It’s about 7 p.m. on a Friday night and in a few hours this small city will be swarming with young college folks ready to rage late into the night after a week of burying faces in books and exams. There’s a mirror on the side of the studio where I stare and catch my own reflection. Oh man, I look like a mess. There’s a huge graphite stain smeared across my face and I smell heavily of paint thinner. But I can’t help but think that I’m happy to be in “here” and not “out there”.

The creative process is the most wonderful thing I have ever learned to embrace. It doesn’t take more than hearing a beautiful song or watching a heartrending film to spark a creative epiphany. But the creative process overall is one with so many circumstances and potentials.

What makes today different? For some reason, the combination of taking a power nap and hearing Nujabes “Reflection Eternal” did the trick. I somehow woke up feeling inspired and invigorated — ready to take the world on. So after making my way over to the bookstore to buy a canvas, here I am alone in the studio on a Friday night.

It’s a strange phenomenon that I don’t quite yet understand fully. I really wish I knew exactly what sparks these creative epiphanies. But what I do know is that they are precious. When they happen, I embrace them and do not stop until I am wrung dry of this moment — an urge at attempting to create something larger than myself.

The creative process is the most intimate thing an artist can share with someone else. Like an author writing a memoir, the artists express themselves through their mediums.

My relationship with this paint and canvas runs deep. It’s an individual expression that has been developing since I could remember. Through all of my insecurities growing up — all of the moments when I felt ugly or sad — I could rely on the paint to help me remedy any moments of uncertainty I had with myself.

Describing art is difficult. Taking concepts and making them concrete is nearly impossible. But I want to share this piece of me with you. I hope it comes through from me to this paper and finally back to you.

I am currently listening to The Weeknd (“The Knowing” on repeat) and wearing my oversized denim “painting” button-up shirt. The blank 4 by 5 feet canvas, which sits comfortably on the wooden easel, is staring back at me. My palette is set up and I’m ready to go.

I don’t know any other way of doing this other than letting my subconscious stream and let myself go. Here I go:

Dripping through cracked crevices on the primed canvas, the paint will settle there in its unique form. Brush to paint, paint to brush and brush to canvas. I’ll just let it drip. The mineral spirit glistens over the canvas and continues to drip until it hits the concrete floor of the studio. I’m making a mess. This looks hideous so far. But I take a step back, breathe, look, observe. I let the spectrum of color and light absorb — soak — and let my eyes tell it all. Yellow, blue, red and green are mixing together on the canvas and it makes weird shapes when it melds together. There’s but the slightest moment of conscious thought forming and I just do what feels right — feels so right.

UYEN CAO wants to know what are your creative outlets. Let her know by e-mailing arts@theaggie.org.

Local Folk-bluegrass-neo-americana music group Quicksand Marching Band completed its eponymous first album earlier this year. The band formed in 2009 for Whole Earth Festival and has played various live shows at local hotspots, as well as for KDVS. While the band members themselves contend over what genre of music one can put them under, it can be comfortably said that the band sounds like a cross between Fleet Foxes and Old Crow Medicine Show. Some of the most requested cover songs for them to play include Old Crow Medicine’s Wagon Wheel and Man of Constant Sorrow. The band is made up of five members: Zach Harju, Jon Williams, Jon Jordan, Patrick Langham and Robin Croen. While recording their first album the band members sought equal representation and opportunities for each member to contribute to the song-writing process. The albums itself was recorded at their house locally here in Davis as well as in places around the city of Davis.

This week, band members Jon Jordan, Patrick Langham and Robin Croen sat down with MUSE for a Q&A session concerning their music and influences.

The Aggie: How did you guys settle on the band name?

JJ: Zach was like ‘I thought of a good name’ and we were like ‘done’. He was writing down names in engineering class and was like ‘boom, that’s the winner.’

When did the band start playing?

JJ: Whole Earth Festival, two years ago. Zach and I were playing and wound up getting a gig at KDVS, we knew each other from working on Seamoose and worked on pulling together a bluegrass set…songs mostly Zach had written at the time.

PL: Four out of the five us also played in Seamoose. It started off as a side project and grew more as it went along. It took on more of a life of it’s own instead of just being a side project, which culminated in us recording the album over the summer.

How would you categorize the type of music you play?

PL: That’s usually the question artists never want to answer, but it’s the question you have to have a good answer for.

RC: I could say folk, neo-folk, americana, bluegrass and that gets people narrowed in a little bit but I could have a different set of tags for each song instead of the whole thing overall. Each song has a little bit of a different direction.

JJ: Neo-Americana.

RC: Sure, why not?

PL: For the album, because of the variety on things on there, it’d be much easier to try just to go by each song writer and song-style because there are so many different styles being represented. There’s some pretty standard folks songs and there’s some folks songs that are a little weird and messed up. There’s gospel songs and blues songs.

With a five piece band and everyone contributing how do you guys find what works among yourselves?

RC: Sometimes we all would be sitting around twiddling our thumbs because it’s five people each with a different idea. Sometimes one person or two people would have to make the effort and push a song or the project in the next step. It’s something we grapple all the time with, with all our different musical projects. We want to have a democracy and have everyone agree but at the same time, sometimes we have to have a leader. You can also take a step back. Just because you’ve decided to go one direction doesn’t mean you can’t try that other person’s idea later.

PL: I would say that this band, better than other ones I’ve been in, has worked fairly well together. People are pretty cool about being like ‘Well, your idea actually sounds cooler than mine, let’s try that.’ Just because it’s your idea, it doesn’t mean its the best and luckily people are pretty good at recognizing that. There’s been in less contention in this band and the songwriting process than other ones I’ve been in.

JJ: The other guys were really able to remove their ego from the songwriting process, which is really rare. We could just say ‘stop doing this part’ which is something normally people wouldn’t like to hear, but it’s like ‘okay, I trust you enough to be making a good decision.’

PL: Zach has more of a background in music theory while Jon Williams doesn’t. Jon never really cared if something was theoretically right or not, just whether it sounded good. Sometimes there would be little battles in between them where Zach would say “this doesn’t theoretically sound right” and Jon would say “I don’t give a shit.”

Can you tell me about the importance of a full album?

PL: We thought really hard about the order of the songs

JJ: We tried to present it as one complete thought. Every artist or person who does music has a different answer for this. I think it’s important that if you’re going to produce something that it will be this complete idea. We will have only this CD for essentially the rest of our lives, regardless of how long the band goes on. We want this one idea to be the best representation of who we are as a band and who we are as musicians.

RC: There was a actually a deadline as well for us. As we were recording this CD, Zach Harju and Jon Williams would be both moving out of Davis. The three of us weren’t sure how busy we were going to be in the future so we wanted to take a snapshot of all the effort we put into this project. We were performing live but didn’t have much to show for it. This represents a finished project and all the work we put in.

PL: Nowadays, it’s about the single and as a kid I would by a CD just for one song and the single would end up not being my favorite. We liked the idea of all the songs flowing one into the other. It was a desire to make that kind of thing, to adhere to that kind of idea. What maybe helped was that some of us had experience working together and knew the pitfalls of things we’ve done in the past that were counter-productive. It’s like being in a relationship, except you’re in a relationship with four other dudes.

What are guys’ influences?

RC: As far as influences tied to this band, Fleet Foxes is definitely the big one for me. A lot of newer folk bands are doing a lot cool things right now.

JJ: What started me out on it was M. Ward, and he is doing is basically modern Americana. Within the last year I’ve gotten deep into classic folk and bluegrass, stuff that’s recorded on wax cylinders from like the ‘30s and ‘40s. But fortunately a lot of people are putting it on the internet since most of it isn’t in print anymore. A lot of old-time blues artists and gospel.

PL: Before I started playing for the band, I really didn’t listen to this type of music very much. I played with friends back home. For me it was about how I would bring all the other musical influences I have and contribute to the band. The biggest ones for me would be Robert Johnson and Sunhouse.

What music are you guys currently listening to?

RC: I’ve been listening to Bulldog, which has absolutely nothing to do with folk music but they’re a really cool funk band out of Canada.

PL: We listen to a lot of The Ohio Players.

JJ: Pokey Lafarge, he’s a contemporary artist who’s doing straight-up Americana. The Wiyos as well.

Quicksand Marching Band plans on playing shows in December with details soon to follow. The full album is available for streaming at http://quicksandmarchingband.bandcamp.com/ and fans or appreciators of the album can also pay $10 for a physical copy that the band will personally ship.

Rudy Sanchez can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

November is Native American Heritage Month. UC Davis celebrates through the Cross Cultural Center this month with the theme of “Moving Forward, Giving Back.” A series of speakers, films and events take place until Nov. 18.

Typically the program is scheduled in April, however, Native American Culture Days was moved to November to coincide with the national celebration of Native American culture. The program is broadly supported and generated by staff, students, ASUCD and the community.

“We collaborate with as many people as we can,” said Culture Programs Advisor and Coordinator Melissa Johnson, Ph.D. “The program is for the students and the community — it’s what they wanted to see on the calendar.”

The Cross Cultural Center (CCC) worked together with American Indian Recruitment and Retention (AIRR) as well as many other campus groups to put on events for the entire campus community this month. Held at places such as the Memorial Union, lecture halls, Shields Library and Gorman Museum, these events shed light on topics that the CCC want the campus to know.

“We have an openness to share and invite people to know about native people and their challenges,” said Hailey Ferroni, a fifth-year psychology and Native American Studies double major and sexuality studies minor and Student Director of AIRR. “Students should take a look at the events and see what stands out to them.”

Along with providing program support and being a spokesperson, Ferroni will be a part of the student panel on Nov. 17, hosted by AIRR.

“People should realize that Native Americans are a small population on campus and that we should give them opportunity to share their heritage,” Johnson said. “It’s always important to me that the diversity of students on campus is recognized — we have a lot of diversity represented in our students.”

With Culture Days programs going on throughout the year, the CCC reaches out to multiple racial groups on campus.

“I think all of the Culture Days can create an impact,” said Assistant Director of the CCC Andrea Gaytan. “To bring issues that are relevant to the community to the forefront and educate [them] is empowering.”

In order to captivate the mind in an art form, Native American Culture Days is using films to educate and entertain. With films such as Reel Injun — On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian which depict how Native Americans are portrayed in movies, the program seeks to educate and inform their viewers.

“The Native American culture is still very strong. There are still some stereotypes that exist,” Johnson said. “We’re bringing it back strong. It’s vital that people recognize what native culture contributes to the world.”

The film Two Spirits is a collaboration between UC Davis Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center and AIRR to educate viewers on how differently sexual orientation is identified in Native American culture. Two Spirits will show at Shields Library on Monday at 11:30 a.m.

All films will focus on the theme of Native American life, whether it be historical or contemporary. The film Uneasy Remains was created by series of graduate students and will include an answer period and discussion. The film was shown on Wednesday.

According to Johnson, many of the theories and ideas of the modern world actually originate from Native American culture.

“What people think is so contemporary is actually rooted from natives,” Johnson said. “Post-modern theory and the ideas of connection, equality and understanding orientations were all embraced by native culture from the beginning.”

The theme of this year’s Native American Culture Days is “Moving Forward, Giving Back,” meaning that native students come to university, get degrees and through education, they educate themselves to go back to their communities to strengthen and teach.

“The emblem is a graduate student with a shadow of a native dancer,” Johnson said. “To remember their past, but move forward, to find strength in numbers and invite those who aren’t active in the community, are all a part of this theme.”

Through film, art, speakers and teaching, Native American Culture Days takes place this month to inform and educate students and community members of the small yet prominent group on campus and in our country.

“You can learn how Native American culture is interwoven into American culture,” Johnson said. “It’s not just historical, it’s very much alive.”

ELIZABETH ORPINA can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

“New Orleans is here, we’re still here,” said Bennie Pete, leader of the Hot 8 Brass Band. The band’s performance is part of the series Spirit of New Orleans at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Spirit of New Orleans is part of the larger series of events called Life Out of Balance which aims to portray the metamorphosis of art through times of upheaval in history.

“We’re taking a look at the thematic way in which artists cope with moments of major dislocation,” said Jeremy Ganter, Mondavi Center’s associate executive director and director of programming. “Spirit of New Orleans is about taking a look at New Orleans before and after Katrina — how it celebrates itself through music and dance.”

The series is truly a celebration of the vivacity of the the crescent city in its brave and commendable process of recovery from Hurricane Katrina. It began with a screening of Spike Lee’s 2010 film If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise and continues this week with a performance by the Hot 8 and the Trey McIntyre Project in conjunction with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

The Spike Lee movie, which focuses on the restoration of New Orleans post Katrina, documented the city’s unyielding ability to celebrate life with soul and warmth.

“The film was critical,”  Ganter said. “It kind of showed that despite its reputation as a party city, New Orleans has serious social and economic issues that existed before but were exacerbated by Katrina. The entire series was about how artists interpreted this moment. It presents a very broad view of New Orleans — its power, its joy and its troubles.”

The Hot 8 Brass Band was also featured in the Spike Lee movie. Ganter claims that The Hot 8 Brass Band is “the real deal”.

The members of the band who were born and raised in New Orleans are the face of the city’s long standing culture of street music.

“It’s New Orleans music,” Pete said.

The Hot 8 lost some of its past members to violence post Katrina. However, Pete counts the crescent city as the band’s biggest inspiration.“It’s hard for me, but it just makes us value our music that much more,” he said of the aftermath of Katrina. “Nothing was really the same — but we made it through with the music and faith in God. It’s like healing, it just changes the spirit.”

According to Ganter, however, it was The McIntyre Project’s ballet pieces Ma Maison and The Sweeter End that birthed the entire series, “We knew we wanted them to perform at the Mondavi Center and the idea for the series just fell into place with Ma Maison.”

“McIntyre choreographed the piece in 2008,” said Chanel DaSilva, a dancer with The McIntyre Project. “It focuses on how people in New Orleans view life and death — to them death is just a new chapter of life and the people left behind celebrate this.”

DaSilva described the costumes for Ma Maison as colorful yet eerie with a touch of both New Orleans style Mardi Gras and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

“I’m very excited for the performance,” DaSilva said. “There’s skull masks and they add to this creepy feel but it’s a very exciting and poignant part of New Orleans culture. The Sweeter End is much edgier.”

The denim clothing designed for The Sweeter End makes use of New Orleans influenced motifs such as the fleur-de-lis and — post Katrina — the crosses drawn into the sides of buildings by restoration workers. The crosses symbolized whether or not there were living people inside a home. DaSilva describes the performance as “electrifying.”

The McIntyre project is performing to live music provided by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. New Orleans’ eminent musical venue Preservation Hall is the eponymous birthplace of the band.

“They bring New Orleans with them,” DaSilva said .

Spirit of New Orleans promises a holistic view of a tragedy that forever changed the face of the crescent city.

The series continues this week with performances by the Hot 8 Brass Band (Nov. 9 to 11), and The Trey McIntyre Project (Nov. 12).

Students can buy tickets by phone, online at mondaviarts.org or in person at the Mondavi Center ticket booth at 50 percent off.

SASHA SHARMA can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.