Its been a crazy couple of weeks for a certain Seattle director. Recent recipient of The Stranger’s annual Genius Award for Film, director Zia Mohajerjasbi has just launched a blog to let you all know about the ins and outs of how he makes his magic con poco dinero.
LOVEANDSHOESTRINGS.COM *book.mark.that*
The years of hard work, love for and dedication to Seattle are paying off, and he’s giving it right back by sharing those experiences with us. Here’s the first of many behind the scenes installations from Macklemore’s “The Town” that he directed a few weeks ago (we talked about this already) – also featured on loveandshoestrings.
The Stranger article mentions the movie that Zia and I have been co-writing for almost a year! I guess that means this is really happening!? Ahhhhhhhhhh. 
Karibu kwa blogland, Zia.
Has it been a while since someone gave you a mix-tape that was worth the time it took you to press pLaY? Well, I’d hold my finger on the play button for all 44 minutes of this one if I had to. I’ve known PLOT TWIST for almost 10 years now, since before he was Plot Twist when he moved fridges and desks around on a mountain in the Middle East, and before he bade farewell to Chicago with this awesomix. In all the time I’ve known him I’d say this mix marks his very own artistic ‘plot-twist’. Time to take NOTICE.
I was just telling my roommate that for me, this mix-tape (especially the midpoint) captures those butterflies at the birth of love. The best kind. So I shot him a few questions he gracefully answered amidst a bout with swine flu…I can’t thank him enough for making this. You will too! Are you REDDY?
I started out with the name Ekundayo. It’s my middle name, and it means “sorrow becomes happiness”. It’s always held a lot of meaning for me. I found out that there are a couple other artists out there who are already using that name, and I realized I had to find a new one.
A plot twist is that moment when everything changes. it seems to come out of nowhere, but when you look back, everything was leading up to it.
I started making music under the name plot twist because those are the moments I love : In music, in art, in film, in history, in cluture. When a song changes up one little think that makes everything suddenly snap into focus, when a new idea hits so hard everybody has to take notice.
making this mixtape was about love, decisions, leaving, joy, bitterness, intensity. felt like driving at night on an elevated highway past city lights and blurred memories out into something else.
I wanted people to hear it and feel in their guts all at once why I love chicago, why I had to leave, and where I was going.
…and he’s also a graphic designer –>
bit dead
Royce drives a tow-truck and he’s working on dying with as many toys as possible (his words, not mine). He collects medieval weaponry from antique stores all around the country. I’m not sure just how “medieval” the weaponry he gets a hold of really is…most of that stuff is probably in some snooty British museum and not some dinky antique store this side of the Atlantic.
Just in time to ride the wave of me gushing with love for this city. I spent this past weekend on the set of Seattle artist Macklemore’s first music video “The Town”, directed by Zia Mohajerjasbi. Best footage of his I’ve ever seen. I say no more.
Crystal said she’s all cried out.
dear seattle: may i call you home?
Frank is a musician. He plays funk, soul and REGGAE on Thursday nights at the Paragon in Seattle. Right now he’s working on putting together a virtual museum about Marcus Garvey, for his children. He wants to them to know their history – because he said, if you don’t know where you come from, you won’t know where you’re going. What an incredible gift from a father to his children.
By day Phil guards a local Rite Aid. By night he organizes a fight club.
The final stranger in my Baltimore series (you’d think I moved there) works in a gelateria. Matt said he’s working on trying to relax less. I know what you’re thinking – “What do you mean – relax less?” Well, he’s trying to start smoking weed a little later in the day, so that instead of relaxing all day, he’ll only “relax” for part of it. He was also very generous with the samples. I wonder if he was relaxed then. Grazi! (yes, I realise I used the word relax 5 times in this post..ok 6.)
