Gear

"So... I'm gonna kinda geek out a bit and talk about gear I bought."

Just recently I acquired two pedals to update my current setup. They are the Boss IR-2 and the JHS 424.

For a few years I've been using the VOX Stomplab IG as an amp modeler for all the recordings that have been released. The idea of using this piece of gear is to eliminate having to use any microphone setups which would take up recording time. When I realized that this recording setup was effective I started to play around with other ideas on how I optimize it looking through amp modeler type of units. I've given up using plugins and software to get specific sounds. When I watched an interview with Mac Demarco for Ernie Ball I realized that his approach to recording was simple and straight to the point inspiring me to have that same approach. I wanted to control more of the onboard gear than the software (and anyway my laptop is pretty damn old so I'm not gonna even try to add a bunch of plugins and software that may cause it to die).

I want to train my hearing rather than looking at a computer for specific frequencies. I want to turn knobs and get color that way. Honestly I let the mastering producers take care of the bigger sound these days.I'm hoping soon I could acquire a Tascam 488 or a Tascam 688 and record records with that setup alone and use on board gear for most of the recording processes. Obviously I want to have the DAW on the tuck for certain things, but I want to be able to explore recording on tape more than ever. I think I love having the analog process be more triumphant than the digital.


So the Boss IR-2 is going to be used in the newest productions here on out until I find another unit that will suit my needs as a player. I bought this specific unit for the crunchy emulation alone as I'm more keen to having dirty sound on my recordings. On top of that I want to be able to put other pedals behind it to sort of enhance the experience. I may need to get a compressor pedal to sort of accenuate certain frequencies.

During some tests using the Baritone guitar the output of sound was definitely worth spending the money on the unit. With the slightly dirty settings of the Tweed and even the Diamond selection the sound really came out man. I'm already figuring out how I want to make specific riffs for this sound and am excited to see what else I can mix with the guitar.



The JHS 424 pedal just recently came out and being the Mk.gee fan I am I’ve realized that most of the sounds he was making from raw 424 preamps blended well for the recordings I was making for the “Age 40 - 1985” record. With Mk.gee he was able to craft the specific sound that I’ve been wanting to capture to incorporate with the slightly dirty sounds when played soft and this distorted break up when played hard.

Honestly he's the reason why I look at the Baritone a different way. In fact I gravitate towards that instrument more along with my Squire Bass VI. In the beginning the Baritone guitar was a bit of a struggle to work with, but putting in flatwounds that were both from the Bass VI sets and regular flatwounds I'm able to play it the way I envisioned it: finger style most times, but with thumbpick strum on some heavy chords for dynamics.

Right now I'm starting to write some riffs with Nicole from One Hundred Year Ocean and have been compiling riffs that could potentially be melodic and heavy at the same time. I'm going to be using these new pieces of gear to see if the sound I'm going after would create the vision I'm chasing after. Maybe if this project works out (and hopefully it does) that I can officially be in a band with some who has been a big influence in my work as well.

Using the Stomplab IG def helped provide a foundation of how I wanted to make certain sounds on my recordings, but I realized that there is a bit of a limitation being that the patches don’t necessarily have space to tweak certain frequencies. It was kinda difficult to dial in sometimes since it is patched based. The latitude to make any changes was a bit of a challenge. I’m hoping that this unit will allow me to dial in specific tones for specific guitar sounds I want to make and journal that as reference.

That's all for now! Thank you all for checking out the record. I really appreciate it!

- Arthur

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Social Media Experiment Part 2 - Results are in

@lst_lvs “Age 40 - 1985” OUT NOW!! #mathrock #midwestemo #emo #indie #lstlvs ♬ original sound - LST LVS

I had attempted to post everyday for the rollout of the record to see if any new movement would become found for current users on the app. As of October 1st 2026 these were my findings from my TikTok Social Media Experiment:

October 1st, 2025 TikTok analytics

Date	Views	Likes
Sep 01	177	10
Sep 02	136	06
Sep 03	162	05
Sep 04	148	02
Sep 05	140	03
Sep 06	134	03
Sep 07	138	05
Sep 08	544	34
Sep 09	1134	63
Sep 10	1001	41
Sep 11	1406	85
Sep 12	536	24
Sep 13	436	22
Sep 14	970	47
Sep 15	345	12
Sep 16	262	8
Sep 17	756	29
Sep 18	312	10
Sep 19	208	08
Sep 20	317	09
Sep 21	351	12
Sep 22	281	08
Sep 23	243	08
Sep 24	641	42
Sep 25	186	02
Sep 26	956	45
Sep 27	800	41
Sep 28	812	36
Sep 29	8576	153
Sep 30	271	14

Soo... was the experiment successful? Aboslutely not lol. This app is strange and fill with opportunists. I do see the appeal of why people come to this platform to blowup. Dude I even bought a promo for the day of my bday and it did absolutely nothing hahahhahaa.

Now there could be some factors that come into play as to why I got the results I got:

1. My music is very Niche:
Mathrock instrumental, indie, midwest emo emo band with no lyrics? Yeah.. not alot of people are gonna be into that

2. Originality:
This is an original project and original projects really take a long time to get off the ground. I'm here for the ride though

3. It needs more... something something. Like a gimmick:
Unfortunately I don't have that lol

Aside from that this PR rollout was kinda fun to do. It exercised specific skills I don't usually stretch and made me realize how much grinding an artist has to do to make it happen. And even then they still don't get the stability financially and mentally they deserve. The music industry has been very fucked and it's real. I'm glad that I'm a 9 - 5 worker doing this as a serious hobby without any attachments. It's definitely a blessing and I hope to make more of these projects in the near future.

thank you all for tuning in for the month. It was freakin fun honestly!!!


- Arthur (LST LVS)

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Age 40 - 1985

Age: 40 - 1985 is a project that's been in development for 2-3 years. On my teleworking days I'd head to my makeshift studio to write parts of songs. Drums are scripted when I'm on site working when I have an hour or only 15 minutes to kill in between assignements. And during these recordings I found myself completely lost as to what I wanted from the project, however, I knew there was something in these songs leading me to believe that it was special. I had to keep going and see it all the way through. This was the hardest project to complete in my years of writing and composing music.

The title "Age 40 - 1985" is an explanation of itself; I turn 40 years old on the release of this record. It signifies how long I've been working on this project and how much I've grown from all the releases that I've created. It also notes that this is the first time I attempt to write a full length record and release it with the intention of celebrating an important time in my life. From the years I've been through a lot I focused on writing through this record to keep this spirit of practice alive and not neglect what I have that is considered a gift. I get to make art without anyone telling me if its wrong or right. I get to celebrate this record the way I want. This project is me at 40yo, free and happy to be alive all the time. Happy because finally things are where they should be for me and where I want them to be.

I must admit that this record is pretty out of control lol. So many blemishes can be found on this album and I decided that I wanted to keep those in there. With Ai being a huge killer in the music industry as of right now I am realizing that humanizing these mistakes and making them be realized are essential to how I'll be continuing this feat in recording. Already the drums are digitally programmed and having to figure out how to make them a bit more natural can be tough. I wish I could play drums the way I program them or have an actual drummer perform these songs, but since this is an at home project I can only use the tools that I have available to make happen.

I hope you all enjoy this record. One day I'll be able to perform this project. For now lets celebrate.


- LST LVS (Art)

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Actually Went to a Concert The Other Day

My former Supervisor / turned music nerd friend invited me to watch LCD Soundsystem play in New Haven last Friday. This was planned a bit ago, but had anticipated it during the week of. I listed to a couple of records of theirs and was sort of digging what was on recorcing, but I think the full experience was realized during the show (which should be the thing). The lead singers' vocals was just incredible and the instrumentation of the band was by far solid and catchy. I don't find myself listenting to much work like this, but with opportunities like these they tend to be a curiousity for me to expand. Sometimes you gotta jump in the pool not knowing how deep the water is.

And of course I enjoyed it. I danced all night like a white girl lol. I haven't moved like that in years, but it was also kinda interesting that my body didn't necessarily feel sore. I have to thank Muay Thai for all the stretching and cardio I intensly do during the 45 to an hour I'm there. I also blame all the biking I try to do when I'm tellaworking.

Check this band out if you haven't yet. I gave it a chance and had a great time!


- Concert Goer Bueno

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Social Media Experiment

@lst_lvs This is Day 2 promoting my full length album “Age 40 - 1985”. Follow me on this journey!! #mathrock #midwestemo #emo #lstlvs ♬ original sound - LST LVS

For the roll out of this project I'm conducting an experiment for this record. Recently I had downloaded the Tik Tok app and made a good amount of videos to start the roll out from September 1st to 29th. As of late the landscape as an artist is pretty cruel and everyone wants to be on top of the game. I for one don't give a shit, but curious to know how one could get engagement for a record.

The plan was to use my old school digital video camera to shoot some stuff and have a template ready so that videos are easy to render on Adobe Premier. These can be simple videos made merely of me doing a video self portrait or a video of me doing simple things. The roll out had already begun and it's been interesting to say the least.

I'm doing this because I want to celebrate two things:

1. Turning 40
2. Releasing my *first* official full length record

After that I'm not sure what the hell I'm going to do lol. If anything I'll just keep it there for the archive. Doing this promo stuff is exhausting and I'm not really good at PR, but I need to learn how to exercise those muscles. Probably on the next promo I'll be doing the same thing where I'm just promoting other work and stuff with the templates in mind.

What's been fun is using my FlipCamera to shoot some of these types of vids and I'm kinda glad that I got this thing. It's so crappy hahahahaha. But when you're doing home movies that's what you should expect. It's giving me some ideas on how I can make other videos in the next few months just based on how I process certain things. Other than that I think that I'll keep at it with the posting and see what happens from there. I'm not very optimistic about the roll out, but we'll see what happens towards the end of the series. After that who knows?

- Arthur (the Artist)

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Husband Part Deux

If you told me that I could be remarried again after a divorce I'd probably tell you you were right lol. Of course I would. I like to try things twice just to see what happens sometimes. And being the way I am I'm good at seeing positive things ahead. I could be negative about some stuff, but I think that I've been through a lot of negative that most things don't really surprise me anymore. It's not all daises, but practicing to stay positive is a lot of work and does help your mood.

I know I'm a bit late on a post like this, but knowing that I live life more than I live on the computer is something to be proud of. Things are really good and I wanna keep it like that.

And kinda on the topic of marriage I've been scanning old film as of recent and found my ex-wife on a couple of images. Of course I'm not gonna scan those lol, but it definitely led me to believe that I was in love with something like that back then. I reflect back and realize that I'm good at trying to see the good in someone regardless of the abuse I was enduring. Things were really bad and I mean really really bad. My confidence level had always stayed low and I had to do things that I didn't wanna do. A lot of my friendships had to end because of her and sometimes I feel like I wanna go back and get some of those back. It may be too late now, but I think about them quite a bit.

Though that I had to go through a lot to get here I'm glad I'm here and I don't want to leave. I'm good and nothing can change that. I just wish the ones that mattered to me that I had to leave behind could see me now and realize what incredible things we can celebrate and do together. Alas I'll keep that hope when it happens.

- The Married Guy

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To Me For Me You'll See

Finally am posting a new track off the new record "Age 40 - 1985". I'll get in more depths later about the record once it starts to get to release time. For now enjoy this track. I hope you all like it.

- Arthur (LST LVS)

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From Earlier This Year

Earlier this year I was doing a running routine during lunches and brought my camera with me to see if I can get some snaps. Using this Minolta DiMage XT is not easy sometimes considering how old the tech is, but I do happen to force myself to take pictures a certain way. It's actually pretty fun and does really require anything else other than patience.












I think that image making is starting to make sense again. Mainly because I'm not necessarily trying to do anything crazy outlandish and am just trying to just keep a diary of things that I do and see. I'm becoming more aware that taking photos even the littlest of creatures can really help expand your mind when you limit yourself with specific tools. Having everything all at once kinda makes things worse lol.

Maybe one day I'll exhibit some of these works somewhere, but right now I'm having too much fun working with this angle of photography. I hope it doesn't stop and hope that I can make something out of it. A bit ago a co-worker had gifted me an enlarger to have and am wondering what kind of experiments I wanna try to partake in. Hopefully this will help me sort of work on the cyanotype of printing I've been wanting to try over the last few years. We'll see.


- Art(icle)

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Finally a Picture of Me

Just recently Mike Adame sold a small run of these shirts. Being the Mike Adame fan that I am I found myself grabbing one with the intention to advertise it. The other day I went on a grocery run with my fiance and sought the opportunity for her to take a picture of me in front of some items using my Minolta DigiCam. And yeah this is the result. It was fun lol.

Kinda made me think how fun it is to just post images these days and I think (if i'm not burnt out doing it) I could just start posting stuff again just to make the habit of exercising that muscle. I do miss editing and finding ways of take pictures and editing them on my computer and letting them rock out in the world and go onto the next picture and do the same thing again. Especially since I have this digicam I want to just start figuring out how to make pictures look as good as it can be without having to deal with the nonsense of all this AI shit that's been happening for the last few years. Just freakin' have fun and let the images just rock ya know?

I'm sure there a lot of images out there that I took awhile back that I haven't edited yet. Most of the images during the editing process that I'm completed have been the film stuff and that's going to take a looong time to edit. It's good exercise and I'm happy to keep this process pending.

Enjoy your day everyone! Lots of stuff coming up for these next few weeks soo stay tuned

- Arthat

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Japan 2024

I finally got around to casually edit some stuff from the Japan trip from last year. A lot of my excursions with the camera were mainly done on film (which I'll get to soon), but for now here are the images that I took using the Minolta DiMage XT.













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To sum it up my experience in international waters had me realize many things about myself. From my experience the Japanese culture is very humble and quiet and really to themselves, but in some cases their longing to connect even to strangers can reach boundaries that they've been wanting to reach for a long time. The respect and attitude from these folks have me realize that my same approach to things have been already embedded here stateside. I'm going to continue that respect and pass that along with people that take me kindly while this lifetime exists. Thank you to the community that made myself and my party comfortable throughout the time. I'm hoping to come back with the same love I received.


- Art(icle)

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Currently

Right now I've been doing nothing, but just taking small pictures and letting the record mastering cycle take its course until I find a perfect middle ground with my go to mastering producer. It's been crazy seeing how much of this work is starting to unfold and letting my ears be comfortable hearing what it likes and what it dislikes. I've had nothing, but good vibes over the last few weeks of things and I'm certain that most of what I'm going to be doing for the next few weeks (or even few months) is going to be the same if not better.

I've been playing a lot of video games. Yes, ALOT of video games. And for now I'm finding myself enjoying just playing the games without any kind of worry. I guess I'm sort of detached from the world this way and letting things pass me by without having that FOMO feeling. Lots of people are enjoying themselves in those high octane spaces and its cool! At my level of comfort I'm easily happy being with my fiance and just cooking and playing guitar and cleaning the house and playing video games and napping and working out and whatever. This is the life and lots of people don't have what I have these days. I'm pretty damn lucky.

Haven't posted much of anything in the last month or so on my socials as well. I'm not sure if its the fatigue that's been happening or whatever, but I'm just not interested in sharing things that I used to. Private and quiet has been such a thing and I don't think there have been any better combinations of things about my life that I enjoy the most. I'm not sure if I was this reserved about myself as I was back then being open like this and allowing people to come to my life without any sort of consciousness of them being crooked. I'm fairly lucky to know that the majority of these people have been kind and well to me and I'll take that luck any way I can.

I hope everyone is alright these days. I know that a lot of uncertainty is going to really throw off the mindset society has right now. Just be careful out there guys. And support one another. That's all we have. Where I am at now I'm hoping that we have some resolve to a degree and be alright for awhile.

- Artsicle

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Currently

For awhile I've been slowwwwwllly getting some of these projects finished this year. I've learned that taking the time to do some things allows me to have specific measurements be realized rather rushing to get every inch in done quickly.

This year I'm going to be turning 40. And at that moment of turning 40 I'll be releasing a new record called "Age:40 1985". This would officially be my first real full length record that I'd hope to turn into vinyl release. Maybe a 20 record run who knows. This project manifests the continuing practice of getting into the room and running some ideas from drum scripts that I have written at work. Whether I had a couple of hours to write out some ideas or maybe 30 minutes to lay down some parts became the culmination of what this record has become. A lot of punching in and a lot of redoing of parts to get the best performance.

This process has a good amount of clams lol and that's sort of the essence of this project. The record really signifies a diary of how these songs were made. Writing parts almost half asleep sometimes hahahhaah or being so loaded on coffee that I may have sped up certain parts on guitar. Lol I'm laughing right now because as I'm writing this I reflect on how much fun it was writing certain parts and realizing the feeling of completing songs in certain states and letting them stay in completed states until I realize I could make some of the parts a bit better and feeling all accomplished that I made those choices. For sure there were some days I was like "mann fuck this" and "I don't even know what to do here" kind of thing. Other days I'd get slightly annoyed because I couldn't record when the inspiration was hott due to some obligations.

There was a point where I had to come to terms with how the direction of this project was going. I wasn't really feeling what was being written at times and others I was very much "zoned in" on how the sound was being discovered. What I found in the last few years were inspirations that I musically garnered to what created this record. Of course my ongoing love for TOE still present at the front, but Skrams acts and R&B hip hop like beats with some Jazzies make personal appears throughout. I also think that sonically my vision channeled how dark parts of my personality were slowly being taken over by the prettier melancholy and perhaps "small win pose" victorious were manifesting during the creation of this record.

This is indeed my sloppiest record lol. I say this in a good way. Lo-fi recording has been such a blast and with setups like mine I'm finding that this is the reason I keep continuing on. Being able to discover what other possibilities of how to record certain parts with the limitations has been just cool as hell. I also need to preface that this record certainly exhibits my "human-ness" all over the project. Understandably I'm writing to scripted drum parts from a computer using software that emulate drums to a certain kind. So, being the player that I am I'm unpurposely aiming to have my guitar parts not really hit the "1" most of the time.

Which sort of brings me to this point regarding why I love this current project. As of late the human in much of our society is slowly diminishing with the likes of social media and the expectation of perfection wanted from society. Trying to be a robot naturally is near impossible and yet most of us are trying to appear to be that way. Fabricated broadcasting of posts of your face smiling while the background is clearly burning reallly shows signs of the times. This record is really none of that lol.

I'm continuing to do good and I'm happy that things are coming along. Keeping it going as much as I can.


- Arthur

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Quiet Life: Vol 2

Surprise!! A new record drop!!! Started this project while vacationing in Japan and a few months ago completed it to have it released today! This is the second installment of this series that I'm hoping to continue until I get tired of it lol. This project focuses on the Olympus Pen F images I've taken over the years and have been trying to figure out how to present these images as something special and meaningful.

"Quiet Life Vol 2 continues the exploration of images that conveys solace and peace. While writing these songs I'm reminded of the fatigue and sleepless nights that continue to plague me that may have influenced the low key and repetitive sloppy performances I created on these songs. Though the days have gotten better and have not had serious episodes of insomia my yearning to take Melatonin more to help neutralize my nightly active mind still has me slightly afraid of the dependency I could develop. I, however, continue to find other avenues to wear myself out and not stay up too late in order for the 5am wake up feel a little easier."

As of late being a photographer and musician has been exciting even with the audience I have. And with the industry being such a mess and seeing their hardships be seen to the front I'm almost glad that a lot of my audience doesn't notice me lol. It' true that being a celebrity can take a toll on you and I'm glad that my status is just as normal as the dude next door. What I hope though is that this work that I'm creating can be exhibited in some way. I'm not ready right now, but until then I'm going to just keep making bodies of work as much as I can.

Enjoy the new release. Hopefully this continues my momentum and helps me keep the excitement of working more and more on these things.


- LST LVS Bueno

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It Ended Up Not Well

I could credit a number of people in my youth that have helped me grow as a person and most of them have ended up doing some cool things. But one in particular didn't seem to have that same result, but still remained a core memory in my life. That dude that you see second to the left is name Robert Zane.





From my understanding "Robbie" was this religious extremist who leaned right winged heavily. Examples of texts above would be streams of him venting his experiences and crazy viewpoints of what things should be like. He also was involved in some of the proud boy rallies that used to be held in Tower Theatre in Fresno, CA when it used to be ran by religious freaks.

But this post in particular mentions our friend Nick. On the image above Nick is right next to me while Tyler is laying on his legs. I got to know Nick from Colby, middle of image, who used to just sit on my front porch in-between classes and hang with a smoke. He was heavily involved in Robbie, Tyler and Colby's life at the time. It wasn't until Nick had passed away in a car accident that Robbie seemed to fade away from the group (at least in my viewpoint).

I'm making this post because recently Colby told me Robbie had passed away due to suicide. I can't help, but see this screenshot and imagine how one specific event ruined his life. And as someone who has faced loss numerous amount of times I've learned to collect those feelings and channel them towards positive things. But then again I've been lucky to have the support that I have. And it seems Robbie didn't have the same.

Robbie,
Wherever you are I hope you had found peace. And if your friend is still up there somewhere I hope you see him and tell him you missed him the most. You can finally stop hurting


Colby thank you for letting me know. I appreciate you and yes I do miss you too man. I just want to say that I've so proud of you and what you've done. You've been a great dude to me and your loved ones and you continue to do so.


- Art B.

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Febuary in February

Recently I started diving into the new generations of hardcore, indie, emo and the like, but one specific band that caught my attention was this band Febuary. They’ve existed for quite some time and have already done one hiatus (pretty legendary). All their records have sold out at the time of this article written and are receiving lots of love fans and bands alike. I’ve yet to get in contact with these folks one day to do a “7” interview, but as of right now it’s hard to reach them if you’re a nobody like me. I’m going to try again in the next few weeks.

Other than that this bands first and current release has reeled me back into for this sound in this new generation which had me discover bands like “beforeyouleave_” and “Catalyst…” and even “Knumears”. But Febuary has something a bit special for some reason.

Before Febuary it was Beau Navire’s first record, demo cassette tape and the splits prior to the first record. The production was so different as it made it feel like I was at home hearing the band play in my living room. Normally I seek out bands who make records independently because the sound is so unique and most of the time the rooms that they write in are not sound proofed lol. I can definitely say my room is not proofed at all, but I could really give a shit about the aesthetics of my setup. I just want to record.

Beau Navire, Loma Prieta, iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook & Comadre were a huge staple to my ever growing youth of understanding punk/hardcore through melodicism and intricacies of being simple, straight forward, with a bit of arpeggiation sprinkled on top of what is already chaotically moving in their music. With these bands most of the time my mind gears towards that sort of process of using simple phrases, but figuring out ways to make them move and impactful.

I know that I’m saying a lot right now talking about a band that just started, but believe you me projects that start this way seem to age well. You’ll end up finding this band in peaple’s skramz/screamo lists because of the nature of the recording, the concept, the intent, the rawness that isn’t found in most records these days.

Febuary, I would say, is a screamo / skramz / emo-violence band that right out of the gate of the first track has them screaming their lungs out before entering their first official song “I’d Rather Burn Than Fall”. From there you hear songs such as “Brand New Shoes” that throws it back from that waltz-esque type of rhythm with clean guitars and vocals that are just belted away from the mic. It transits to “No Way…” that showcase their singing talent of lines “How I could I reach for you when you’re already on your way” or “So why should I be for you when I only ever needed me.” What makes this record so intriguing is the fact that the band sounds like the record live. And you don’t get that a lot these days and it just sucks to know that these types of projects or sounds don’t get appreciated as much. This project sort of brings me back to my youth and has me understand that the sounds that I remembered back then have never left and will continue to move on with this new generation of kids bringing it to the scene. It's so cool and I hope they get their flowers they so deserve.

Give this band a shot. I think you’ll appreciate it for sure.

Links:
Bandcamp
Instagram

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Social Media Platform Apartment Shopping

Already at the start of the year and things have been changing drastically. Tik Tok banned and unbanned in the span of days due to Trump (lol this dude was so against this platform), X (formerly known as twitter) users started to flee to Bluesky and Substack accounts are becoming popular as a blogging platform. Meanwhile I'm here in my little space with little to no traffic hahaha.

But you have to admit times are changing and especially with the social media space people are yearning for a platform that doesn't taint their feeds with political nonsense and trash can takes. It's almost as if you see a reboot of refreshed ideas until the platform becomes tainted again with political nonsense and trash can takes. I have you know I'm all for a platform that can help provide a safe and positive space, but the same stories seem to be written and read everytime there's some sort incentive that gains more wealth and control.

Bueno Power!! has been in operation close to 14 years and I can't imagine the fact that I was going to just lose this Blog in replacement of another one just because this space is no longer used to blog anymore. I have you know that this place is going nowhere until the platform "Blogger" decides it's going nuke all users. That'd be a sad day for sure, but for now lets keep it where it is and what it is. It's all that matters.

At the 3rd view its heart breaking seeing some of my favs having to just move on to other platforms. Its exhausting seeing the oppresion and prevention of what these viewers should see, but isn't because of coded themes in the algorhythm not allowing users to see some real shit. Sad all around, but the reality of it is that companies that provide these spaces have the right to control this stuff. Its unfortunate, but what can you do?

There have been a number of users who have their takes on TikTok and how it's helped them discover bands or had helped them thrive in the business they're currently working on. How "influencers" are not real careers and that having to depend on TikTok to generate revenue is the worst idea ever. The thing is this is how money and fame is now generated and the reality of it is that these platforms exist to help these folks promote and idea or a company that they can sell. Regardless this is the new and has been the new career for this generation

All in all I give props to those people who can advertise themselves in such a way that have found a niche or a collective of fans that buy their products and thoughts whenever they post. They're active 24/7 and makes them the most money. I'm unfortunately the worst at that lol, but why do I want to grind out something like this? These things are a pleasure and not a job and I'd hate to resent what I love just so I can make a buck. I realize that what I do isn't something that makes ends meet, but would hope that it could make a difference in someone's life

This year I have eliminated all assignments that are asked of me (this being I'm not taking pictures of sweet 16's and family gatherings). I've decided to go full "artist" mode this year and continue concentrating on the art of writing and the art of photographing. Being able to have the 9-5 job with having only an hour or so a day to write or photograph pictures is a practice that I've gotten used to. My aim is to collect and write as much work as I can before I turn 50. And during that time if there are opportunities to showcase work like photo galleries or performances I'm down to execute that.

So yeah.. that's pretty much it lol. You'll be seeing me here and there in the coming weeks. I'm still manifesting what to do this year so stay tuned.


- Art aRt arT ART

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7 w/Claire Evans

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A post shared by Marco Tovar (@m__tovar)

Photo by Marco Tovar

This is an ongoing series called “7” which asks seven questions to the artists I love. These questions were answered by Claire Evans.


1. There was a post from Nighted Life that I stumbled upon during my doom scrolling exercises and found "BIG BIG BIG". Curious I had looked a bit deeper and realized that this work you created documented the Big Fresno Fair. Hella proud to see Fresno, Ca representation here. What brought you to make this body of work and is there a bit of nostalgia for a yearly event like this one in Fresno?

Nighted had reach out to me and wanted to publish some of my work. I had met them through a zine fest in Sacramento and they got my first book, At The Hip. I felt like I didn’t have enough work coming off my first publication to make something, and the Fresno Fair was coming up so I pitched the idea of focusing on the fair. Nighted was game, so I spent multiple days documenting the fair. I definitely remember growing up and being in the rock/crystal area along with the animal exhibits. Those stuck out to me as a child. But it is a very different experience as an adult. It wasn’t as warm and dreamy as I remember. 

2. So far I was only able to find your instagram and some photos here and there when searching your work. The images I was able to review seem to have themes of religious billboards, dry and worn places, and friends and family in their vulnerable states. What was childhood like growing up in this city and what drives you to photograph these types of images?

Growing up in Fresno felt quite normal,
I think as an adult I have reflected more on some of the norms that may be obscure for other cities. Fresno summers as a child were filled with finding friends that had pools and constantly running through sprinklers and garden hoses to cool down. Not much to do in town so we would ride our bikes and scooters all over the neighborhood trying to see who the fastest person was that day. I think growing up in Fresno you really had to come up with the fun yourself. One thing that motivates me to make these images is Fresno’s landscape and the people in it. I’ve had to be more reflective documenting the city I grew up in and it was a whole new way to see things. I could walk down the same street 55 times and find something new or interesting almost every time. It has been a beautiful practice in being present. Nothing old mattered and I couldn’t be thinking about the future because all I had was right then and there. If I want a photo I have to be fully present.

3. Tell me how photography started for you?

I started shooting in 2022 with a little point and shoot as most film photographers do. I had never heard of street photography until I saw the work of a local photographer David Richard. He mostly documents the environments around him. I fell in love with it and really resonated with the work because it was things that always caught my attention on walks or bike rides. The Central Valley has little to no outside influence when it comes to art. So most of my inspiration comes from my environment. Of course it was also the trendy thing to do, shoot film, but as I continued to shoot I began to grow in my own practice. I discovered a YouTube series called Walkie Talkies by Paulie B, which is based in New York City. He would interview street photographers in the city and document their process. I would day dream of living in a bigger city and getting the shots the New York photographers got. Yet my reality was in Fresno, CA. I’d try and shoot the way they did, flashy and abrupt. But it didn’t sit well with me, nor was Fresno the place to stick a camera in someone’s face and get away with it. Fresno forced me to slow down and take my time with images. I had to be patient and open to whatever the streets gave me. My camera never leaves my side, because in a place like Fresno you never know what’s going to happen or where. I had a new approach and mindset that my own city taught me. It was more gentle. I couldn’t hide and therefore it has become a more intimate process. Most photos are also conversations had between me and my subjects and I have grown to love it. I have always loved Fresno. Born and raised and very proud. Which I think shows in the work, as all of my photos are made here. Going back to daydreaming of a bigger city, while also loving mine, I felt like there were so many beautiful people and places here that deserved a spotlight. Storytelling takes many forms and mine has been through images. What you see is what you get around here. Not too much sugar coating or fluffing the scene. Due to the valleys general lack of resources I have always admired our resilience and ability to create with whatever we have in the environment. And I wanted to tell this story. To prove to Fresno and to myself that we are worth documenting. That the stories here matter just as much as they do in LA. And if I can freeze time and reflect a glimpse of someone’s life or environment I can preserve the life we have here. For me a photo is an act of justice. It means that no matter what state and local government do with the valley, I hope to capture it in an honest way. As politics shape our city as they do most, there is much anger and frustration with the lack of resources and investment in local and community care. Rather a focus on outside investors and businesses that wipe out mom and pop shops and our oldest neighborhoods. Our DIY solutions don’t get recognition for what they stand for, which is a lack of community investments. As much as we are proud of paving our own way we still fight for basic human rights and the support of local government. As pushes for outside investors continue my small contribution to the community is to preserve the Fresno we know and live in. No one can say we didn’t exist if I have proof, at least that’s my thought process behind it. As my journey with photography has grown I’ve gain a stronger sense of why I do what I do. That is to keep stories alive in the Central Valley.

4. It's crazy seeing these photos from someone I don't know in a city I spent most of my years through the scene. Could you highlight some places or times about Fresno that you keep dearly?

One story I hold dear to my heart and that really solidified why I do what I do was the time I photographed an older man getting elote from a bike vendor. I was walking in a neighbor that I don’t usually walk in and asked if I could take a photo of him with his elote. He was very excited about the experience he was about to have that he said he’d offer me some if it wasn’t for his frail teeth. We laughed and I took a few shoots. I thanked him for his time and we went about our separate ways. Two years later I was visiting some friends and saw Felix across the street sitting on his porch. I was excited I found him again that I printed out a copy of his photo to give to him the next day. He remembered me and was happy to have his own photo. We talked for a while on his porch while also trying to fix his thermostat remote. A few months later his neighbors contacted me to let me know Felix had passed away and that the family would appreciate the photo I took of him. I assured them that there was a copy in his home, and would be happy to print more if needed. I’ve always thought about the life of a photo and how it keeps a story alive. Knowing that Felix’s family has his photo as well as myself, really put into perspective how important it is to document who and what is around us. You never know when you’ll see that person again or when the city decides to tear down a historical building. It gives me much pride to honor the lives and places in the Valley.

5. What cameras are you currently using these days?

I use a Pentax k1000 for 35mm and am borrowing a Yashica 24 mat from a friend, for medium format stuff. One day I’ll purchase a good quality camera but for now I heavily rely on the camera community in the valley to lend me various cameras. I owe them big time.

 6. At some point will you have a website available to preview finished (and unfinished work) and what kind of body of work could you tell us that you're working on right now?

It’s funny because I’m currently working on getting a website up. So yes, it’s on its way! I’m currently working on a newspaper project. I don’t want to speak too much on it as it is in the works. But the focus is on what it looks like to live in a “sacrifice zone” which is an area deemed by higher powers whether that be government or private investors that claim an area for experiments or development for the betterment of sources outside the environment. I like to say that agriculture is god in the Central Valley, as we feed America, yet we have high rates of respiratory diseases and bad air quality due to pesticides that fill the air and poison the very people who grow the crops. This is one example of living in a sacrifice zone. For Fresno natives it’s a very norm experience yet an injustice way to live. I hope to highlight various ways we endure slow violence through my photos. As well as making it approachable. The art world is intimidating and can be very difficult to navigate. So I hope to make my work interactive in a way that resonates to all not just the gallery goers. With having a newspaper it can be accessed by anyone. I hope to have it travel around Fresno from liquor store to outside the laundry mat, etc.

***noted on a insta dm***
Claire recently launched her new website below:

www.ClairEvans.com
7. What was the best advice you received from someone that sticks with you to this day?

To trust my gut. It’s really easy to try and crowd please with photos, yet I know which ones I really love. You know what you like and to always trust your eye.

Thank you Claire for providing me your time on this questionnaire. And with that being said you can find Claire in the following links:

Insta: @claireevanns
Website: clairevans.com


I'm getting back into this series and hope to do more of these this year. It was refreshing knowing a local Fresno artist is getting some flowers.

- Artie B.

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New Year's Engagement and Some Planzzz

You know I would think I'd be more productive this year and post a bunch of stuff and whatnot, but you know... I didn't lol. And it wasn't a lack of motivation or anything. I guess I just wanted to observe more this year.

In 2024 I witnessed the biggest burnout among peers and people I currently follow. Just recently my old supervisor leaves our previous job to start in my agency and my former manager just up and quit her position! Holy shit! People are really tired!

I was almost at that point, but I decided to leave some work in-progress to be more present on what I'm seeing and what I'm hearing currently. I'm glad I stepped away for a bit giving me a chance to realize how much I love seeing and listening to new things. I did plenty in 2024 and I think 2024 was my best yet.

I finally proposed to my now fiance. I think it's time to start this new chapter and I'm excited of what's to come. I've been giving a lot of thought about my future with this woman and it certainly dawned on me that this next step was necessary. Whilst this process I've been reflecting on my past experiences as a married person and some of those memories are starting to fade gradually. With so much trauma I've endured those years this relationship gave me a chance to practice forgiving myself more than usual. I sometimes see this past life person on some of the photo scans I've been archiving as of late. Thosse images now remind me of how good I have it now.





So the shots that you are seeing here are just some samples of what I want to do possibly for 2025. The Camp Snap Camera is lowkey pretty fun camera to just bring around and snap up images without any care in the world. This and the Minolta Dimage XT are certainly going to be main images that you'll be seeing online. I realize that a lot of my film photos are going to stay locked in the vault for awhile until I can figure out what I want to do with them.










And you know that Minolta Dimage XT is not a bad camera, but it's just slow to process and setup sometimes. The battery dies rather quickly and everytime you charge the battery the camera just resets lol. It's a bit of a annoyance, but again I gotta remember that these cameras are made for the place I live. It works sloooowwwww.

Another New Year. Another new me? Eh... maybe lol, but I'm going to just keeping truckin' on what I've been working on as of late. I hope everyone's NYE was good, safe and enjoyable. To the ones that have had a shitty 2024? I hope many blessing come and you can witness 2025 with fresh and ambitious eyes.


- Arthur from the blog

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