Rising Stars: Meet Adam Reed of Capitol Hill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Reed.

Hi Adam, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a working artist and musician, and I bartend to keep the lights on. I moved to Denver in 2018 from Phoenix, AZ, but I’m originally from Ohio, where I grew up drawing and was generally attracted to art. I was very into comic books and Calvin & Hobbes as a kid, and eventually skateboarding, which introduced me to a lot of fringe art, along with more progressive and global mindsets in regards to music and expression. I played in my first punkrock band around 14 or 15, and eventually moved to Tucson, AZ, where my immersion into the world of fringe artists, authors, and music only grew deeper. Skateboarding and punkrock were/are both amazing vehicles for creativity and progressive thinking. At some point, I was introduced to a book called “The Burn Collector” by Al Burian, of the band Milemarker. This was a collection of “zines”, a series of DIY self produced mini-magazines, that pondered on travel, and the authors’ personal experiences vagabonding around the country (in a very Kerouac-esque kind of way). That has all led me to today, where I’ve been producing a poetry zine called “Cloudporn”, playing as a singer-songwriter under the name “Shepherds & Sailors”, drumming in a punk band called “Brass Tags”, and painting as often as I can muster.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not, haha. Life is life, so if anybody has had a completely smooth road, I’d love to meet them. That said, the zine itself was largely born of out my own need to get through a sad and disconnected time. For me, it’s a kind of therapy to collaborate and make things, and (maybe for everybody) it’s good to give something to others. This isn’t groundbreaking, I think we just forget.
That said, I had been trying to write more poetry in the notes app on my phone, and I was a regular at Thump Coffee in Cap Hill, where several of the staff members were also writers. I figured that making a zine would be an easy, low-effort way to collaborate with other creative people. I pick a theme, and all the writers write to that theme. It’s a beautiful thing honestly, it reminds me of doing art critiques in college. You see everyones’ individual personality shine within a shared context.
I didn’t want any money to be involved because money often poisons creativity. But in terms of struggle, the lack of money makes deadlines difficult to enforce, haha. So I suppose the primary struggle would be getting each issue out in any kind of timely manner. Add on top of that, my own procrastination and generally distracted, ADD creative nature, haha. It’s still so satisfying though.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Well, for Cloudporn, I always write a poem, but I also do all of the illustrations. Since kindergarten, drawing has been my only natural “talent”, if anything. Other than maybe being a loud-mouth ham, much of the time, haha. But skateboarding and comic books lent to me being very illustrative, using lots of line-work. My paintings almost always share that. I was very inspired by comic book art, skateboard art, cartoons, and tattoo culture. Honestly, big shout-out to Calvin & Hobbes in general. If people aren’t aware of those comics, they should be. Best newspaper comic of all time in my opinion. The artwork is brilliant, particularly the backgrounds, and the comic itself is just a philosophers paradise. Celebrating the brilliant, weird, little kid in all of us; Go read every single one of them.
As far as painting goes, if I’m known for anything I guess it would be trees. I love painting trees. It’s very freeing, because there aren’t a lot of “rules”. Get smaller from the trunk or the root, and that’s about it. Also, they’re just beautiful symbols of growth to me. I grew up in Ohio which had a lot of big flat-leaf maple and oak trees, and that imagery is in my blood now.
What sets me apart from others? I’m not sure what others would say, but I’m pretty extroverted and conversational, which maybe isn’t as common among artists and poets. Many of my creative pals are pretty introverted. But within creativity, I LOVE the middle ground between the fringe ideas, and the global poppy ideas. Bridging the gap. Bjork. Radiohead. Beatles White Album.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Hmm. The lessons never end, but, If anything, it’s difficult to internalize and regularly PRACTICE what you’ve learned.
What’s coming to mind is:
A) Rest and exercise will make me create more often and more effectively.
2) Just put pen to paper, brush to canvas. Make ANYTHING. Most of it will suck, but the habit of creating will create momentum. Like going to the gym, just get there and do anything.
C) Don’t compare any of your work to the work of others. It’s pointless. I’m TERRIBLE at remembering this. But the comparison game gets you nowhere. Your art, your work, and YOU are valuable and individually important, regardless of what anybody else is doing.
4) Empathy and connection is the point. Of everything. Your sad song or painting will make somebody feel less alone.
This is probably the most important.

Pricing:

• Pricing art is the worst. Just know, as the buyer, you are helping art and artists exist, which is unendingly valuable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shepherdsandsailors.bandcamp.com
• Instagram: @cloudpron
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/adam-reed-0584852a9
• Other: Brass Tags on itunes, Apple music, and Spotify, cloudpornzine@gmail.com

Image Credits
image one (drumset) taken by Cameron Brennan IG @_somapictures_