he told Our Town Reno during a recent interview. “It's really hard to get into like the Laugh Factory and stuff like that, but that would be an ultimate goal of mine to do that.”

But his heroin use, while he used it for material, ultimately got him fired and living on the streets, even before he was unemployed. Getting displaced and higher rents also led to his downward spiral. 

“I was just floating around it. I was kind of sleeping at my job, you know, sleeping on the couches there, being a problem, sleeping in people's cars or like RVs and stuff. When I first moved here, I moved to Center Street and then they tore down my house.”

In Reno, he explained it’s also harder and harder to buy heroin which isn’t mixed in with fentanyl, making it much more dangerous. Fentanyl infused product, he explained, is easier and cheaper to come by, but with huge risks. 

 “Generally a lot of people smoke heroin cause you can't die from smoking. I don't wanna say you can't, but generally, like that's not something that you have to be worried about when you're smoking, you know, you're probably more likely to die in the car crash to go get it before smoking it. But now like with fentanyl, they take fentanyl and then they'll take whatever you would cut with heroin, and so it seems like heroin, but it's not, it's very nefarious and more addicting and scary. I know a couple dealers that will tell you if it's fentanyl or not fentanyl in the beginning, they would do that. And now it's just, everybody's being very sneaky. They're not being honest with the drugs. It's really starting to kill people and like, you can die from it.”

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid also used for pain treatment. Most fentanyl overdoses are believed to be from illegally made fentanyl. According to local law enforcement officials, and statistics they’ve recently released, more than 200 people died of drug overdoses in northern Nevada last year, with over 50 of them due to fentanyl.

To save himself, Carden says he recently went through detox at Well Care. He says he realized his path was getting out of control.  “I started to just really lose everybody in my life and opportunities. I went from like, just like smoking to starting to inject, especially the fentanyl stuff. Like when you do that, you're gonna be dead. And I think, it just started to scare the people around me. I think if you're gonna have detox, you need to go somewhere like Well Care where you see how dark it is and what your future will hold if you continue.”

Along with being off heroin, his comedy career is now on the rebound, with an appearance coming up January 27th at Joe Comedy at the Polo Lounge. He’s off the streets, living with friends. “They've been helping me out because they can see the change that I'm making, as long as I'm just keeping my end of the bargain. I'm very lucky to have that.” 

He would also like to give back and help make Reno’s comedy scene become more inclusive. “A lot of people are kind of nervous about comedy and we need to just be like, hey, this is fun. And like, this would be a fun place to go. I would like to see, more of everybody, right, all demographics and content wise, I've been to shows where it's very misogynistic and I can see why women are kind of like, ‘oh, this sucks, this is uncomfortable.’”

He likes Reno but wouldn’t mind people being more supportive of each other rather than so competitive and negative. “Real friends, here, you can count 'em on one hand. People really need to just stop talking behind people’s backs and just really be supportive. I think everybody in Reno has an addiction or we wouldn't still be here. I mean, it's a 24-hour gambling town and I think we project a lot of our insecurities onto other people that we feel like are lower than us and that we always need somebody to kind of be better than, and I think we need to just realize we're all one.”

Our Town Reno reporting, January 2022

Hannah Hartley, with an Eye on the Hoop and Keeping our Environment Green

Home Means Nevada

At 5’11’’ freshman Hannah Hartley aims to make threes for the Nevada women’s basketball. But as eager as she is about basketball, it competes with how passionate she is about the environment, which she calls the most valuable resource. 

Hartley, born and raised in Reno, graduated from Galena High School in 2021. A three-sport athlete in high school, Hartley was most passionate about basketball and decided to pursue it in college. With multiple offers from Division II and III schools, Hartley made an easy decision to attend college in her hometown to play Division I basketball as a walk-on.

“Attending Nevada gave me the opportunity to play a sport I love for my hometown team and for a coaching staff that I love,” Hartley said during a recent interview with Our Town Reno.

Silver and blue runs deep in the Hartley family blood. Not only was the combination of athletics and academics a selling point for Hartley, but the familial ties also had an impact. Attending Nevada made Hartley a third-generation Nevada student following her grandmother, parents, two aunts, and uncle. Her father, Chad Hartley, served as Nevada’s associate athletic director for strategic communications from 2006 to 2021. 

Nevada is extremely important to my family,” Hartley said. “Much of my family attended the University and my parents both have close ties to the athletic department, which is one reason why playing here is so important to me. Being able to play at a school that has had such a big impact on my family means the world to me,” Hartley said. 

Hannah stands next to her parents, Chad and Shannon, at her high school graduation in 2021. Photo provided by: Hannah Hartley’s Instagram (@hannahhartley33)

Eager about the Environment 

Hartley is majoring in environmental studies with the hopes of pursuing a career as an environmental researcher. She chose this major as a chance to give back to the community that means so much to her. 

“Our environment is the most important resource we have and we must find ways to protect it as best as we can,” Hartley said. “I feel that I have a very strong connection to the Reno-Tahoe area, and I want to do what I can to protect it, and I feel that studying environmental science here is how I can begin to do that.” 

The outdoorsy aspect of Reno has always been of interest to Hartley, which is why it is so important to dedicate her major to the environment. What better place to do so than in the city that fueled her passion for the environment that surrounded her growing up.

“Attending Nevada gave me the opportunity to study the major I was most interested in,
Hartley said. “I am very happy that I get to study something that I am so passionate about, while playing the sport that I love.” 

Going, Going, Green 

The famous ‘Keep Tahoe Blue’ stickers that can be found on numerous car bumpers around the Reno-Tahoe area was a motivator to get Hartley involved with protecting the environment. 

“Growing up in Reno, I would always see Keep Tahoe Blue stickers,” Hartley said. “​​I feel like they have had an influence on why environmental science is so important for me.” 

Off the court, Hartley dedicates her time to volunteering for community clean-up projects around the area as well. 
“I have helped organize and participate in several park clean ups in the Reno area,” she detailed.  

Hartley attributes a lot of her passion for the environment with whom she spends time around the most. Growing up exploring the area influenced Hartley to pursue a degree that would allow her to protect the area she has always called home. 

“Since I was young, I would hike and spend lots of time outdoors with my family,” Hartley said. “Many of my friends and my parents' friends are passionate about protecting the Reno-Tahoe area. I feel like they have had an influence on why environmental science is so important for me and growing up around people who cared about the environment and want to protect it was very impactful for me.” 

Reporting by Cayley Dishion and Montana Lloyd shared with Our Town Reno

Dillon and Jessica, Turning Reno into a Hot Spot for Horror Films

Reno is not often considered a home to a vibrant film community. However, one production company Horror Nerd Productions, with almost a dozen films to their credit, is singlehandedly building an indie film community.

“I’ve always been a giant horror nerd,” said Dillon Brown, during a recent interview with Our Town Reno. Having studied English he is a published author but had always wanted to make a film. “I just went for it,” he told us.

Brown remembers his first film having numerous challenges. Notably, filming a scene with a prostitute and a large man on the university campus one afternoon, he forgot to let anyone know he would be there. Naturally, this scene raised eyebrows and eventually security showed up. “I actually didn’t even film a portion of the script because I was trying to get out of there as fast as possible,” Brown explained. He said it was an absolute nightmare. Which may be fitting for his chosen medium. 

The company he’s building has grown in the past four years, allowing Brown to bring on a producer. Jessica Grimaldo, another creative, helps with all things concerning scheduling, contacting filming locations, and most importantly, casting. 

“I’ve been to a few to a few different theaters where I’ve acted, come on as an instructor, and I’ve made a lot of connections,” said Grimaldo. She has been working in theatre for several years and explained that Reno is not only a great home to theatre, with many small venues, but an excellent place for up and coming actors and actresses. 

She uses her wide breadth of connections to help Brown keep his goal of using Nevada-based actors and resources in his films. “I think the art community is really special here in Reno considering our size,” Grimaldo said. She is excited that Horror Nerd can be a stepping stone for actors looking to make it to a larger screen. 

“Some of our leads have gotten other lead roles in other films...everyone is just getting a lot of exposure,” explained Grimaldo. 

Theater Backgrounds

Brown also comes from a theater background. His grandma worked extensively in theatre in the Bay Area and his uncle still works in the industry. “I always understood that making films or plays, it really is a family thing,” he explained. It is a large process that requires the coming together of so many people and elements. “Otherwise it doesn’t work.” This is why he reached out to Grimaldo, who is his wife’s cousin. He needed the help to take Horror Nerd Productions to the next level. 

“When Jessica got these group of actors together is when the sense of what I wanted to do with Nevada based stories really hit home,” said Brown. He went on to explain he has used actors from across northern Nevada in his films. “There is so much to tell about Nevada and a lot of the famous horror movies have taken place here.” 

Funding has always been his biggest challenge in producing films. But to him, it does not matter. 

“We know how to make them [films], we know we have fun making them,’ explained Brown. The budget does not shape the film for him and Jessica. The goal is to enjoy the process and create art.

The whole process though has still been a learning curve for both Brown and Grimaldo. From figuring out how to ask for help to writing contracts, it is a process that has helped grow the company into streaming films via online platforms. 

One film is now available on Wicked Horror TV and POV Horror, both accessible on ROKU or Firestick. Brown and Grimaldo are already working diligently on the sequel. They are taking their mistakes and learning how to improve the whole process. 

“The Devil’s Children [trailer above] is our biggest thing so far, it’s really the one that is going to put us on the map,” explained Brown. He said this film has more distribution than any of his other films and knows it will lead to more films down the road. Many of the actors have returned for the second film and the community being built around Horror Nerd is blossoming. Brown sees this growth with Grimaldo as his biggest success. He remains humble as a director and hopes he can be the catalyst for actors to go from hopes to careers via his films.

“I would love to see somebody we worked with all the sudden up on the big screen,” said Brown. 

Reporting for Our Town Reno by Richard Bednarski

Sara Rooker, Helping Herself and Others Go Through Hard Times with Comedy

Growing up, Sara Rooker says she had funny parents, and was alway into comedy and telling stories. As she got older, she had a friend, Aurora Singh, who began doing open mic nights and Sara became interested in doing it as well. Especially after going through a particularly rough breakup. 

Comedy is how Sara works through hard times in her life and she found real joy in sharing her stories and making people laugh. Her comedy is based on her real life experiences. She often talks about her experience as a member of the LGBTQA+ community as well as other experiences she encounters. Sara loves being able to represent both women and the LGBTQA+ community on the local comedy scene.

““I  think my initial desire to try comedy stemmed from the fact I was in a really sad place personally and the best way to cope with a lot of things was laughing at myself and the circumstances. It was extremely nerve wrecking and scary but you are so raw and clueless that you just keep trying and eventually it starts to go fine,” she told Our Town Reno. “Fine turns into fairly decent and decent turns into good. Not all the time, there are some people up at open mics who are not good, years later. I will say, the comedians in the scene immediately took me in and were pretty great to me. Stand up provides such a great community of friendships. I was instantly hooked on all of it and haven't looked back since,” Sara said.

 Sara performs a variety of shows at a variety of venues. Before COVID-19 she used to actively perform at The Reno Tahoe Comedy Club. Currently she actively performs at private parties, The Basement and out in Truckee, California at The Station. Two months ago Sara was originally going to perform in Nashville, Tennessee at the Comedy Bar. However, the Comedy Bar was sold and instead she was booked at Yazoo Brewery and Smoker’s Abbey instead, which still turned out to be an absolutely wonderful experience for her.

Of late, Sara Rooker has taken her comedy talents further away from her Reno base.

“Performing in Nashville was great. The people are so nice there! It is always interesting and can make you a little anxious to see how your material does in other parts of the country but I did well and connected with the audience and other comics,” Sara said.

Along with performing at shows she also has a podcast she hosts with fellow comedian Andrea B. called Same Problems. Same Problems is about the problems both of Sara and Andrea have experienced with dating and can be found on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Reno’s comedy scene she says is a great base. Even if it’s still dominated by men and may not be as big as it once was, it survives and moves along.

“We have a lot of great comics who work super hard and are working hard to produce quality shows,” Sara said of the current trend. “Our scene has a great community of small business owners that support comedy and make sure there is always a place for live comedy in our city.”

During COVID-19 like many other facets of life, comedians' lives got put on an abrupt hold as live performances were no longer allowed for an extended period of time. However, as time passed and activites began to open up, shows started up again.

The Emerson, a bar located in Midtown was the first to allow comedic shows to begin again. Sara was very appreciative as she believed The Emerson was very supportive of  local comedians and wanted to bring shows back to lighten people's lives after such a rough year for us all.

Other small businesses began reaching out as well trying to book shows with local comedians in Reno making for a very supportive community. During the pandemic she tried some zoom comedy events but believes it just wasn’t the same as experiencing a crowd in person. 

Sara has been inspired by other female comedians but her own name is now in bright lights.

Sara is inspired by many female comedians such as Amy Wong, Beth Stelling, and Tig Notaro, but she finds most of her inspirations come from comedians she has met on the road who actively encourage other comedians to succeed.

Some more local comedians Sara was inspired by would be her two friends from Sacramento, Emma Haney and Becky Lynn who Sara says have always supported her from day one and have given her opportunities to expand her career. When Sara started out, comedians Andrea B. and Brooke Unger also took Sara under their wings and provided Sara with guidance and confidence.

Some of Sara’s most memorable moments would be opening for Kabir Singh, a comedian who was featured on America’s Got Talent, at the Cobb’s Comedy Club in San Francisco. Along with that experience, one of the most memorable moments would be opening for Kyle Kinane at Savage Henry’s, a venue in Humboldt, California. A comedian she also looks up to for inspiration, Kinane had his own streaming specials and also was featured on Jimmy Fallon's late night show. Kinane hand selected Sara for his show and Sara ended up receiving tons of positive feedback during the show and was really able to light up the crowd before his performance. Because of that performance she received a lot of future bookings due to the night being such a success. That show in particular was sold out and had a crowd of around five-hundred people. 

Sara's ultimate dream when it comes to her comedy is to be able to do it full time and gain her full income from bringing laughs. She’d also like to release her own EP on streaming platforms such as Spotify. 

Sara’s advice to future comedians is to get out there and do as many open mics as possible and keep working on your routine. Comedy comes with trial, error, and repetition as she believes it takes a while to find your comedic voice. Along with that she wants people to know to come into the scene with no expectations and understand you will bomb events but that is a part of the learning process and you can take those experiences and learn from them. 

“My advice to people wanting to try comedy, just get on stage as much as possible. it is muscle memory, you have to get as many reps as possible,” she said. “Write every day or as much as you can. It takes years to really figure out your ‘voice.’ People think stand up comedy is glamorous and it isn't (unless you're one of the few that make it big). You hardly make any money, I've driven hours through the night (in a blizzard) for 10 minutes of stage time in San Francisco and turned right back around to make it to work on time at 5am haha. I've done a dog's birthday parties with no microphone and more dogs than people in the audience. I have also performed at McQueen High School's Safe and Sober night for graduating seniors. That was definitely worse than the dog's birthday party. The point is, the grind sucks and the grind lasts for a decade plus and then maybe you never ‘make it,’ but if it is meant for you, you will fall in love with it and it will consume you. At that point, you just have to keep going because nothing else would ever make sense.”

Our Town Reno reporting by Carley Olson

Photographer Showcases Reno's Authentic and Thriving Skateboard Scene

Thanks to his older brother, 5 year-old Nick Felton was inspired by his sibling role model to get into skateboarding growing up in Fallon, Nevada. From the first moment he learned to skate, his feet have not strayed from his board since, and after being introduced to photography he has now transitioned into taking photos for some of Reno’s finest skateboarders. Slowly over time his passion eventually turned into a budding occupation as a documenter of a growing scene.

”My oldest brother was super into skateboarding when I was super little, and me and my middle brother always did what he was doing... type of deal,” Felton said. “I got a board I think when I was five, and I lived down the street from the skate park in Fallon. Before I knew it I was spending every day there after school, every weekend, it’d be like 9 to 5 at the skatepark.”

How he got into photography is its own separate answer. 

”When I started taking photos, it’s actually funny,” Felton said. “I signed up for an auto tech class and I got kicked out of it and the only other class I could take was photography, so I took photography and I ended up just enjoying shooting photos. I always wanted to be artistic and I always felt like that was my medium, you know, it just made sense.”

SInce then Felton has racked up quite the resume with his skateboarding shoots. He has been featured in several local magazines including Thrasher, which is one of the biggest skateboarding magazines that was started in 1981 by Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello. He has even started his own local magazine, “Seven Ply Mag”. Currently, they don’t have any issues left to share, but you can check out their Instagram, @sevenplymag. 

“It’s a local ‘photozene’,” Felton explained. “It’s been about 30 to 40 photos each issue. We’ve done a couple and we have a few on the way and it’s basically just local skaters and then every issue we’ve featured a local artist that’s some way tied in with the skateboarding scene.”

That artist gets a lot of their work published on several pages of the magazine.

“We’re just trying to keep it all Reno based. The motto is ‘Let Local Roll’. It’s not anything we’re trying to make money off of, it’s just something when we’re older we can look back on it, almost like scrapbooks, but it’s photos in magazines that we did. It’s cool because there’s some younger kids that get really excited about it. It’s more of a fun thing to do than anything so there’s a way for me to have a portfolio and show this is what I can do.”

To make ends meet, Felton currently has a job doing photography for a real estate company, while he manages at Wild Garlic. He is working at Wild Garlic until he makes enough money to work full-time he says as a photographer. 

He sees continued growth in the local skateboarding scene, which could offer more opportunities as well.

”Reno is super cool and the scene is super cool. It’s like up and coming. This year we’ve had like people like Thrasher, that I know, is the first people from Reno that made it. Of our generation, it’s actually a coming up place and it’s like on the map now, is what everyone says, it’s on the map now. When I first moved to Reno, I came from Fallon, I didn’t have any friends and all of my friends that I’ve met are mostly from skateboarding.”

He says the Reno skate community supports each other with all their ventures.

“Everyone’s really motivated right now. A lot of people you’re gonna see come out of Reno doing goods things with skateboarding which is cool. It’s definitely in a good state now, it’s progressed. The owner of Classic Skate Shop, Eric Lantto, he does a lot for Reno skateboarding which is awesome.”

Felton himself has worked for Lantto as a photographer. He also wants to hit the road and branch out, to cast his photography wider and feel freer and discover more of the world.

”I would be in a van with a bunch of professional skateboarders taking photos with them and hopefully only being at home a couple weeks or months a year, always on the road. That’s the dream. I’ve done a couple of things very  small scale with that and I have a couple of friends that are pro and got on a couple of trips to Southern California and Vegas but nothing to the extent of traveling the world. Hopefully one point we’ll get there.”

Reporting by Jaden Urban and Makayla Hardy for Our Town Reno

My Experience Helping for a 1st Time with the Reno Burrito Project

On a recent Sunday, I joined the Reno Burrito Project to contribute service hours to my fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon. I participated in their weekly effort to provide food and clothes to the unhoused.

With over 20 volunteers, the team quickly rolled and wrapped 540 burritos in under two hours for the community, while preparing fresh fruit, juice, soda, warm clothes, and even socks and underwear to make sure those in need are getting more than just a burrito. The project has been accepting donations of clothes, shoes, blankets, and other objects useful for our neighbors experiencing the harsh oncoming weather of Reno during our colder months.

The founder of the Reno Burrito Project, Blaize Abuntori, opens his home every week to people around the community looking to make a change. He says he has his volunteers that come every week, but that it actually relies on people like myself coming out for the first time. Blaze has been doing this for the community for over a year now and loves to see the support that people have for it. It started off by asking friends to help, now he can trust the community to show up and do their part. 

I didn’t realize how simple and easy it is to help out and make such a huge impact. I was having fun figuring out the best way to roll a burrito, talking with my peers, and just being in such a positive environment. Hearing other reasons for attending really inspired me to want to do more. This time I only could contribute my time, but in the future I would like to bring items that could be donated and snacks that can be given alongside the burritos.

1st Person Essay by UNR Student Evan Ferris

Local Accomplished Musician Muses on a Shifting Reno with Stagnant Pay, Rising Costs

Leaves whirled around the tables and chairs of the plaza at the West Street Market on a blustery fall afternoon. As the nearby restaurants began to prep their evening service, Jammal Tarkington took the time to speak about his experiences as a globetrotting musician, DJ, and music teacher while reflecting on what the music scene in Reno used to look like.

“When we were literally kids and didn’t know nothing, we were smart about a couple things,” Tarkington said as cars passed by on the street. He got his start in music at a young age as a bassoon player. It was not long before he discovered the magic of the saxophone. Through the help of his grandfather, who turned him onto jazz music, he started off on the alto sax in the seventh grade. Soon his teachers urged him to try the much larger baritone sax and this instrument is where he earned his chops as a musician. 

He came to the University of Nevada, Reno on a music scholarship and quickly fell into a band. “Our hotspot was the Wall,” he explained naming the bar just across campus on Virginia Street. “We would book gigs when we knew that there were football games, when we knew there were basketball games, that we knew were going to draw a crowd.” Tarkington attributes this as one of the reasons his career as a musician got off the ground. He remembers nights where the crowd was shoulder to shoulder and by 10 p.m. there was no room for anyone else inside. 

“I rarely see local bands around here that are actually being able to pull numbers like that,” he said.

Pay hasn’t changed much for musicians over the years, but the cost of living has. “Before the pandemic...when I was a freshman in college, $125 was a going rate to get to play a good jazz show,” he explained. “And that’s what it is today.” 

Tarkington remembers paying $600 a month for rent and now is baffled at the $2000 price tag he sees on places to live. This lack of affordable housing has left its mark on the music scene. 

“The support for arts and musicians has gone to the backburner,” he said. However he knows there are efforts in the community to get art back to where it was when he was younger. Programs like the Holland Project, ArtTown, and the Off Beat Music Festival are ways he sees people trying to reestablish support for local musicians and artists. 

“I think if we can find ways to support them to where that can be also an inspiration to them to be able to want to do this art,” explained Tarkington. As a music teacher, he passes on the torch to the younger generation cultivating this creative drive he found in the old jazz recordings his grandfather shared with him when he was a child in Stockton, California. 

“I was a big kid so I think they were like ‘give him the big horn,” explained Tarkington about how he transitioned from the alto saxophone to the baritone saxophone. “Once I actually started playing it, I loved it.” He remembers carrying the massive case several miles to and from school everyday. Tarkington’s grandfather seeded his love of jazz. Specifically, he remembers one album, a Gerry Mulligan live album from the early 1950s. The concert was recorded in his hometown and he asked his grandfather about the record. 

“He was like, ‘I was at that show,’” said Tarkington with a small laugh. “That drew me to having an understanding of where the instrument's progression has come.” Beyond his grandfather, Tarkington gave Gerry Mulligan credit for the musician he is today and his love of collecting albums and LPs. He considers himself almost an archaeologist of music.  Mulligan also known as Jeru, was a New York City jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger who died in 1996 after a long, illustrious, multi faceted career.

“I think musicians can try to be, not to say more original, but just more true to themselves,” explained Tarkington about the difference between the music scene of his youth and today. When he first started playing music professionally in college, he said he had no idea what he was doing as far as a local band. But this lack of experience allowed him and his bandmates to pull together a unique style of music that was their own and true to who they were as individuals. A bit of ska, a tad of punk, and a little jazz. This eclectic arrangement of styles was his first band, The Mudsharks. Despite this quirky approach to finding his style, he does wish he had someone to help set them on track with a distinct style. 

“Finding a voice that is you,” explained Tarkington, “so that you can dig into that is important.” It translates to when a musician goes in front of an audience. He has learned from his successful career, that this allows a musician or artist to create work that is truthful and relatable. Beyond that, he does feel there are not enough venues for musicians. 

“When I look at what’s going on in Reno, I think we can have some music halls,” he said. “Some venues that are specific to cultivating a thing for bands.” He mentioned the spot immediately behind us, the former music venue The Green Room. He used to be a bouncer for them as well as a musician. These kinds of venues that have fallen by the wayside gave roots to up and coming musicians. And they are few and far between in town nowadays. He remembers bands would come through, fifteen years ago, and make a few thousand dollars a night. 

“You can’t do that in Reno anymore,” he said. He thinks there should be many venues that support musicians with a solid sound system and sound person to help cultivate a connection between audience and musician.

While he looks forward to getting back to performing, he equally wants to go out and support local musicians. He is an avid fan of music and enjoys live shows nearly as much as performing. The pandemic has allowed him to focus on recording and getting the old band, Who Cares, back together. This band has had some of the greatest impact on the community in terms of a form of medicine. Tarkington told a story about how an individual used the music of Who Cares to get through some tough issues. This connection is something Tarkington feels is essential for musicians to distill into their music and is something he tries to accomplish with every note. 

“Maybe see ways to be supportive of music and arts in general,” said Tarkington about what the community can do for the local arts. “I like looking for the underdog.” He wants the community to do the same and get out, safely, and support the local music and arts community. 

Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

Joshua Chang Makes a "Trust Your Power" Colin Kaepernick Mural at UNR

On the third floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union, Colin Kaepernick’s face can now be seen through The Multicultural Center’s glass walls. Soon it will include the quote by the former star Wolf Pack and NFL quarterback turned civil activist and 2017 GQ Citizen of the Year: “Trust Your Power.”

“You get a lot of resistance when speaking about your truth,” Joshua Chang, the UNR alumnus behind the mural project explained, as to how this quote is so impactful. “It’s almost like people want you to second guess what you’ve been struggling through.”

A student painted on an extra fist during The Multicultural Center’s recent community paint day. Photo taken by Joshua Chang with permission to use.

Chang hopes that the mural will be a reminder to others. “Trust what you can do as an individual,” he said.

“We’ve seen in history what one person can do,” Chang said, referencing Kaepernick who in the 2016 NFL preseason sat during the playing of the U.S. national anthem, rather than stand, to protest against police brutality, racial injustice, and oppression. The following week, and throughout the regular season, with millions watching on television, Kaepernick kneeled.

Chang’s work often focuses on inspiring and empowering others. He also feels the need to step up as an artist. In 2017, Chang and other students painted murals over swastikas that had defaced the Church of Fine Arts’ graffiti stairwell.

“That was kind of our call to action,” Chang remembers.

Joshua Chang stands in front of the then unfinished mural. Photo taken by Lynn Lazaro

“A lot of people in my life speak a lot through their actions,” Chang said. For him, if he isn’t following that example, he is being a silent bystander. “This [art] is my best form of activism.”

Throughout Chang’s high school career, he worked on murals with his brother. As a student of the Las Vegas Academy of Arts, Chang and his brother also painted murals for free for churches in San Diego and Reno.

“He’s the one who really got me started,” Chang said, referring to his brother. It was their way of connecting, and it was how his love for art began.

Upon entering UNR however, Chang chose to pursue engineering instead of continuing his education in art.

“I thought I could do it,” Chang said about his change in focus. “But I ended up just really missing [art].” Despite his yearning, Chang continued his education in engineering, and graduated earlier this year.

After graduating, Chang decided it was time to continue pursuing his artistic and activist passion.

Including the Kaepernick mural, Chang was involved in Kappa Phi Lambda’s art exhibition that celebrated Pan-Asian roots. After his work with The Multicultural Center is done, he hopes to work with an organization partnered with Black Wall Street Reno.

“You have to know your past to know where you’re going,” he said reflecting Kaepernick’s example.

Reporting and photos by Lynn Lazaro shared with Our Town Reno

Seniors in Service Pairing up Foster School Grandparents with Kids in Need

As Reno’s prices increase while wages remain low and stagnant, more and more growing pains are becoming apparent. Notably, nearly half of the 104 schools in the Washoe County School District are Title I, or so-called high poverty schools, to whom federal funds are distributed as determined by the number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Seniors in Service, a non-profit that addresses elderly loneliness, has been growing a program that places senior volunteers in area schools to provide companionship, mentoring, and a foster grandparent. It’s a generational win-win.

“In northern Nevada, we’ve been operating here since the seventies,” said Foster Grandparent Volunteer Coordinator Sheri Brown. She currently manages about 80 volunteers. The program gives an opportunity to senior citizens who are still interested in giving back to their community. “We have them paired up with children who can really use the extra help,” said Brown.

A lot of the volunteers visit elementary schools that are located in lower-income neighborhoods. Brown said she currently focuses most of her volunteers in Washoe County, with a handful in Lyon County, but ultimately, she wants this program to span the entire state. 

Volunteers spend anywhere between five and 40 hours a week engaging and mentoring students. “The mentoring aspect is a whole other thing,” Brown explained. This is where the foster grandparents get to listen, provide hugs and emotional support. “Be a positive role model for the kids,” explained Brown. 

While there are more female volunteers than men, Brown feels that her grandpas who do volunteer are very special and have a knack for relating to the younger male students. “I would love to have more volunteers, we can take as many as we can get,” she said. As the volunteer coordinator, Brown tries to pair the volunteers up with a location and students that best match their personality and location. She does not want to have them driving long distances and often works with the volunteers who prefer one school over another.

The program has evolved over the years. Volunteers used to primarily go into hospitals and mentor children through the process of being hospitalized. “We’ve gotten a lot of volunteers over the years but where we are now is not where I would like to be,” said Brown. The pandemic has taken a toll on volunteers. Brown said the program lost about ten volunteers since the pandemic began.  

Linda Peterson has been a volunteer as a foster grandparent for over ten years. She found the program through her church. Before the pandemic, Peterson would spend time with about 20 students and was eager to get back into the classroom again. 

“Try and get through the door without being hugged by all the students,” Peterson said is usually how her day begins at each school. She helps the teachers get ready to teach, the students prepare for the day, and she provides that one-on-one connection that is often lost in schools. 

Peterson said the most rewarding aspect of volunteering is the way the kids get into her heart and thoughts. She has nurtured and cultivated many long time friendships. “It makes my life worthwhile,” she said. 

Peterson encourages people to give it a try, to spend a day with a school foster grandparent. To see what it is like and the impact that can be made. “They’re little sponges and they just love you to pieces regardless of what’s going on,” she said. Her favorite activity is reading to them, followed by helping students navigate their math work. 

“I wish people would just take a chance and just brighten their life,” Peterson said. “This pandemic has taken away from my quality because I was not around the little people to help them to learn.”

Brown has learned the impact of the program also goes beyond the students and the foster grandparents themselves. “I just kept hearing so many stories of the volunteers telling me that their teacher would get into a slump and have a hard time,” she explained. “I realized how much the volunteers were cheerleaders for the teachers as well.” 

Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

Ryeanna Iverly, on a Journey to Help Others Around the World

A Smile to Combat Many Pains

Coming out as a transgender was not easy for Ryeanna. Her first wife had died, she says, and her second wife did not accept her for who she is or rather came out to be. She accepted the rejection as she says it was not necessarily failure on her part. It was her creator, a higher power, who she feels helped her believe in herself and got her to survive times of failure and feelings of dejection. “It is difficult to separate rejection from the feeling of being elated to be myself”, she says.

Initially, she often felt like a movie star when she stepped out on local streets and often became conscious of people around her. Eventually, she got used to the stares. 

Ryeanna previously served in the Navy and earned an M.B.A degree before coming out as a woman. Currently she receives $144 in veteran’s disability assistance and gets food stamps as well. Her rent is paid for by HUD-VASH, a collaborative program between HUD and the Veteran’s Affairs departments, combining housing vouchers with supportive services to help veterans who have been homeless.

She also lives off the generosity of other people who help her fill her gas tank, or donate to her occasional GoFundMe fundraising efforts. She says she has also resorted to selling drugs or her body to be able to survive financially.

Ryeanna at a recent protest. Photo by Catherine Schofield.

Facing a Deluge of Threats

These aren’t her only challenges. Ryeanna says she receives death threats at laundromats from random men, gets thrown out of businesses due to her appearance, pulled out of bathrooms, and beaten up or even spat on at times. These difficult experiences have not deterred her spirit though. She says her faith has made her resilient and of the belief that the next person she meets will be more accepting of her. 

As a woman, she wants to be able to enjoy motherhood someday, she adds. She not only wants to bring up a child but wants to go through the natural process of childbirth. She is aware of her bodily limitations due to her anatomy but feels that that pain and possibility is the part of the gift of being a woman, something that she would love to experience in the future. 

Ryeanna has also been challenged with homelessness, including living out of a truck. She says she was homeless even before coming out. But even when parked in a quiet spot she says she was often threatened or woken up by police, told to move along. She’s dealt with depression and PTSD which has often made her suicidal. She remembers a particular tree by the Truckee River where she chose to hang herself but from which she was then saved by one of her acquaintances. She has often also turned to drugs to escape her battles.

Finding No Haven at the Shelter but with a Worldwide Dream

Going to the shelter has been a problem as well. Her genitalia, she explains, does not align with a woman and therefore she got singled out. She was not allowed to shower at the same time as others, she says. The shelters impose norms on people and somewhat restrict her and that is what creates “more resistance” she added. She says people who have a home are less scrutinized. 

She calls Reno an ‘art town’ and says that the houseless community has a lot of people who are very artistic. She herself wants to start a forum where she would be able to auction art for charity to be able to give back to people who are suffering or in need.

Her house is a small colorful spot filled with unicorns and rainbows, lights, and decorations. She sees unicorns as a symbol of goodness and hope. She even has a bowl named ‘unicorn food’ which she believes fills up magically for her unicorns while she is away. 

She donned a low back black dress and very high black heels as she allowed me into her space and showed me several flags she takes with her to the protest marches she goes to, where she has become a local fixture.

She is Ryeanna Jasiah Iverly: a transgender activist, with a dream to own a ship run by LGBTQIA+ crew that could be used to rescue LGBTQIA+ refugees from around the world and use money from the ship’s customers to help the less fortunate. A dream she believes is distant but could be true.

Reporting and Photos by Kingkini Sengupta for Our Town Reno

“Plants are resilient, and so are we”: Growth and Harvesting at the Hampton House Garden

Homemade Flower Power

After nearly nine months since its start, the Hampton House Garden has bloomed into a scene far beyond Our Town Reno’s last look at it. An introduction from April showed bare soil, empty plots, and the very beginning of seedlings being planted. Now, half a year later, Lily Baran’s backyard is a meeting place for the neighborhood to join in on the garden.

“It's so cool cause it's like a form of rest and a form of protest, that serves the community and myself in like a healthier way, you know.” Baran says. “You can’t always be fighting so ... it helps me like regulate what’s happening in my life cause a lot of the times with Stop the Sweeps or with like, I mean any protesting stuff, you get very like lost in what you’re doing …  it's just been a very nice way to like to ground myself.”

Coming home to her garden is part of what calms her down after hectic days. On the day of this interview, Baran had teamed up with her neighbors to help retrieve her neighbor’s car, which had been stolen. Despite her responsibilities and duties, and new job with the ACLUNV as a program associate, she still shows up for the people who need her help.

“It's a reflection of like how my well-being is also. Like if the garden’s looking good, I'm probably feeling good. If it's not, I’m probably not doing good. Like if you came here and the garden was dead, maybe I would probably be dead also.”

Bees, gifted to the Garden by Lily’s friend Jamie, help pollinate the plants. Photo by Rachel Jackson

Birds & Bees, Literally

Hampton House has become home to more than just plants since April. A hive of bees and two ducks later, the garden is literally buzzing. The ducks, gifted by friends who were moving, live towards the back of the garden, where the female lays an egg nearly every day.

The ducks live behind a gate that separates them from Champagne, Baran’s dog.

Baran invited the neighborhood children over to eat the first ripe watermelon of the season, one that the kids planted themselves. Photo by Rachel Jackson

Last Bites of Summer

Baran has invited her neighborhood into her own backyard through a partnership with the organization Black Wall Street. Of the three children who came over to try the fresh watermelon, they rated it as follows: 10/10, 10/10, and 44/10. Other parts of the watermelon went next door and across the street. She sent the kids (and myself) home with a bag full of fresh vegetables. 

Other than her own neighbors, Baran donates much of the food she produces to local food pantries, like the Biggest Little Free Pantry, near E 6th Street and Valley Road. Previously, Baran has used zucchini from the garden to bake 60 zucchini muffins to put in the pantry. 

The Biggest Little Free Pantry says, “FREE FOOD! TAKE WHAT YOU NEED, LEAVE WHAT YOU CAN!” Photo by Rachel Jackson

From Garden to Table

Though she has plans for the future, including getting more people involved with Hampton House and their own gardens, Baran has taken a liking to the fruits of her own labor. 

“It’s all positive, like nothing negative comes out of this, you know? What I mean and what the greatest part is that we are able to do things, like, that are separated from capitalism, which is so hard to do, right.” Baran said. “Like this morning, we were able to eat an omelet and like squash and tomatoes and all this stuff and this great breakfast and like never, a transaction never took place ... We don’t have to rely on the systems that were built for us, because they don’t work. And so it’s nice to have even the smallest bit of, um, rest bit from capitalism. Even if it’s just a duck egg and a tomato.”

Baran’s porch displays signs supporting campaigns for “Bee Friendly Reno” by Reno Food Systems and “Execute Justice, Not People!” by Death Penalty Action. Photo by Rachel Jackson

For the Future

Despite the time and effort put into the garden, Baran still hasn’t stopped the fight outside of her backyard. Over the summer, she spoke at the Stop the Sweeps protest, and gave her thoughts for the Our Town Reno podcast. The garden itself is partnered with Black Wall Street as well.  Updates can be found on Facebook or Instagram through @findartinlife or @hamptonhouseharden. Volunteer days for the garden are on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Reporting for Our Town Reno by Rachel Jackson