Highlights - JILL JOHNSON - Dancer - Choreographer & Ballet Stager - Fmr. Dance Director, Harvard

Highlights - JILL JOHNSON - Dancer - Choreographer & Ballet Stager - Fmr. Dance Director, Harvard

Dancer · Choreographer and Ballet Stager · Fmr. Director Harvard Dance

Keeping people interested in dance is exposing folks, no matter how big or small an audience, to the different ways of seeing. How can you place a value on solace, joy, or tenderness and vulnerability?

JILL JOHNSON - Dancer - Choreographer & Ballet Stager - Fmr. Dance Director, Harvard

JILL JOHNSON - Dancer - Choreographer & Ballet Stager - Fmr. Dance Director, Harvard

Dancer · Choreographer and Ballet Stager · Fmr. Director Harvard Dance

Keeping people interested in dance is exposing folks, no matter how big or small an audience, to the different ways of seeing. How can you place a value on solace, joy, or tenderness and vulnerability?

Fury Young - BL Shirelle - Co-Executive Directors of DJC Records

Fury Young - BL Shirelle - Co-Executive Directors of DJC Records

Co-Executive Directors of DJC Records

I took this class on genocide that had a huge impact on me, and it also coincided, just the timing, with the Occupy Wall Street movement. So then two years later in 2013, I was reading The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, and the book is about how mass incarceration is like a modern-day racial caste system. And I just got the idea to do an album, because I was listening to a lot of concept albums like Pink Floyd, The Wall. And it started from there, just a little seed and a spark of just this idea for this one album. And then over time, it just evolved into an EP, and then a record label and a nonprofit. –Fury Young

I think in the end, what our mission is, is to dismantle stereotypes around race and prison. But maybe from listening to that album, and you see this guy, he applied for your job, and he has a drug charge or something. Maybe you're not looking at it so crazy anymore. It's like, know what? I'll give him an interview. I'll see. And that interview may change, you know, your life and that person's life. So that's like the ideal scenario. – BL Shirelle

Highlights - Fury Young - BL Shirelle - Co-Executive Directors of DJC Records

Highlights - Fury Young - BL Shirelle - Co-Executive Directors of DJC Records

Co-Executive Directors of DJC Records

I took this class on genocide that had a huge impact on me, and it also coincided, just the timing, with the Occupy Wall Street movement. So then two years later in 2013, I was reading The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, and the book is about how mass incarceration is like a modern-day racial caste system. And I just got the idea to do an album, because I was listening to a lot of concept albums like Pink Floyd, The Wall. And it started from there, just a little seed and a spark of just this idea for this one album. And then over time, it just evolved into an EP, and then a record label and a nonprofit. –Fury Young

I think in the end, what our mission is, is to dismantle stereotypes around race and prison. But maybe from listening to that album, and you see this guy, he applied for your job, and he has a drug charge or something. Maybe you're not looking at it so crazy anymore. It's like, know what? I'll give him an interview. I'll see. And that interview may change, you know, your life and that person's life. So that's like the ideal scenario. – B.L. Shirelle

Highlights - Cynthia Daniels - Grammy - Emmy Award-winning Producer, Engineer, Composer

Highlights - Cynthia Daniels - Grammy - Emmy Award-winning Producer, Engineer, Composer

Grammy & Emmy Award-winning Producer, Engineer, Composer

We all are looking for a little magic in our lives, and I think that's what art and the creative process allow for, above all. In a world that can be either way too predictable and mundane and create tedium, the creative mind, for me, is the curious mind and the mind that's always learning and allowing yourself to make mistakes. To generate from your core, from your soul, and from your experience something new and experimental and something that is unique to yourself.

Cynthia Daniels - Grammy and Emmy Award-winning Producer, Engineer, Composer

Cynthia Daniels - Grammy and Emmy Award-winning Producer, Engineer, Composer

Grammy & Emmy Award-winning Producer, Engineer, Composer

We all are looking for a little magic in our lives, and I think that's what art and the creative process allow for, above all. In a world that can be either way too predictable and mundane and create tedium, the creative mind, for me, is the curious mind and the mind that's always learning and allowing yourself to make mistakes. To generate from your core, from your soul, and from your experience something new and experimental and something that is unique to yourself.

(Highlights) KOVACS

(Highlights) KOVACS

Sharon Kovacs is a soul-inspired singer from Eindhoven, Netherlands. Her unique passion for musical poetry and unorthodox vocal style made her stand out while attending Eindhoven’s Rock City Institute. After graduating in 2013, she found international success when her debut single, “My Love” became a number one hit in Europe. Kovacs is very honest about the struggles and inner-demons that she continues to face and how they inspire her art. Such is apparent in her song “Shades of Black” which reached the top of the charts in the Netherlands and garnered over 60 million views on YouTube. Kovacs has a clutch of awards to her name and has performed high-profile sets at major festivals such as Glastonbury, Sziget, Pinkpop, and Rock Werchter. 

KOVACS · Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter (Highlights)
The Creative Process Podcast

Songwriting Journal Courtesy of Kovacs

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Konner Kienzle. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown. 

Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.

KOVACS

KOVACS

Sharon Kovacs is a soul-inspired singer from Eindhoven, Netherlands. Her unique passion for musical poetry and unorthodox vocal style made her stand out while attending Eindhoven’s Rock City Institute. After graduating in 2013, she found international success when her debut single, “My Love” became a number one hit in Europe. Kovacs is very honest about the struggles and inner-demons that she continues to face and how they inspire her art. Such is apparent in her song “Shades of Black” which reached the top of the charts in the Netherlands and garnered over 60 million views on YouTube. Kovacs has a clutch of awards to her name and has performed high-profile sets at major festivals such as Glastonbury, Sziget, Pinkpop, and Rock Werchter. 

KOVACS · Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter (47 mins)
The Creative Process Podcast

Songwriting Journal Courtesy of Kovacs

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Konner Kienzle. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown. 

Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.